August 1, 2025 Musings

Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Podcast Updates

  • Season Four of the Blessed Hope is underway! The season is entitled “Life in the Midst of Death” and is a deep dive into 2 Corinthians

  • I’m looking forward to some vacation time! Retirement is hard work. My wife knows where to find me, and I can’t use the excuse, “sorry, I can’t get to that right now, I have work to do”

Thinking Out loud:

  • I’ve given up on the NBA—I haven’t watched a game in years. I was a long-time Lakers fan (especially the “dream team,”) but I’m sick of hero-ball, stars constantly changing teams, teams playing no defense, and fact that the last two minutes of a close NBA game are insufferable to watch. No wonder NBA fans are bailing—NBA finals ratings were down badly again with no sign of a turn around

  • Meanwhile MLB is thriving, thanks in large measure to recent rule changes shortening the games and some great young stars

  • As the R’s move from TV to streaming services (like YouTube and Prime) I’m making it my policy not to order any product which interrupts something I’m watching with a pop-up ad. You interrupt me, I won’t buy your stuff

  • I’m not exactly a fan of Rosie O’Donnell and frankly, I’m happy that she and others like her have moved to Ireland, the UK, and Spain. But Trump calling her a “threat to humanity” and threatening to revoke her citizenship is a good reason for Melania to take his phone away from him after midnight

  • Despite the well-intentioned hopes that John “Ozzy” Osbourne was a closet believer, probably not a good idea to enter eternity with the moniker “prince of darkness.” Isn’t that title currently in use?

  • Nothing like small town news reporting. Here’s an actual on-line news link: “Bikini-clad man arrested after knocking over trashcans at 3 a.m. while possibly-poisoned dog taken into custody by animal control.” Must be nice to live in a place where stuff like that actually makes news  

Recently Read:

Frank Thielman’s new book, Paul, the Apostle of Grace is the new standard for Pauline biography. In the manner of F. F. Bruce’s magisterial, Paul the Apostle of the Heart Set Free, which looks broadly at Paul’s life and times, Thielman has given us a modern, scholarly, and readable biography of Paul. This is not a theology of Paul in the manner of Ridderbos, Vos, Gaffin, or Beale. This is a remarkable effort to consider Paul’s life and ministry from his birth to his death, based upon the mass of available data, and very skillfully woven into a compelling narrative.

Many of the endorsers see Thielman’s volume as replacing Bruce’s, but I see them as two closely related, albeit different efforts. If you are interested in Paul’s life and letters you’ll surely want both.

Thielman’s book is must reading for anyone interested in Paul. Paul is the subject of constant publications from different perspectives and approaches. But this one is especially important as it is informative—Thielman does not cave to the specious opinions of critical scholarship. He defends Pauline authorship of Paul’s letters to the Ephesians, and to Timothy and Titus (although he argues for an earlier date for 1 Timothy than do most, as well as offering an interesting origin story for Paul’s letter to Titus). He repeatedly ties Paul to the events in the Book of Acts—reaffirming the historical reliability of both accounts, something critical scholars refuse to do despite evidence to the contrary and marshaled capably by Thielman. Thielman also includes several useful appendices: 1). On the evidence for Paul, 2). The historical setting of the imprisonment letters, and 3). On the date and manner of Paul’s death in Rome at the hands of Nero. These are all very helpful and interesting short essays.

An altogether great book destined to be a standard!

A caveat—since Thielman’s book summarizes so many important and recent biblical and historical sources, the book is marred by the fact that Eerdmans (the publisher) went with endnotes (which are the work of the devil) and not footnotes, which a volume like this requires. Bad move, Eerdmans.

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June/July 2025 Musings

Video:

Remember this? When Ayatollah Khomeini’s funeral got a bit out of hand? Absolutely crazy! Well-worth watching to get a sense of the craziness of Shiite Islam.