Mahlon Smith's Blog

Many thanks to Gail Dawson for this one:

Virtual Religion Weblog

This is "the Online Journal of Mahlon H. Smith", recently launched, and a very welcome addition to the blogosphere. Most of my readers, I am sure, will know of Mahlon Smith's work, and especially his pioneering web sites on religion and Christian origins which include Virtual Religion Index, A Synoptic Gospels Primer, Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus and Jesus Seminar Forum. Mahlon and I have never met, but we have been internet friends for years and I am looking forward to reading this new, occasional journal. Recent entries include one on adding a Google Search (and follow-up). I have recently come over to Google's Site Search myself (see blog entry on) because I reached my page limit with PicoSearch's free search, which I have used now for about six years. At present my own Google site search only appears here on the blog, but I have been impressed enough with it to add it to the NTGateway as a whole when I next get the chance. (It searches NTGateway.com as a whole, but what I mean is that at present the search box only appears here on the blog and not elsewhere on the NTGateway).

Well worth reading is Mahlon's entry on Gibson Agonistes, all about the article he wrote on The Passion of the Christ, how that article came about and its afterlife, with PDF and booklet versions and the like. It's nice to hear that I am not the only one who on occasion ends up putting in an all-nighter to get work finished. Indeed the last time I did that was over my own article on The Passion of the Christ for the new book. Perhaps there's something about writing about the Passion during the night that brings out the best in us?

I'll end this enthusiastic post by adding a request to Mahlon for an RSS feed for the blog. As a consumer of multiple blogs, the only effective way to keep up with them these days is to read them via an aggregator like Bloglines.

Passion of the Christ book arrives

Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ I was happy to find in today's post my copy of this book, Robert Webb and Kathleen Corley (eds.), Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ: The Film, the Gospels and the Claims of History. I am looking forward to reading those parts that I have not had a chance to read yet (the majority of it). If you haven't ordered your copy yet, you can read more about it here, or you can order it from Amazon here.

SBL Seminar Papers Discussion continues

Further to my post on this topic yesterday, More on the SBL Seminar Papers, see now also:

Copyright and Blogging (Rubén Gómez at Bible Software Review)

Copyright and SBL Papers (Stephen Carlson at Hypotyposeis)

The SBL, Copyright and Scholarly Courtesy (including updates, Jim Davila, Paleojudaica)

Jim gets to the nub of my own concerns with this comment:

This is an unannounced and, as far as I know, undiscussed departure from the previous policy regarding SBL Seminar Papers. Some of the volumes have pointed out that the papers are preliminary work, which is fair enough, but there's never been a hint that they shouldn't be cited and, indeed, they have frequently been cited in the secondary literature. I've published two papers in the SBLSP myself, at least one of which has been cited elsewhere, indeed in the last few months. It never would have occurred to me to expect the citers to ask my permission first.

I've had just the one article published in the Seminar Papers and my understanding was like Jim's -- I would certainly not have expected people to ask my permission before quoting from the article, much less citing it, nor have they. In fact I've been delighted when it has been cited. Jim also comments:

The new policy doesn't make any sense for the printed and bound volumes, let alone for Internet publications. It seems to be aimed at small seminars of, say, a dozen or fewer people in which they circulate the papers among themselves for discussion and feedback before revising and publishing them.

This, I think, compliments my point that the new rider essentially devalues the role played by the Seminar Papers -- what is now the incentive to publish this way? An example. This year I am giving a paper in the Mark Group. Our papers will be circulated in advance to the members of the group but we were also offered the chance to publish in the Seminar Papers, for which we had to get our papers in long in advance. (Mine is still not written yet). I regarded the Seminar Papers as a higher status publication than the informal sharing of papers among members of the specific group.

I agree with many of Jim's comments on the practical difficulties that the new rider introduces.

One comment on Stephen's remarks:

Much of my previous comments in my "'Copyright Confusion'" were colored by what is now an apparently false assumption that the on-line papers are preprints of articles for a forthcoming printed edition of the Seminar Papers 2004. As a result, I was under the impression that the restrictions were only temporary until the "official" publication and would therefore be analogous to a media embargo that is often imposed by journals such as Nature, which grant pre-publication access with pre-publication restrictions. But Mark Goodacre states that "The on-line version replaces the older paper version," a critical fact I overlooked. Is this true? Are they really replacing the printed version with the on-line? If so, whatever policy considerations I was assuming based on temporary restrictions are less appropriate here. (Also, since the Seminar Papers used to be available at the meeting, whatever assumption I had about revising them in response to comments at the meeting was off too.)

Yes, the relevant section on the SBL Site is the following:

The new version, which replaces the paperback edition, will provide convenient, timely access to papers intended to be read prior to the Annual Meeting. The decision, made early in April by the Research and Publications Committee, recognizes a new opportunity for scholarly exchange before and during the Annual Meeting. (SBL Seminar Papers on-line)

The invitation to publish in the Seminar Papers was pretty broad -- it went out at least to the leaders of the seminars, groups and consultations so that they, in turn, would invite all those who were to speak to contribute to the Seminar Papers should they wish to do so.

JSNT latest

The latest edition of JSNT is now available:

Journal for the Study of the New Testament Vol. 27 No. 1 (September 2004)

Contents are as follows:

Domestic Space and Families in Early Christianity: Editors’ Introduction
Margaret MacDonald and Halvor Moxnes

Domestic Architecture and Household Relations: Pompeii and Roman Ephesos
Michele George

Rich Pompeiian Houses, Shops for Rent, and the Huge Apartment Building in Herculaneum as Typical Spaces for Pauline House Churches
David L. Balch

Towards a Typology of Levantine/Palestinian Houses
Peter Richardson

Domestic Space, Family Relationships and the Social Location of the Q People
Santiago Guijarro

Lord Jesus Christ: A Response to Professor Hurtado
Maurice Casey

Devotion to Jesus and Historical Investigation: A Grateful, Clarifying and Critical Response to Professor Casey
Larry W. Hurtado

The Text-Critical Function of the Umlauts in Vaticanus, with Special Attention to 1 Corinthians 14.34-35: A Response to J. Edward Miller
Philip B. Payne

Book Reviews

The links above go to the abstracts. Full text is available to subscribers and institutional subscribers. (My institutional subscription is not working at the moment -- Ingenta are refusing to read the Birmingham authentication and Swets do not yet have the latest edition on-line -- annoying because there are a few articles here I'd like to read).

Trobisch URLs

Religion-Online have been reorganizing their site again, with all new URLs, which is going to cause quite a bit of updating for me. Here's one for starters: David Trobisch, The Oldest Extant Editions of the Letters of Paul updated on both my Paul the Apostle and Textual Criticism. Note that Religion-Online have the incorrect URL for Trobisch's homepage; it should be this: Dr David J. Trobisch. There is actually a good deal to explore there, including several full-text articles, for which you need to click first on the tiny link at the top of the page to Curriculum Vitae.

More on the SBL Seminar Papers

Following on from my posting on the SBL Seminar Papers On-line, Jim Davila comments on Copyright Confusion on Paleojudaica. In addition to Jim's remarks, a couple of things strike me here: the major departure from the tradition of the SBL Seminar Papers, which have often been cited and quoted in other publications, and the lack of necessity for the rider. If scholars simply want to put work in progress on-line, then the SBL Seminar Papers does not strike me as the obvious or best place to do it. They can self-publish on their own web site, they can circulate to colleagues and friends and members of the seminar group in question, and they can publish temporarily on the individual section's web site (many SBL groups now have their own web site). In other words, the presence of the fresh, especially emphasised rider downgrades the importance of the SBL Seminar Papers, making them no more than temporarily published works in progress. Is there an implied distinction working here between proper publication = print and temporary, work in progress = web? Is this the end of an era?

