So far my narrative has reached Sunday late afternoon. After the Mark session, I went to the first of two sessions I had marked with asterisks on my programme, the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media, combined with the Johannine Literature unit. The theme was The Gospel of John film and The Passion of the Christ. It was a really mixed bag, some of it brilliant, some of it infuriating, all of it engaging. Bernard Brandon Scott gave a so-so general review of The Gospel of John, then Jo-Ann Brant gave a superb paper on the camera as character in The Gospel of John, illustrated with stills from the film. The paper looked at the way in which the camera's perspective often subverts the narrator's perspective to which the film is bound because of its mandate to feature the entire text of John.
Then the transition was made to The Passion of the Christ with an interesting paper about the languages in the film by a character whose name I have forgotten. His essential thesis, if I understood it correctly, was that the Aramaic / Hebrew mix made good sense historically in that first century Jews in Galilee and Judea might well have spoken in Aramaic laced with Hebrew. Unfortunately, the speaker -- who talked rather like Reverend Lovejoy in The Simpsons -- did not speak into the microphone and was difficult to hear. This is one of my pet peeves. If there is a microphone on the podium, then use it. Don't speak 2 feet away from it in a quiet voice. Session chairs too need to be aware of this. Check to see if your audience can actually hear the paper. Look for clues, like people cupping their hands to
their ears, straining to hear or coming forward and standing next to the loud speaker to try to pick it up -- all of these things should have provided clues. Happily, though, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, in the session in question, asked from the audience that the speakers speak into the microphone -- and the rest of the session was much better.
William Sanger Campbell was next up and he offered a disappointing review of The Passion of the Christ, which largely repeated the now familiar polemic and caricature of the film, including standard misrepresentations (e.g. Satan is seen moving with the Jewish leaders -- he is not) and oversimplifications. The use of Emmerich in this paper was particularly disappointing. Campbell spent 5-10 minutes summarizing the contents of Emmerich's Dolorous Passion, noted how much of the book appears in the film, and made the illegitimate inference that this makes the film anti-Semitic. There was little actual analysis about the way in which elements from the book were adapted in the film and I am left wondering once again whether such an approach would be tolerated in Gospel criticism (A paper on Matthew's use of Isaiah, say, would be thought naive in the extreme if all it did was to explicate the contents of Isaiah, to note that Matthew used Isaiah, and infer that Matthew's views were identical to Isaiah's).
After those four papers, there was then what was called a "panel discussion" but which was in fact several more people giving their reactions to either of the films in turn. Charles Hedrick, Alan Segal and Caroline Osiek were all very interesting on their roles as consultants on The Gospel of John film. I was particularly pleased to hear from Segal that the initial screenplay for The Gospel of Mark is ready and that they are hopeful that it will go into production. Another interesting comment related to the costuming of Mary Magdalene, depicted as a prostitute in spite of the fact that the Woman Taken in Adultery was not identified with her. Apparently the costuming for Mary Magdalene was done after the scholars' work on the screenplay had been done, and they were disappointed to discover that that was how she had been costumed. The scholars also discussed how they had been persuaded to use the Good News translation by having scenes mocked up in both the NIV and the Good News translation, and seeing that the Good News worked better. They expressed disappointment over some elements that that choice constrained, e.g. "miracle" for "sign". And they spoke of their success in getting Jesus' address to Mary in the Wedding at Cana changed.
The last two speakers were Amy-Jill Levine and Paula Fredriksen, each of whom did not so much argue that The Passion of the Christ was appalling, anti-Jewish and so on, as take it for granted and then discuss what could be done about this kind of thing in the future. Paula Fredriksen's contribution was in fact a mini-paper and went through the Contra Judaeos tradition in art.
I thought the session as a whole was too ambitious and should really have been split up into at least two sessions. There were too many speakers and there was no room for the "panel discussion" advertised, i.e. none of the participants got the chance to interact with one another. And there was certainly no time left for contributions from the floor. That was particularly disappointing given the controversial nature of several of the contributions, and the single view (a very disparaging one) expressed by almsot all the participants on The Passion of the Christ.
I felt that one issue of substance was ignored and that was the question of the relative artistic merits of the two films. For all the merits of The Gospel of John (e.g. Cusick's depiction of the Johannine Jesus), there is a gulf between this film and The Passion of Christ if one is asking about artistic quality. One is just not comparing like with like.
I will turn next to the evening session on The Passion of the Christ, billed as an interview with the writers of the film, and a real treat.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
More SBL reporting, Sunday
Wednesday, 1.20 a.m., flying over the Atlantic. I made the connecting flight in Newark with five minutes to spare so will, after all, be back in Birmingham by morning; greatly relieved.
