This past month I was privileged to present at the national meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Boston. I am grateful for the invitation from my friend Dr. Tim Miller (the panel moderator) to present on "Pneumatology in the General Epistles," though I expanded on that to try to create a more wholistic Petrine pneumatology. My paper was entitled "The Rock, the Cornerstone, and the Empowering Spirit: Tracing Peter's Pneumatology through the Petrine Material of Scripture."
I received some excellent feedback on the paper, most significant being my need to incorporate 1 Pet 4:14 more thoroughly into my analysis and the need to think a bit more deeply about how sanctification fits in with Peter's pneumatology. At least one major scholar was in the audience, and she had some positive things to say, while also agreeing with a couple other people that I talk too fast 😀 (it's true, and my students can attest to that fact as well).
In addition, I was privileged to sit at the panel table with Dr. Herb Bateman, Dr. Adam Harwood, and Dr. Dana Harris, all of whom gave excellent presentations. This is kind of like a Triple-A ballplayer suddenly finding himself at a clinic with MLB Allstars, but I am grateful for the opportunity.
This was the first time in 10+ years I have actually attended a national ETS (thanks to my school, BCM, a very small college, for paying for the trip!), and the first time since 2010 (Atlanta: the Great Debate on the NPP and justification!) that I actually presented a paper (though I have presented at regional ETS meetings). Besides presenting, the highlights for me at ETS this year were hanging out with OT and Homiletics scholar Timothy Yap and his brother (which included trying out an overpriced but authentic and delicious Boston lobster fast-food joint), and listening to almost all of the "Paul within Judaism" panel presentations and discussions, featuring Paul Sloan, John W. Taylor, John Goodrich, and Justin Hardin.