Update (23.32): Matthew Collins sends a helpful clarificatory email:

First, thanks for the mention - hopefully more folks will visit the site.
Second, my original intent in putting the rider on the papers, however, was not one of claiming copyright or any such thing (you'll notice I don't say they are copyrighted, only that one should ask permission). Rather it was to reinforce the idea of scholarly courtesy in recognizing the provisional nature (both in print and online) of the Seminar Papers as a publication. We have had this approach to the Seminar Papers since its inception. I have seen (and heard) quotations of papers printed in the Seminar Papers used to argue that scholar X holds a particular point of view - when in fact in the final version of the paper published elsewhere, scholar X either takes a very different view or doesn't address the perspective quoted. The Seminar Papers has always been a provisional publication designed to stimulate scholarly interchange at the meeting through the circulation of papers in advance of the meeting. The fact that these papers were bound in a nice volume and sold made many assume they were finished and copyrighted products. If you look at the print versions of the past, you will note the only copyright claimed is for the printed collected volume. Authors still retained all copyrights and publication rights.

And Stephen Carlson anticipates some of these comments in a useful posting on Hypotyposeis.

JTS latest

The Journal of Theological Studies has a new issue:

The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume 55, Issue 2, October 2004

I'm afraid that it is still subscriber / institutional subscription only. There are bags of interesting reviews, as usual, and one article that touches directly on the New Testament:

Purity of Heart in Jesus' Teaching: Mark 7:14-23 Par. as an Expression of Jesus' Basileia Ethics
Christian Stettler
pp. 467-502

Accordance: Links to Oaksoft

This circular has gone round from Helen Brown at Accordance:

We have a problem with Google: sites are rated partly by the number of sites that link to them. Since we changed our domain from www.oaksoft.com to www.accordancebible.com, we are at a disadvantage in that virtually no webpages link to the new domain. Although the old links still work seamlessly, we need to work to improve the number of sites that do link to the new domain.

Please correct the links on your site, and keep in mind that all the subsidiary pages and links have changed completely.

The only link I have is to an old blog entry on Biblical Studies Bulletin 31, so I hereby add above a link to the new URL. I should add that the New Testament Gateway as a policy links only to free software, so the lack of inclusion of Accordance, of course, is no comment on the programme and its well-known qualities.

I imagine that the concern is if one were to type something like "Bible software" into Google, when Accordance would come number 12 in the list, and not in the all important top few. If, however, one had already heard of Accordance by word of mouth, and typed in "Accordance", it does come up top, and with both URLs.

Review of Biblical Literature latest

Latest from the Review of Biblical Literature:

Malherbe, A. J.
The Letters to the Thessalonians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

This page links to several review of the book, with an Introduction by John Fitzgerald and Reviews by:

Jan Lambrecht
Edgar Krentz
Charles Wanamaker
Johan Thom
Margaret Mitchell

Silva, Moisés
Interpreting Galatians: Explorations in Exegetical Method
Reviewed by Ron Fay

Zahl, Paul F. M.
The First Christian: Universal Truth in the Teachings of Jesus
Reviewed by D Seiple

Hays, Richard and Ellen Davis, eds.
The Art of Reading Scripture
Reviewed by Roy Melugin

Pokorný, Petr and Jan Roskovec, eds.
Philosophical Hermeneutics and Biblical Exegesis
Reviewed by Peter Frick

SBL Seminar Papers On-line

The SBL Seminar Papers are now available on-line:

SBL Seminar Papers 2004

The on-line version replaces the older paper version. It looks like the on-line version has created fewer rather than more submissions, unless it is just that the number looks fewer when one sees them on-line. Unlike the older paper version (again, if I remember correctly), there is a statement limiting their usage and flagging these up as works in progress:

Because these papers represent works in progress, they should not be quoted or otherwise cited without permission from the author.

Here are the papers that touch on New Testament themes. All are PDFs:

S21-60 Formation of Luke-Acts Consultation
Claire Clivaz, University of Lausanne
"A Sweat like Drops of Blood" (Luke 22:44): at the Crossing of Intertextual Reading and Textual Criticism

S23-10 John's Apocalypse and Cultural Contexts Ancient and Modern Section
Olutola K. Peters, Emmanuel Bible College
Politics of Violence in the Apocalypse of John: Moral Dilemma and Justification

S22-115 Mark Group
Lawrence Wills, Episcopal Divinity School
The Sacrifice of the Hero and The Death of Jesus in Mark

S22-17 Matthew Section
Mary Kay Dobrovolny, Vanderbilt University
Who Controls the Resources? Economics and Justice in Matt 20:1-15

S22-18 Midrash Consultation
Herbert Basser, Queen's University
The Value of the Gospels for Reading the Rabbis

S22-77 Synoptic Gospels Section
T. M. Derico, Trinity College, Oxford
Upgrade and Reboot: A Re-appraisal of the Default Setting

New look for the N. T. Wright Page

Kevin Bush's "Unofficial web site dedicated to the Bishop of Durham" has a nice new look; visit it at:

N. T. Wright Page

Carlson on Kloppenborg on Goodacre Part 2

On Hypotyposeis, Stephen Carlson has the second part of his critical review of John Kloppenborg's "On Dispensing with Q?: Goodacre on the Relation of Luke to Matthew":

Kloppenborg Review on Matthew's Additions in the Triple Tradition

I don't have any comments to add here, but it's well worth reading; I look forward to the next section.

What's in a blog @ Bible Software Review Weblog

There's an enjoyable post on Bible Software Review Weblog, enjoyable not least because I found myself in agreement with most of what Rubén Gómez says:

What's in a blog

He is picking up from an article from October 2003 in NetGuideWeb giving hints on what makes a good blog. Some comments on comments:

"Don't worry about who's reading, and just write about what's interesting to you. Don't try to please some external person, just focus on writing about stuff you think is interesting." — Easy to say, and easily done... at the beginning. Later on I've noticed that you tend to take into account the profile of your audience and the feedback you receive. So you end up writing about what you consider interesting and think your readers will appreciate.

Agreed; looking back on a year of blogging, I am pleased by how often feedback has helped me to craft this blog. Sometimes I've even asked a question like "Is it worth my while adding this kind of announcement?" and have had positive feedback saying "yes, please continue" and so on. But otherwise, I avoid being neurotic about content. As long as it touches on the topic of the blog, i.e. the academic study of the New Testament, and I think it worth posting, it goes in.

But these are the comments (on comments) that particularly struck a chord with me:

"The blog should do what you say it's going to do. You want people to come back, to become regular readers, so you need to live up to whatever you promise. If you've set up a tech blog, your readers might be surprised if you start writing long accounts of why your marriage/team/country is going down the drain. Of course, in the process you might pick up some new readers and decide to relaunch the blog." — Now, this I find very relevant! One of the things that turn me off is the fact that otherwise good and useful Biblical Studies weblogs begin to talk about things that have nothing to do, whatsoever, with the stated purpose of the blog. Don't get me wrong. I think it is a perfectly legitimate thing to hold certain political views, sports interests, and what have you. However, I do believe they belong elsewhere, and since it is so easy to set up a personal weblog and vent our opinions there, I think it would be in everybody's interest if we could somehow keep focused. This is not to say, of course, that I don't like personal touches here and there. I, for one, love to know some details about any Tom, Dick and Harry "Blogger", see pictures of them, and so on. We're dealing with people here. And you'll agree with me that Stephen is more important than Hypotyposeis, Mark than NT Gateway, or Jim than Paleojudaica, to name just three of them (forgive me the rest of you!). But the fact remains that I feel I cannot add certain blogs to my blogroll simply because they mix "apples with oranges," and that is kind of frustrating.

I entirely agree with these comments. There is a balance here. For the "professional blog", to use Rubén's term, has a specific, stated academic focus. In the case of this blog, it is the academic study of the New testament. I work on the assumption that the reason that people read this blog is that they are in some way interested in the academic study of the New Testament. I do not assume that readers will be interested in my marriage, my family, my hobbies, my leisure time, my political affiliations and so on. And if they are interested in these things, tough -- they're not going to learn about them, not from here at least! And yet at the same time, it is the case that a blog, even one with a stated professional focus, is a personal product, and, to speak for myself, I don't want this blog to be pompous or dry or over-intense, or any of the other things that academics can lend themselves to. There needs to be a sense of fun, some personal investment, something distinctive and interesting; but my aim, at least, is to avoid letting that descend into self-indulgence. (If you read this blog regularly, you might sometimes spot a post or an element in a post that gets deleted later the same day after I have thought better of it). Anyway, thanks, Rubén, for some interesting thoughts.

