Bible Secrets to be Revealed....but not until next week

On Nov. 13 at 10pm ET, the History Channel will debut an intriguing six-part series called "Bible Secrets Revealed." Click here to view the provocative trailer. The claims are a bit sensationalist for my tastes: This series "will challenge everything we think, everything we know, and everything we believe about the Bible." Even so, the series looks as though it will tackle some of the current hot topics in our culture's treatment of the Bible. Duke University's Mark Goodacre has posted the tentative schedule and titles on his blog:

“Lost in Translation” – November 13, 2013

“The Promised Land” – November 18, 2013
“The Forbidden Scriptures” – November 25, 2013
“The Real Jesus” – December 2, 2013
“Mysterious Prophecies” – December 16, 2013
“Sex and the Bible” – December 23, 2013

Among the list of prominent scholars who are being interviewed (posted at Robert Cargill’s blog), I was glad to see one of my undergraduate professors, Gary Burge (Wheaton College). If anyone watches the first episode, I would welcome your comments.

 

 

 

Lecture: The Gospel According to Paul

My colleague at the School of Divinity, Graham Twelftree, will give a lecture entitled “The Gospel According to Paul” on Tuesday, Nov. 5 from 4 to 5:30 pm. This lecture is the inaugural lecture for the Charles L. Holman Professorship of New Testament and Early Christianity. Details of the event are available here, and a live video feed of the lecture is available at this link beginning at 4pm (EST) on Nov. 5. The lecture will draw from Graham’s research on Paul for his latest book just released by Baker, Paul and the Miraculous: A Historical Reconstruction*, in which he claims “the more we distance Paul from the miraculous, the less we understand him, his theology, and his mission” (6). Along these lines, Graham summarizes:

The proposal of this project is that, despite scholarly interest being almost entirely in him as a thinker and theologian, the historical Paul is to be understood not only in terms of his theological enterprise but also through taking into account his life and work, which includes his understanding and experience of the miraculous and the place of miracle working in his mission. (26)

Originally from Australia, Graham did his doctoral work with James D. G. Dunn. Between his scholarly erudition, his Australian accent, and his topic, this promises to be a stimulating lecture.

*The preface and chapter one of Graham's book are available for download here.