The Bible in the Early Church

Justo Gonzรกlez, The Bible in the Early Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022). 186pp + indexes. ISBN 9780802881748 Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson When Christians and people of other or no faith ask me questions about the Bible, they typically donโ€™t ask why I regard the Bible as trustworthy, or why I shape my life on …

Passions of the Christ: The Emotional Life of Jesus in the Gospels

F. Scott Spencer, Passions of the Christ: The Emotional Life of Jesus in the Gospels (Baker Academic, 2021). 265pp + bib. & indexes. ISBN 9781540964465 Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson Carl Heinrich Bloch, Jesus Cleansing the Temple, 1874. Biblical revelation, the ecumenical creeds, and orthodox Christian theology all attest that Jesus Christ was fully God …

Why the Cross? Divine Friendship and the Power of Justice

Ligita Ryliลกkytฤ—, Why the Cross? Divine Friendship and the Power of Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023). 491pp. ISBN 9781009202763. Reviewed by Dr Rod Benson Published in the CUP series Current Issues in Theology, this book addresses the question, โ€œWhat does it mean for the cross of Christ to save?โ€ This book offers a fresh …

Three audacious claims of Jesus

A short address to Moore Theological College staff by Dr Rod Benson, 3 June 2024. Today, my brief is to talk for five minutes about the unity of the Godhead, the nature of salvation, and the certainty of eschatological judgment. See John 5:15-24 (CSB). As a child of church-going parents, I attended Sunday School where …

Jesus and the winds of change

As a young child in Wollongong, I learned a lot of hymns and songs at Sunday School, in church, and at home listening to Burl Ives LP records.   Burl was a challenge to my tiny mind, since as well as revivalist hymns he also sang patriotic American songs, and colonial Australian songs such as …