New Testament scholar Craig Evans recently wrote this pointed, detailed review of Reza Aslan's book, Zealot. The review spans several pages, so make sure to click through at the bottom of the first page.Evans has a long scholarly publishing resume and is known and...
book reviews
Larry Hurtado on Bart Ehrman’s Book, How Jesus Became God
Larry Hurtado has a thoughtful, even-handed review of Ehrman's book here. This subject area is one of Hurtado's areas of expertise, his criticisms, though irenic in tone, are telling. My only addition would be toward the end. Ehrman seems completely unaware of OT...
Review of Bart Ehrman’s Latest Book, How Jesus Became God
Dr. Andreas Kostenberger just posted his review of Ehrman's most recent work, How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee. The review is more of an overview of problems he sees with Ehrman's thinking. He leaves analysis of those problems to...
Ancient Astronauts and Comic Books
Jason Colavito has an informative post on the "big-business-factual-data-be-damned" approach of Ancient Aliens. The early section of his post notes connections between ancient astronaut theory and pop-culture, specifically with respect to Marvel comics. The...
Joseph Atwill’s Josephus Code
I've blogged this subject over at my Naked Bible blog, but it also belongs here at Paleobabble. What follows is borrowed from that post and appended with reviews and updates. Joseph Atwill, self-proclaimed (and credential-less) biblical scholar has recently busied...
Part 2 of My Thoughts About a New Book on Triangular UFOs: Missing the Airbus
I'm nearly done with David Marler's new book Triangular UFOs: An Estimate of the Situation. In my preliminary thoughts about the book, I discussed the logical inadequacies of some of the assertions in the book's preface, written by Col. John B. Alexander. The gist of...
Thoughts on a New Book About Triangular UFOs, Part 1
I'm about a third of the way through the recently released book by David Marler, Triangular UFOs: An Estimate of the Situation. Despite what I'll say below, my feeling at this point is that this is an important book that anyone with an interest in UFOs should have....
Review: Encounters with Star People
I just finished the book, Encounters with Star People: Untold Stories of American Indians (Anomalist Books, 2012), by Ardy Sixkiller Clarke. I can review it in one word: disappointing. Or four words: don't waste your money. When I heard about this book I was...
Some Book Reviews of Note for Biblical Studies
The online Journal of Hebrew Scriptures announced a few new book reviews today. Some are noteworthy for material covered on this blog: Michael Hundley, Keeping Heaven on Earth: Safeguarding the Divine Presence in the Priestly Tabernacle (FAT II, 50; Tübingen: Mohr...
Jason Colavito Blogging Through Erich von Daniken’s Latest Testament to Ancient Astronaut Nonsense
Someone should give Jason a medal. He's actually six chapters into his review. You can read the series here: Reviewing EVD's "Twilight of the Gods" (Pt. 1) Reviewing EVD's "Twilight of the Gods" (Pt. 2) Reviewing EVD's "Twilight of the Gods" (Pt. 3) Reviewing EVD's...
Myth and Mystery of UFOs: A Review
I just finished Thomas Bullard's book, The Myth and Mystery of UFOs, by scholar-folklorist Thomas Bullard (University of Kansas Press, 2010). Rather than write my own review, I found the work summarized nicely in this review over at Magonia review of books blog. I'll...
All Commentaries are Not Created Equal, Part 3: Commentary Recommendations
In response to my two previous posts about commentaries, several readers have asked me for recommendations on commentaries. This is a little like asking me to recommend a Bible translation (see here for my thoughts on that), but this request actually calls for more...
Review of Nick Redfern’s Final Events
Nick Redfern, Final Events and the Secret Government Group on Demonic UFOs and the Afterlife (Anomalist Books, 2010) Well, I finally carved out some time to review Nick Redfern's latest book. I'm hoping you all went ahead and bought it and read it during the wait (and...
ZIBBC Volume 3
In this, my fourth post on the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (ZIBBC), I'll say a few things about Volume 3, which covers 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. I know. You're thinking, "What could anyone possible put into a...
ZIBBC Volume 2
Volume 2 of the ZIBBC covers the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth and 1-2 Samuel. Like volume 1 (Pentateuch), this volume is a go-to resource for ant pastor and serious Bible student. It is aimed at supplementing a traditional commentary that seeks to pay close attention...