evangelicalism again

Sparked by James Crossley's query at Early Christian History, Michael Bird at Euangelion has produced a nice summary post on evangelicalism and evangelical scholarship: Evangelicalism (in brief).

I particularly appreciate this statement by Michael: "What I regard as the sine qua non of evangelicalism is how one articulates the evangel." Indeed, the gospel is (or at least should be) what "evangelicalism" is centred on. Of course, this assumes a particular understanding of what the gospel is, and most broadly I would say the gospel of evangelicalism is defined in historically orthodox and catholic terms, perhaps something like this: "In general terms the gospel is the action of God in Christ, centred on Jesus' death-and-resurrection, by which God sets right his creation and in particular humanity." Evangelicals take this (Bebbington's "crucicentrism," to which I'd add "resurrection-centrism") as "gospel truth"--historically and theologically--based on the inspired witness of Scripture ("biblicism," to which I'd add the necessary witness of the church local, global, and historical), as a call to personal response in repentance and faith ("conversionism"), and as a mandate both to live out and to proclaim this gospel ("activism"). Obviously this is quite general, and once you get into the details of emphases and interpretations of each of these things, you begin to appreciate the amazing diversity within evangelicalism.

For previous discussion on evangelicalism, see my post evangelicals and evangelicalism, especially the links at the bottom.

wishlist meme spreads

I keep up with a couple of classics blogs as an area related to my own points of interest, and I happened to notice this post today on Laudator Temporis Acti, which looked a lot like a post I wrote about a week and a half ago and the various spinoff biblioblog posts which followed it. As far as I know, Michael Gilleland, the author of the blog, doesn't read my blog, so this was a little curious to me. A little back tracking soon discovered that it was indeed inspired by my initial post, brought into the Classics blogging world on William Blathers. The blogosphere just shrunk a little smaller! And Santa's going to have quite a list this Christmas... :-)

UPDATE (08/15): Jim Davila has a more updated post on this spread here, and he also notes its incursion onto the latest History Carnival here.

phil harland on epigraphy

Phil Harland has a couple of excellent recent posts on epigraphy. He writes, "I hope my ongoing comments on epigraphy will help both other scholars (of early Christianity and Judaism) and the interested Joe and Jane to make better sense of inscriptions and the resources (especially online) to study them." Here are his posts:

• Inscriptions from Pergamum (Inschriften von Pergamon) online (Epigraphy 1)
• Inscriptions from Aphrodisias online (Epigraphy 2)

lexicon of greek personal names

The Lexicon of Greek Personal Names is a project sponsored by the University of Oxford and other agencies, "to collect and publish with documentation all known ancient Greek personal names (including non-Greek names recorded in Greek, and Greek names in Latin), drawn from all available sources (literature, inscriptions, graffiti, papyri, coins, vases and other artefacts), within the period from the earliest Greek written records down to, approximately, the sixth century A.D." The project has some good material online so far, including some search capabilities. (HT: LH)

critical reading on critical reading

Ed Cook's post on Latin for the Judgin' is a must read for anyone interested in biblical criticism. It is, as Joe Cathey notes in a comment, one of the funniest (and subversively insightful) biblioblog posts out there. Give it a read!

portal to the past

While I was languishing in feverish melancholy yesterday, my wife was kind enough to pick up a couple of recent issues of Popular Science from the local library for me. The April 2005 issue includes these gems of websites offering a portal to past books, audio, and video:

• Project Gutenberg: This one I'd heard of before, offering full-text reproductions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, Mark Twain, William Shakespeare, and more.
• RadioLovers.com: "We offer hundreds of vintage radio shows for you to listen to online in mp3 format, all for free. Before the days of video games, shopping malls, MTV, and the Internet, families used to sit in their living room each night to listen to radio shows such as Abbott and Costello, Superman, Groucho Marx, The Avenger, Gunsmoke, Sherlock Homes, and many others."
• History Channel Video: Video and audio clips of famous historical events, obviously only since the dawn of video and audio technology. Includes Adolf Eichmann on trial, JFK's funeral, the breaking of the sound barrier, and more.

driving left or right

I've been visualizing (visualising) driving on the wrong... er, left... side of the road over in Britain, and this has driven me to ask which countries in the world drive on the left and which on the right. Here are a couple of interesting websites which provide a history of "driving sidedness," including some nice charts and maps outlining the current situation: Which Side Of The Road To Drive On? and Why do some countries drive on the right and others on the left?