BMCR Review of Witherington on Revelation

Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2004.09.14 features the following enthusiastic review:

Ben Witherington III, Revelation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
Reviewed by Susan F. Mathews

Links opening in new windows

A correspondent suggested to me that it would be useful to have links in this blog opening in new windows (illustration). So I'll give that a go for a bit and see what users think. Please leave a comment if you have a strong view on this either way.

KALOS 2.9

KALÓS, the free classical Greek computer programme, has announced Version 2.9:

KALÓS 2.9

In this version we finally took our \"Tutti i verbi greci\" and did a dramatic overhaul of the morphological analysis.

There\'s still work to do but we think the results of our work will show. Notice how the full numbers of exploded forms that are generated when entering a word are presented to the user for filtering.

Other improvements and bug fixes in this version:

-the selection of verbs by category now works

-accents type and position on the vocalic contracted verbs were corrected

-several problems in the presentation of the verb listing were corrected

-more spacing has been given to the listings\' rows

-problems with the listings\' grouping were corrected

-the listings of the infinitive now show more than one form if available

-conjugations of very common verbs (TRE/YW, QNH|SKW, FHMI/, LAMBA/NW), presented problems that were corrected

-the participle listings of several -MI verbs failed, this has been corrected

-several liquid verbs presented problems in the infective (present and imperfect). This was corrected.

Besides ... yes, we have a normal WINDOWS SETUP! (applause).

We hope you enjoy our latest version. Please keep your comments and suggestions coming, your feedback helps us enormously improve the program.

Google Search

I've added a Google search now to this blog; my PicoSearch finally reached its 1,500 page limit this week and this necessitated the change. At present it's just available here on the NT Gateway weblog. If I decide that it's OK and that all is well, I'll replace all the PicoSearches on the New Testament Gateway proper too.

Greek Study Day

This message posted on behalf of Geoffrey Williams:

This is to give you advance notice of a proposed STUDY DAY for teachers of NT Greek in theological colleges and University departments of theology and religious studies.

It is to be held on WEDNESDAY 2 MARCH 2005 at the UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM, between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm.

It will be a practical day, and enable teachers to exchange ideas and develop the existing network which has been encouraged by the LTSN.

At least three themes will be considered during the day: how we enable students to develop strategies for translation when they are approaching NT texts; how we t4each participles to students at introductory and intermediate levels; and ho we organise and construct beginners' courses in Greek (the latter to be led by Glenn Balfour, who had just completed a new text-book)

The cost is likely to be of the order of £30.

Further details, including a registration form, will be sent out as soon as they are available, and will also appear on the New Testament Gateway website.

Jane McLarty (Cambridge University) jdm35@cam.ac.uk

Steve Walton (London School of Theology) s.walton@lst.ac.uk

Geoffrey Williams (Spurgeons College) geoffrey@gaw117.fsnet.co.uk

New blogger features

I've updated my blogger template to feature two of the new blogger facilities. First, I've added Blogger's own comments facility. This was not available when I began the blog and so I used Haloscan instead. The disadvantage with Haloscan are that the comments are hosted elsewhere; moreover, blogger's own comments provision allows one to see the comments on each individual post's page. But I did not want to lose all the Haloscan comments from the last year or so, at least not for the time being, so I have gone for the slightly unwieldly solution of keeping both. So please, from now on, use the "New Comments" link you see below rather than the "Comments" link. I've even added "Use this" for the time being to encourage everyone to click on the right link.

I've also enabled the "Email this" link -- post a link to a blog entry to a friend by clicking on the icon.

Of course if you are reading this in an aggregator, you will have to leave the aggregator to access those features.

The next thing I need to change is the search facility on the NT Gateway as a whole. I reached my Picosearch limit of 1,500 pages this week so will need to transfer over to Google's search. But that will take a little while to implement.

Elsewhere in the blogosphere

I was sorry to see the announcment this morning about the end of Νεφελοκοκκυγία.

More happily, it's good to see Deinde back on-line after an absence of a couple of weeks.

Ancient Narratives of Crucifixion

It is encouraging that the E-Lists still have the ability to generate lively and intelligent discussion and so to help out with one's research. I've been working on the crucifixion narrative in Mark for the short term goal of an SBL Mark Group paper in November and the longer term goal of my book on the Passion Narrative. I began wondering when re-reading Mark's Passion Narrative recently whether this might be not only the first extant ancient narrative of the crucifixion of Jesus but also the first extant ancient narrative of any crucified hero. Members of the Xtalk list have provided many useful thoughts, references and further avenues to chase down, and the thread was generating responses last night at an enjoyably rapid rate.

The gist of my query is that we do not think enough about the challenge that Mark was facing in his attempt to construct the first narrative a crucified hero. How does one turn the instinctive shame and revulsion that the ancients felt concerning the very idea to a proclamation of good news? We have some idea of what might have been considered an honourable death, e.g. that which Florus (Epitome 2.8) reports for Spartacus, "Spartacus himself fell, as became a general, fighting most bravely in the front rank". Likewise, Spartacus gets depicted as dying fighting with his army. Jesus, on the other hand, dies abandoned and alone, his followers having fled. Now there are only some women watching from afar off. It is this utterly abject, lonely, shameful death, characterised by an eery silence, which provides the invitation to Mark to scripturalize the tradition, and thus to construct the first narrative of crucifixion by subverting the readers' expectations, to say that here, where you would least expect it, honour, glory and vindication are found.

The thread has thrown up several interesting thoughts and suggestions, Peter Kirby notes that though not exactly "crucifixion", the binding of Prometheus comes to mind.

Passion of the Christ DVD sales rocket

Thanks to Helenann Hartley for this one from BBC News:

Passion 'beats Rings DVD record'

Biblical epic The Passion of the Christ has broken the record for sales of a live action movie on DVD and VHS in one week in the US, according to a report.

It sold almost nine million copies in its first week on release, beating The Lord of the Rings titles, according to the Hollywood Reporter trade paper . . .

. . . . Of the nine million DVD and VHS sales, more than four million were bought on its first day on release.

Philip Esler, Conflict and Identity in Romans

Here is another one I'm adding to my Reading List: Philip Esler, Conflict and Identity in Romans: The Social Setting of Paul's Letter I've been aware of this for a little, but my attention was drawn to it by Torrey Seland's Philo of Alexandria blog.

Esler's book on Galatians is one of the best things I've ever read on Galatians, which is recommendation enough for the new Romans volume, but Loren Rosson offers an enthusiastic review on Amazon. Unfortunately, there are no on-line excerpts, though Fortress have the table of contents.

Gospel of Mark: Articles

I've made some additions and have updated some URLs on the Gospel of Mark: Articles page, new URLs for J. D. H. Amador, “Dramatic Inconclusion: Irony and the Narrative rhetoric of the Ending of Mark” and Susan Garrett, “Disciples on Trial”, a return for:

Craig A. Evans, “Mark's Incipit and the Priene Calendar Inscription: From Jewish Gospel to Greco-Roman Gospel”

and three new articles:

John S. Kloppenborg, “Egyptian Viticultural Practices and the Citation of Isa 5:1-7 in Mark 12:1-9”

John S. Kloppenborg, “Isa 5:1-7 LXX and Mark 12:1, 9, Again”

John J. Pilch, “Death with Honor: The Mediterranean Style Death of Jesus in Mark”

Full citations on the Gospel of Mark: Articles page.

Update (Wednesday, 10.01 a.m.): thanks to Wieland Willker for pointing out that I had the same URL for the two Kloppenborg articles above. I have now adjusted this both above and on the Gospel of Mark: Articles page.

Lionel Casson, Libraries in the Ancient World

On About Ancient / Classical History, N. S. Gill writes one of her short, helpful reviews of Lionel Casson, Libraries in the Ancient World:

Review: Libraries in the Ancient World

I've not read the book myself but it looks most interesting and I've added it to my reading list.

