2025 Year End Recap

Though I didn’t have a book release this year like I did in 2024, this was nevertheless an eventful and mostly fruitful year, though much of the work from this year was more about ploughing and planting than reaping or harvesting.

But thanks to a largely positive response to my books, there continues to be a fair amount of ripening and meal preparation, which on the one hand is at least somewhat refreshing but on the other hand does reduce the time available for ploughing and planting. Nevertheless, one big piece of news was about a major future project, as I signed a contract to produce Romans Through Old Testament Eyes, a commentary focused on helping non-specialists understand how Romans uses scripture and how that helps us understand the epistle.

After over a year of post-production work, we were finally able to launch a project my girls are very proud of: a set of YouTube videos in which you can learn CPR from a four and five year old.

It was a light year on publications outside this Substack. The first was “Israelites or Jews,” an article for TheTorah.com on Sept 27, which (with the help of their excellent editors) helps make one of the core arguments of my first book more accessible to a lay audience in short article form.

The latter was “No, Paul Was Not against the Jews,” in First Things on October 10, responding to Gerald McDermott’s libelous “review” of my book for the same publication in September.

Unless I’m forgetting something, that was the extent of my external publications for the year, though a few other things are in the pipeline for release soonish.

I also had a full teaching load this year. I taught four classes in the spring: Intro to the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, two sections of Religious Traditions of the World, and a survey course on Judaism.

The fall was a little lighter (at least at the beginning), with one section apiece of Intro to OT, Intro to NT, and RTW. But then things got a good bit busier in early November, when due to another faculty member being unable to finish the semester, I took over two additional classes the rest of the way: Religion in the Contemporary World and Darwinism and Christianity. Nothing like new course preps (I have my 24th in the spring, not including those two) to keep me on my intellectual toes.

This is my ninth year at NC State, and I’m grateful to have been in such a quality department for nearly a decade. I’m also finally in position where I will be able to apply for promotion on the teaching track, another thing for which I’m grateful as I head into the new year.

The last few years have seen an uptick in my going on the road for speaking engagements and guest lectures, and 2025 continued that momentum. In terms of actual in-person engagements, I gave two plenary lectures at An Inklings Weekend in Montreat, NC in early April.

In May, I went to Harrisburg, PA, to give a bit over seven hours of lectures for a “Bible Study Day” put on by the Churches of God General Conference (a small denomination mostly located in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the surrounding states). The audio of these lectures was recorded, so I’ll make use of that at some point in the future.

In terms of virtual talks, I “traveled” to Finland to give a keynote lecture for a conference on Israel and Christian theology in March.

I was also a panelist for three Enoch Seminar virtual conferences:

Then, in November, I was invited to present as part of two panels at the SBL/AAR Annual Meeting in Boston, the first on “Hot Takes on Paul” in The Historical Paul Section. The second was “Remythologizing Redemption: The Personification of Sin and C. S. Lewis’ Interpretation of Romans in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” in the Biblical Exegesis from Eastern Orthodox Perspectives Section.

I got the chance to do loads of YouTube and podcast interviews over the year. Rather than discussing each individually, I’ll just link them below (reminder: I did not choose the titles for any of these, and some folks obviously chose more controversial titles than I’d prefer):

“Does Love Equal Love? C. S. Lewis and The Four Loves,” Ratio Christi webinar, Feb 20

In early December, I was on an episode of The Civitas Podcast, where we talked Paul and Israel, Christianity and modern nationalism and national identity, and more.

I also did two interviews for OnScript and OnScript Biblical World:

“Paul Sloan—Jesus and the Law of Moses,” Nov 4, 2025, https://onscript.study/podcast/paul-sloan-jesus-and-the-law-of-moses/

“Stephen Carlson—Mary, Joseph, and the so-called ‘Inn,’” Dec 23 https://onscript.study/stephen-carlson-mary-joseph-and-the-so-called-inn/

I also did my usual football coverage as a side job (gotta eat somehow!) via the Unconquered Podcast and Inside Carolina, with the latter involving covering perhaps the biggest news story in college football this season in NFL legend Bill Belichick’s first season as the UNC head coach.

This year will start with a bang, as I’ll be heading to West Monroe, Louisiana, for the Jan 5–7, Cristendom Lectures at Church of the Redeemer https://redeemertwincities.org/christendom. I’ll give another two talks in Rock Hill, SC, on Jan 10, and then the semester begins. Multiple book chapters, articles, and book projects are on the docket for this year, and I’m still hopeful to have some truly life-changing news to share later in the year.

But among the priorities for the year: more posts here on Substack and the launch of some video/podcast material on my own channels. Lots to look forward to! Thank you so much to those of you who have been paid subscribers through 2025—your support has been so important in helping me get more work out, though not all of it has been on here.

Leave a comment