So back to my narrative of events at this year's SBL. I'll go back to Sunday. In the 1 pm slot I was speaking in the Mark Group on "Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative", part of a themed session on the death of Jesus in Mark, the first of three. I like speaking in the Mark Group, the second time I have done so. Papers are circulated in advance and one is given twenty minutes to "summarize" one's paper followed by 25 minutes of discussion. As I have mentioned previously, the general habit seems to be to read papers, both here and elsewhere at the SBL, but I decided this year to have a go at extempore delivery on the grounds that it is much easier to communicate with your audience this way. Having listened to many papers being read out, I reckon that less than 50 per cent of what is being read out gets heard or, rather, listened to. A read-out paper simply washes over its audience, who only pick up bits and bobs as their concentration comes in and out. Well, I was pleased that I gave it a go. I felt that I was able to communicate more directly, was able to see people's faces while I talked and could gauge reaction as I spoke. So it's something I will definitely do again. I received some very helpful comments and questions on the paper. Larry Hurtado asked about the relationship between the "scripturalization" thesis and the liturgical thesis and whether the latter is dependent on the former, or held to strengthen the former, or whether either can stand alone. It helps me to reflect about strategy and how I go about working on these two interrelated theses, one of which (the liturgical theory) will be unpalatable to some. I also had a useful question on the term "liturgy", which suggests that to some the term conjurs up the wrong kinds of image, of set liturgies in contemporary worship. Joel Marcus was sceptical about the liturgical theory and asked how it could be taken from speculation to establishing probability. I replied that I thought that NT scholarship would be more interesting and engaging if we learned to think of speculation as a positive rather than a negative term, adding that informed speculation is a virtue where our alternative is to go ignorant. But I also noted that in Crossan's theory (for example), only one of the time indicators in Mark's narrative, the darkness at midday, is explained, whereas in my theory all the time indicators receive an explanation, so I win over Crossan by eight to one. But that slightly frivolour answer aside, it's another useful reminder of the importance of thinking about how I lay out the case when I write my book on the topic. It really is very useful to get reactions to one's research in progress.
Incidentally, that session was really well attended. The other two speakers also generated some useful and interesting discussion. I am ashamed to say that as I sit on the plane late at night I cannot remember their names, though the first was Jocelyn. I'll check it up later.
So back to my narrative of events at this year's SBL. I'll go back to Sunday. In the 1 pm slot I was speaking in the Mark Group on "Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative", part of a themed session on the death of Jesus in Mark, the first of three. I like speaking in the Mark Group, the second time I have done so. Papers are circulated in advance and one is given twenty minutes to "summarize" one's paper followed by 25 minutes of discussion. As I have mentioned previously, the general habit seems to be to read papers, both here and elsewhere at the SBL, but I decided this year to have a go at extempore delivery on the grounds that it is much easier to communicate with your audience this way. Having listened to many papers being read out, I reckon that less than 50 per cent of what is being read out gets heard or, rather, listened to. A read-out paper simply washes over its audience, who only pick up bits and bobs as their concentration comes in and out. Well, I was pleased that I gave it a go. I felt that I was able to communicate more directly, was able to see people's faces while I talked and could gauge reaction as I spoke. So it's something I will definitely do again. I received some very helpful comments and questions on the paper. Larry Hurtado asked about the relationship between the "scripturalization" thesis and the liturgical thesis and whether the latter is dependent on the former, or held to strengthen the former, or whether either can stand alone. It helps me to reflect about strategy and how I go about working on these two interrelated theses, one of which (the liturgical theory) will be unpalatable to some. I also had a useful question on the term "liturgy", which suggests that to some the term conjurs up the wrong kinds of image, of set liturgies in contemporary worship. Joel Marcus was sceptical about the liturgical theory and asked how it could be taken from speculation to establishing probability. I replied that I thought that NT scholarship would be more interesting and engaging if we learned to think of speculation as a positive rather than a negative term, adding that informed speculation is a virtue where our alternative is to go ignorant. But I also noted that in Crossan's theory (for example), only one of the time indicators in Mark's narrative, the darkness at midday, is explained, whereas in my theory all the time indicators receive an explanation, so I win over Crossan by eight to one. But that slightly frivolour answer aside, it's another useful reminder of the importance of thinking about how I lay out the case when I write my book on the topic. It really is very useful to get reactions to one's research in progress.
Incidentally, that session was really well attended. The other two speakers also generated some useful and interesting discussion. I am ashamed to say that as I sit on the plane late at night I cannot remember their names, though the first was Jocelyn. I'll check it up later.
On the way home
I am sitting in Austin airport awaiting a delayed flight. I hope I make my connection in Newark. It's been a great meeting, but now I'm ready to get back. I have bought Crossan and Reed's new book on Paul with me to read on the flight(s). I doubt I'll have any time to blog at Newark airport unless I miss the connection. So I may next blog on Wednesday when I am home. By the way, I did deliver my paper extempore ("extemp" as I discover is the abbreviation here) and was pleased I did.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Still in San Antonio
Haven't had a moment to blog since yesterday morning; greatly relieved to have delivered my paper yesterday. I want to sound off about yesterday's two fascinating sessions on The Passion of the Christ but it will have to wait for later since I'm about to rush off to another meeting.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
SBL Sunday
It is Sunday morning now at the SBL Annual Meeting. We had our first ever University of Birmingham reception at breakfast this morning. It was good to old colleagues, new students and friends of the dept.
I am in meetings all morning and then at 1 pm I go to the Mark Group to give a paper on Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative.
