A feather in your theological cap.
The personal blog of pastor, grammarian, and runner Brent Niedergall
The Curse in the Colophon: Chapter 1
Note: Fans of New Testament textual criticism and manuscripts might be interested to know Edgar J. Goodspeed wrote a novel on these subjects entitled The Curse of the Colophon. (I've written about this unique book before in a post you can find here). Unfortunately,...
Biblical Studies Carnival 186 for August 2021
Welcome to the Biblical Studies Carnival! Another month, another Biblical Studies Carnival. Thanks for dropping by. Below you'll find some excellent biblical studies material released to in the Wild West of the Internet in August 2021. Enjoy! Giveaway! What's a...
A History of Evangelism in North America
A Book Review Editor, Thomas P. Johnston, along with 21 contributors collaborated in the production of A History of Evangelism in North America from Kregel Academic. This is an encouraging book about God’s work of using men and women to proclaim the good news...
A Humdrum Life of Faith
Of prominent Bible figures, Isaac has always struck me as one of the more humdrum ones. Sandwiched between fellow patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, he’s principally known for being the young man God commanded Abraham to sacrifice and the old man Jacob tricked. In between...
Uprooted Trees and Rooted Faith
One of Aesop’s Fables tells of a mighty oak defeated by the wind and uprooted from where it had stood for decades. The fallen oak, lying in disgrace, wonders how a tree as great as itself could be uprooted while all the weak and slender reeds surrounding him still...
Labels and a Lost Tract
The only known manuscript of The Epistle to Diognetus, which may have then been the earliest gospel tract in existence, was destroyed in 1870 during a European war. Thankfully, a couple of careful folks had copied down the text of this manuscript well before its...
How to Read an Entry in The Cambridge Greek Lexicon
I’ve found an opportunity to open my new copy of The Cambridge Greek Lexicon for a smell and a gander. (Seriously, give your copy a whiff and see if you don't detect a distinct scent.) The purpose of this post is to show what an entry looks like and offer a case study...
Reading While Black
A Book Review Although I now live in a town that’s 64% Black or African American and only 30% White, it still feels strange that our local churches don’t even remotely reflect these demographics. Not even close. I admit I gave little thought to skin color and...
Book Review—The Shepherd of Hermas: A Literary, Historical, and Theological Handbook
Jonathon Lookadoo The Shepherd of Hermas: A Literary, Historical, and Theological Handbook T&T Clark: London, 2021. Pp. xii + 295. Hardcover. $115.00 ISBN: 978-0-5676-979102 Amazon Rick Brannan Independent Scholar https://rickbrannan.com The Shepherd of...
Frogs, an Eagle, Monkeys, and Giving: The Lexical Intersection Between the Greek New Testament and Aesop’s Fables
BDAG, the standard Greek lexicon for reading the New Testament, has somewhere around 180 references to the Greek text of Aesop’s Fables. You’re probably familiar with some of Aesop’s Fables—for instance, maybe the one about the thirsty crow who fills a pitcher with...