Imatge de l'autor
43+ obres 2,394 Membres 17 Ressenyes 1 preferits

Sobre l'autor

Michael F. Bird is academic dean and lecturer in theology at Ridley College in Melbourne, Australia. He's is the author of more than a dozen books including What Christians Ought to Believe and Evangelical Theology. He also runs a popular theological studies blog called "Euangelion" and can be mostra'n més followed on twitter @mbird12. mostra'n menys

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Crèdit de la imatge: Faculty profile picture (Ridley College)

Sèrie

Obres de Michael F. Bird

The Faith of Jesus Christ: Exegetical, Biblical, and Theological Studies (2009) — Editor; Introducció — 109 exemplars
God and the Faithfulness of Paul (2016) — Editor — 60 exemplars
Sexegesis (2012) — Editor — 29 exemplars
Paul and the second century (2011) 9 exemplars

Obres associades

Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (1992) — Col·laborador, algunes edicions1,592 exemplars
Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy (2013) — Col·laborador, algunes edicions332 exemplars
All Things to All Cultures: Paul among Jews, Greeks, and Romans (2013) — Col·laborador — 11 exemplars

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Data de naixement
1974
Gènere
male
Nacionalitat
Australia
Organitzacions
Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas

Membres

Ressenyes

This is the first book of the recently popular "N Views on Topic X" form that I've read, and I think it's a great format. Each author writes a chapter from a particular perspective, then the other authors write short responses. It's about as close to attending a seminar as you can get in book form, and is especially well suited to encouraging students and other readers to form their own opinions based on what they've read.

Of course, the selection of the N views is key to the quality of the book, and here editor Michael F. Bird has done a fine job. Resisting the temptation to include a broad array of perspectives and thus produce either a shallow survey or an unmanageable tome, his choice of four views allowed a substantive presentation of each perspective, plus responses, in 300 pages. Thomas R. Schreiner and Luke Timothy Johnson represent the Reformed Protestant and Roman Catholic views that characterize the basic Reformation-shaped discussions of Paul in Western Christianity. Douglas Campbell presents a view that has been developed in light of the New Perspective on Paul, as well as other Protestant influences. The surprising inclusion of Mark D. Nanos for a Jewish perspective of the "apostle to the Gentiles" fruitfully deepens the discussion of the Jewishness of Paul that has been raised by the New Perspective.

This selection of views is excellent, and bringing a Jewish voice to the table is important from a diversity standpoint: honestly, it's embarrassing to hear only Christians talking about whether and how Paul was a Jew. It is only unfortunate that Bird did not identify a woman scholar to represent one or more of the views, so that we did not hear only men talking about Paul's views on women. Such a scholar would likely have critiqued Campbell's exclusive use of "brothers" as language that adequately depicts Christians.

Bird structures the conversation by asking the authors to identify the theological framework that should be used to understand Paul, and to describe Paul's view of salvation, of the significance of Christ, and his vision for the churches. As he states in his introduction, these questions were selected in order to focus the discussion on areas in which there is significant disgreement. He also introduces the background of each contributor; in the conclusion, he helpfully summarizes the points of agreement and disagreement.

Although Johnson begins his essay with demurrals about how specifically Roman Catholic his position may be, it is clear to me that he and I operate out of the same tradition. His methodology and premises were at once familiar and persuasive to me, especially in comparison to Schreiner. Johnson's basic approach of identifying a few themes or concepts with broad attestation across many letters strikes me as more reliable than Schreiner's approach of constructing a systematic narrative that cites a verse or two as support for each statement and relies heavily on Romans and Galatians. Campbell takes an even narrower approach, concentrating on Romans 5-8 in order to identify and develop a single coherent theme; however, his discussion of freedom in the context of the communal, networked, social anthropology he sees in Paul was helpful and persuasive.

I read Nanos' chapter together with a Jewish friend with whom I've studied informally for several years on topics of Judaism, Christianity, and Jewish-Christian dialogue. She was very pleased by Nanos' ability to articulate several attitudes and concepts that she has struggled to express in our studies, and I found it edifying to understand how Paul has traditionally been perceived by the Jewish community. We both appreciated the careful verbal distinctions in this chapter between Jesus-believing Jews, non-Jesus-believing Jews, and Jesus-believing Gentiles: the language is cumbersome, but helpful in avoiding the unconscious translation of 1st-century terms to 21st-century categories.