I am in meetings all morning and then at 1 pm I go to the Mark Group to give a paper on Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
SBL Saturday, rest of
To complete my account of Saturday, Catherine Smith and Matthew Brook O'Donnell gave an excellent paper exploring the possibilities for future electronic Synopses, looking in particular at the possibilities for interactive ways of doing things, and with some useful illustrations. I also hung around to listen to Ken Penner's paper.
Later this evening it was the Continuum reception, with musical accompaniment, which gave it a nicely distinctive local feel. There was some decent food at this reception from the look of it but, alas, I had already had an enormous steak at "Beers and Steers" earlier on in the evening so could not touch any more food. As expected, I'd not needed to eat all day until this enormous and enjoyable indulgent meal in the evening. Met lots of people at the Continuum reception, friends old and new, so well worth while being there. It was something I needed to get to because of my new role as editor or the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement (soon to become the Library of New Testament Studies) but it was more joy than duty. Another early start in the morning, so I had better get to bed.
Later this evening it was the Continuum reception, with musical accompaniment, which gave it a nicely distinctive local feel. There was some decent food at this reception from the look of it but, alas, I had already had an enormous steak at "Beers and Steers" earlier on in the evening so could not touch any more food. As expected, I'd not needed to eat all day until this enormous and enjoyable indulgent meal in the evening. Met lots of people at the Continuum reception, friends old and new, so well worth while being there. It was something I needed to get to because of my new role as editor or the Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement (soon to become the Library of New Testament Studies) but it was more joy than duty. Another early start in the morning, so I had better get to bed.
SBL Saturday
Saturday, 16.13: Computer Assisted Research Group. I am disappointed to discover that there is no wireless internet access here, or at least nothing for free (rates in the Convention Center are $4.95 an hour or $24.95 a day). In the past the CARG has been a good place to come to do a bit of emailing, blogging or the like while listening in to a paper that in any case one has little hope of understanding. In fact, I can't see the bank of computers in here either that has always been a feature in the past. So the best option seems to be to jot some thoughts down in notepad and blog them later from my hotel room.
I met Jim Davila earlier today and was disappointed to discover that there is no chance this year of his repeating his science fiction feat of last year and blogging through the TV set. Shame.
11.30 there was the traditional meeting of the e-listers and a good chance to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones. There were several cameras there and a group photograph, so look out for it on Jim Davila's blog and on the biblical e-lists in due course.
The first session I got to was the Synoptic Gospels Section's first meeting at 1 p.m. Greg Carey was presiding and there were four papers. The first was a fascinating presentation from Robert Miller, asking whether Matthew is telling the story of a virginal conception. I was familiar with the thesis already, having read his Born Divine, and also knowing Jane Schaberg's The Illegitimacy of Jesus which first developed this thesis. I still cannot make my mind up on whether Schaberg and Miller are right about this. But one of the things I admire about the way Miller presents the thesis is that he does so with full acknowledgement that it is possible to read Matthew as telling the story of a virginal conception, though he thinks that it is not.
The next speaker was Jeff Peterson from Austin School of Theology and his topic was "Dismissing the Sanhedrin". He picked up on the work of E. P. Sanders, Martin Goodman, Fergus Millar and others who have argued that we should not think in terms of one, concrete Sanhedrin with appointed members in the New Testament period, but should instead translate most occurrences of SUNEDRION in the Gospels as "council". I have long found this thesis essentially persuasive and have been constantly surprised that so few New Testament scholars appear to know of it, or to allow it to impinge on their studies of the Passion Narrative. I was delighted to hear Jeff moving this thesis to the foreground and encouraging Synoptic scholars to take it seriously.
Jeffrey Gibson then spoke on the Sign of Jonah. Jeffrey is always worth hearing, the delivery half the enjoyment. I read his paper on the plane on the way over and it did not make the same impact as hearing it delivered today.
I sneaked out after Jeffrey had spoken, not because I didn't want to hear Pamela Shellberg (one always feels so guilty about leaving just before someone else is about to speak), but because I wanted to catch Stephen Carlson in the Textual Criticism seminar. He was talking about "The Origin(s) of the 'Caesarean' Text"; I wish I was able to summarise his paper effectively here, but it was to do with stemmatics and cladistics and explained how he had used a computer programme to generate a Stemma for Mark 6.45--8.26. I dashed back to the Synoptics straight after that.
The CARG is currently in session. Although it is somewhere I often like to hang out at these events, not least because I have spoken here five times in the past, I am here primarily to hear Matthew Brook O'Donnell and Catherine Smith speak about the future of electronic synopses, which should be up next. This is a subject of great interest to me (what is there not to like about something that deals with both the Synopsis and computers?); also I am supervising Catherine's PhD dissertation in Birmingham, which deals with a related topic.
One of the striking differences about the CARG in comparison to many of the other sections is that speakers rarely actually read out papers. Because they are illustration-rich, they tend to "speak to" their topic. Now I've been wondering recently why it is that so many academics read out their papers so often -- it's the standard. I am toying with the idea of not reading out my own paper to the Mark Group tomorrow. My reason for wondering about this is that there is something absurd about writing out a paper and then reading out one's own voice, sometimes stumbling over the very words that one has written. Why not just talk about it? We all do this when we lecture all the time -- very few scholars these days read out lectures to undergraduates, do they?