It's comforting to know that when I'm driving in Britain I'll always be able to reach for my sword and slay any threatening foes from among the oncoming traffic...

euangelion posts

Michael Bird over at Euangelion has posted a series of interesting posts. Here they are, with comments:

• Current Wish List: It's a good list, though the book geek in me wants to see a list of Michael's current book holdings to make a better analysis of his library and his acquisition plans! I agree that he should be slapped in the face with a very soggy fish (that's his suggestion)--although I'm not a historical Jesus specialist, I own Meier and Sanders. Along with Michael, I too would like to own Meyer, Hengel, Caird, Marshall, and others from his list. There has to be some wealthy patron or foundation out there dedicated to providing a book allowance for young scholars...?
• 10 ways to determine if you're a NT buff: Some of the details are different for me, but in general terms I fit the list! My wife still insists on asking what I want for birthday/Christmas presents, even though she always knows what I really want. And I tend to lay awake at night pondering things like the historical and theological relationship between Jesus and Paul, or working through Romans in my mind in view of the "New Perspective," or thinking through the implications of a Q-less world... But the "parting of the ways"--now I won't get any sleep tonight!
• Update on things and BNTC: I would even endure McDonald's coffee to get together with fellow bloggers at the BNTC, but unfortunately we won't be arriving in the UK until September 5. Michael, I'll have to take a rain check on that one and hoist a Starbucks with you at a future SBL. And that profile of "the average NT biblio-blogger"--uncanny! Michael's just described me--pending a solution to what he means by "centrist-right" on the political spectrum.

noll on american evangelicalism

Mark Noll is a noted historian especially on the history of evangelicalism, and I've pointed to some items by him before (here and here). Now here's an MP3 interview with Mark Noll on American evangelicalism: American Evangelicalism: Yesterday and Today. (HT: BTW)

more on tiberias

I've been sick since yesterday with a fever (which probably explains my last post!), but I'm out of the doldrums just long enough to check the blogs and my email, and to note this press release from Hebrew University (via BT): Ancient Tiberias reveals more of its beauty. This summarizes some items already noted a few months ago (here and here), but this press release includes two great pictures.

q is cool

Q is a really cool letter these days. Way cooler than its neighbours, the respectable R or the tight-lipped P, or even that snaky S. Q is it. I don't recall Q being this cool since my Sesame Street days, back when it sponsored a few episodes.

There is, of course, the hypothetical lost document Q that works alongside Mark as the two primary sources for Matthew and Luke in the Two Source Hypothesis. That's been cool for a long time now. Then there's the equally elusive Star Trek Q, clearly one of the coolest science fiction characters that's ever been thinked up. And now there's the new ultra-thin phone/email/Blackberry wannabe Q from Motorola. (Interestingly, the announcing Chief Executive of Motorola is a certain Ed Zander--I thought Ed Sanders was a Q skeptic...?)

Q is cool. Way cool.

another blog: kai euthus

Benjamin Myers has pointed out a blog by Mike Higton, theologian at the University of Exeter: kai euthus. He describes it as "A blog about life, theology, and [naturally, from the title] the Gospel of Mark."

latest review of biblical literature

Live from Cary, North Carolina, Mark Goodacre has posted the latest NT-related book reviews from the Review of Biblical Literature: Review of Biblical Literature latest.

baylor battle, faith and learning

As a Christian and aspiring scholar, and as an instructor at a Christian college, I have been watching the Baylor battle with no little interest. Ted Olsen at the Christianity Today Weblog has an update on recent developments, a mixture of the bizarre and the reassuring: Reading Baylor's Tea Leaves on Faith-Learning Integration.

Also, Olsen mentions another site of interest on the integration of faith and learning within an evangelical context: Wheaton College's Faith and Learning Program for faculty.

it's official!

The NHL is officially back open for business! The players overwhelmingly voted in favour of the new collective bargaining agreement yesterday, and the owners have followed suit with a unanimous ratification today.

The 2005-2006 season will be a new start for the league. As part of the new-look NHL:

• Some rule changes to speed up the game and provide a more entertaining on-ice product.
• Phenom Sidney Crosby will be playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins (I had my fingers crossed for Calgary, but apparently that doesn't actually work...).

