Biblioblogging Carnival at Unsettled Christianity

Occasionally, I drop off the face of the earth and become so immersed in research that the blogging doesn't so much go onto the back burner as into the back bedroom. It's at times like that the biblioblogging carnivals are so useful. And for May, Joel Watts put together a superb piece over on his number 1 blog:

Biblioblogging Carnival - Unsettled Edition

Talking of number 1 blogs, it seems that these days there is a kind of voting system for blogs too -- May 2011 Top Ten Biblioblogs. Unsurprisingly, the winner there is James McGrath.  But coming in at a very impressive number 7 is April DeConick. It's impressive because it's on the basis of a mere four posts in May, compared to Jim West, at number 10, who posted a record-breaking four million, eight hundred and fifty thousand, three hundred and twenty two posts in May.

Update (Thursday, 9.51): Chuck Grantham comments, over on A 'Goula Blogger.

Biblical Studies Carnivals and Top Blogs

When you have been out of the loop, it is fantastic to be able to catch up via the Biblical Studies Carnival.  There is an excellent one for February 2011 over on a blog called A Fistful of Farthings.  I'm ashamed to say that it's not a blog I have been reading, so the Carnival has been good for advertising its author's work:

February 2011 Biblical Studies Carnival

Meanwhile, the new voted-for Top 10 Biblioblogs list is also available:

February 2011 Top 10 Biblioblogs

And, wonder of wonders, the NT Blog is in there at number 8! Thanks to whoever voted for me -- greatly appreciated!

And then there is the Biblioblog Top 50 by actual sales:

Biblioblog Top 50 for February (by Alexa Rank)

Bibliobogging Carnival, Top 50 and Top 10

I am having the kind of busy beginning of term that is reducing the amount of time I have to keep up with the blogs, so it's great to have Jim West putting together a carnival to help us to catch up with what we might have missed. It's really well done -- comprehensive, clear, lively:

Biblical Studies Carnival for January 2011

And most importantly, it mentions the NT Blog a couple of times.

Meanwhile, the renewed Biblioblog Top 50 has the latest chart for January:

(N. T. Wrong Approved) Bibliblog Top 50 January 2011

It's nice having NT Wrong fronting it again. And there is also the latest of the new Top 10 by votes chart, with congratulations to James McGrath for the well-deserved top spot, and Bob Cargill (nicely caricatured) at number 2.

January 2011 Top 10 Biblioblogs

NT Blog, though, is nowhere in sight. Belated New Year's Resolution: must do better!

Biblical Studies Carnival 51 and more

I'm back from a short trip to the UK and a temporary hiatus in blogging.  You can catch up on the latest around the blogs with the Biblical Studies Carnival 51, by Brooke Lester, at the Anumma Blog.

Meanwhile, Free Old Testament Audio Website Blog has its latest Biblioblog rankings.  NT Blog, not surprisingly, has tumbled down the rankings with the relative paucity of postings in February, but it's good to see the NT Pod hot on its heels at number 29, and the NT Gateway just behind that at 30.

Next month's Biblical Studies Carnival sees the return of Jim West to the fold.  Whatever he says about ruffling feathers, the fact is that his previous carnivals have been among the best and most thorough of any.  It's a shame that they are no longer available after the recent major blog deletion.  Perhaps we should retrieve them?

Biblical Studies Carnival 50

Duane Smith has posted the latest Biblical Studies Carnival, number 50, over on Abnormal Interests. (At least I think it's supposed to be 50?). There is a lot of stuff there, nicely divided into two halves, the first of submissions from outsiders, the second of Duane's own selections.

Meanwhile, the Biblioblog top 50 continues over in Free Old Testament Audio Website Blog.

The Biblioblog Top 50 Archives comes back

Ask and you shall receive! After whinging about the way that people simply delete or hide massive blog archives, the archives of the Biblioblog Top 50 are back. It turns out that its authors were raptured. So those of us left behind now have the archives as well as Free Old Testament Audio's new version of the chart.