I've asked a few people about this business of reading out papers and why it is the norm. One colleage said to me that it is for him a question of timing. Another said that it was fear. It was all about the importance of making sure that one does not say anything erroneous or silly. I think that that may be the best reason I have heard yet, but I wonder whether it's sufficient. I would say that audiences are sympathetic to people who give a paper extempore and understand that one is not going strictly on the record with every tiny nuance of one's speech. Well, I think I am going to have a bash at talking mine tomorrow instead of reading it. I will let you know if it's a disaster and whether I will be trying it again afterwards.
I have not yet had sufficient chance to get around the book exhibition. Anyone who has been to the SBL Annual Meeting will know how absolutely massive the book exhibition is. One of the problems (or delights) with going around it is that one meets someone one knows every few steps. That is a fun thing, but it means that I never actually get around to looking at all the books I want to. I'll have another go tomorrow.
I met Jim Davila earlier today and was disappointed to discover that there is no chance this year of his repeating his science fiction feat of last year and blogging through the TV set. Shame.
11.30 there was the traditional meeting of the e-listers and a good chance to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones. There were several cameras there and a group photograph, so look out for it on Jim Davila's blog and on the biblical e-lists in due course.
The first session I got to was the Synoptic Gospels Section's first meeting at 1 p.m. Greg Carey was presiding and there were four papers. The first was a fascinating presentation from Robert Miller, asking whether Matthew is telling the story of a virginal conception. I was familiar with the thesis already, having read his Born Divine, and also knowing Jane Schaberg's The Illegitimacy of Jesus which first developed this thesis. I still cannot make my mind up on whether Schaberg and Miller are right about this. But one of the things I admire about the way Miller presents the thesis is that he does so with full acknowledgement that it is possible to read Matthew as telling the story of a virginal conception, though he thinks that it is not.
The next speaker was Jeff Peterson from Austin School of Theology and his topic was "Dismissing the Sanhedrin". He picked up on the work of E. P. Sanders, Martin Goodman, Fergus Millar and others who have argued that we should not think in terms of one, concrete Sanhedrin with appointed members in the New Testament period, but should instead translate most occurrences of SUNEDRION in the Gospels as "council". I have long found this thesis essentially persuasive and have been constantly surprised that so few New Testament scholars appear to know of it, or to allow it to impinge on their studies of the Passion Narrative. I was delighted to hear Jeff moving this thesis to the foreground and encouraging Synoptic scholars to take it seriously.
Jeffrey Gibson then spoke on the Sign of Jonah. Jeffrey is always worth hearing, the delivery half the enjoyment. I read his paper on the plane on the way over and it did not make the same impact as hearing it delivered today.
I sneaked out after Jeffrey had spoken, not because I didn't want to hear Pamela Shellberg (one always feels so guilty about leaving just before someone else is about to speak), but because I wanted to catch Stephen Carlson in the Textual Criticism seminar. He was talking about "The Origin(s) of the 'Caesarean' Text"; I wish I was able to summarise his paper effectively here, but it was to do with stemmatics and cladistics and explained how he had used a computer programme to generate a Stemma for Mark 6.45--8.26. I dashed back to the Synoptics straight after that.
The CARG is currently in session. Although it is somewhere I often like to hang out at these events, not least because I have spoken here five times in the past, I am here primarily to hear Matthew Brook O'Donnell and Catherine Smith speak about the future of electronic synopses, which should be up next. This is a subject of great interest to me (what is there not to like about something that deals with both the Synopsis and computers?); also I am supervising Catherine's PhD dissertation in Birmingham, which deals with a related topic.
One of the striking differences about the CARG in comparison to many of the other sections is that speakers rarely actually read out papers. Because they are illustration-rich, they tend to "speak to" their topic. Now I've been wondering recently why it is that so many academics read out their papers so often -- it's the standard. I am toying with the idea of not reading out my own paper to the Mark Group tomorrow. My reason for wondering about this is that there is something absurd about writing out a paper and then reading out one's own voice, sometimes stumbling over the very words that one has written. Why not just talk about it? We all do this when we lecture all the time -- very few scholars these days read out lectures to undergraduates, do they?
I've asked a few people about this business of reading out papers and why it is the norm. One colleage said to me that it is for him a question of timing. Another said that it was fear. It was all about the importance of making sure that one does not say anything erroneous or silly. I think that that may be the best reason I have heard yet, but I wonder whether it's sufficient. I would say that audiences are sympathetic to people who give a paper extempore and understand that one is not going strictly on the record with every tiny nuance of one's speech. Well, I think I am going to have a bash at talking mine tomorrow instead of reading it. I will let you know if it's a disaster and whether I will be trying it again afterwards.
I have not yet had sufficient chance to get around the book exhibition. Anyone who has been to the SBL Annual Meeting will know how absolutely massive the book exhibition is. One of the problems (or delights) with going around it is that one meets someone one knows every few steps. That is a fun thing, but it means that I never actually get around to looking at all the books I want to. I'll have another go tomorrow.