Carlson on Kloppenborg on Goodacre

Over on Hypotyposeis, Stephen Carlson offers some opening reflections on an article that John Kloppenborg wrote in response to my Case Against Q. It reminds me that I have still to write my own response to Kloppenborg's article and the delay in doing this says nothing about my opinion of Kloppenborg's piece -- I was hugely grateful to have the book taken so seriously by one of the experts in the field. The delay is rather to do with the fact that after a major project, one wants to move on to other pieces of research, at least for a short while, lest one gets bogged down in just one rarefied area of research. Stephen's post is here:

Kloppenborg, "On Dispensing with Q?" @ NTS

What Stephen does not mention is that Kloppenborg's article is publicly available, as part of the open access revolution, on Kloppenborg's home page:

John S. Kloppenborg, "On Dispensing with Q? Goodacre on the Relation of Luke to Matthew", New Testament Studies 49/2 (2003) 210-236 [PDF]

Stephen comments on nomenclature and puts his finger on the thing that concerns me with the term Kloppenborg now prefers for the Farrer Theory, "Mark Without Q": it defines someone else's theory by contrasting it with your own, i.e. by what is present (Marcan Priority) and what is absent (Q). Admittedly, I used this title for a while for my web site, as Kloppenborg points out. But my reason for dropping it was that it kept getting misunderstood by cursory users who would ask questions like "But I didn't think Mark had any Q in it anyway; isn't it Matthew and Luke who have Q". It was a strategic decision to try that term, to draw attention to the role played by Marcan Priority so as to contrast it with the Griesbach Theory, which also dispenses with Q but on very different grounds. I was also influenced by E. P. Sanders and M. Davies who used this term in their Studying the Synoptic Gospels. I am pleased, though, that Kloppenborg has dropped the term "Farrer-Goulder", which I think unduly draws attention to Goulder's particular take on the theory, which is convenient for some because it gives them grounds for attacking the theory that are not intrinsic to the theory. I like Stephen's suggested terms like "Mark-Matthew theory" but wonder if now adding yet a fresh designation will only end up with more confusion.

But on to the question of substance raised in Stephen's post, I think he centres in effectively on what to me is the most troubling (or encouraging) element in Kloppenborg's article:

Although Goodacre has presented an interesting case defending the possibility of Luke's direct dependence on Matthew, none of his arguments can be considered sufficiently weighty to displace the alternative scenario, which is at least as plausible, that Luke and Matthew independently drew on Q. (236)

What I found interesting about this statement was the assumption here that the two theories, Farrer and Two-Source, were effectively competing on a par. For given that one theory involves an additional, hypothetical document and one does not, I would have thought that the one that does not ought to be accorded priority. This is where I think that Occam's Razor genuinely has a role to play in Synoptic studies. Given that a good case can be made for Luke's use of Matthew, and given that entities should not be multiplied beyond what is necessary, then the Farrer theory should be preferred to the Two-Source Theory.

BNTC Papers

I have received several emails asking me if the main papers from this year's British New Testament Conference are available or will become available on-line. The answer is: no, I am afraid not; or not, at least, on the BNTC web site. Each of the three papers will no doubt make it to print eventually, and if and when I see them I'll make a note here. In Tom Wright's case, it is worth keeping an eye on the N. T. Wright page which has a whole host of on-line lectures, papers and the like.

Visual Bible International Struggles

I am sorry to see that the Visual Bible International company, who made Matthew and the recent Gospel of John, are still in difficulties. This is from the Globe and Mail:

Drabinsky, Gottlieb roles in firm probed by RCMP
By PAUL WALDIE

The RCMP are looking into the roles of Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb in a Toronto-based film company to determine whether they have violated the conditions of their bail.

Mr. Drabinsky and Mr. Gottlieb have been involved since 2002 in Visual Bible International Inc., whose shares trade in Canada and the United States. Both men were hired as consultants to produce the film The Gospel of John, which made its debut last year.

Mr. Drabinsky and Mr. Gottlieb were released on bail in 2002 after each was charged with 19 counts of fraud related to their involvement in defunct theatre company Livent Inc. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

One of the conditions of their bail was that they could not serve as a director or officer in any public company.

In a lawsuit filed last month, Visual Bible's former chief financial officer, Harold Kramer, alleges that Mr. Drabinsky and Mr. Gottlieb are in "de facto control over the business and affairs of [Visual Bible]" and exercise "power and authority as if they were directors or officers." Mr. Kramer also alleges their role has not been fully disclosed to securities regulators . . .

The news is not good for the projected Gospel of Mark film, something I'd have very much liked to see:

Visual Bible has struggled recently with poor sales, mass resignations and a flurry of lawsuits, including one from a former company chairman.

The company once boasted a high-profile board that included former Ontario premier Mike Harris, former broadcaster Pamela Wallin, architect Moshe Safdie and media mogul Moses Znaimer. All have since left the board, along with several others.

The company planned to sell videos and DVDs of The Gospel of John and produce another film based on the Gospel of Mark. But sales have been sluggish and the second film is on hold. Last week, the company reported it lost $5.8-million in the second quarter of 2004, compared with a loss of $2.2-million a year earlier. Total sales were $2.5-million.

It needs to be added that videos and DVDs of The Gospel of John are available (official web site; Amazon marketplace), though at the moment only in North America. I've not seen any sign of a British release, either theatrical or on DVD / Video.

Annual Seminar on the Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament

This information in from Steve Moyise:

Annual Seminar on the Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament

Location of Seminar

St Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden, Flintshire, NorthWales CH5 3DF (deiniol.conferences@btinternet.com Tel: 01244 532350)

Dates

Thurs March 17 (for dinner) to Saturday March 19 (after lunch), 2005

Call for Papers

Please send proposal and short abstract (100 words) to s.moyise@ucc.ac.uk, for either a full paper (45 mins) or short paper (30 mins) by 2nd Dec 2004.

Registration

The cost of the conference (including meals and accommodation) is £88, with reductions for clergy (£66) and students (£55). To book a place, please complete the form below and send a non-refundable deposit of £15, payable to “St Deiniol’s Library” by 2nd Dec 2004, and indicate if you have any special dietary requirements. Participants from overseas can pay the full amount in cash at the Conference. The full programme will be sent out in January. Travel directions can be accessed from St Deiniol’s website: http://st-deiniols.chester.ac.uk

SBL Forum latest

The SBL Forum has new content for September and "this month SBL Forum features essays related to biblical scholarship and theological reflection":

The Bible, Theology, and Theological Interpretation
by Joel B. Green

From Biblical Exegesis to Theological Construction: Reflections on Methodology
by W. Dennis Tucker, Jr.

"Open Systems": Constructive Philosophical and Theological Issues in Biblical Theology
by Christine Helmer

Why I Still Write Book Reviews
by Mark McEntire

Review of Biblical Literature latest

The latest additions to the SBL's Review of Biblical Literature under the NT and related heading:

Das, A. Andrew
Paul and the Jews
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis

Keener, Craig S.
The Gospel of John: A Commentary
Reviewed by Edward Klink

Koester, Craig R.
Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel: Meaning, Mystery, Community
Reviewed by Mark A. Matson

Lapham, Fred
An Introduction to the New Testament Apocrypha
Reviewed by Daniel Gurtner

Lapham, Fred
An Introduction to the New Testament Apocrypha
Reviewed by Thierry Legrand

Mason, Steven and Tom Robinson, eds.
Early Christian Reader: Christian Texts from the First and Second Centuries in Contemporary English Translations including the New Revised Standard Version of the New Testament
Reviewed by Judith Anne Jones

Walsh, Richard
Reading the Gospels in the Dark: Portrayals of Jesus in Film
Reviewed by Jan Willem Van Henten

Westerholm, Stephen
Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The "Lutheran" Paul and His Critics
Reviewed by Michael Kaler

Markschies, Christoph
Gnosis: An Introduction
Reviewed by Michael A. Williams

Schüssler, Karlheinz, ed.
Biblia Coptica: Die koptischen Bibeltexte: Band 3: Das sahidische Alte und Neue Testament. Vollständiges Verzeichnis mit Standorten Lieferung 2: sa 521-540
Reviewed by Robert Seesengood

Via, Dan O. and Robert A. J. Gagnon
Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views
Reviewed by Jack L. Berezov

Via, Dan O. and Robert A. J. Gagnon
Homosexuality and the Bible: Two Views
Reviewed by Martti Nissinen

Birthday wishes

Thanks very much to Jim Davila for his birthday greetings for this blog, one year old last Thursday. I should mention a small typo -- it is, of course, the blog that is a year old and not the New Testament Gateway, which is roughly seven years old.