Life after the Biblioblog Top 50

Seems I am a bit slow off the mark since returning from England last week. I hadn't noticed that the Biblioblog Top 50 had finally thrown in the towel, after threatening to do so for some time. The Biblioblog Top 50 blog has gone the way of its author's earlier NT Wrong blog and has decided to hide the whole thing behind password protection. For what it's worth, I think it's a real shame. Although not as much fun as the old NT Wrong blog where it originated, the Biblioblog Top 50 was still a good laugh. I always felt that the real interest was in the annotations that accompanied the chart, the pictures and the gentle humour and sarcasm. But there were other things of use too, not least the big list that had become a great resource in its own right, and which I had linked on my NT Gateway blogs page. So that link is going to have to go. It seems that the Biblioblog search engine is still working, and that the database was last updated in November 2009, but you can no longer access it from the Biblioblog Top 50 site itself (of course). Instead, go to this Google link, or search directly from my NT Gateway Blogs page. But a search engine is only as good as the database it is searching, and if the dean of the Biblioblog Top 50 has given up that blog, it's doubtful that he is going to continue updating the complete list that feeds the search.

I now understand what I had not realized earlier, that the Free Old Testament Audio Website blog is attempting to replace the Biblioblog Top 50 itself and not just the occasional updates that used to appear on Jim West's deleted blog. So thanks to Jeremy for that, and kudos to the artist formerly known as NT Wrong that his absence is so clearly felt that others spring up to fill the void. I wish people would not do this, though, and delete or hide old blogs. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Even if you become convinced that there is so little value in it yourself that it should be removed from the web, it might just be that others have a higher opinion of your efforts and that the archives might continue to be of use. Luckily, there are ways of accessing archive material if you know how, but it would be so much more beneficial to keep the archives for such blogs publicly available. So this is me informally registering some general grumpiness about the whole business of hidden and deleted blogs, with perhaps a bit more to come in due course.

Missing the biblioblog rankings?

Missing the regular updates on the Alexa rankings of biblioblogs that used to appear on Jim West's now deleted blog? Thought not. Well, in the unlikely event that you are, Jeremy at the Free Old Testament Audio Website blog has kindly stepped into the breach and has got the whole process automated. The NT Blog and the NT Pod seem to have fallen down the list since days of old, but I am in good company further down the list, so I'm not complaining (much).

Biblioblog Top 50 Latest

Just when we thought it was all over, the Biblioblog Top 50 returned with the archives, search engines and lists all in tact, and then the threat of another quirky top 50 list, this time with the explanation that the list is "chosen according to the utterly subjective criteria of sexy style, stimulating content, timely dissemination, regularity, discernment, scholarly depth, innovation, and pazang." So I'm naturally delighted to see the NT Blog back where it belongs, at number 2. In the new AMC version of The Prisoner, the children in class are taught that there is no number 1 and that the leader of the village assumes the title "Two" because of his humility. In other words, Two really is One. And the new list sees Paleojudaica back where it belongs, in the top 10. Given the criteria, Jim Linville is probably a bit too low at 26. And I would not put the Dunedin School as low as 36, but there's no accounting for taste.

N T Wrong's second death?

Drat! I hope it wasn't something I said. As regular readers will know, I've always been a fan of the Biblioblog Top 50 and now it seems that its anonymous author has departed in similar fashion to his earlier pseudonymous incarnation. Jim West says that he was bored and suggests that there will be more to come. Well, the artist formerly known as N T Wrong is one of the giants, so I certainly hope that he will be back again soon. (See further The Busybody, Kata Ta Biblia, Hypotyposeis).

