Update on Summer writing projects; Asia Bible Commentary; and an Academic Phrasebank for students
Welcome to my newsletter, ‘Bible, Mission, and More’, where I share what’s on my mind as I teach, research, and write on the Bible and mission, children-at-risk in the Bible and contemporary society, Psalms and Wisdom Literature, and a range of other topics. I teach at All Nations Christian College in the UK, though views are my own. You may also like to check out my Bible and Mission website.
Each Tuesday I’ll share something I’ve read, something I’ve written or recorded, something on learning and teaching, and a quote to reflect on.
Something read – Asia Bible Commentary on Joel
Once a term each tutor group at All Nations organises the weekly college community worship. We are going through the book of Joel this term and our week is focused on the beautiful passage Joel 2:18-27, which speaks of God restoring to Israel the things that they had lost earlier in the book. I’m giving the sermon so I’ve been working on the passage recently.
One of the commentaries I’ve consulted is in Langham’s Asia Bible Commentary series: Joel, Nahum and Malachi: A Pastoral and Contextual Commentary by Joseph Too Shao and Rosa Ching Shao (2021). I really liked their treatment of the passage; although fairly brief they go into some good detail. For example, there was a helpful table illustrating how the restoration in the passage ‘matched’ the devastation in chapter 1:
I also enjoyed a section in the commentary’s introduction called, ‘An Asian Theological Reading of Joel’. Here they reflect on how themes of Elders as Leaders; Shame and Fear; and God as Creator and Sustainer work through the text. It was a great example of the richness of reading biblical texts alongside others.
A number of the volumes in the Asia Bible Commentary series are available on Perlego or you can check them out on Langham’s website.
Something written – Update on Summer writing projects
At the start of the Summer I wrote about three writing projects I was working on and I thought it was worth letting you know how I got on.
The revisions were all completed for my chapter, ‘Blessing, “Shalom” and Lament: Biblical perspectives on Child Spirituality’. This is my contribution to an edited volume with Routledge called, Religious Teaching and Practices as Vehicles of Spirituality in Practice with Children. Our plan is to make the book open access. We’ve raised most of the money but have a bit to go. If you want to read more about it and even contribute please see the GoFundMe page.
The work continues on my co-edited volume on preaching OT texts that feature children. A couple of introductory chapters are now drafted and we will soon be approaching contributors who will write short (c. 1500 words) chapters on a variety of OT texts. I’m hoping we can keep chipping away at this over the coming months.
My main piece of work over the Summer was to write up a case study on how we have sought to integrate theological reflection on safeguarding into the life and curriculum at All Nations. For a taster you can find a previous post about different theological lenses and safeguarding here.
I’m please with where I got to with it: I think it gives a good account of what we’ve done so far and I hope it will be a useful reference point or conversation starter for others. I’ve now completed the draft and received some feedback from colleagues. I’ve sent it off to a journal and will go through the peer-review process with them. I’m not sure how long it will be before it is published but, assuming it is accepted by that particular journal, it will be open access.
Learning and teaching – Improving writing with an an Academic Phrasebank
Developing your writing skills is an essential part of academic work. Happily, there is plenty of help out there, in addition to the support you will receive from your own institution. A student recently drew my attention to a resource provided by the University of Manchester called the Academic Phrasebank. In the website’s words, ‘It aims to provide you with examples of some of the phraseological ‘nuts and bolts’ of writing.’ As such it works through useful phrases typically found in dissertations under the headings:
It also has a number of categories based on more general writing:
From what I have seen this looks like an excellent resource. There is a pdf / Kindle of an enhanced version (158 pages!) on the website but there is still a wealth of information available for free. Well done University of Manchester!
Visit Academic Phrasebank
Quote - Michael Gorman on walking the gospel
‘The gospel must not be taken into the world but walked into the world, incarnationally, we might say.’
In Becoming the Gospel: Paul, Participation, and Mission (Eerdmans, 2015, p. 206)
Thanks for joining the journey and see you next week,
Tim