We'll have to wait and see what this new NHL will be like. Well, you'll have to see, and I'll just have to wait, since I'll be in England desperately searching the back page of the sports section for two-day old Calgary Flames scores...

jewish catacombs

This has been noted already by others (e.g. PaleoJudaica), but it is worth mentioning again here. Jewish catacombs in Rome are being studied, and evidence suggests that a Jewish catacomb may predate the Christian catacombs. In addition, there is thought that some evidence may point to a longer period of Jewish-Christian interaction than is often assumed (HT: B&I):

Catacomb Find Boosts Early Christian-Jewish Ties, Study Says
James Owen
for National Geographic News
July 20, 2005

For millions of pilgrims and tourists, the ancient catacombs of Rome represent the rise of Christianity. Yet a new study suggests that these vast underground burial complexes may owe their origins to Jews—and that Judaism may have influenced Christianity for longer than previously thought.

septuagint institute at twu

Tyler Williams has posted an announcement regarding the formation of the Septuagint Institute at Trinity Western University/Associated Canadian Theological Schools in Langley, British Columbia: Septuagint Institute at TWU/ACTS. This is good news, and it's a good complement to the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute already running at Trinity Western.

september 5, 2005

Circle that date on your calendars! Well, you don't have to, but we sure are--that's the date we leave for England for me to do the residential portion of my PhD studies. We've just booked the tickets. We fly out on the evening of September 5 and we arrive the next morning.

So, if you happen to be on a plane between Calgary and London on that date, or on a coach between London and Birmingham the next afternoon, and you notice a stressed and weary couple struggling with far too much luggage and three young children oscillating between exuberance and fatigue--have mercy on them!

liberally educating our children

An interesting short piece over at Christianity Today, on "Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670), a Moravian bishop often called 'the Father of Modern Education'":

Elementary School: Medieval to Modern
A 17th century Moravian bishop pushed elementary schooling out of the "Dark Ages."
by Chris Armstrong

[...]

He believed that a broad-based educational program bringing together people of diverse backgrounds in a common understanding could help avert further strife.

Comenius was no naïve visionary. He knew the foolishness and futility of the world and expressed it poignantly in his rich allegory, The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart. But he believed that education, though not in itself redemptive, could complement the gospel by fostering international restoration, unity, and peace. People have long understood that one potential benefit of a liberal education is the tolerance and generosity of spirit it can instill in its students. Rising above Europe's fractiousness, Comenius taught a strongly Christ-centered version of this old ideal.

Today, focused as we are on schooling ourselves toward technical mastery and economic ends, we could stand to learn this other, deeper lesson from Comenius.

ben witherington's blog

As has been noted by a few bloggers (especially Michael Bird), Ben Witherington has a blog that's been running now for over a month: Ben Witherington. Witherington is Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary, and the author of numerous books on the New Testament and Christian origins. Back in the early days of my blog I reviewed one of his many commentaries, the one on Revelation. I have always enjoyed Witherington's engaging style, even more in writing than in person, and I appreciate many of his perspectives on various issues even where I disagree with him. It's good to see scholars who are prolific in publishing trying their hand at blogging. Welcome to the blogosphere!

a mark of certainty

As a diversion from and supplement to my directly thesis-related reading, I have been ploughing (plodding?) through the first volume of William Baird's History of New Testament Research. I've just finished it, with the second volume ready at hand to continue as diversionary reading. I highly recommend volume one, by the way, and I'm sure volumes two and three will be just as commendable. Every history must be selective, and every other historian will quibble with that selection, but Baird presents good summaries of the life and work of appropriate representatives of the general perspectives in the eras he describes. Probably the best complement to Baird's work is that it made me want to take up and read more of the works of several of the scholars he describes, even surprising me somewhat with which ones: Gotthold Lessing, Johann Herder, Samuel Coleridge, among others.

One of the joys of reading a book such as this is coming across marvelous quotations, which you then mark and otherwise note for future use: as part of an email signature, or to post on an office door, or (in my more pedagogically sensitive moments) as a point of departure for a class discussion. Here's one of these quotes I came across, by Christian Gottlob Wilke in his Der Urevangelist, his work on the Synoptic Problem. He concludes with Markan priority, that Mark was written first and subsequently used by Matthew and Luke. Here's how he describes his conclusion:

Whatever one may still present against this view so as to promote different opinions, we maintain for all eternity under sign and seal that our conclusion is correct.