San Antonio
I arrived in San Antonio yesterday evening, too late, unfortunately, for a meeting I was supposed to attend. But I did get a chance to go out with friends and taste some ribs and some Sam Adams nevertheless; if my first tastes of Texas are anything to go by, I am going to have to watch my waistline in a big way -- the portions here are enormous. And I found that I was still not hungry for breakfast this morning. But since I had a breakfast meeting, I managed to load up the calories again, and this should last me through at least some of what looks like an interesting first day. The traditional meeting of the e-listers is at 11.30. This is when those who contribute to the various Biblical-related academic e-lists congregate to put faces to names and to meet old friends. It's organised by Jeffrey Gibson, who is also reading a paper this afternoon in the Synoptics Section on the Sign of Jonah. In that same section we have papers by Jeff Peterson on the Sanhedrin, Robert Miller on the Virginal Conception in Matthew and Pamela Shellberg on Cleansing in Luke-Acts. I intend also to get to the Computer Assisted Research Group after that; and tonight is the Continuum reception. Hope to blog some more later.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Javanilla in Austin, Texas
First stage of my journey and first entry in my travel diary. I am tasting something called a javanilla shake in Seattle's Best Coffee in Austin, Texas. On the way to San Antonio later. I'll adjust the timings on the blog to Texas time since it is saying 10.04 pm on my blogging machine.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Off to Texas
In a few hours I am setting off for this year's SBL Annual Meeting in San Antonio. I'm making a stop in Austin en route. I am taking my blogging machine with me and I hope I'll find some time to keep a travel diary. But my schedule looks pretty packed, so I don't know how often I will get opportunity.
I am reading a paper this year in the Mark Group on Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative (Sunday, 1 p.m.) and I am presiding at the second Synoptics section (Monday, 1 p.m.).
I look forward to seeing some of you there.
I am reading a paper this year in the Mark Group on Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative (Sunday, 1 p.m.) and I am presiding at the second Synoptics section (Monday, 1 p.m.).
I look forward to seeing some of you there.
More Tom Wright
There's still more new Tom Wright on the N. T. Wright page. There's a link to an interview by Stephen Crittenden in The Religion Report and the site itself adds these new articles:
Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans
The Letter to the Galatians: Exegesis and Theology
Taking the Text with Her Pleasure
Paul and Caesar: A New Reading of Romans
The Letter to the Galatians: Exegesis and Theology
Taking the Text with Her Pleasure
SBL Blogger watch
In Paleojudaica, Jim Davila also notes that he is on his way to San Antonio. You can read his paper, Astrology and the Descenders to the Chariot on-line too. I'm looking forward to finding out if Jim can repeat his science-fiction style feat of last year and blog through his hotel TV set.
Visual Bible International Latest
A regular feature here is the Jesus film watch. For a while it looked like the next proposed venture of Visual Bible International, who produced both Matthew and The Gospel of John, was under threat. But the news in this article is much more promising; I've extracted the parts on The Gospel of Mark film, which are what interest me:
Visual Bible International Inc. Press Release
Visual Bible International Inc. Press Release
. . . . In addition to his appointment as Chairman, Maurice J. Colson, CEO of VBI, announced that Mr. Eberts will serve as executive producer of the next three motion pictures expected to be produced by VBI beginning with The Gospel of Mark, the screenplay for which has been completed . . .
. . . . VBI is exclusively licensed by the American Bible Society to produce word-for-word film adaptations based on the Books of the Old and New Testaments. VBI released The Gospel of John in 2003 to critical acclaim.
Garth H. Drabinsky, who produced The Gospel of John, will continue his creative role as producer for the forthcoming production of The Gospel of Mark, currently scheduled for commencement of principal photography in the spring of 2005.
Eberts said "'The Gospel of John' and Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' each showed that there is an enormous market for the distribution of movies based on the Bible. I was impressed with the artistic quality and integrity of VBI's production of 'The Gospel of John.'"
Stephen Carlson's SBL Paper
On Hypotyposeis, Stephen Carlson announces the on-line availability of his paper for the Textual Criticism section at the SBL:
The Origin(s) of the 'Caesarean' Text
Another one to print up and read on the plane. (I'm packing at the moment).
The Origin(s) of the 'Caesarean' Text
Another one to print up and read on the plane. (I'm packing at the moment).
Jeffrey Gibson's paper for Synoptic Gospels Section
One more paper for the Synoptic Gospels Section is now available in draft on-line:
Jeffrey B. Gibson, 'Once Again, the "Sign of Jonah"' [PDF]
Note: Jeffrey's paper uses the font WP Greek Helve in what was originally a WordPerfect document. I can't find a way of getting it to embed in Word or on conversion to PDF. So to see the Greek, you'll need that font; I found a copy at this address (scroll down to "NOTE: some of my publications . . .").