BNTC 2004: others' comments

Jim Davila has comments on Paleojudaica, including a good summary of Jimmy Dunn's fine and funny exposition of how the society developed from its charismatic, free origins without officers or organisation, to its now heavily institutionalised format, with officers and a constitution. I must admit that I've always found the conference / society distinction a bit over done. As a matter of fact, it is a society, registered as such under Scottish charity law.

Jacob Knee has his own interesting and lively reflections on Crosstalk, British New Testament Conference, BNTC Part 2 and BNTC Part 3. Like Jacob, I find it interesting to see how students live. I imagine that the tea and coffee making facilities in the rooms are put there specially for conference delegates, but I may be wrong. I was impressed by the ethernet sockets in each room, and there was even a faint wifi signal, but alas, no way that ordinary conference punters like us could access the net -- or no way that I could find. Like Jacob too, I couldn't help reflecting on the different skills shown by the various speakers in delivering papers. I heard every word of Bart Ehrman's paper, and most of Tom Wright's. I would add that I was delighted this year to see the seminars all trying different formats like panel discussions, short papers with two or more respondents, book review sessions, half-sessions with a different paper in each and so on. I had the feeling that the seminars were coming of age and that their leaders were showing their imagination. This year we did not just get 90 minutes featuring a 50 minute paper plus questions. And the seminars were all the more enjoyable for that.

BNTC 2004 comments concluded

The setting for the conference was ideal. With the exception of the Friday evening excursion to New College, everything was on the one site at Pollock Halls, overlooking a mountain which one could see from most of the locations and watch people climbing steadily to the top. The accommodation, the food, the main papers, the short simultaneous papers and the seminars, all on the same site (I wonder what my running frantically around the site would have been like if everything was more spread out -- I dread to think). The book display was well positioned too, right in the area where we had coffee and tea breaks. This is always a good idea and the publishers definitely appreciate being in a central location where delegates can browse books as they congregate, chat and drink. And the weather was lovely -- sunny throughout.

I can't comment on the Simultaneous Short Papers because society administration and organisation took me away at this point. One real oddity, though, was that one of the speakers, John Dennis, simply did not turn up to the conference at all. So those sitting in that session had an extra 30 minutes to do what they wanted with (we waited 15 to see if he would arrive). This was a new one on me -- had never had a speaker simply not turn up. Incidentally, there was some anxiety on the Thursday evening when Tom Wright arrived much later than expected, and only just before he was due to give the first plenary session.

That leaves just one thing, I think, a session on the Saturday morning on The Passion of the Christ. This was a joint session of two seminars, Hermeneutics: Theory and Practice and New Testament: Use and Influence. It was a well attended and lively seminar, a panel discussion featuring Richard Burridge, Helenann Hartley and me. Typically, and when will I learn?, I took it upon myself to try to find an electrical extension lead so that the data projector's very short wire could be extended and we could have something on screen that was bigger than the postage stamp sized image that was being projected. I ran around the site asking dozens of people and one finally arrived half way through the session, after the first clip had been shown. So all my dashing around achieved was to make me sweaty and rushed rather than calm and collected.

The three panelists took ten minutes each to give their reactions to the film, Richard Burridge first, a typically lively presentation focusing largely on his own experiences at a preview screening in Leicester Square and his arguments afterwards with The Sun newspaper who wanted to turn all their coverage, including Burridge, into comments solely on the anti-Semitism. Helenann developed her thoughts from her review reproduced here. I summarised my article found in Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, taking each of six headings for my reflections on the way in which the community of Biblical scholars has reacted and over-reacted to the film.

I found it an enjoyable session on the whole, well attended, and with some who had seen the film and some who had not. I had just one point of criticism of Richard Burridge's presentation; I disputed that the depiction of Herod Antipas in the film was "straight out of Jesus Christ Superstar", arguing that like so much of The Passion of the Christ it came straight out of Anne Catherine Emmerich's The Dolorous Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ (see blog entry Herod Antipas in The Passion of the Christ).

Tom Wright's wife Maggie was in attendance and commented on her own experience of watching the film, aimed mainly at my comments on the film's violence. She and the bishop apparently had an advanced screening in Auckland Castle (the Bishop of Durham's residence) and she said that the very term that came to mind during the scourging scene was pornography. She made clear that she did watch a lot of films, though Tom did not, but that she did not like the violence at all.

One of the main discussion points in the session was over who the implied audience of the film was. Martin Kitchen and Bridget Gilfillan Upton pressed me in particular on this point, annoyed in part that I attempted to answer it in relation to an anecdote of an experience I had on one of my viewings of the film. The story goes like this. As I was buying my nachos, the lady selling them to me asked if I knew anything about the Bible. "A bit", I replied. She said that that was a good thing because when she had watched the film the previous evening, she did not have much idea of who was who, what was going on and why. What this made me realize was the extent to which the film takes for granted the viewer's knowledge of the identity of characters like John, Mary Magdalene, Peter, Judas and so on. It requires the viewer to provide some context. Or, in other words, the implied viewer already knows who these characters are and why these things are happening. Anyway, the panelists all agreed that the implied audience was best conceived as the devout Christian with knowledge of the Bible and Catholic tradition. It's a question I do want to think a little more about, though. My article does deal with genre, and with those who attempt to read the film against the grain, but it would be profitable to talk about the implied audience.

I could continue on about this panel discussion, but I'll leave it there, at least for now. A profitable session, anyway, and I was grateful for the opportunity to take part. I am still not quite finished with this film yet. I will be blogging a review of the recent book Perspectives on the Passion of the Christ later this week, I hope. (I thought it was pretty grim).

One thing I meant to blog earlier: on Friday we took our usual collection just after the business meeting; the purpose of this is to provide money for financial assistance for post graduates travelling to the conference. This year we had the smallest collection I can remember from the largest number of delegates I can remember (under £300). And we had the most applications to the travel fund since I've been secretary (over £1000). Of course I was only able to help a little, therefore, with post graduates' travel expenses, which I thought a shame. Of course a large part of the reason for this is that the increased numbers at the conference are largely made up of more post graduates. The situation is something the society needs to continue thinking about in the future.

Finally, another word of huge appreciation to the organisers of the conference at the University of Edinburgh, with thanks to Larry Hurtado, Helen Bond and Paul Foster, with a special mention for Paul Middleton, for an excellent and memorable conference.

BNTC 2004 illustrated

Jim Davila has really got this blogging lark sussed -- you can see some of his photographs from the British New Testament Conference on Paleojudaica including one of my grinning face with Catherine Smith and Helen Ingram.

BNTC 2004 further reflections

The two other main papers were Bishop Tom Wright on the Thursday evening and Prof. Judith Lieu on the Saturday morning. Bishop Tom spoke on "Many perspectives on Paul: Can they be integreated" and was at his most entertaining when he launched a vociferous attack on a recent book by Stephen Westerholm, about which he had not a good word to say. There were lots of other interesting bits in Tom's talk but I struggled with it a little, primarily because my all too regular habit of drifting off to sleep in even the most interesting papers kicked in half-way through. I also slept through almost all of the first seminar papers session on the Friday morning, and half of Judith Lieu's on the Saturday, when I simply had to find a place to lie down (cf. earlier comments on extensive dashing around). Judith Lieu's paper was about Orality and Textuality in early Christianity.

Bishop Tom was also present at the first two meetings of the Jesus Seminar (not the Jesus Seminar, of course, but the BNTC's own Jesus Seminar) where the topic was his book The Resurrection of the Son of God. Although I missed most of the first session through fatigue, I stayed awake all the way through the second at which the focus was on the New Testament material and included responses to Wright's book from James Crossley and Larry Hurtado, both of whom made some good poins. It was a well attended seminar too. Larry began his paper by pointing out that Tom's work is essentially apologetic. I thought that right and asked a question about this later on, concerning the way that Tom deals, in the book, with Matt. 27.51-3, where the saints are raised at the earthquake at the death of Jesus, where Tom's argument strikes me as more apologetic than history, not least given its weak remarks to the effect that odd things do happen in history. Of course they do, but the question is whether this particular odd thing happened and whether placing a question mark over its historicity might actually help Tom out when it comes to arguing for the historicity of the resurrection traditions. Tom's answer was that if he were to acknowledge redaction and legend here, then his opponents would say, "The why not everywhere", which strikes me as weak. He went on to claim that his arguments have been crafted by the kind of dialogue partners he has had to engage with, and a particularly silly (he used that word) period in North American scholarship.