Biblioblog Top 50 vs. N. T. Wrong

At the recent Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in New Orleans, one of the real highlights was the paper given by James Crossley about the pseudonymous blogger known as N. T. Wrong. I asked a question at the end about the afterlife of N. T. Wrong. Because, of course, Wrong never really went away. He morphed into a more amorphous anonymous character (if such a thing is possible) at the head of the Biblioblog Top 50. James suggested that N. T. Wrong's politics were very much to the left of your average biblioblogger, and he repeated Wrong's notorious and hilarious descriptions added to his series of labels for the bloggers, from "very conservative" to "very liberal". At the same time that James was giving his paper, there was some discussion in the blogs about Biblioblog Top 50's suggestion about resuming these labels (Loren Rosson, Jason Staples, Stephen Carlson), perhaps itself generated by the discussion in James's SBL paper, which he had shared with the character he calls "Tom".

The suggestion, now dropped, illustrates for me the value of the pseudonymous blog over the anonymous one. I liked the N. T. Wrong character. He was a cheeky chappy, using his character to poke fun, to be subversive, to say things others might not say. Somehow, the character he created allowed him to make judgements (and misjudgements) about the politics of the blogs that were entertaining. I quite liked the fact that he wasn't sure where to place the NT Blog, for example, switching me twice across the boundaries. But the Biblioblog Top 50 does not have that clearly defined, cheeky character behind it, and the resumption of this categorization would not have worked with an anonymous author.

One of the curiosities about the afterlife of N. T. Wrong has been his failure to maintain the kind of subversive, counter-cultural, liberal persona. As I pointed out after James's paper in New Orleans, the Biblioblog Top 50 has been accused of being on the wrong side of the gender question, and of aligning itself with and also perpetuating the dominant male biblioblogging community. I think those charges are misguided, but the fact that they got such a hearing may be a testimony to the difficulty of blogging anonymously over against blogging in the name of an explicitly cheeky, subversive and fun character. And although it has always been clear to me that the Biblioblog Top 50 is supposed to be a laugh, the lack of a clearly identifiable author, even an artificially constructed one, ultimately makes it that bit less fun than when its author was Wrong.

Biblioblog Top 50, November

The new Biblioblog Top 50, for November, is now out. As usual, the best thing about it is the paragraph of introduction, in which we hear the echoes of the greatly missed artist formally known as NT Wrong.

Biblioblog Top 50, October

The latest Biblioblog Top 50, for October 2009, is out. Congratulations to Jim West for keeping the number 1 spot, and to a certain Jeremy Thompson who jumps into the top 5 with a blog with the catchy title of Free Old Testament Audio Website Blog, which was a new one to me.

Latest Biblioblog Top 50

It's been a stressful month on the biblioblogosphere, first with concerns about the continuing gender gap and subsequently much discussion and anxiety over an affiliation with the SBL, so it is nice to have the arrival of the latest Biblioblog Top 50 to cheer us all up. In checking for a couple of links, I noticed my comments a month ago to the following effect:

I must confess that there are far too many blogs in the top 50 that I don't yet subscribe to. I'll have to put that right. It's nice to see the NT Blog still in the top 10, and even more encouraging to see the NT Pod jumping a massive 78 places to 58. It's good to see James McGrath back in the top 10, but those of you who aren't reading Paleojudaica should be. I am sure Dr Jim (Linville)'s blog will continue to rise up the list in the future. It's one of the most entertaining of all the biblioblogs, in my humble opinion. One curiosity -- I don't see Bob Cargill's blog anywhere, and it certainly should be added. And congratulations to Jim West for holding on to the top spot for the sixth month in a row.

A month on, and Bob Cargill is included in the Top 50, Jim Linville continues to roar up to the top, James McGrath is making steady progress, and Jim West is number 1 for the seventh month, though with Joel Watts breathing down his neck and poised to take over. I am still disappointed by the fact that Paleojudaica polls where it does.

But I notice that the tradition in commenting on the Biblioblog Top 50 is to comment on your own ranking, and not others', so I will follow the trend and note that it's good to see the NT Blog in its highest ever post-split position, at Number 5, and to see the NT Pod making its debut in the Top 50, at 47. I think I'm the only person with two entries in the Top 50. I'm not playing fair! It's been a good month for the NT Pod, which is still in the iTunes U Top 40 downloads, with episode 13 apparently the most popular episode, with over 4,000 downloads.