Jeffrey B. Gibson, 'Once Again, the "Sign of Jonah"' [PDF]
Note: Jeffrey's paper uses the font WP Greek Helve in what was originally a WordPerfect document. I can't find a way of getting it to embed in Word or on conversion to PDF. So to see the Greek, you'll need that font; I found a copy at this address (scroll down to "NOTE: some of my publications . . .").
SBL Synoptics Section Web Pages
I mentioned the other day the new web page for the SBL Synoptics Section, which I co-chair with Greg Carey:
SBL Synoptic Gospels Section
These pages provide links to the sessions from 2000 and 2001 and some on-line material from last year, specifically the following (all PDFs):
Richard Bauckham, "For Whom Were the Gospels Written?"
Richard Burridge, "Gospels for all Christians: Discussion Notes"
Mark Matson, "Interactive Rhetoric in Matthew: An Exploration of Audience Knowledge Competency"
Richard Bauckham, Response to Margaret Mitchell's Paper
Some may remember that these papers are all connected with a successful session we had last year on the book Richard Bauckham (ed.), The Gospels for all Christians. Unfortunately, Richard Bauckham was unable to attend because of ill health, but he sent over the first of the articles linked above in order that people could get a feel for his thesis. Richard Burridge kindly stepped in at the last minute, and the second link above is to his notes from that session. The third link is to Mark Matson's paper. Margaret Mitchell gave something of a tour de force at the session, called “Patristic Counter-evidence to the Claim that The Gospels Were Written for All Christians” and I understand that the published version of this article will be forthcoming in the Journal of Theological Studies and so is no longer available on the website. However, Richard Bauckham has allowed me permission to reproduce his answer to Margaret Mitchell on the site, and that is the fourth link above.
As for this year, we have two sessions, details available here:
SBL Synoptic Gospels Section 2004
Note in particular some on-line materials relating to the second of the two sessions:
Richard Burridge, Kings College, London
The Implications of the Biographical Genre for the Composition and Reception of the Gospels [click on link for PDF of handout for paper]
Edward W. Klink, III, University of St. Andrews
Gospel Communities and Patristic Exegesis: A Counter to the “Patristic Counter-evidence to the Claim that ‘The Gospels Were Written for All Christians’" [click on link for PDF of paper]
The latter is, like Bauckham's response linked above, a reaction to Margaret Mitchell's paper of last year. And there is also this paper available on the main SBL Seminar Papers site, but also linked here:
T. M. Derico, Trinity College, Oxford
Upgrade and Reboot: A Re-appraisal of the Default Setting
SBL Synoptic Gospels Section
These pages provide links to the sessions from 2000 and 2001 and some on-line material from last year, specifically the following (all PDFs):
Richard Bauckham, "For Whom Were the Gospels Written?"
Richard Burridge, "Gospels for all Christians: Discussion Notes"
Mark Matson, "Interactive Rhetoric in Matthew: An Exploration of Audience Knowledge Competency"
Richard Bauckham, Response to Margaret Mitchell's Paper
Some may remember that these papers are all connected with a successful session we had last year on the book Richard Bauckham (ed.), The Gospels for all Christians. Unfortunately, Richard Bauckham was unable to attend because of ill health, but he sent over the first of the articles linked above in order that people could get a feel for his thesis. Richard Burridge kindly stepped in at the last minute, and the second link above is to his notes from that session. The third link is to Mark Matson's paper. Margaret Mitchell gave something of a tour de force at the session, called “Patristic Counter-evidence to the Claim that The Gospels Were Written for All Christians” and I understand that the published version of this article will be forthcoming in the Journal of Theological Studies and so is no longer available on the website. However, Richard Bauckham has allowed me permission to reproduce his answer to Margaret Mitchell on the site, and that is the fourth link above.
As for this year, we have two sessions, details available here:
SBL Synoptic Gospels Section 2004
Note in particular some on-line materials relating to the second of the two sessions:
Richard Burridge, Kings College, London
The Implications of the Biographical Genre for the Composition and Reception of the Gospels [click on link for PDF of handout for paper]
Edward W. Klink, III, University of St. Andrews
Gospel Communities and Patristic Exegesis: A Counter to the “Patristic Counter-evidence to the Claim that ‘The Gospels Were Written for All Christians’" [click on link for PDF of paper]
The latter is, like Bauckham's response linked above, a reaction to Margaret Mitchell's paper of last year. And there is also this paper available on the main SBL Seminar Papers site, but also linked here:
T. M. Derico, Trinity College, Oxford
Upgrade and Reboot: A Re-appraisal of the Default Setting
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Ancient World Mapping Center Web Watch
I mentioned the Ancient World Mapping Center's Web Watch last week (Web Watch) and Tom Elliott added a comment the next day to the effect that the site now does have newsfeed capabilities. So you can access this useful site now via your aggregator. I have added it to my blogroll.
Professorial Post in Theology or Biblical Studies
This from Kenneth Newport:
Liverpool Hope University College:
Professorial Post in Theology or Biblical Studies
The advertisement is longish so instead of repeating it all here, I have uploaded the advertisement (MS Word) to the above link.