More later . . .

BNTC 2004 highlights continued

At the end of the dinner, Graham Stanton gave a toast to celebrate the society's twenty-fifth anniversary. It was excellent and got lots of laughs; afterwards Jimmy Dunn, also present at the conception of the society, gave his own reflections on the society's history. I had added a note of confusion to proceedings on the previous day by explaining to the committee that I thought Jimmy mistaken that this was the society's twenty-fifth anniversary. He had told me this last year and I'd happily accepted it, thinking that such an expert on oral tradition and memory would surely have got such an important detail correct. But when I consulted the written record on Wednesday night, it seemed that the first meeting of the British New Testament Conference was in Glasgow in 1980. 1980-2004 is twenty-four years, not twenty-five, isn't it? So I think that our twenty-fifth anniversary is next year, 2005. To add to this, it turns out that this conference was not, as we have been advertising, our 22nd, nor was Birmingham our 21st, Cambridge our 20th, Manchester our 19th or Roehampton our 18th, all of which we had said in our publicity. I counted up the conferences from 1980 onwards and it's pretty clear -- this one is our 23rd and not our 22nd (the conference did not meet in 1983 or 1988 when there were SNTS meetings in the UK). Someone had clearly miscalculated when it was said that Roehamption was number 18 -- this was the source of the error. It should have been 19. So here was another useful reminder -- don't rely on oral tradition when there is a text you can check.

But back to the question of whether this is, indeed, our twenty-fifth year or not, Graham Stanton and Jimmy Dunn made a robust but not entirely convincing case that it was indeed right that we should be celebrating. Graham Stanton's case was that the first gathering at which the first conference was planned was twenty-five years ago in 1979, at a meeting of the SNTS in Durham. And the conception was a year earlier even than that in 1978. Now the current president of the society, elected at the 2003 Birmingham meeting, is Morna Hooker. She expressed her delight at presiding over the society on what was turning out to be a rolling anniversary schedule, this year twenty-five years since the planning of the first meeting, next year twenty-five years since the the first meeting, the year after our twenty-fifth meeting. It's like a perpetual jubilee.

The big conference dinner on Friday evening also provided the oppurtunity for Larry Hurtado, who coordinated the conference this year, to thank the local organisers. Larry pointed out that his great skill was simply in having delegated to extraordinarily capable people. Special mention was rightly made of Paul Middleton who handled the vast bulk of the local organising, and did an excellent, good-humoured and very unfussy job. I have found it a delight, as secretary, to work with him over the last few months. What was even more remarkable was that Paul did all this on top of presenting a paper in the Short Simultaneous Papers session on Friday, and then, apparently, having his PhD viva on Saturday afternoon! My only criticism (and I have to indulge myself by thinking that something was better about Birmingham 2003) would be that the big thanks were not accompanied by the presentation of flowers.

BNTC 2004 highlights

Next on to some personal highlights. The academic high point for me was Bart Ehrman's paper on the Friday afternoon. This was the second of the three plenary papers. Its title was something like "The divine man in texts canonical and apocryphal" but the bulk of the paper was the exposition of a thesis about a proto-Luke, or a first edition of Luke, in which the Christological profile was adoptionistic. Although he balked somewhat at the term "proto-Luke", no doubt because of the baggage it carries with it, his argument was that the Birth Narratives were added after the first edition of Luke in a bid to bring it more clearly into conformity with emerging proto-orthodox views. At the same point, other parts of Luke were adjusted, including famously the baptismal "this day I have begotten thee", to bring it into conformith with Matthew's and Mark's "in whom I am well pleased". I was not entirely persuaded by the paper -- the idea of a bolted on Luke 1-2 suffers in the same way that it did in Streeter and Taylor's proto-Luke -- Luke 3.1 looks like it does not because it is the original beginning of the book but because it is the point at which Luke really can be as precise as he would like to be about dating. He has a rough idea of when Jesus was born, some time around the end of Herod the Great's reign, near-ish the time when Quirinius was governor of Syria, but he is not going to miss the chance to date things properly when he comes to the point when he can pull this off in 3.1. But it was the kind of the paper that got the imagination going, lucidly presented, and with the kind of liveliness that ensures you hear every word.

Socially, the high point of the conference was the Friday evening, after Bart's paper, when we piled onto two coaches to go from Pollock Halls, which were the primary location for the conference, to New College where the Department of Divinity and Religious Studies is based. We were given a short guided tour, a glass of wine and then a fine dinner in an impressive old dining hall. I ended up drinking red wine with salmon because the white had all gone by the second course, but that was forgiveable in such a lovely setting and with such good food and service.

To be continued . . .

British New Testament Conference 2004: Personal Reflections

I am sitting in Edinburgh airport after having attended the British New Testament Conference 2004, hosted by the Department of Divinity and Religious Studies at the University and a great success. First, though, some personal reflections on the more stressful side of attending these conference as secretary of the society, no doubt somewhat self-indulgent and probably worth deleting later on.

This was my last conference as secretary of the society. At the business meeting on Friday afternoon, Bridget Gilfillan Upton was elected unanimously as the new society secretary; a fine choice -- I am sure that she will do an excellent job. The society has grown enormously over the last three or four years and this conference, like Cambridge 2002 and Birmingham 2003, had over 170 delegates. The secretary's job has, as a result, also grown. I have found it tough to keep up with the job over the last six months or so, not least having also taken on other major responsibilities. Although Bridget will have her work cut out, there are two respects in which things will become simpler. First, the society has decided to separate out the jobs of secretary and treasurer for the first time. I will be the last of those who has had to combine the two roles. This is very good news. We were lucky to receive an offer for the role of treasurer from Lloyd Pietersen and the business meeting cheerfully accepted the offer and appointed him to the task. This becomes possible because Lloyd has previously acted as the society's independent examiner of accounts. Lloyd is not reneweing his certificate to practise as an accountant from next year so becomes available to join the committee in this new role of treasurer. I am delighted for Bridget's sake. I have found it hard to do the treasurer's job at the same time as the secretary's; I don't enjoy handling money, especially other people's money.

The other respect in which things are changing is that the secretary will not be responsible for the web site. Since you are reading this blog, you probably already know that I enjoy noodling around on the web and so I have offered to continue adminstering the web site for as long as the society is happy for me to do it.

I am writing this just after the end of the conference and am a bit fatigued from it all and looking forward next year, when we meet in Liverpool, to being able to go along as a ordinary punter again, to enjoy meeting old friends and new, to talk about research and other things, to enjoy seminars and sessions without worrying about things that might go wrong, wondering if I have forgotten to do anything and dashing around madly when I realise that I have forgotten do do something. The real low point for me this year was the realisation that I had forgotten to get the accounts summaries photocopied for the business meeting approximately five minutes before the business meeting was due to start. Fifteen minutes later, they were finally ready and having run to the business meeting with them (meeting someone on the way who told me not to rush -- for some reason they were late starting the meeting!) only to get there and realise that I had left all the agendas and minutes in my room. More running -- I felt a bit like Tru in Tru Calling; finally we were able to get under way late but I was now in such an breathless and sweaty state it was hard work to be coherent; the meeting felt vaguely shambolic. I realise that this kind of thing is, in the end, not that much of a big deal. So I've had to dash around a bit, but so what? I suppose the trouble is that this feels all too typical of what it has been like to be secretary of the society. I don't enjoy doing administration. And where last year Catherine Smith, who organised the Birmingham conference, was able to tell me what to do all the time, this year I had to keep thinking for myself. I'd rather be thinking about the Passion narrative, or the Gospel of Thomas, or the Epistle to the Galatians, than about where I should be, who I need to see, what I need to photocopy, what I might have forgotten to do.

Now that was cathartic. Next on to what I enjoyed about the conference.

to be continued . . . . .

British New Testament Conference

The British New Testament Conference starts today and runs until Saturday. It is at the University of Edinburgh this year, and the society celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. I'll set off later this morning and hope to be able to blog when I get there, but that all depends on gaining access to the net somewhere. For this year's programme, see the previous link.