Now that's certainty! No need for appeal to consensus here... ;-)

"deferred success"

A notice for all teachers: students do not "fail," they simply have "deferred success." At least that's the proposal being debated by the British Professional Association of Teachers, based on the idea that "failure" demoralizes students. This is good news for me! Many years ago as a 14-year old I failed--er, had "deferred success" in--a course in automobile mechanics. This has unnecessarily and irreparably stigmatized me--until now! Now I can simply await my success in this area...which doesn't appear to be quickly forthcoming, as the bill on my desk from a local garage testifies. Maybe my success in auto mechanics is to be eternally deferred...?

70 truckloads of treasures

Christianity Today has a summary article on the current project to sift through dirt from the Temple Mount mosque renovation: 70 Truckloads of Treasures. It ends with a statement regarding funding--perhaps a not-so-implicit appeal to wealthy American evangelicals to fund the project?

blogged down on mark 7:15

There's a very interesting discussion taking place in the biblioblogosphere on the Jesus Seminar and historical Jesus research, somewhat focused on Mark 7:15, initiated by Michael Turton and commented on by Stephen Carlson and Loren Rosson. After that, there's an explosion of blog posts from several others, including Mark Goodacre, James Crossley, Jim West, Michael Bird, Michael Turton again, and Loren Rosson again (not necessarily in this order, and probably not exhaustive). Stephen Carlson seems to be updating his post as the discussion continues, so perhaps his is the best place to get the latest in the blogmill: Searching for the Authentic Voice of Jesus.

my wishlist of manuscript finds

I've often thought what a boon it would be to New Testament scholarship if we could have a copy of Papias' "Expositions of the Logia of the Lord." Given Papias' desire for living tradition over against written record, it could provide tremendously valuable insights into the nature of the oral Jesus tradition at the beginning of the second century and perhaps shed more light on that oral tradition back into the first century. I was just reminded of this today, and this led me to think about this more broadly: Out of all the lost documents related to early Christianity--those mentioned by early Christians but no longer extant, those for which we have fragments or quotations but not whole manuscripts--which would I most wish to be discovered?

Here's a first draft of such a wishlist, just wishing off the top of my head in no particular order:

• Papias' five-volume "Expositions of the Logia of the Lord," for the reasons mentioned above.
• The whole "Gospel of Peter," due to its significance in some prominent historical Jesus research.
• A whole copy of an early Greek manuscript for the "Gospel of Thomas," for the same reasons as the "Gospel of Peter."
  
• The "Gospel of the Nazareans" and the "Gospel of the Hebrews," as there are many intriguing questions related to these and the canonical Gospels, especially Matthew. And while we're on these, I'll throw in the "Matthew Logia" mentioned by Papias, if it was something different from canonical Matthew.
• The lost letters of Paul, his "Letter to the Laodiceans," or even more, his lost letters to the Corinthians, his initial letter on sexual immorality and his "difficult letter." And, while we're at it, I'll throw in the Corinthian letter to Paul which, in part, occasioned 1 Corinthians.

The careful reader will notice that there are no hypothetical documents in here--though I'd love to see John's "Signs Source," an early "Eschatological Discourse" and "Passion Narrative," or even "Q," if such documents did exist.

I'm sure there are others, perhaps even some glaring omissions in my very personalized list. Anyone else have a similar wishlist? If we hurry, we may get it off in time for Christmas... :-)

UPDATE (07/20-24): Jim Davila (with links to more), Michael Turton, Stephen Carlson, Jim West, Brandon Wason, Ken Ristau, Christopher Heard and others have taken up this question, offering their own personalized wishlists.

UPDATE (07/30): I've just discovered that this meme has spread from the biblioblogosphere to the Classics blogging world! Welcome to any classicists who wander to this post!

UPDATE (08/15): And now to the latest History Carnival! Welcome, other historians!

UPDATE (12/27): Just in time for Christmas, Kevin Wilson posted his OT-related wishlist.

