Last week I offered up an a copy of Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation (Baker 2005). There were fifteen entered, so I used Random.org to spin up a random number and the winner of this book is Derek DeMars. Everyone congratulate Derek and tell him how much you envy him reading this book.
I will announce the third book “back to school” book giveaway this afternoon so be sure to check that out!
I just finished my “early Fall” class. this was an Old Testament Survey class taught as an intensive (ten days, 4.5 hours a day over three weeks). To celebrate, I am giving away one book a week for the next month. Last week was Mark Edward’s recent Story of God commentary on Ephesians (Zondervan, 2016). This week I have a copy of Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation (Baker 2005). The subtitle of the book is a hint at the controversial nature of the book: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament.
Enns said his concern in the book was “to help readers whose faith has been challenged by critical studies, and I suggest that evangelical faith would be well served by moving beyond a predominantly defensive doctrine of Scripture to develop a positive view that seriously engages contemporary critical scholarship. My proposal is to employ an “incarnational” model of Scripture—one that recognizes and affirms both the divine and human aspects of the Bible.” For some readers this book was a healthy look at how the Bible fits into the world of the Ancient Near East, for others this book represents the demise of the evangelical doctrine of inerrancy. Greg Beale, for example, wrote The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism (Crossway, 2008). Enns participated in a dialog at a national ETS meeting with Al Mohler, Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Michael Bird and John R. Franke (published as Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy, Zondervan, 2013). I did not attend this session because I was presenting at the same meeting to three people who apparently could not wedge themselves into the room for the discussion.
Whatever your stand on the theological issue of inerrancy, and whether or not you agree with Enn’s conclusion, this is a book you ought to read. Enns challenges the reader to think through what the Bible actually says about itself.
To have a chance at winning this book, leave a comment with your name. I will randomize the names from the comments and select one winner at random. I will respond to your comment informing you you have won the book, but you will need to contact me with shipping information.
I will announce the winner on August 28, 2019 (one week from now). Good Luck!
Last week I offered up a free copy of Mark Edward’s recent Story of God commentary on Ephesians (Zondervan, 2016). To have a chance at winning this book, people left a comment with your name and their favorite commentary on Ephesians. Harold Hoehner (Baker, 2002) led the list of favorite commentaries, although a couple of people mentioned Sit, Walk, Stand by Watchman Nee. Among the others mentioned were Clint Arnold (ZECNT), Ernest Best (ICC), and P. T. O’Brien (PNTC).
I will randomize the names from the comments and select one winner at random. I will respond to your comment informing you you have won the book, but you will need to contact me with shipping information.
David Nash is the winner this time around. Now he has Mark Robert;s commentary to read along side is favorite, S. M. Baugh’s EEC commentary. So everyone congratulate or curse his luck. I will post another giveaway this afternoon, so keep an eye out for that.
It is the end of the summer, and like most full time educators I am mourning the end, but looking forward to a great new semester. To celebrate, I want to give away one book a week for the next month. First up is Mark Edward’s recent Story of God commentary on Ephesians (Zondervan, 2016). Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger (although he has not posted in 2019).
Since 2015, he has been the Executive Director of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary. The commentary series combines academic insights with a pastoral heart. I had the opportunity to meet Mark this summer and thought he was the ideal person to write this kind of commentary. He is a scholar who has spent much of his career in some sort of pastoral ministry. I have read through the commentary and it is quite useful.
To have a chance at winning this book, leave a comment with your name and your favorite commentary on Ephesians. I will randomize the names from the comments and select one winner at random. I will respond to your comment informing you you have won the book, but you will need to contact me with shipping information.
I will announce the winner on August 21, 2019 (one week from now). Good Luck!
Last week I offered my extra copy of James L. Papandrea, A Week in the Life of Rome (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2019) to one of the readers of this blog. I do this from time to time when I have an extra copy of something I think people might like. Sometimes I buy a book and discover later I already had a copy (people often associate this with impending old age, but I blame almost anything else). I said I would give it away yesterday, but I got busy with other things and completely forgot.
There were twenty-one entries this time, and I was happy to see several new names from previous giveaways. I sorted the names randomly and then used random.org to generate the winner. And the winner is….
Matt Lantz
Everyone congratulate Matt (or curse his luck). Matt, contact me via plong at gmail.com or a direct message on Twitter (@plong42) with a mailing address and I will get this right out to you.
About the book: Since the “week in the life of” series are novels by biblical scholars, about half the book is academic side-notes explaining the background details of the story. I have read all three of the currently available volumes and find them to be entertaining and easy reading. These are not academic books, but they do present the history and archaeology of the Roman world for a popular audience. I reviewed the book a few weeks ago, concluding “this book offers an entertaining insight into the relationship of Christianity and Rome in the mid-first century. Papandrea draws out the agonizing decisions a person living in the Roman world would have to make in order to be a Christian in an entirely pagan world. The book will be an easy introduction for readers interested in the background of the Roman world and early Christianity.”
