bible content exams, biblical studies searches

AKMA has two recent posts of interest.

One provides a "seeded search" window which weights internet search results based on their proximity to some of the best biblical studies research websites: Biblical Studies Seeded Search. (Always looking for better search capabilities...)

Another points to a site which allows you to try your hand at the Bible content exams which are part of the general ordination exams for the Presbyterian Church: Presbyterian Bible Content Exam. (To highlight our cultural ignorance of the Bible...?)

pool of siloam and palace of david?

Christianity Today has a piece on the excavation of a large pool (of Siloam?) in Jerusalem along with mention of the better known excavation of a large palace (of David?): Raiders of the Lost Pool. I'll let the experts sort all out all those questions...

barth on the stuff of earth

We may believe that God can and must only be absolute in contrast to all that is relative, exalted in contrast to all that is lowly, active in contrast to all suffering, inviolable in contrast to all temptation, transcendent in contrast to all immanence, and therefore divine in contrast to everything human, in short that He can and must be only the ‘Wholly Other’. But such beliefs are shown to be quite untenable, and corrupt and pagan, by the fact that God does in fact be and do this in Jesus Christ. (Church Dogmatics IV/1)

Since everyone else seems to have a Barth quote, I've found my own... :-)

busybody lists

Loren Rosson has several great posts recently, including these two lists that are certainly worth a read: Scholars to Spend Time With and Top 20 Literary Hoaxes. Good stuff! And far more indicative of the worth of his blog than some arbitrary monetary value... :-)

UPDATE (10/30): Stephen Carlson, a pretty good hoax-finder himself, comments on Loren's Top 20: Top 20 Literary Fakes. And Loren responds to Stephen: More on Literary Hoaxes.

latest novum testamentum online

The latest issue of Novum Testamentum is now online: Volume 47, Number 4, 2005.

latest nts online

The latest issue of New Testament Studies is out and online: Volume 51 - Issue 04 - October 2005. As usual, lots of interest. The article by Seyoon Kim on 1 Thessalonians 1-3 could be particularly helpful for me in my own research.

a lukan blessing for the poor

"Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Good thing, too, because I've just discovered that I am utterly destitute in the kingdom of blog. Loren Rosson gives the complete roundup here: Wealth and Poverty in the Blogosphere.

source critical poetry

My past academic world of English literature sometimes merges with my present academic world of New Testament studies in strange and wonderful ways. Here's one example, a poem by Maria Mayo Robbins posted by Ben Witherington: Agrapha.

biblecast online

The BibleCast project organized by blogger Tim Bulkeley is now live and online: Live BibleCast PodBible.com. Be sure to take some time today to listen to this!

christian aliens?

Stepping outside the boundaries of "the stuff of earth" for a moment to look beyond our planet, a Catholic astronomer has recently suggested that there could be aliens on other planets, and that these aliens would be subject to Christ's saving grace. This affirmation is based on a thoroughly scientific exegesis of John 10:14-16: "I am the Good Shepherd . . . I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd." Hmmm... (HT: CT)

a note on my picture

I don't normally comment on any changes I make to my blog template (I suppose I don't normally make changes to my template), but I've made one change that deserves a brief note. I've grown weary of looking at my "pretentious philosopher pose" in my profile at the top right, and I expect that many grew weary of that photo long ago. (That picture was actually taken somewhat in jest, when my wife and I were playing with our new digital camera and making silly poses in black and white, sepia, etc.) So, I've decided to put a new picture in my profile, not a picture of me but a picture which represents me and this blog. The key signifying elements of the picture are: the school and its focus on academic interests; the Canadian flag and my own national/cultural identity; the rainbow and its biblical theological connotations of promise and fulfillment, hope in despair, a glimpse of heaven in the stuff of earth; and the simple fact that this picture is one I personally took of the view from our home back in Canada...

jesus and biblioblogging, history and theology

Mark Goodacre raises a good question in a post titled What Would Jesus Blog?: "What is the relationship between biblioblogging and God- (or god-) blogging?" At least a couple of others have provided responses so far, including Jim West and Phil Harland, and others will no doubt chime in as well.