UPDATE (01/16/06): Chris Weimer has posted his own list, and I've just discovered David Meadows' list from last August. David also has noted other lists on other classics blogs.

latest rbl reviews

The latest Review of Biblical Literature book reviews are up, and Mark Goodacre has posted the New Testament-related ones: Review of Bibical Literature latest. For some reason my recently published review of The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins is not listed among these; maybe it will be listed in a later RBL update.

consensus, consensus, my kingdom for consensus!

The discussion on "consensus" continues on, now described as a "biblioblogging classic" by Mark Goodacre:

• Mark Goodacre has posted some further, excellent thoughts on the topic: Less of a Consensus on Consensus.
• Jim West has responded with some related quotes and anecdotes: More on the Consensus Debate.
• And it has spilled over into (or started on its own in?) the E-lists: John Lupia starts the thread on Synoptic-L.
  

UPDATE (07/18): Joe Weaks has also weighed in on the matter with some thoughts: Reliance upon consensus.

UPDATE (07/19): Jim Davila comments further, especially related to Mark Goodacre's post: Consensus Again.

UPDATE (07/20): Alan Bandy has entered the discussion, looking at a particular example of appeal to consensus in commentary on Revelation: Consensus?

only in a small town parade...

We just had our town's annual parade, this one made special because it's Alberta's centennial. The parade is always a hit with the kids (they call it the "candy parade" because it replenishes their candy supply for another few months), and it always leaves us appreciating our little town in all its quaintness.

But this sher ain't no big city parade, as this picture proves...

new leviticus fragment

This has been making the rounds in news reports and blogs, and it is worth mentioning again here: A newly discovered scroll fragment of Leviticus found in the Dead Sea region, dated to the early second century C.E. Tyler Williams has provided some of the best summary and analysis to date: New "Dead Sea Scroll" Fragments of Leviticus Surfaces; Pictures of Newly Uncovered Leviticus Scroll; and especially, Leviticus Scroll Fragment Update and Analysis.

reports on anzats/anzsts

Following on his series of reports on the SBL International meeting in Singapore, Mark Cheeseman at Deinde.org has provided a useful set of reports on the ANZATS/ANZSTS Conference held just recently in Perth, Australia: Day 1 - Day 2 - Day 3 - Day 4 - Day 5 - Concluding Thoughts.

new blog: earliest christian history

There's a new biblioblog in the neighborhood: Earliest Christian History by James Crossley. It aims to discuss "Christian origins but will stray into general history, politics, music and possibly football." Welcome to the neighborhood! (HT: BT)

the jewish messiah

Very interesting column by Marc Wilson at Jewcy, well worth a read by anyone interested in Jewish-Christian relations, the origins of Christianity, Jewish or Christian eschatology, and other related topics (via B&I). The last half is especially interesting to me, where Wilson describes what the Jewish concept of the Messiah is and isn't, and then looks at Jesus in light of this.

The Jewish Messiah
From Hitler to Gandhi to Dr. Martin Luther King, various "Messiahs" have galvanized world-shaping ideals.
by Rabbi Marc Howard Wilson

hope for consensus!

There may be hope yet for scholarly consensus! Ken Ristau, star reporter for Anduril.ca, has provided a humorous newspaper report summarizing the biblioblographic state of the question of consensus, brilliantly entitled, "On Consensus." His conclusion leads to this conclusion: When you've got Homer Simpson on your side, who needs consensus? ;-)

e. p. sanders collection for sale

Benjamin Myers at Faith and Theology has just noted that Dove Booksellers will be selling a collection from E. P. Sanders, one of the most outstanding New Testament scholars of this past generation. It will be interesting to see what's available from it. There's something magical about buying a book that has been in a noted scholar's personal library. I bought one from the late Anthony Saldarini's library a while back, hoping it would even have his signature on the flyleaf... but alas, it did not. Maybe Ed Sanders has a habit of marking his books with a signature...?

more on consensus

Further to my initial post on "consensus" and the discussion that has ensued, Mark Goodacre has posted some excellent thoughts on the topic, breaking down my initial questions in helpful ways and with some helpful illustrations: What is consensus? Especially interesting is Mark's distinction between a "majority view" and a "consensus." (And I'm not just saying all this because he's my doctoral supervisor!)

more on baylor university

I have blogged previously on Baylor University and its Vision 2012, and I have been watching recent events surrounding the replacement of Baylor's president, Robert Sloan, with some interest. Christianity Today has just posted a summary of the situation as it stands now: Baylor Showdown.

nhl lockout causes baby boom?