Beliefnet on The Passion's Promise

Beliefnet have an article on The Passion of the Christ several months on:

Did 'The Passion' Fulfill Its Promise?
They said the movie might convert millions, wreck Jewish-Christian relations, ruin Mel. Which predictions came true?
By Kimberly Winston

I couldn't help noticing reference to another book on the film, half-way through this excerpt:

When the film first appeared, Dr. Robert M. Franklin, a professor of social ethics at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, wrote that he thought it would have great resonance within the African-American community because it depicted a darker-skinned Jesus who is brutalized in a way that resembled the beatings of black slaves.

"There was an appreciation for introducing a larger American audience to the Jesus that blacks have known and loved for centuries," Franklin said. "That finally the exalted Christ has been brought back to earth as a vulnerable, broken, wounded healer."

But whether it brought more African-Americans into church "is hard to say," he continued. "I haven’t heard there has been significant attraction among the unchurched population and I know that was on the agenda for many. But I have not seen that in the African-American community."

That does not surprise S. Brent Plate, editor of "Re-Viewing The Passion: Mel Gibson’s Film and Its Critics" (Palgrave & Macmillan, 2004). When the movie first appeared, he doubted it would lead to America’s Third Great Awakening--a massive religious revival--and doubts the DVD and VHS will have more success.

"It has helped get certain people into church, but a Great Awakening goes beyond getting people into pews," Plate said. "It is about discipleship. It goes beyond saying ‘I am a Christian’ to living their life the way Christ did."

On that, he says, "the verdict is still out."

It looks like the release date for that book 1 October. More anon.

Also on Beliefnet is one of those fun quizzes that tells you where you figure on the scale:

Are you a 'Passion' Christian?

I scored pretty low, 41 out of 100, "You may have responded to parts of "The Passion," but likely felt that it didn't fully capture your vision of Jesus and his message. The film's violence and focus on pain may have troubled you." I think I confused it a bit with my answers.

Passion DVD: Watch it Gibson's Way

My DVD of The Passion of the Christ arrived in this morning's post, just in time for me to re-view parts of the film again before a panel discussion on the film on Saturday at the British New Testament Conference Hermeneutics / Use and Influence Seminars. (I'm now half-way through two DVDs since my copy of !Hero arrived yesterday -- so far excellent).

One feature of the DVD has not been widely publicised: that it allows you to watch it with or without the subtitles. That might not sound like a big deal, but remember that Mel Gibson's original intention was to show the film without any subtitles, so that one would experience it rather as he and others loved experiencing the Tridentine Mass. So now, with the wonders of DVD technology, you can choose whether you want to watch it in the subtitled cinema format, or Mel Gibson's way.

Warcry article on Jesus Films

I received a copy of a colourful, double-page spread on Jesus films in the Salvation Army's WarCry weekly newspaper today. It seems that they have an on-line version too:

It's playback time for Jesus
Mark Goodacre gives guidance on Jesus movies on DVD and VHS
by Philip Halcrow

I am sure you will be sorry to hear that the on-line version does not include the little photograph of me that appears in the print version! This article is based on a phone call I had with the author a fortnight or so ago. I must admit that I had not quite realised that I was the only one being interviewed and that this was going to be so focused on my views. But thankfully there is nothing too odd. There is a mistake, though. When talking with the author, I had thought that Paul Verhoeven was to be one of the contributors to Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, which was, I understand, one of the original intentions.

Blog Anniversary

The NT Gateway Weblog is one year old today. The first post, Welcome to the NT Gateway Weblog, was posted on Tuesday 2 September 2003. This is the 1,113th post since then. Many thanks for all your encouragement and contributions over the last twelve months.

Jewish Roman World of Jesus: New URL

There's a new URL for James Tabor's Jewish Roman World of Jesus and I have made an adjustment on my Historical Jesus page.

Review of Deming, Paul on Marriage and Celibacy

From the latest Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2004.08.23, noticed on RogueClassicism:

W. Deming, Paul on Marriage and Celibacy. The Hellenistic Background of 1 Corinthians 7
Reviewed by Pieter W. van der Horst

Radical Retelling of the Scriptures

This one has been knocking around for a bit and I am late on it, but it's worth a mention: there is a new edition of the Bible out that has caused a bit of a stir, John Henson, Good as New: A Radical Retelling of the Scriptures. I use the word "edition" rather than translation because it is striking not only in its trendy translations but also in its exclusion of books the author does not like (the Pastorals, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation) and inclusion of others outside the canon including the Gospel of Thomas. I have not had a chance to look at the book myself but Richard Ostler of the Associated Press has. I saw this link on Bible and Interpretation:

NEW BIBLE - Trendy or heretical?
Richard N. Ostling, AP Religion Writer

This is from the Jamaica Gleaner and dates from Saturday 21 August. Ostler suggests that the book would hardly have been noticed if it had not been for the Foreword provided by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. I am wondering whether this is the first edition of the Bible, if indeed one can call it that, to include Thomas. The only other ones I can think of are the various publications of the Jesus Seminar (see Jesus Seminar and Westar Institute) which include Thomas in a five-fold Gospel canon. But as for the Jesus Seminar, Saying 114 apparently causes concern and is adjusted; from Ostler's article:

There's addition as well as subtraction. Following one scholarly sect, he puts the Gospel of Thomas alongside Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, though Christianity discarded Thomas. Henson makes the debatable claim that it's 'probably' among the earliest Christian writings and 'possibly' as early as the other four.

Then he outrageously changes the conclusion of Thomas to say that "every woman who insists on equality with men is fit to be a citizen in God's New World." What Thomas actually said was that "every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven." Political correctness similarly barred much masculine terminology.

NTGateway web space upgrade

I had to buy some extra web space for the NT Gateway yesterday because the amount of data transfer (i.e. the number of files being viewed by users) is rising at a rapid rate. Data transferred last month was 3.54 MB on a limit of 1 MB. So I have upgraded to an account that allows me 5 MB of data transfer a month, along with 250 MB of space. This is good news from the point of view of the site's popularity, but my reason for mentioning this is to note that I fund the domain name and web space out of a small amount of revenue I pick up from links to Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and at the moment this is just covering the cost but with continued upgrades it is possible that it will fall short in the future (the number of visitors to the NT Gateway has risen constantly over the last few years, but the revenue from Amazon has remained static for three years). I don't make much of these links, not least because I am keen that users shop around to get the best deals, support their local book shops and so on. Indeed, I'll always mention if I happen to find something cheaper outside of Amazon. But if you are shopping on Amazon anyway, and are not clicking through from anywhere else (e.g. you can support the Hunger Site with Amazon purchases), I'd be grateful if you could go from the NT Gateway just as a small token of support. Many thanks!

!Hero DVD Release

My DVD of the !Hero Rock Opera arrived today. I've blogged about this on various occasions in the past (New Rock Opera on Jesus, !Hero Web Site, !Hero Rock Opera, !Hero Worship, and Real Mary Magdalene). The soundtrack, written by Eddie DeGarmo, is pretty enjoyable, far preferable to Godspell but not quite reaching the heights of Jesus Christ Superstar. The DVD release is of the live stage show, but has bags of extras too (a 2-disc set). I hope I get a chance to watch it soon and will comment here when I have. Anyway, here are the details:

!HERO: The Rock Opera

Happily, I don't have to repeat my previous complaint about the price of international shipping. I got my copy for less than $30, including free shipping the UK, which at the current exchange rate is pretty good. The DVDs are all autographed, apparently, if one buys from the !Hero web site. Mine has the single word "Mark" in silver pen, presumably Mark Stuart (Petrov). As far as I can tell, the DVD is only available from that site at the moment.