This gets into some of the questions I discussed in one of my earliest posts on the genre of blogs (I wonder how I'd frame that post now, having blogged for almost a year...?). In that post I described my own blog as a "hybrid" blog, not a "pure biblioblog," and that has proven to be true over the course of my blog's life so far. I am interested in historical questions of earliest Christianity for their own sake; I am interested in theological questions arising from the New Testament for their own sake. But I am also interested in the intersection of history and theology related to earliest Christianity and the New Testament, the way historical questions intersect with theological answers and theological questions intersect with historical answers. And I am interested in the way in which these historical-theological or theological-historical questions and answers shape my own perspectives on God, faith, and "the stuff of earth." To this point my blogging has been mostly brief observations and internet linking rather than real, thoughtful presentation of issues around these interests--that's all that time and inclination will allow right now--but perhaps that will change down the road.

One final thought: Perhaps a good question to discuss at the Biblioblogging session at SBL is exactly the question of Mark's title: "What would Jesus blog?" We could sift through the evidence from all extant sources looking for any oblique blogophile references in the Jesus tradition, vote on their authenticity, produce a reconstruction of "Jesus the (Cynic?) Blogger," and publish our findings for the public. This would also be a good way of keeping our discussion focused on the interests of "pure biblioblogging"... ;-)

a little whimsy in biblioblogdom

Michael Bird is in one of those Friday afternoon moods (I've had those before) and it has come out in his blogging: Things to Come in Bloggerdom?

csbs historiography seminar

This has been ably noted by Tyler Williams already, but it is worth a note here as well. The newly formed Ancient Historiography Seminar of the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies has a terrific website (created and hosted by Tyler) which includes the call for papers for the 2006 meetings: Ancient Historiography Seminar. I will still be in England next May, but I will certainly plan to go out to Vancouver in 2007 and perhaps take part in this seminar then.

latest expository times

The latest issues of the Expository Times are online: October 1 2005 Volume 117, No. 1 - November 1 2005, Volume 117, No. 2. There are several items of interest, but three stand out to me. In the October issue is an article by Professor Sugi here at Birmingham. And in the November issue, in light of current events in scholarship and biblioblogging, are Paul Foster on "Secret Mark: Its Discovery and the State of Research," and biblioblogger James Davila on "The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha as Background to the New Testament."

(UPDATED 10/15)

j. s. bach, soli deo gloria

Christian History and Biography has this nice little piece reflecting on the music and motivation of Johann Sebastian Bach, one of the greatest composers ever. A few nice little aphothegms and aphorisms of Bach in the piece, including this one: "Music's only purpose should be the glory of God and the recreation of the human spirit." Amen.

J. S. Bach
For the Glory of God
By Patrick Kavanaugh

latest review of biblical literature

As usual, Mark Goodacre has kindly posted the list of latest NT-related reviews in RBL: Review of Biblical Literature Latest and TRENT.

orality and literacy in greek iconography

LanguageHat points to a nice collection of links by Andrew Wiesner to ancient Greek images that portray aspects of orality and literacy: Images of Orality and Literacy in Greek Iconography of the Fifth, Fourth and Third Centuries BCE. As one of the commenters at LanguageHat notes, the image of the 'Boy Seated Writing' sure looks like a 'Boy Seated Working on a Laptop'... :-)

happy thanksgiving!

A day late and a dollar short, but a very Happy Thanksgiving to our family and friends back in Canada! With the time difference I've almost made it on time... We had a very modest celebration this year, with a small table display made from the beautifully coloured leaves all around us and a small pumpkin I purchased from Sainsbury's, and a wonderful dinner with a friend of our daughter's from here at Asbury House.

Ben Witherington offers some food for thought that is appropriate especially for a day like Thanksgiving, combined with Tyler Williams' reflections on the day.

prayers for pakistan

Yet another major disaster to test the goodwill of the global community and the theodicies of the theologians... My thoughts and prayers today, as inadequate as they may be, are often for Pakistan and other areas affected.

pauline chronologies

Brandon Wason and Mark Goodacre have offered alternative chronologies for Paul and his letters. They also both offer helpful comments on developing a Pauline chronology.