Here's another "only in Canada" story:

NHL lockout's baby boom
Canadian Press

Prince George, B.C. — The number of babies born at Prince George Regional Hospital has increased rapidly between May and July leaving officials wondering if it had something to do with the NHL lockout.

“When you think about it and start counting, it's been about nine months since hockey was cancelled,” Val Stewart, patient care manager in the maternity ward said.

latest larknews

Need a little holy laughter? (No, not that kind...) The latest issue of Lark News (a satirical Christian "news" source) is up: LarkNews.com. This month: "Idaho mega-church effectively controls state"; "Town establishes book of Revelation curfew"; and more!

does god speak to us?

Interesting little article via Christianity.ca, summarizing the responses of a Christian, a Jew, and a Muslim to the question: "Does God speak directly to people?"

Many Maintain God Speaks Directly to Them
Does God "speak" to His disciples these days? The leaders of three faiths share their perspectives.
by Aron Heller

cynicism and optimism on consensus

Jim West and Jim Davila have kindly responded to my previous post on consensus, producing an interesting juxtaposition of cynicism (Jim West) and optimism (Jim Davila) that I actually attempted to present in my original post. With Jim West, I feel the postmodern, existential angst-ridden, deconstructionist (yikes! probably not how he'd describe it!) pull toward cynicism regarding attempts to determine consensus or appeals to such consensus in scholarship. But along with Jim Davila, I recognize the inevitability and importance of such attempts to determine consensus or such appeals to consensus. I agree with much of what Jim Davila has said, and certainly recognize the necessity of (and the hard work of) knowing and engaging the scholarly "lay of the land" on a particular topic of study (I'm in the midst of that for my PhD!). I attempted to acknowledge these things toward the end of my original post.

I do find some delicious irony in Jim Davila's post: At least once he uses a "consensus statement" to respond to my questions: "I think most people measure consensus on the basis of..." Which leads to a further question: Can there be consensus on the issue of consensus? ;-)

UPDATE: Ed Cook at Ralph adds some helpful comments, distinguishing between a "hard consensus" and a "soft consensus."

UPDATE: Jim Davila has responded briefly to my discovery of irony and the question of consensus on consensus (which was very much tongue in cheek) in an update to his post here. Part of his response is this wonderful line, with which I am in full agreement as I navigate between optimism and cynicism myself: "Let us steer between the Scylla of overconfidence in our own theories and the Charybdis of nihilism."

UPDATE: Christopher Heard at Higgaion has responded to all this brouhaha with a post of his own, in defense of Jim West.

finally!

The deal is done! The deal is done!

Forgive the ravings of a rabid Canuck, but the NHL and the player's association have finally reached a deal, pending ratification by owners and players next week.

Now I'll just have to find a way to get Flames games on the telly over in England...

on appeals to consensus

Mark Goodacre has posted some thoughts on Tom Wright's "Decoding Da Vinci," and he rightly takes issue with Wright's read of the consensus regarding the date of the Gospels and the primitivity of the Gospel traditions.

But this all brings to mind several ongoing questions I've had on the common tactic of appealing to consensus.

• First, consensus is a very slippery notion. What is consensus? I wouldn't think it's unanimity, at least not in dealing with such large and diverse groups of people. And it's certainly not simple majority. So what is it? 70%? 80%? Can 90+% safely be considered consensus?
• Second, who gets to be part of the polling sample? Only those working within a particular historical or theological perspective or methodological paradigm? All those who have published scholarly monographs on the subject? All scholars who have studied the subject in depth, whether they've published on it or not? And who determines what makes a "scholar" or appropriate authority on the subject?
• Third, how does one actually go about doing the polling to assess consensus? One can meticulously search through all relevant literature on the subject and record opinions in a table (which is sometimes done on specific issues), but this then leads to some of the questions in the previous point, and one often quickly realizes that individual scholarly perspectives on any given issue are too complex to fit neatly into a simplistic table or scale.
• Finally, even if one can get past the previous questions, what does consensus prove? The consensus in 1976 on Paul's perspective on the Torah and his understanding of "justification by faith" was pretty strong, I would guess, until Ed Sanders provoked a Kuhnian paradigm shift with his Paul and Palestinian Judaism the following year. Now there is as much variegation in perspective on these issues as some of Sanders' respondents have claimed was evident in the nomism and soteriology of first century Judaism. Did the consensus prior to Sanders' book make that so-called "Lutheran" view correct? Does the lack of consensus since mean that no one has any real grasp of any of the issues?