Liverpool Hope University College:
Professorial Post in Theology or Biblical Studies
The advertisement is longish so instead of repeating it all here, I have uploaded the advertisement (MS Word) to the above link.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Blogos's Fun with Firefox
Just after blogging about Firefox, I read an enjoyable post on Blogos:
More fun with Firefox and ESV Search
I could not resist also typing in the meaning of life.
What it seems to do is to go to Google with the keywords you type in and fetch its top-listed site. Blogos also provides some useful hints on how to define your own Bible search.
More fun with Firefox and ESV Search
I keep finding new features i like in Firefox. The latest is keyword search in the "location bar" (where you normally type a URL). Type "weather" there and you get weather.com. Type "stock vz" and you get a quote for Verizon stock (please buy some and help get my options above water!).You could have hours of fun with this. I tried Historical Jesus and Apostle Paul and got my NT Gateway pages on them. Synoptic Problem quite rightly brings up Stephen Carlson's page, and Hypotyposeis his blog. Greek New Testament fetches Tony Fisher's site. Second Temple Judaism brings up a course outline by Bruce Fisk; and Paleojudaica calls up Jim Davila's blog. AKMA fetches AKMA's blog.
The behavior is a little hard to predict, though. Entering "time" comes up empty-handed ("The operation timed out when attempting to contact time": pun unintended i'm sure), but "time now" brings up this page with (you guessed it) the current time. It seems to be hit or miss: "bible" brings up Bible Gateway, "new testament" brings up Goodacre's blog, "concordance" brings up this page with interfaces for searching Strong's. "semanticbible" (no spaces) brings up my site, with a space "semantic bible" it brings up Glenn's reference to my site, but "semantic" itself brings up nothing. I'd love to have a real description of what's happening behind the scenes.
I could not resist also typing in the meaning of life.
What it seems to do is to go to Google with the keywords you type in and fetch its top-listed site. Blogos also provides some useful hints on how to define your own Bible search.
60 Years of Tyndale House
David Instone-Brewer's latest Tyndale Tech newsletter is all about William Tyndale in celebration of sixty years of Tyndale House. The newsletter itself is not yet copied to the web, but it does link to a nice visual tour of the 60th Birthday Celebrations. To see it, you have to go to this page:
Visual Tour of Tyndale House
And then you click on number 11 on the list, 60th Anniversary Celebrations. I found it educational. I was surprised to hear it said that in the immediate post-war period, evangelical Biblical scholars were not to be found in the UK, and that this was the catalyst for the creation of Tyndale House (". . . . the struggles to find even one senior evangelical scholar in Biblical Studies in the post-war period"). Wouldn't one class C. H. Dodd, C. F. D. Moule, F. F. Bruce and others as evangelical scholars? I have never been very good at the labels game.
Visual Tour of Tyndale House
And then you click on number 11 on the list, 60th Anniversary Celebrations. I found it educational. I was surprised to hear it said that in the immediate post-war period, evangelical Biblical scholars were not to be found in the UK, and that this was the catalyst for the creation of Tyndale House (". . . . the struggles to find even one senior evangelical scholar in Biblical Studies in the post-war period"). Wouldn't one class C. H. Dodd, C. F. D. Moule, F. F. Bruce and others as evangelical scholars? I have never been very good at the labels game.
Firefox
I'm a recent convert to the Mozilla Firefox browser. I think I first was encouraged to do it by reading about it in Jim Davila's Paleojudaica. I still use Internet Explorer and Netscape from time to time, largely to make sure that my websites look OK in them, but I've changed my default to Firefox -- tabbed browsing, RSS flags, integrated Google (and other) searches, neat download manager, a clean and tidy look. I can find only three minor things I don't like. One is that a triple click won't highlight a paragraph in Firefox like it will in IE, sometimes a pain when I'm blogging; the second is that it does not work as well with my Gmail notifier as IE does. The third is that the Unbound Bible searches don't work properly in it -- the results come up down a very thin left hand panel. That may mean that Biola need to do some work to adjust their coding so that it works properly in Firefox. But I can't think of any other whinges.
The Stoa yesterday noted that Firefox is now out of beta and Firefox 1.0 is available. Ross Scaife also notes that its ability to open RSS feeds as live bookmarks. I've not tried this in Firefox yet, instead using the Bloglines Firefox Extensions which are excellent. What I do find useful is the way that Firefox flags up in the bottom right hand corner whenever a given website has an RSS feed -- very useful.
Anyway, pretty much a thumbs-up for Firefox from me. I recommend it strongly, especially if you are still using IE as your default browser.
The Stoa yesterday noted that Firefox is now out of beta and Firefox 1.0 is available. Ross Scaife also notes that its ability to open RSS feeds as live bookmarks. I've not tried this in Firefox yet, instead using the Bloglines Firefox Extensions which are excellent. What I do find useful is the way that Firefox flags up in the bottom right hand corner whenever a given website has an RSS feed -- very useful.
Anyway, pretty much a thumbs-up for Firefox from me. I recommend it strongly, especially if you are still using IE as your default browser.
Margaret Barker's Temple Theology
The Church Times carries a short review of the following:
Margaret Barker, Temple Theology: An Introduction
Review by John Barton
The book sounds wide ranging and stimulating, like all of Margaret Barker's work; John Barton's review is quite brief and is primarily a sketch of the book's content.
