This Week in Word from the Bird
New Romans translation and paraphrase. Democracies vs. Autocracies. Christmas mercies. Jesus the ἀνατολή. Messianic High Christology.
I am back from Turkey and Greece where I had a ball of a time on the road studying the Book of Acts with a great group of Ridley students and supporters. Highlights were Ephesus, Colossae, Corinth, Laodicea, Pergamum, and Pisidian Antioch. Plus my 50th birthday celebration was pretty cracking with a balloon ride over ancient Hierapolis. Several students stepped up and did some wonderful on-site talks. The geography, sites, and ambiance of the ancient ruins of many cities gave us a deeper appreciation of the places where Paul and the first Christians walked, lived, worked, and proclaimed the gospel. It was an enriching experience, I recommend everyone undertake such a pilgrimage if they can. I recorded a few things on location which I’ll share in due course.
Monday: My New Book! (Free Sign-Ups)
Coming out on 29 January 2025, the first volume in my Lexham Interpreter’s Translation, which is a translation, paraphrase, and notes of the New Testament. The first volume up is Romans! Read the info here. Several people got advanced copies at SBL.
Tuesday: Axes of Autocracy (Paid Subscribers)
Liberal democracies are losing the war on every front - economics, military technology, territorial advancement - against autocracies. There is a new cold war upon us and liberal democracies need to regain the initiative rather than always be on the back foot.
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Wednesday: Christmas and its Mercies (Free Sign-Ups).
One thing I’ve been struck by in the Lucan infancy narrative is how it mentions over and over God’s “mercy” (Lk 1.50, 54, 58, 72, 78).
Thursday: Jesus the Dawn of Salvation (Paid Subscribers)
The Greek word ἀνατολή (anatolē) means “east,” “dawn,” or “rising” and is used in Luke 1:78-79 in a messianic sense.
Friday: Messianic High Christology (Free Sign-Ups)
Since it is Christmas, when all the talk is about Jesus, I thought I’d re-post an interview I did with Dr. Ruben Bühner about his book Messianic High Christology.
Also Dr. Bird I recommend Alexei Navalny Patriot a Memoir(translation from Russian of his writings telling his story his dissident movement he led. His talks much of his reading the Bible while in prison and speaking highly of Jesus ! I hope and pray he was a genuine believer in Jesus.
A Dr. Bird glad had a great time exploring in person places of NT with students. Maybe in this lifetime I may be able to see it, but unlikely right now. Looking forward to your writing on the current geopolitical world right now. I’ve been following a lot of what’s been happening in Ukraine 🇺🇦/Russia War and then just recently the election of President Trump(which I didn’t vote and it’s amazing he back?, but God is in control and sovereign so need not worry as a Christian) the word is very unstable now. I recommend a book I just recently read titled Autocracy Inc. by Anna Applebaum to learning more about the Autocratic movement happening all over the world now. Godbless looking forward to posts