Biblioblog Top 50, August

The latest Biblioblog Top 50 makes for enjoyable reading. I must confess that there are far too many blogs in the top 50 that I don't yet subscribe to. I'll have to put that right. It's nice to see the NT Blog still in the top 10, and even more encouraging to see the NT Pod jumping a massive 78 places to 58. It's good to see James McGrath back in the top 10, but those of you who aren't reading Paleojudaica should be. I am sure Dr Jim (Linville)'s blog will continue to rise up the list in the future. It's one of the most entertaining of all the biblioblogs, in my humble opinion. One curiosity -- I don't see Bob Cargill's blog anywhere, and it certainly should be added. And congratulations to Jim West for holding on to the top spot for the sixth month in a row.

August Charts and Carnivals

It's 1 August and we are treated to a Smörgåsbord of biblioblogging highlights in a couple of places, by TAFKANTW and Jim West:

Biblical Studies Carnival 44: The Funhouse Edition

Biblioblog Top 50: July 2009

Both are fantastically comprehensive. I am very impressed! Biblioblog Top 50 is, in fact, a top 200 and something. And Jim West shows himself to be master of the art of the Biblical Studies Carnival. It's difficult to imagine how much work both have put in on these, so it is a big thanks from us all.

Biblioblogging Carnivals and Charts

It's the beginning of a new month and there are new things to see in the world of the Biblioblogging aggregators. Pat McCullough has the latest Biblical Studies Carnival 43, Or the Apocalypse of Eve. It's an entertaining take on the format, with a big thank you to Pat for his trouble in digging up this ancient document. Not sSurprisingly, the ancients had no some idea what podcasts were, and the NT Pod, which launched in June, doesn't gets a mention in the Apocalypse of Eve. Luckily, though, it gets a mention in the latest Biblioblog Top 50 (blurb), also just out. As usual, TAFKANTW has done a remarkable job there. Thanks to all, and congratulations to Jim West who comes out on top once again!

Update: It turns out that a new, interpolated version of the the Apocalypse of Eve does feature a prophecy about the NT Pod, so I have amended the above accordingly.

New Biblioblogs Search

Ask and you shall receive! A week or so, I blogged a reminder of Deinde's Biblioblogs Search and added:

One quick thought: the Deinde search mentions "140+" blogs there indexed, but there are now almost 400 listed on the Biblioblog Top 50 site. Perhaps Danny Zacharias and TAFKANTW could get together and take the search up a few notches to incorporate all that rich variety?

Well, the author of the Biblioblogs Top 50 has been listening and has now added his New Biblioblog Google Custom Search Engine. You can grab it for yourself here:



Many thanks for creating this. I've done a few test searches and it works splendidly.

Biblioblogging Carnival and Top 50

The May edition of the Biblioblog Top 50 came out at the weekend, with NT Blog maintaining a healthy-ish position at 12, just ahead of the Biblioblog Top 50 itself, which makes an entry into its own chart at 13. It would be a lot of fun if the aggregator itself entered the top 10 next month. Since so much fantastic work goes into the compilation of this chart, I wish its author would emerge from the cloak of anonymity, but I suppose it is a forlorn hope.

Meanwhile, the latest Biblical Studies Carnival is out. It is number 42 and the author is Jim Getz of the Ketuvim blog. Jim does a great job, though it's a bit light on the New Testament this month, but that's probably the fault of people like me who failed to make any nominations.

Deinde's Biblioblogs Search

I was looking for an old post on a blog today and all I could remember was the topic. I couldn't remember the date, the author, the blog, anything. I then remembered Deinde's Biblioblogs Search and found the post I was looking for instantly (it was by Sean Winter, it turned out). I have added a link to the Biblioblogs Search to my Blogs page on the NT Gateway. One quick thought: the Deinde search mentions "140+" blogs there indexed, but there are now almost 400 listed on the Biblioblog Top 50 site. Perhaps Danny Zacharias and TAFKANTW could get together and take the search up a few notches to incorporate all that rich variety?