I haven't yet seen any proper reviews of this DVD, which I think came out in mid-July, but there are several reviews of the CD which was released earlier in the year, e.g. this one on Christianity Today, but I think it's better than he does:

Various Artists
!Hero: The Rock Opera (Meaux Music)
by Andree Farias

Jeffers, Greco-Roman World of the New Testament

On Ancient / Classical History, N. S. Gill adds a short review of James S. Jeffers, The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era - Exploring the Background of Early Christianity. I must admit that it is not a book I had come across before. She reviews it quite favourably:

The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament

Cave of John the Baptist latest

On RogueClassicism, David Meadows posts (with permission) the complete email messages to the ANE-List from James Tabor and Shimon Gibson on the cave of John the Baptist (for previous entries here, see Cave of John the Baptist (updated) and More on the John the Baptist Cave):

James Tabor on Shimon Gibson

David Meadows also notes the following feature on Weekend Edition from last Sunday, which includes an interview with Gibson:

The Search for John the Baptist's Ritual Cave

Shimon Gibson, a biblical archeologist, believes he has found a cave outside of Jerusalem, where John the Baptist might have performed his baptisms. Other archeologists aren't so sure. NPR's Julie McCarthy reports.

Meanwhile on Paleojudaica, Jim Davila blogs this link from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Archeology: News from the Field

This is particularly good for some photographs by Shimon Gibson.

Update (1 September): On Paleojudaica, Jim Davila notes that there is now a transcript of the above NPR programme featuring Shimon Gibson, James Tabor and others:

Profile: Shimon Gibson's Belief That He Has Found The Site Where John The Baptist Might Have Performed His Baptisms
All Things Considered: August 30, 2004

Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ

Today is the release date for the DVD of The Passion of the Christ; I had an email from Amazon yesterday to say that mine is on the way. You'd have thought that Fox Home Entertainment would send me a free one with all the publicity I give it! Anyway, they don't need my help since it's currently ranked number 1 at Amazon.com. But what I do want to publicise a bit, partly because Continuum have asked me to do so, and partly because I have been involved with it in a small way, is the following new book:

Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ The Film, the Gospels and the Claims of History Edited by Kathleen E. Corley and Robert L. Webb Continuum International Publishing August 31 2004 ISBN: 082647781X $17.95 £ 9.99

The link above takes you to a web page hosted here which gives a cover illustration, blurb, contents list and hyperlinked footnotes. The latter was my suggestion to the editors given the large number of lengthy URLs given in the footnotes to the essays, several of which wouuld be almost impossible to type accurately. The book is released today to coincide with the DVD release. Amazon have it for $12.57 and Amazon.co.uk for £6.99. I must admit that I have not yet read all of the book -- only my own and one other essay; I'll make some comments on the rest when I have received my copy (I haven't yet).

Update (20.26): I've made some adjustments to the Contents listing and Notes on the Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ page, with thanks to Robert Webb for the information.

Review of Bibical Literature latest

I'm just back from bank holiday break and hope to find some time somewhere to blog some items of interest before heading off for the British New Testament Conference on Thursday. Here are the latest additions to the SBL Review of Biblical Literature under the New Testament heading:

Barr, David L.
Reading the Book of Revelation: A Resource for Students
Reviewed by Mark Bredin

Garland, David E.
1 Corinthians
Reviewed by Garwood Anderson

Haacker, Klaus
The Theology of Paul's Letter to the Romans
Reviewed by Daniel Kirk

Lohse, Eduard
Der Brief an die Römer
Reviewed by Marco Frenschkowski

Resseguie, James L.
Spiritual Landscape: Images of the Spiritual Life in the Gospel of Luke
Reviewed by Ronald R. Clark

Winter, Bruce W.
Roman Wives, Roman Widows: The Appearance of New Women and the Pauline Communities
Reviewed by Jennifer Knust

Aramaic gets boost from Hollywood

A short piece that may be of interest from this week's Church Times:

Aramaic gets boost from Hollywood
By Bill Bowder

THE USE of Aramaic in Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ has led to a surge of interest in the language, which was spoken by Jesus and his disciples.

The Metropolitan of the Chaldean Syrian Church of the East (the Syriac Church) in India, Dr Mar Aprem, has offered a beginners’ course in his diocese of Trichur in response to the sudden enthusiasm for the ancient language . . .

. . . . Mar Aprem’s enthusiasm for Mel Gibson’s film developed when he went with some of his clergy to see the film in Easter Week, the first time he had been to a cinema in 50 years, he said on Monday.

"The film has done good. They see how much Jesus suffered," he said. "After the film, people wanted to know more. I have asked two of my clergy to conduct a beginners’ course in Aramaic at the ecumenical research institute in Trichur. When I get back, I will also offer a master-class in Aramaic for those who have already been studying it."

And have a look at the cartoon.

Passion of the Christ DVD Release

Some thoughts on the forthcoming Passion of the Christ DVD release, which must be selling at an extraordinary rate since it's already at number 2 in Amazon.com's list. This review at DVD Answers is by Richard Schuchardt and it includes some very favourable comments on the technical side, though it also wonders about the release having no extra features:

The Passion of the Christ

The Passion of the Christ is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and there is very little more to say on the subject. Simply put, this transfer is outstanding and had no flaws that I noticed. The image is full of detail and brings the haunting death of Christ to the screen with amazing accuracy. Colours are true and vivid while the blacks were solid. I did notice a little bit of grain during some of the darker scenes but the grain levels never proved to be distracting. Due to the lack of extras this transfer doesn't suffer from compression artefacts, and edge enhancements were nowhere to be seen. Overall this is a top class transfer which no doubt benefits from the decision to keep this release free of extras. In some ways this transfer is what you would expect from a Superbits title . . . .

. . . . It is becoming a rarity these days for high profile DVD releases to be barebones releases. More often than not most titles are released as two disc packages, so it was a big surprise when MGM announced that The Passion of the Christ was being released with no extras. The reason for this is still not clear, but it has been suggested that Mel wanted this release to focus on the movie only. As can be seen below the transfer and soundtracks benefit from the additional space. The more cynical among you will say that this release is a money making exercise in preparation for the expected special edition release next year. Either way, this release comes with no extras and only time will tell if we are to see a special edition release.

An article in USA Today looks at the attempts to cash-in on the release:

A 'Passion' for title tie-ins
By Thomas K. Arnold

I am a bit puzzled by this article's announcement of a DVD release for The Greatest Story Ever Told, though, since there was a major DVD release for this back in 2001 in a restored version with special features. I had a look to see if I could find anything on this new release on the web and I cannot, though I did come across an interesting piece on the release of that restored version over three years ago:

Restoring The Greatest Story Ever Told
Millimeter, March 1, 2001

BMCR Review of MacDonald on Homer and Acts

On b-greek, Maurice A. O'Sullivan notes the following review in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2004.08.13:

Dennis R. MacDonald, Does the New Testament Imitate Homer? Four Cases from the Acts of the Apostles (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003)
Review by Manfred Lang

Review of Bibical Literature latest

These are the latest additions to the SBL Review of Biblical Literature under the New Testament heading:

Balch, David L. and Carolyn Osiek, eds.
Early Christian Families in Context: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis

Balch, David L. and Carolyn Osiek, eds.
Early Christian Families in Context: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas

Barrett, C. K.
On Paul: Essays on His Life, Work and Influence in the Early Church
Reviewed by Eckhard J Schnabel

Best, Ernest
Ephesians: A Shorter Commentary
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis

Gillman, Florence Morgan
Herodias: At Home in That Fox's Den
Reviewed by Eric Noffke

Matthews, Shelly, Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre, and Cynthia Briggs Kittredge,
eds.
Walk in the Ways of Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
Reviewed by Donna Wallace

Roetzel, Calvin J.
Paul: A Jew on the Margins
Reviewed by Fred Rich

van Aarde, Andries
Fatherless in Galilee: Jesus as Child of God
Reviewed by Alicia Batten

Herod the Great @ Ancient / Classical History

In her Ancient / Classical History blog, N. S. Gill flags up this useful entry of hers on Herod the Great:

Herod the Great (73-4 B.C.)

James Ossuary Update @ Hypotyposeis

Don't miss Stephen Carlson's comments on the latest updates on the James Ossuary in Biblical Archaeological Review, in particular his drawing attention to the report of a lecture by Oded Golan:

There is one interesting fact that came out of Golan's remarks: I learned that Golan's mother was "a professor of microbiology in Rehovot." This fact, however, makes his story somewhat more difficult to believe that his mother was responsible for accidentally depositing the fake patina when cleaning the ossuary. What scientist goes around a son's antiquities collection destroying evidence?

Good point. It is perhaps worth adding that the Updates on the James Ossuary (and other controversial finds) is the one section of BAR that is still available on-line:

Update -- Finds or Fakes?