For the month of October, Logos Software is having a very good sale on selected reference works published by Yale.

In addition, the free book of the month on offer is the commentary on Romans in the Anchor Yale series by Joseph Fitzymer, with options to purchase a couple more commentaries on Habakkuk (by Francis I. Andersen) and Galatians (by J. Louis Martyn) at additional cost of US$2.99 - this is a real deal! 

Resources on sale include:
1) The entire Anchor Yale Bible Commentary set - you may choose to purchase the entire OT and NT series, or opt for either OT or NT set.
2) Selected works on Jonathan Edwards
3) Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library
4) Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
5) and others.

Now is a good time to build your digital library, if fund permits of course. 

Photo credit: Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

More than 60 people packed the hall, Semenyih Room, at Level 5, Luther Centre, on 6 July where I gave a public lecture on  The Power of Metaphor and Christian Identity Transformation. This lecture was a summary of the insights drawn from my latest publication, Metaphors and Social Identity Formation in Paul's Letters to the Corinthians. 

We were very pleased with the response to our series of public lectures organised by the seminary for this year. Perhaps this is an indication of the wider interest in our academic research. Perhaps this is also an reflection of the spiritual maturity of some of our wider Christian public that hunger for a more serious academic and intellectual discourse. 

We thank all who attended our public lecture and we hope that you will continue to support more initiatives that we are planning for the months to come. We also thank the team of volunteers who helped put things together. 

We may be putting up the public lecture online in the days to come after we have completed the editing.

Photo credits: Simon Kang and Lim Kar Yong

All are welcome to join us for the public lecture on July 6, 2017.

Please refer to the attached flyer for further information

I am very pleased to inform that copies of my new book, Metaphors and Social Identity Formation in Paul's Letters to the Corinthians, have arrived from the publisher, Wipf and Stock. For those who have pre-ordered the book, we will be organising the shipping within the next day or two.

If you are still interested in ordering the book, please click on this link. The special promotional price of RM120 including shipping to any destination in Malaysia ends on 30 June 2017.

We are in the midst of organising a public lecture at our Centre for Theological Education by Extension, organised by the Centre for Bible Engagement. Further details will be made available as soon as we have confirmed the event. 

Thank you for all the support you have given me.

The cover design for my upcoming publication has been finalised by the publisher, Pickwick Publications. The book, Metaphors and Social Identity Formation in Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians, is due to be published in the middle of the year.  I will provide further details of the book in the weeks to come.

I am very pleased that I am able to use a photograph that I took when I visited ancient Corinth in 2015 for the cover.

Special thanks to Brian Tucker, Kathy Ehrensperger, and Bill Campbell for the blurbs. 

The response to my book, Jesus the Storyteller: Hearing the Parables Afresh Today, since its launch less than two years ago has been very encouraging. As a result, the book has gone out of print since early this year. A few weeks ago, the publisher contacted me and asked if I would like to consider a 2nd reprint of the book, which i agreed. This ensures that the book will be made available to those who are interested in it. At the same time, it also gives me the opportunity to correct a few typographical errors in the book.

The new stock has now arrived in my office. 

Unfortunately, due to the depreciation of Ringgit, there is a small increase in the selling price of the book in Malaysia. It is now available at RM45 per copy. If you are considering buying in bulk for use in small groups, cell groups, young adults bible study, let me know and we could offer some discount.

If you would like to acquire a copy, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by using the contact form by clicking here.

The Centre for Bible Engagement, Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, invites you to join us for our 4th Annual Biblical Studies Seminar focussing on the theme of Bible and Gender on 27 February (Monday), 9am-5pm. The central focus of our Biblical Studies Seminar is intentional interdisciplinary in nature where we gain insights and perspectives from other related disciplines. 

​Is gender a subjective reality where we are male or female because we perceive ourselves as such? Is gender socially constructed according to certain stereotypes or culture? Is there a difference in gender identity as reflected in the Bible? In the age of rapidly increasing gender fluidity, can one still hold on to the traditional roles of gender identity? Are gender roles mentioned in the Bible normative for all times? What do other fields of studies inform us of gender issues? 

This seminar aims to address these issues from an interdisciplinary approach covering biblical, gender studies, and psychological perspectives.
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Our Team of Speakers

Rev Grace Kwan Sik Tsoi, PhD Candidate, University of Divinity (Whitley College), Melbourne.
Rev Tsoi  was born in Hong Kong and migrated to Australia with family at high school. She studied in the University of New South Wales and was awarded BSc (Med), B. Medicine, B. Surgery. Upon graduation she was called to full time ministry, so she left the medical field and entered seminary studies, and was awarded B.Th (Hons) from the Sydney College of Divinity.  She pastored the Chinese Congregation of Canberra Chinese Christian Church from 2009-2015, and was ordained in 2013.  She is currently working on her PhD, focusing on the book of Judges.