In spite of these questions, the search for consensus is an inevitable desire, and still valuable, it seems to me. It can act as a safeguard against unreasonable idiosyncratism, so that when one recognizes one is stepping out against the overwhelming tide one should walk with great care and continued attention to the flow of scholarship in the other direction. Also, no one can study all ancillary issues him or herself when focusing on a particular topic; we rely on the judgments of others, and especially the judgment of the majority and ideally the consensus, in order to build on those judgments in making our own. But we must be cautious with appeals to consensus, as they do not deliver everything they appear to promise, and too often they act as unwieldy tools in some sort of power game, crushing our foes (at least, in our eyes) but leaving us naked and bare.

I'll close, appropriately, with some words from Tom Wright himself: "A consensus is something as rare as snow in midsummer, and no doubt similarly transitory" (Jesus and the Victory of God).

UPDATE: It appears this post has raised quite a brouhaha! For further developments, see my posts cynicism and optimism on consensus, more on consensus, hope for consensus!, and consensus, consensus, my kingdom for consensus!

religion in popular music

On the heels of some discussion of U2 and musical tastes, I've just received word through a Canadian Society of Biblical Studies email announcement of Michael Gilmour's new book, Call Me the Seeker: Listening to Religion in Popular Music. Congratulations, Michael!

UPDATE: Danny Z at Deinde points to Michael Gilmour's previous book on Bob Dylan, Tangled Up in the Bible: Bob Dylan and Scripture. I'd forgotten about this one--thanks for the reminder!

busybody welcome

Mark Goodacre has just noted a new blog by Loren Rosson III: The Busybody. As Mark notes, given Loren's thoughtful and well-written posts on e-lists in the past, his should be a blog worth watching. He introduces his blog this way, giving a taste of what's to come:

I'm calling my blog The Busybody by way of irony. Bloggers are "busybodies" of sorts, after all, meddling into affairs and commenting on anything they please, so it strikes me as cynically appropriate. It's also a way of laughing at myself, since busybodies actually irritate me to no end.

gold medallion book awards

Religion News Service reports on the "Gold Medallion Book Awards" presented yesterday: 2005 Gold Medallion Book Award Winners

These awards "represent the 'best of' Christian literature in each significant category. Enduring a rigorous two-round judging process, 469 books published in 2004 were reviewed for content, literary quality, design, and significance of contribution -- resulting in five finalists in 20 categories. One winner from each category was chosen."

The article lists all the awards and recipients, including I. Howard Marshall for his New Testament Theology and Robert Letham for his The Holy Trinity.

religious hatred bill passes

This just in from The Christian Post:

British House Passes Religious Hatred Bill
The House of Commons in the UK has approved the proposed controversial Religious Hatred Bill through the third reading on Monday. The law would apply to comments made both in public or in the media.

christians go kosher

A window into the perspective of one "Jewish believer in Jesus" on the Torah's dietary laws (HT: CT):

Holy cow! Christians go kosher
Author encourages believers to follow the dietary laws set forth in Old Testament
By Manya A. Brachear
Chicago Tribune

religion in the west

Interesting and provocative little article in the International Herald Tribune, worth a read whether one agrees or disagrees with its assertions (HT: CT):

Why the West gets religion wrong
Phillip Blond and Adrian Pabst

It is hard to overstate the importance of religion in the contemporary world, yet its role remains underexplored and little understood. . . .

But true religion is not and cannot be fundamentalist. . . .

Equally, religion is not and cannot be relativist. . . .

women bishops in the c of e

This today from The Christian Post:

Church of England Opens Doors to Women Bishops
The Church of England on Monday voted to “remove legal obstacles” to the ordination of women bishops despite conservatives threatening to become Roman Catholic.

review: the holy spirit and christian origins

My review of The Holy Spirit and Christian Origins, edited by Graham Stanton, Bruce Longenecker, and Stephen Barton, is now online at Review of Biblical Literature here. James Sweeney also provides a review, giving a good, brief summary of the book's contents; if you want more detail about individual articles, then you'll want to read my review.

