Ali Robinson
New Testament scholar.
Recommended Resources
A range of resources I have found helpful in my own teaching and thinking about the Bible
Reading Paul
The Least of These: Paul and the Marginalised
Carla Swofford Works (Eerdmans, 2020)
A highly readable and sensitive exploration of Paul’s treatment of those on the margins. In this book, Carla Swafford Works demonstrates that Paul's message and ministry are in harmony with the teaching of Jesus. She brings to light an apostle who preaches and models good news to the "least of these"-the poor, the marginalized, the disadvantaged, and the vulnerable.
Paul Behaving Badly: Was the Apostle A Racist, Chauvinist Jerk?
E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O’Brien (IVP, 2016)
He was arrogant and stubborn. He called his opponents derogatory, racist names. He legitimized slavery and silenced women. He was a moralistic, homophobic killjoy who imposed his narrow religious views on others. Or was he? This book addresses common complaints about Paul and offers two ways of viewing these complex issues.
When in Romans: An Invitation to Linger with the Gospel according to Paul
Beverly Roberts Gaventa (Baker Academic, 2016)
A short and accessible overview of Romans. In this book, Gaventa gives readers a bird's eye view of the letter, focusing on four key issues: salvation, identity, ethics, and community. Each of these are crucial both for the first century and for our own.
Women in the Bible & the Church
Women and the Gender of God
Amy Peeler (Eerdmans, 2022)
Through a deep reading of the incarnation, Amy Peeler not only affirms God's love for women but shows how the Bible depicts a God beyond gender and a savior who, while embodied as a man, is the unification in one person of the image of God that resides in both male and female. A robust theological argument against the assumption that God is male.
What Jesus Learned from Women
James F. McGrath (Cascade Books, 2021)
This book explores the humanity of Jesus and reflects on how encounters with women shaped Jesus’ life and ministry.
James McGrath makes the stories of women in the New Testament come alive, and sheds fresh light on the figure of Jesus as well.
The Making of Biblical Womanhood
Beth Allison Barr (Brazos, 2021)
Biblical womanhood is the belief that God designed women to be submissive wives, virtuous mothers, and joyful homemakers. This book traces the idea of “biblical womanhood” looking at where it came from and the way this notion has shaped the church today. According to Barr,
biblical womanhood isn't biblical. It arose from a series of clearly definable historical moments.
The Message of Women: Creation, Grace and Gender
Derek Tidball and Dianne Tidball (IVP, 2012)
In this wide-ranging exposition, Derek and Diane Tidball attempt to defuse the ongoing polemics surrounding gender in Christian witness with a refreshing firsthand look at the place of women in the Bible. The authors begin with foundations about women in creation and in the new creation and then examine women under the old covenant, women with Jesus and in the kingdom of God, and women in the community of the early church.
Reading the Bible Thoughtfully
Violence & the Bible for Normal People: A Guide to Biblical Texts of Terror
Caroline Blyth (Bible for Normal People, 2025)
This brilliantly accessible and engaging book canvasses one of the heaviest themes in the Bible, examining portrayals of violence in its many forms. Unlike so many accessible Bible studies, Violence & the Bible for Normal People resists the temptation to provide "neat and tidy" theological solutions to some of the most challenging texts in the Bible, instead naming them for what they are and examining their ongoing legacies.
The Bible for Normal People Podcast
A podcast hosted by Peter Enns and Jared Byas, where they interview a wide range of biblical scholars on a vast array of topic. Their visions is to help all people engage with the Bible freely, without fear or guilt—where questions are welcome and scholarship is accessible.
The link below takes you to an interview they did with Bruce Longenecker on Galatians. "They explore how Paul reframes identity around participation in Christ rather than ethnic or religious hierarchy, and why Galatians is less about individual salvation and more about transformed relationships in a fractured world.
Who is God?
Key Moments of Biblical Revelation
Richard Bauckham (Baker, 2025)
This volume begins by exploring three key events in the Bible in which God is revealed: Jacob's dream at Bethel (the revelation of the divine presence), Moses at the burning bush (the revelation of the divine Name), and Moses on Mount Sinai (the revelation of the divine character). In each case, Bauckham traces these themes through the rest of Scripture. He then shows how the New Testament builds on the Old by exploring three revelatory events in Mark's Gospel, events that reveal the Trinity: Jesus's baptism, transfiguration, and crucifixion.
Grounded in the Body, in Time and Place, in Scripture
An edited volume with eighteen chapters by established and emerging Australian women scholars in the evangelical tradition. The authors consider our relationship with the land and Indigenous peoples, neighborhood, embodiment, (dis)ability, abortion, leadership, work, architecture, the media, Song of Songs and domestic violence, and Jeremiah and weaponized rape, and demonstrate recent methodologies such as a social identity reading of Exodus, sensory readings of Psalms and John’s Gospel, and discipleship readings of Mary and Martha and the woman at the well.
Brooke Prentis: Birds of the Land
In the book, Grounded in the Body, in Time and Place, Brooke Prentis offers a chapter called "Birds of the Land." This is profoundly helpful contribution on reading the Bible through Indigenous eyes.
I have attached a sample from Brooke's article and a link to one of her many podcasts where you can listen to some of her profound insights on listening to creation. The link I have here is to the Inverse Podcast.
Reading the Gospels
Encountering Jesus in the Real World of the Gospels
Cyndi Parker (Hendrickson, 2021)
A unique and compelling guide that invites readers to step into the geography and culture of the Gospels to better understand the ministry of Jesus. A beautiful work that not only opens up the landscape of the gospels but also offers a way for readers to engage with the biblical text as they gain a deeper understanding of the significance of place.
Narrative Discipleship: Portraits of Women in the Gospel of Mark
Jeffrey W. Aernie ( Pickwick Publications, 2018)
Narrative Discipleship examines the thematic and theological impact of women in the Gospel of Mark. Using narrative analysis, Aernie explores how Mark intentionally crafts the narratives of women in the Gospel to extend his portrait of discipleship. Mark portrays these women as exemplars of four key aspects of discipleship—restored life, kingdom speech, sacrificial action, and cruciformity. These stories encourage Mark's audience toward embodied discipleship and faithful participation in God’s in-breaking kingdom.
Gospels as Stories: A Narrative Approach to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Jeanine K. Brown ( Baker, 2020)
Jeannine Brown shows how a narrative approach illuminates each of the Gospels, helping readers see the overarching stories. This book offers a corrective to tendencies to read the Gospels piecemeal, one story at a time. It is filled with numerous examples and visual aids that show how narrative criticism brings the text to life, making it an ideal supplementary textbook for courses on the Gospels. Readers will gain hands-on tools and perspectives to interpret the Gospels as whole stories.
FEATURED REVIEW
Even the Devil Quotes Scripture – Review
Review of Even the Devil Quotes Scripture: Reading the Bible on Its Own Terms by Robyn Whitaker, Uniting Church Studies 26/2 (2024) 100–102.
This review examines Robyn Whitaker’s approach to critical biblical engagement through a hermeneutic of love and understanding. A compelling and scholarly deep dive into interpreting scripture within its own historical and theological contexts.