I have an extra copy of James L. Papandrea, A Week in the Life of Rome (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Academic, 2019). This is the latest addition to IVP Academic’s “A Week in the Life of” series, which now includes Ben Witherington’s A Week in the Life of Corinth (2012) and Gary M. Burge, A Week in the Life of a Roman Centurion (2015). John Byron, A Week in the Life of a Slave is coming in July 2019.
Since the “week in the life of” series are novels by biblical scholars, about half the book is academic side-notes explaining the background details of the story. I have read all three of the currently available volumes and find them to be entertaining and easy reading. These are not academic books, but they do present the history and archaeology of the Roman world for a popular audience. I reviewed the book a few weeks ago, concluding “this book offers an entertaining insight into the relationship of Christianity and Rome in the mid-first century. Papandrea draws out the agonizing decisions a person living in the Roman world would have to make in order to be a Christian in an entirely pagan world. The book will be an easy introduction for readers interested in the background of the Roman world and early Christianity.”
To have a chance at winning this book, leave a comment with your name so I can contact you if you win. I will randomize the names from the comments and select one winner at random.
I will announce the winner picked at random on March 26, 2019 (one week from now). Good Luck!
Last week I celebrated the beginning of the new school year with a book giveaway: John E. Johnson, Under an Open Heaven: A New Way of Life Revealed in John’s Gospel (Kregel, 2017). This is a book which reflects good scholarship, but is written for a popular audience and would make a great addition to a pastor’s library. I reviewed this book when it was published, where I commented:
The thirteen chapters of the book read like sermons, with introductory illustrations drawn from pop culture or personal experience, and chapter sections with alliterative headings. He even cites Bob Dylan, which is always a plus. Since the book is written on a conversational level, it would work well in a small group environment or as personal devotional reading. Johnson has included a few questions at the end of each chapter to prompt discussion.
There were only twelve entries this time, so I sorted them at random and picked a number at random.org. The winner is:
Steve Williams
Steve’s “favourite pericope is John 9:23 to 9:38.” The spelling of “favorite” makes me think I will be shipping this book some distance, so get in touch with me soon at plong42@gmail.com and I will drop in the in the mail as soon as I can. Thanks to everyone for participating.
This is an exceptionally good semester for me, should I do one more giveaway?
Once again, to celebrate the end of the summer and beginning of the new academic year, I am giving away a few books. In this case, it is another book I purchase and then discovered I already had it on the shelf. This week I have an extra copy of John E. Johnson, Under an Open Heaven: A New Way of Life Revealed in John’s Gospel (Kregel, 2017). This is a book which reflects good scholarship, but is written for a popular audience and would make a great addition to a pastor’s library. I reviewed this book when it was published, where I commented:
The thirteen chapters of the book read like sermons, with introductory illustrations drawn from pop culture or personal experience, and chapter sections with alliterative headings. He even cites Bob Dylan, which is always a plus. Since the book is written on a conversational level, it would work well in a small group environment or as personal devotional reading. Johnson has included a few questions at the end of each chapter to prompt discussion.
To have a chance at winning these books, leave a comment with your name and favorite chapter / pericope in John’s Gospel so I can contact you if you win. I will randomize the names from the comments and select one winner at random.
I will announce the winner picked at random on September 7, 2018 (one week from now). Good Luck!
Today is the day I pick a winner for The Gospel of John and Christian Theology, edited by Richard Bauckham and Carl Mosser (Eerdmans, 2008). There were 51 comments (after I deleted my comments and some duplicates). This was one of the highest number of entries I have seen for a book giveaway, and several of the usual suspects did not enter.
I randomized the names then pasted them into a spreadsheet, generated a random number at random.org. And the winner is…..
Kevin Boyle
Congrats to Kevin! Please contact me via email (plong42 at gmail .com) with your mailing address and I will drop the book in the mail ASAP. Thanks to everyone who commented, look for the next “Back to School” book giveaway later this afternoon.
Summer is over and it is time to get back into the swing of a new semester.Actually, I just finished teaching an Early Fall OT Survey course for freshmen, so I have been swinging things for a while. But I still want to celebrate the beginning of a new school year with the traditional Reading Acts book giveaway. As regular readers know, I occasionally purchase a book and when I put it on the shelf I discover I already owned the book. Although this is embarrassing (and possibly a sign of old age), it is good news for readers of this blog since I usually set the book aside for a giveaway.
First up this year is a volume of essays on The Gospel of John and Christian Theology edited by Richard Bauckham and Carl Mosser (Eerdmans, 2008). According to the Eerdmans website, the book is now out of print, although print on demand copies are available. The essays in the collection were first presented at the first St. Andrews University Conference on Scripture and Theology in 2003. This explains the diversity of essays in the book from biblical studies to theology, including “big names” such as Rowan Williams, Miroslav Volf and Jürgen Moltmann.
Here is the table of contents:
To have a chance at winning this book, leave a comment with your name so I can contact you if you win. I will randomize the names from the comments and select one winner at random. There are no geographical limits, I will ship this book to the winner where ever they live.
I will announce the winner (and the next giveaway) on Friday morning, August 31, 2018.