A Chronology of the Apostle Paul (Brandon Wason)

Chronology of Paul's Life (Mark Goodacre)

UPDATE: Loren Rosson also notes an online summary of John Hurd's chronology: Outline of Paul's Life.

parodies of biblical scholarship

Be sure to check out several of Sean du Toit's recent posts, guaranteed to provide a few laughs and to help bring some balanced perspective on the work we do in biblical scholarship. I've especially enjoyed these:

Bultmann Reads Mother Goose

Does Bush Exist? (and be sure to read Ken Ristau's parallel piece, Did Bush Exist? Revisited)

bible literacy project curriculum

For those who have been interested in the recent (ongoing?) furor over the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS) and the thorough drubbing of it provided by Mark Chancey and others, you may also be interested in this, a discussion of a new curriculum by the Bible Literacy Project called The Bible and Its Influence:

The Beginning of Education
The new Bible Literacy Project curriculum is impressive—as far as it is able to go.
by Mark Galli

Humbly offered to Americans by a Canadian living in the UK... :-)

expository times 're-launch'

This note just in from SAGE publications:

Join SAGE to Celebrate the Re-Launch of The Expository Times

For over a century The Expository Times has enjoyed a reputation for its thought-provoking articles, helpful sermons and stimulating book reviews. In October 2005 The Expository Times will be re-launched to meet the demands of the 21st century readership.

Join us to celebrate the re-launch of The Expository Times with a drinks reception and lecture on: ‘Questioning and disputing authority: A medieval method for modern preaching’ by Marilyn McCord Adams.

When: 4.00pm, Thursday 27th October 2005
Where: Martin Hall, New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh, EH1 2LX

New features of the journal include:
- Articles to be written by major scholars in the field
- Series of articles exploring major themes
- Interviews with leading church people and academics
- Revised reviews section to include books, films and websites
- A regular letters page
- Revised and expanded Worship Resources section

yancey on prayer

An interesting and lengthy essay on prayer by Philip Yancey in Books & Culture, apparently a teaser for a forthcoming book on prayer. In the essay, Yancey mentions everything from open theism to theoretical physics to natural disasters, quoting everyone from Augustine to C. S. Lewis and Karl Barth to Kurt Vonnegut. Oh yes, there's some reflection on Scripture in there as well...

Does Prayer Change God?
Probing a fathomless mystery.
by Philip Yancey

latest jbl online

The latest JBL is now online for SBL members: Journal of Biblical Literature 124.3, Fall 2005. Jim West has kindly listed the contents.

latest lark news

For my afternoon break I've just perused the latest Lark News: October 2005. Between it and the previous edition (September 2005, which I failed to mention last month), the two most recent Christian 'key-to-life' fads have taken a satirical hit: Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life and Bruce Wilkinson's Prayer of Jabez.

top 25 new testament scholars

Michael Bird has posted his list of the Top 25 NT Scholars, a post which cries out for comment--and comments have followed by some including Mark Goodacre and Jim West.

It's a good list overall, and I think if I were to produce my own top 25 it would be mostly the same, even if the placements might be different. For example, I'd agree with Jim that Luther should not be number one, and quite frankly I'm not sure he'd even make my list of top 25 New Testament scholars. Among the Reformers, John Calvin was a much better exegete and more akin to modern 'biblical scholars' than Luther was. I'd also agree with Jim that Bultmann has got to be top 5--an influential scholar who continues to be referred to in almost every area of New Testament studies, even if in some whole areas he was utterly wrong. Mark's point that Michael's list is a bit evangelical heavy is well taken, but Michael did say it includes both his favourites as well as those which were influential (of course, 'favourites' are going to play into any such list, whether that is stated or not). However, I would still certainly include F. F. Bruce, although I. H. Marshall might be moved out to honourable mention in mine.

Who to replace Luther and Marshall, and maybe others on the list? I think I'd agree with Mark on Gerd Theissen, and I'd be tempted to include Oscar Cullmann. I'd also look to some more scholars from the past at least for honourable mention: Albert Schweitzer quickly comes to mind, for example.

Fun stuff! The whole discussion reminds me of the 'Who was better: Gretzky or Orr?' sorts of debates you have with your friends at Tim Hortons after the game. Maybe we can continue this discussion at SBL? :-)

UPDATE (10/04): Michael has now quite appropriately amended his list to include Schweitzer in the top 10 (tied for 7th with Sanders), and to refine his honourable mention list.

christians and higher education

For those interested in Christians and higher education, a sometime topic on this blog, Inside Higher Ed has an interesting article by Kenneth Elzinga (HT: CT): Christian Academe vs. Christians in Academe. Be sure also to check out the comments at the bottom in response to the article.