Overall, this is a very good book, particularly well suited to ecumenical study and to the preparation of those who will minister and preach against an ecumenical background. (That would include pretty much all ministers in the Western church today.) It does require some basic familiarity with theological terms and Paul's letters, but does not require previous expertise in Pauline studies.

Dr. Bird kindly arranged for me to receive an advance copy of this book for use in my independent study course on Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant perspectives on Paul in the summer of 2012. It was extremely helpful for this work.
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VictoriaGaile | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Oct 16, 2021 |
A very brief introduction to a complex subject. Bird describes his personal journey from Complementarism to somewhere in the miiddle with Egalitarianism. He deals with the relevant New Testament texts and relies heavily on explaining the cultural background an essential to understanding them in the 21st Century. Good but very brief.
 
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David_Moore1 | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Oct 23, 2020 |
In 2016, a major controversy erupted online when certain Reformed notables such as Liam Goligher, Todd Pruitt, and Carl Trueman leveled a polemical attack against certain evangelical all but accusing them of heresy concerning the doctrine of God. This is because certain evangelical have held to a certain variant of a doctrine termed as ESS (Eternal Submission of the Son), EFS (Eternal Functional Subordinationism), or ERAS (Eternal Relations of Authority and Submission). The charge was one of semi-Arianism and departure from Nicene orthodoxy. The ensuing firestorm produced lots of heat and little light.

In this book edited by Michael Bird and Scott Harrower, a bunch of theologians have come together to argue against ESS. Now properly in print, their arguments are more coherent and fixed. Those of us who remember the 2016 furrow can check out and see if anything has changed since then. Unfortunately, while increasing in erudition, nothing much has changed.

My key complaint back then in 2016 was that ESS was misrepresented by its critics. Reading the chapters in this book has shown me that the "pro-Nicene" crowd continue to refuse to listen to their critics, thus they continually misrepresent ESS. Unfortunately, for all its brilliance and erudition, this work fails at what it was written to do.
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puritanreformed | Hi ha 2 ressenyes més | Aug 10, 2020 |
Gordon Spykman in his superb Reformational Theology describes the eclipse of creation in theology. He writes that much of evangelical theology:
gives the impression of bypassing creation in a hasty move to take a shortcut to the cross.
Michael Bird in his evangelical theology doesn’t do that. This is refreshing in an evangelical systematic theology.

What is the single most important thing in evangelicalism? Bird maintains it is the gospel - so he has written a systematic theology that reflects that emphasis. What is the goal of theology? That we would be gospelised! But this raises the question what is the gospel? Is it the redemption of creation, the escape of Christians to heaven, or what? How does Bird view the gospel? He cites with approval Al Wolters who demonstrates that “creation regained” is an underlying theme of the gospel:
The gospel envisages a comprehensive restoration of the created order so that the relational disruption between God and creation caused by the intrusion of evil can be finally resolved. … The gospel is umbilically connected to the wider concepts of covenant and creation.
Such an approach alone would justify the purchase of this book.

Comparison with Grudem’s Systematic Theology is perhaps inevitable. For me Bird's is by far the superior book.

For Grudem the focus is on what does the Bible say, for Bird it is also the engagement with contemporary theological ideas. Though this is a strength of Bird’s approach it may prove to be its weakness as it may well date it.

A look at the contents shows marked differences: Bird starts with God, Grudem with the Bible. Grudem emphasises doctrine, Bird the gospel. In comparison Grudem is lame and pedestrian. This may be in part its age. Bird is a most welcome replacement for Grudem.

I have attempted to summarise some of the differences between Grudem and Bird in the table below.

Other than Spykman’s sadly out of print Reformational Theology I can think of no better summary of theology.
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stevebishop.uk | Hi ha 4 ressenyes més | Jul 23, 2020 |

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Obres
43
També de
7
Membres
2,394
Popularitat
#10,721
Valoració
4.0
Ressenyes
17
ISBN
101
Llengües
1
Preferit
1

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