I found this review to be a challenge, and it made me think about the way in which reviews of such collections are done. This Festschrift has 27 articles in it; this may be a good canonical number, but it makes it impossible to do a detailed review of all its contents in 1500-2000 words. I felt I essentially had three choices: 1) Do a listing of the book's contents with some very general comments on the book as a whole (James Sweeney's approach); 2) Do a listing of the book's contents, and then focus in on a couple of articles for more in-depth critical interaction; or 3) Provide a one- or two-sentence summary and review of each article, along with a few very general comments on the book as a whole. In the end, I chose the last option, as I felt this would be most helpful to people who might read the review. Now if we can have one or two people do the second option, RBL would have a well-rounded set of reviews of the book.

updates updated

Jeff Downs has posted his latest "Resource Report," providing a listing and links to recent theology-related journal issues, book announcements, dissertations, and so on: Resource Index and Resource Report (report is in the top left of the page).

Also, while I'm on the topic of updates, I have updated my post compiling SBL International reports from Mark Cheeseman, Tim Bulkeley, and Jeffery Hodges: sbl international meeting reports.

latest nt-related rbl reviews

Mark Goodacre has kindly posted the latest New Testament-related book reviews from Review of Biblical Literature: Review of Biblical Literature latest.

more biblioblogs

Some biblioblogs have popped up while I wasn't looking (HT: Euangelion, Ken Ristau):

• Café Apocalypsis: Alan Bandy, another PhD student blogger, offers this blog "Brewed with a metaphorical, esoteric, and eschatological blend of aromatic Biblical Studies."
• BiblicalStudies.org.uk: Rob Bradshaw's blog to accompany his helpful resource of the same name.
• Faith and Theology: Benjamin Myers has started this "Blog for Theology, Faith, Hermeneutics and the Meaning of Jesus Christ Today."
• Higgaion: Christopher Heard's "Meditations on biblical studies, church life, and any other topics I find to be of spiritual interest."
  

u2, tyler?

Tyler Williams noted his fanaticism for U2 a while back, along with this side comment:

I realize this confession may make me a pop-culture Philistine in some biblio-blogger's eyes -- at least compared to the regular postings on Mozart, Bach, etc. by Jim West, Joe Cathay, and Michael Pahl.

Well, Tyler, even David lived among the Philistines for a time! Time for public confession...

I am a classically trained violinist, whence comes my love of Baroque and Classical music. But I am also a product of my generation and geography, and my actual musical interests range a little more broadly: U2 and Barenaked Ladies, especially Rich Mullins and Steve Bell, maybe a little Harry Connick Jr. or Diana Krall--I'll even listen to some country music and rap, if only for a little while. If we could afford it, our music library would be well-stocked with a wide range of musical genres, but when push comes to shove Baroque wins out. I like popular music. I just think the best pop music was written about 250 years ago... Hey, "If it's Baroque, don't fix it!" :-)

holiday pics

Larissa's extended family has a house on Kalamalka Lake in British Columbia where we have gone for at least a few days every summer since forever. Here's the view:


Swimming, tubing, and general lounging are the order of the day when it's nice. Here's Amelia and Michael with their cousin Nicolas on a tube ride:


We did have quite a bit of rain, and after one storm we saw this spectacular rainbow--the blog-sized photo just doesn't do it justice:


One of our day trips was to Davison Orchards, including some amazing apple pie and this photo op:


And on the way home we stopped at the Enchanted Forest, a must-see if you're passing between Sicamous and Revelstoke with a young family:


Here's part of the scenery through the Rocky Mountains: Castle Mountain, between Banff and Lake Louise:


And finally, here's the view as we came out of the Rockies and back onto our beloved Prairies. Ah, we can breathe again!

blogging catchup

We're back safe and sound from our holidays, a good time of connecting with family and lounging by the lake. I had limited dialup access to the internet (I didn't want more than that anyway), just enough to check my spam periodically and keep up with a few blogs a day. It's been a busy week in blogdom, and in the world generally, so I'll be putting up a few quick posts after this one to catch up with some items of interest.

But first I do want to express my own horror and grief over the events in London, and I wish Londoners and all affected much mercy and grace and peace in the aftermath of this tragedy...