Happy Easter to all! Christos Anesti!
It has been just over two months since our last post here on The Time Has Been Shortened, and after friends have pestered us about whether or not we are going to continue blogging, we feel that it is time for an explanation. Many of us are very busy in life right now as grad students. With some of us having two or more jobs, pastoring, grad work, having children, etc. it has been very difficult to maintain a blog on biblical studies. We have been discussing this and have decided to incorporate more of our current projects and interests from our classes, especially major paper topics that we find interesting or worth sharing.
Also we have had many requests to finish the New Testament portion of our interview series I began entitled: “Monotheism and the Bible: Origins, Issues, and the Status Quaestionis.” The interviews with Nathan McDonald and Michael Heiser in the “Monotheism and the Hebrew Bible” section were well received. They have been found to be helpful for people interested in receiving a basic introduction to the contours of the present scholarly conversation regarding “monotheism” and the Ancient Israelite religion (whether variegated or monolithic) represented in the Hebrew Bible.
What still remains is to complete the interviews regarding the nature of Christology and Monotheism that is represented in the New Testament. The interviewees chosen for this specific topic were chosen based on their experience in the field: Larry Hurtado, who has written and taught for many years on the topic, and James McGrath, whose 2009 monograph “The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in its Jewish Context” sparked a lively discussion between the two scholars highlighting important points of divergence in the wider conversation regarding the nature of early Christian monotheism and christology. It will be genuinely interesting to pick up this conversation where it left off to see if there are any further nuances the scholars would like to share regarding this heated topic of discussion. My hope is that both will still graciously participate, even though the interview series had been put on hold for the semester.
“The Time Has Been Shortened” is happy to announce it’s resurrection on resurrection day. What better day to do it?
Good to hear.