Rev Tsoi will present a paper entitled, “Gender in Old Testament Narratives: Stereotypes, Interpretations and Cultures.”

Rev Dr Leonard Wee, Lecturer in New Testament, Trinity Theological College (TTC), Singapore.
Rev Dr Wee is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Singapore (PCS). He worked in the banking sector for five years before obtaining his Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. After pastoring for 10 years (7 years as the lead pastor at Hope Presbyterian Church), he was sent as faculty-in-development by TTC and the PCS Synod to study at Durham University, with scholarships from the Brash Trust, the Council for World Mission and TTC. He completed his PhD studies in 2013 under the supervision of Professor Francis B. Watson.

Rev Dr Wee will present a paper entitled,  “The Ordination of Women in the Presbyterian Church in Singapore: A Biblical Evaluation”

​Dr Sharon Bong, Associate Professor of Gender Studies, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia.
Dr Bong graduated with a Ph.D. in Religious Studies (2002) and M.A. in Women and Religion (1997), University of Lancaster, UK. She has authored The Tension Between Women’s Rights and Religions: The Case of Malaysia (2006) and edited Trauma, Memory and Transformation in Southeast Asia (2014) and Re-imagining Marriage and Family in Asia: Asian Christian Women’s Perspectives (2008). She is currently consultant to and former coordinator of the Ecclesia of Women in Asia and a forum writer for the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church.  

Dr Bong will present a paper entitled, “Feminine Genius: Revisiting Gender Complementarity Today”

Dr Hera Lukman, Registered Chartered Health Psychologist with the British Psychological Society.
Dr Lukman obtained her BA (Hons) at Simon Fraser University, Canada, her MSc at the University of Sheffield, UK, and her PhD at the University of Leeds, UK. For the past 15 years, Hera has taught Psychology at several Universities in the UK and Malaysia. Her areas of interest include appearance evaluation, eating behaviour and sexuality. As a Christian Psychologist, Hera is passionate in integrating Psychology with Biblical principles in understanding personhood and one's identity in Christ. 

Dr Lukman will present a paper entitled, “Navigating Gender Identity: Is There a ‘Redemptive Space’ in the Church?”

Date: 27 February 2017 Monday      
Time: 9am-5pm
Venue: STM Campus. See map below for directions. 
​

Admission is free but we welcome freewill donations to cover the cost of organising the seminar. Registration is required for catering purpose. Coffee breaks and lunch inclusive.

Please register by clicking here.  

Closing date for registration: 22 February 2017 (Wednesday)

A flyer for the seminar can be downloaded by clicking here.

The European Research Council announces the opening of the website for the project "Re-thinking Judaism’s Encounter with the Roman Empire: Rome’s Political and Religious Challenge to Israel and its Impact on Judaism (2nd century BCE – 4th century CE" (short title: "Judaism and Rome"). The website can be assessed by clicking here.

The website states that one may "find useful resources for studying Roman imperial ideology, or Roman imperial discourses, artefacts and performances, displayed in literary records, epigraphy, numismatics, as well as through monuments, statues and other material artefacts."

The website aims to: 

1. give access to some important sources, providing as much information as possible: images, original text, translation…
2. provide the reader with an original and detailed analysis of each source, a service that is very rarely offered on the internet, and which makes this website comparable to a rich sourcebook
3. promote interdisciplinary discussion between scholars working on Roman history, Jewish Studies, Epigraphy, Numismatics, Classics, Patristics, History of Christianity, etc. 

I am sure this website is another important resource for those who are interested in the history of primitive Christ-movement. 

Have you ever wondered what are the Dead Sea Scrolls? Why is it that the Dead Sea Scrolls caused a stir in biblical  scholarship? Why is the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls important and significant? 

​We are pleased to announce that the Centre for Theological Education by Extension and Centre for Bible Engagement, Seminari Theolohi Malaysia will be organising a special 3-day course on “Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible” to be taught by Dr Benjamin Wold, Assistant Professor in New Testament, from Trinity College Dublin. 

This is indeed a very rare opportunity where courses related to the Dead Sea Scrolls are hardly offered in this region.

Date: 9-11 February, 2017 (Thursday - Saturday)
Time: 10am-6pm
Venue: STM campus (see map below). 

Topics to be covered:
· Introduction to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls
· The Archaeology of Qumran
· The significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the study of Old Testament and New Testament
· The development of Jewish groups from the second cent. BCE to second cent. CE
· Messianic Ideas in the Dead SeaScrolls
· Biblical interpretation in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Students may elect to take this course for credits (elective) or audit. Limited basic dormitory accommodation is available at STM campus on a first-come-first-served basis.
​
We welcome donations to cover the cost of organising the course. Please enquire with us. Contact details can be found in the registration form below. 

Registration for the course closes on 3 February 2017. Please note that prior registration is required to attend the course. You may register for the course by filling up the registration form ​below

The flyer for the course may be viewed by clicking here while the course outline is reproduced as follows: