Biblical Studies Carnival 45

A superb job this month on the Biblical Studies Carnival, the regular round-up of what's going on in the blogs over the last month:

Biblical Studies Carnival 45

It's by Michael Kok over on the Golden Rule blog. Thanks, Michael.

Bart Ehrman Web Page

I have just noticed Bart Ehrman's glossy web page:

Professor Bart D. Ehrman

It has information about publications, CV and so on, and perhaps most usefully a compendium of audio and video links, some of which will probably find their way onto the NT Gateway.

Are electronic journals changing the way we cite articles?

Back in the day, journal articles were cited something like this:

Christopher Tuckett, “Thomas and the Synoptics”, NovT 30 (1988), 132-57

There was a simplicity about this kind of reference, and it made sense of the practice of finding an article. For all but the most current issues, we would go to the bound volumes of the journal in question, and all you'd need for that would be the volume number, the year and the page numbers. To add the issue number would be superfluous. But I've noticed now just how inconvenient it can be only to have that information in the light of ever increasing access to journals electronically. You can make a rough guess as to whereabouts the page numbers might be in a given issue, but more often than not, one makes the wrong choice. I must admit that I am now adjusting my own practice and, as far as possible, adding issue numbers to my citations, so that one like the above becomes:

Christopher Tuckett, “Thomas and the Synoptics”, NovT 30.2 (1988), 132-57

Of course things are simpler when you are reaching an article through a search and you are able to click through to the article in question, but it's now often helpful to have the issue information handy for occasions when one is in browse mode.

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.

666 verses in Mark's Gospel in the NIV, or are there?

Over on PaleoBabble, Michael Heiser has a fantastic example of Another Great Moment in Pulpit Paleobabble, so good it is worth repeating here so that you can see it for yourself:



The pastor is a certain Steven Anderson from Faithful Word Baptist Church, already notorious for comments on Him that Pisseth Against the Wall. Now he is attempting to prove that there are 666 verses in the New International Version of Mark's Gospel with a view to demonstrating that everyone should be using the King James Version (I understand that this phenomenon is called "KJV only" and it is surprisingly widespread, especially here in the US).

Michael makes some excellent points on PaleoBabble, all of which will be transparent good sense to any one with an education, but I'd like to add a quick point of my own which undermines the bizarre case on its own terms, and it goes as follows: There are not 666 verses in the NIV of Mark's Gospel. Like most modern translations, the NIV does not print Mark 7.16, 9.44, 9.46, 11.26 and 15.28. So there are not 666 verses in the NIV of Mark 1.1-16.8. There are 661. The preacher in question has made the mistake of counting simply by going to the last verse of each chapter and adding up those numbers. Of course he might say that these missing verses are printed as footnotes in the NIV, but then the whole point of his sermon is that the NIV ignores Mark 16.9-20 by treating them as footnotes, so that is hardly going to wash. Hoist by his own petard, I am afraid.

NT Pod 10: Paul's humour Programme Notes

I released the latest episode of the NT Pod on Friday and the topic was Did the Apostle Paul have a sense of humour? (or humor, if you prefer). I begin by mentioning John Knox, Chapters in a Life of Paul (Revised edition; Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1987; original edition, 1950); here is the passage in question:

To be sure Paul had his serious limitations as a counselor. We look in vain for any sign of humor in Paul's letters. He would have been both happier and wiser if he could sometimes have laughed at and with himself and at and with others; perhaps he did, but surely not often enough, since in that case at least an occasional chuckle would have found its way into his letters. (87).

The passages in Paul I discuss are Galatians 5:12, 1 Corinthians 12:15-26 and 2 Corinthians 12:11-13. For those who continued listening all the way to the end, there is a short clip of Eddie Izzard talking about Paul's letters. (Longer clip here on Youtube, with a bad language warning -- contains several expletives).

Audio and Video

There has been a lot of talk recently in the biblioblogs about audio and video in the NT Studies area, and the usefulness of new audio and video resources in teaching (e.g. AKMA and Homilia of a Budding NT Scholar, among others, commenting on St John's College, Nottingham Youtube videos). This has made me realize that it is high time that I begin the task of integrating links to audio and video resources into particular areas of the New Testament Gateway, and not just in gather-all pages like the one I recently added on podcasts. It is early days yet, but I have added pages on Historical Jesus: Audio and Video and Paul the Apostle: Audio and Video. So far, I have added links mainly to BBC documentaries and discussions (all audio streaming) and some podcasts, but next I'd like to work out how to link to some video too, including projects like the St John's Nottingham one. There is a lot more work to be done in this area, but it's exciting to have this new beginning. Suggestions, of course, are welcome.

Bob Cargill on Pseudo-Science and Sensationalist Archaeology

Bob Cargill has a superb piece in Bible and Interpretation today. I don't have anything to add to it, but just want to underline how helpful I think it is:

Pseudo-Science and Sensationalist Archaeology: An Exposé of Jimmy Barfield and the Copper Scroll Project

I particularly appreciate the rallying cry, for example here:

The academy has fallen too far behind in area of modern media. Television documentaries, blogs, and other self-produced vehicles of information dissemination have nearly been monopolized by entertainment brokers and scammers, who are all looking to make money by peddling popular misinformation. Scholars must venture into these less comfortable waters and begin to engage the public on their terms, for indeed, the winds have shifted and the environment of learning has shifted from the classroom to the living room. With wireless internet and satellite television pumping more information than a person can handle into homes around the world each day, an increasing number of people are getting their news and information from the internet and television rather than university campuses. At some point, the academy must relinquish its notion that the public will come to them for verification of facts and must take their message to the people. Scholars must work with university media relations personnel and technologists to maximize the reach of their research and instructional materials. And as always, scholars must publish their findings in a timely and credible manner, or they will indeed perish. Or, far worse, the truth will.

Most academics don't use Twitter

In today's Campus Technology, the news that Most Faculty Don't Use Twitter, Study Reveals. Also in the news today, it emerges that bears do, in fact, poo in the woods.

The Scholar's Scalpel

With a fine enough scalpel, everything is unique

Michael Goulder, Luke: A New Paradigm (JSNTSup. 20; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989), 280.

I have been looking for this quotation for ages, and finally came across it today. I had remembered using it myself (e.g. in my review of Kim Paffenroth's Story of Jesus according to L, "In the search for 'un-Lukan' features, one cannot help thinking that with a sharp enough scalpel, everything is unique"), and I had always attributed it to Michael Goulder, but I was beginning to think that I had invented it myself. It turns out that my memory was correct and that it does come in Goulder. It's a nice line. In context, Goulder is criticizing the fine distinctions made by Schürmann on Luke 3.15, "Schürmann denies the verse to Luke by fastidious distinctions . . . "

Admitting our Ignorance about the Historical Jesus

My latest In My View piece is up at Bible and Interpretation:

Admitting our Ignorance about the Historical Jesus

Regular readers of this blog may recognise that it repeats, deletes, adjusts and adds to some of the themes that I have been discussing here in the series on Missing Pieces. It is also my belated birthday tribute to Rudolf Bultmann whose 125th birthday was last week (see Bultmann posts and tributes).

NT Pod 9: Jesus' Genealogy in Luke's Gospel

For those who are not subscribed to the NT Pod, I will continue to mention it here when I remember. The latest episode, uploaded earlier, is on Luke's Genealogy (Luke 3:23-38). In it I develop the suggestion that Luke takes his genealogy of Jesus through Nathan (Luke 3:31) rather than Solomon (Matthew 1:6) because he is developing an idea drawn the famous messianic passage Isaiah 11:1, which speaks of the "shoot coming from the stump of Jesse". I don't think I have any substantial programme notes to add this time, but it is possible that I might follow up the podcast with some notes here in due course.

Jesus Seminar latest

John Dart has the latest on the Jesus Seminar in an article in The Christian Century:

Revitalized Jesus Seminar Gets New Home

. . . . However, the outgoing board chair, Lane C. McGaughy, this year engineered a major money-saving relocation to the private Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, across from the state capitol. A longtime professor there, McGaughy convinced university president Lee Pelton, already a supporter of the Jesus Seminar, that the academic group and its Polebridge Press would fill the university's desire for an additional research center and an expandable university press.

"Westar was never on the verge of closing shop," McGaughy said. A core of Jesus Seminar fellows and lay associates "decided that Westar is an important voice for disseminating the results of serious scholarship on the Bible to the literate public." Its leaders had the respect of many biblical scholars not associated with theologically conservative schools.

Most people who looked into what the Jesus Seminar was saying "realized that our work was more mainstream (and boring) than they had thought," said one participant. "The shock value was lost."

Mainstream and boring -- that's a quotation worth remembering for the next time I am setting an essay on the Jesus Seminar and its participants! There is more news on the Westar Institute's site. And since I have last visited their site, there is some audio and video added.

SBL Receives NEH Award for "World of the Bible" website

The SBL site provides news of a successful award application:

Society of Biblical Literature Receives NEH Award

Atlanta – The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) has received a National Endowment for the Humanities planning grant to develop an interactive website that would improve public understanding of the Bible and its contexts. This website, “The World of the Bible: Exploring People, Places, and Passages” will feed the large public interest in matters biblical and will draw on the work of SBL members.

The Project Director is SBL executive director Kent Richards, who will oversee the planning phase for the website from September 2009 to September 2010 . . .

The press release also mentions an advisory board, which includes a couple of familiar names from Duke University.

Graham Stanton: Obituary by James D. G. Dunn

I am not sure how long this has been on the SBL Site, but I have just spotted it and so add a note here:

Graham Stanton (1940-2009)

James D. G. Dunn

For other tributes and obituaries, follow this link: Graham Stanton.

Graham Stanton: The Times Obituary

Tomorrow's Times has its obituary of Graham Stanton:

Graham Stanton: New Testament Scholar

It is a fine obituary, with plenty of detail on his scholarship and even a mention of the British New Testament Society. The following paragraph corroborates what others like Peter Head have said:

Stanton justified his early elevation to a chair and his transfer in 1998 to the prestigious Lady Margaret’s chair at Cambridge. What the publications barely show is his remarkable success as a doctoral supervisor and the unusual proportion of his time and energy spent on this part of his work. His reputation attracted research students from overseas, a welcome contribution to university budgets. The warmth of their devotion to their teacher was evident in a haka honouring his roots and support for the All Blacks at the presentation of a festschrift [sic] in 2005.

SBL on a Budget

Around the blogs, talk is in the air about the SBL Annual Meeting in New Orleans in November (e.g. should Dr Jim go?). One of the big issues this year, for many, will be finance. Even wealthy universities like my own, Duke, are cutting conference grants and expenses as part of their bid to save millions from their operating budgets. So for the first time since crossing the shores, I will not be able to claim a $1,000 conference grant to fund the trip. Luckily, I have experience of attending SBL on a budget. It is something I have blogged about before (Enjoying SBL), but here is a revised and expanded version:

1. Find a cheap flight. This has to begin pretty early, like a month or so ago. It's a good idea to use an aggregator site like Kayak and to watch the prices daily. I have managed to find a $216 flight from Raleigh to New Orleans after having watched the site for the last few weeks, and I am feeling quite chuffed about it.

2. Room-share. The SBL hotels are all pretty posh and pretty expensive. The only way to stay in one of those hotels and keep the price down is to room-share. Of course you need to have a person or people that you can cope with for several days, but the lucky ones among us will actually enjoy the SBL a great deal more because of the company they keep.

3. Breakfast trough-out. The cost of food is a big problem, and four days of conference-attending can put the strain on your budget. What I suggest is to get to one of those great American breakfast buffets every morning and eat to your heart's content. Don't be put off by earnest looking professor types who only visit the buffet once. Keep going for as long as you can. Eat so much that you won't want lunch. You can then make it through to the evening when you'll be just peckish enough to enjoy something else.

Birmingham never gave me enough to travel, and so troughing my face at breakfast was my standard survival strategy. The American breakfast buffets are great, though for Brits it can be a little off-putting to see Americans putting their fruit on the same plate as their sausage and bacon, or worse, putting corn syrup on their scrambled egg. So Brits abroad may need to avert their eyes. There is also an unappetizing pastey coloured concoction called "grits", which is to be avoided.

4. Get invited to receptions. Even if you have troughed out at breakfast, you'll be hungry again by the evening. If you can, get to an evening reception where there is a lot of food. Unfortunately, publishers and universities are all feeling the pinch, and the amount of "free" food at the receptions is now pretty limited, let alone free drinks (e.g. Duke goes to a cash bar this year for the first time in recent history). Nevertheless, if you are not too fussy, you might be able to pick up some nick-nacks while networking.

And with apologies to the publishers, who do need your money,

5. Don't visit the book exhibit. If you do, you will probably end up buying books. You know you can't afford them, and you run the risk of weighing down your bags so much that you have to pay extra at the airport for the journey home. And all these scholars who write big books have got plenty of money anyway, and don't need additional royalties from an SBL-on-a-budget type like you. Bear in mind that they won't be flight-watching, room-sharing, breakfast-troughing and reception-grabbing. The last thing you want to do is to subsidize their luxury.

John Sweet: The Independent Obituary and Selwyn College Condolence Book

The Times obituary of John Sweet mentions a book of condolences for John Sweet at the Selwyn College website. It is a remarkable testament to the man and it is often quite touching:

Condolence Book for Revd Canon Dr John Sweet 1927-2009

I have also just noticed The Independent obituary, which was published a week or so ago:

John Sweet: Biblical scholar and educator who taught a raft of Church leaders

This one is written by John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, hence the title, and it echoes the same comments about John Sweet's delightful character, but it has a nice paragraph on John Sweet's commentary on Revelation.

Academically, his commentary on the Book of Revelation was both wise and balanced, and played a very important role in helping ordinary readers make sense of this strangest and most puzzling part of the New Testament. He tried to see it as a whole, without the distortions of inherited assumptions. Drawing on the latest scholarship, Sweet explored the literary and theological dimensions of the text with great skill and lightness of touch, with the commentary serving as a reference point for students and scholars ever since its publication in 1979 by SCM Pelican Commentaries.

John Sweet: The Times Obituary

Today's Times has its obituary of John Sweet, with a very similar photograph to the one from the Telegraph obituary a couple of weeks ago, with Canon Sweet standing in front of Selwyn College:

Canon John Sweet: priest and scholar

John Sweet was a highly respected New Testament scholar who gave his life to teaching generations of students at Cambridge, among them three current Archbishops: Canterbury (Rowan Williams), York (John Sentamu) and Wales (Barry Morgan).

It is a delightful obituary and it catches something of his character:

He was totally without self-importance and to many seemed to epitomise the words from St John’s Gospel, “full of grace and truth”; 194 people attended his retirement dinner, including four diocesan bishops. For although Sweet was a distinguished scholar, at the centre of all he did, suffusing it with a special quality, was a sense that first of all he was a priest and a Christian disciple. His influence on all he taught was deep and long lasting.

NT Pod 8: The Alternative Number of the Beast: Programme Notes

I have just released episode 8 of the NT Pod and the topic this time is The Alternative Number of the Beast. The podcast discusses Revelation 13:18 and "the number of the beast", 666, as well as the alternative reading, 616, witnessed in Irenaeus and P115. I mention in the podcast that you can see P115 clearly on the web and this is the link:

P.Oxy LXVI 4499

It's there on the third line, chi, iota, stigma (hexakosiai deka hex).

For a useful video introduction to the issues, see my post from yesterday, Number of the Beast: 666 or 616: how does it work?, which features Ian Boxall and David Parker.

For an earlier post on the topic here, see The Number of the Beast: 616 and Oxyrhynchus.

Relevant bibliography includes:

David C. Parker, "A New Oxyrhynchus Papyrus of Revelation: P115 (P.Oxy 4499)", NTS 46 (2000): 159-74

Peter M. Head, "Some Recently Published NT Papyri from Oxyrhynchus: An Overview and Preliminary Assessment", Tyndale Bulletin 51 (2000): 1-16 [Available online in PDF format - click article title]

I may add a bit more here in due course.