Margaret Barker, Temple Theology: An Introduction
Review by John Barton
The book sounds wide ranging and stimulating, like all of Margaret Barker's work; John Barton's review is quite brief and is primarily a sketch of the book's content.
Friday, November 12, 2004
Review of Biblical Literature latest
Latest Review of Biblical Literature under the New Testament heading:
Hearon, Holly E.
The Mary Magdalene Tradition: Witness and Counter-Witness in Early Christian Communities
Reviewed by Judy Yates Siker
Gray, Patrick
Godly Fear: The Epistle to the Hebrews and Greco-Roman Critiques of Superstition
Reviewed by John Bertone
Gray, Patrick
Godly Fear: The Epistle to the Hebrews and Greco-Roman Critiques of Superstition
Reviewed by Ron Fay
Hartin, Patrick J.
James
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Levine, Amy-Jill and Marianne Blickenstaff, eds.
A Feminist Companion to the Deutero-Pauline Epistles
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis
Maloney, Elliott C.
Jesus' Urgent Message for Today: The Kingdom of God in Mark's Gospel
Reviewed by Robert Lewis
Racine, Jean-François
The Text of Matthew in the Writings of Basil of Caesarea
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Hearon, Holly E.
The Mary Magdalene Tradition: Witness and Counter-Witness in Early Christian Communities
Reviewed by Judy Yates Siker
Gray, Patrick
Godly Fear: The Epistle to the Hebrews and Greco-Roman Critiques of Superstition
Reviewed by John Bertone
Gray, Patrick
Godly Fear: The Epistle to the Hebrews and Greco-Roman Critiques of Superstition
Reviewed by Ron Fay
Hartin, Patrick J.
James
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Levine, Amy-Jill and Marianne Blickenstaff, eds.
A Feminist Companion to the Deutero-Pauline Epistles
Reviewed by Timothy Gombis
Maloney, Elliott C.
Jesus' Urgent Message for Today: The Kingdom of God in Mark's Gospel
Reviewed by Robert Lewis
Racine, Jean-François
The Text of Matthew in the Writings of Basil of Caesarea
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Wrightsaid latest
The N. T. Wright page has added a bunch of new responses by Tom Wright to "Wrightsaid" email list questions:
Bishop Tom Wright answers Wrightsaid questions (November 2004)
Though he says words to the effect of "time and space prevents me . . ." too much, there are some interesting responses here, from his views on infant baptism to his views on the result of the American election. I wonder if anyone will ask him next time about his defence of living in that great castle?
The N. T. Wright page also references A Conversation with N. T. Wright on Open Source Theology.
Bishop Tom Wright answers Wrightsaid questions (November 2004)
Though he says words to the effect of "time and space prevents me . . ." too much, there are some interesting responses here, from his views on infant baptism to his views on the result of the American election. I wonder if anyone will ask him next time about his defence of living in that great castle?
The N. T. Wright page also references A Conversation with N. T. Wright on Open Source Theology.
Andrew Lincoln, Truth on Trial
As regular readers will know, one of my favourite features is flagging up free sample chapters from books on publishers' websites, which all to often go unnoticed, not least since so many shop on Amazon and the like for their books. Hendricksons have the following page:
Andrew Lincoln, Truth on Trial: The Lawsuit Motif in the Fourth Gospel
They have made available PDFs of the Introduction and Chapter 1 (The Lawsuit and the Narrative of the Fourth Gospel).
Andrew Lincoln, Truth on Trial: The Lawsuit Motif in the Fourth Gospel
They have made available PDFs of the Introduction and Chapter 1 (The Lawsuit and the Narrative of the Fourth Gospel).
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Dan Wallace on 1 Thess. 3.2
On The Coding Humanist, Eric Sowell announces that he has uploaded the following to the CSNTM website:
Was Timothy God’s ‘fellow-worker’? A Text-Critical and Grammatical Examination of 1 Thessalonians 3.2
Daniel B. Wallace
Was Timothy God’s ‘fellow-worker’? A Text-Critical and Grammatical Examination of 1 Thessalonians 3.2
Daniel B. Wallace
Durham NT Seminar Audio Archive
I saw reference to this on the N. T. Wright page:
New Testament Seminar Audio Archives
So far it features MP3s of talks by William Telford, John Barclay, Jimmy Dunn and Tom Wright. It is made available by Kevin Bywater.
New Testament Seminar Audio Archives
So far it features MP3s of talks by William Telford, John Barclay, Jimmy Dunn and Tom Wright. It is made available by Kevin Bywater.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
SBL Synoptics Section
I'm just setting up a new web page for the SBL Annual Meeting Synoptics Section. There is more to do, but at this stage it has links to previous years' programmes and some papers, and it has this year's programme with two of the papers available:
SBL Synoptics Section
The two papers available so far for this year's sessions are those by Travis Derico (on the main SBL Seminar Papers site) and Edward Klink (hosted here). More detail to be added and some tidying yet, but at least the page is up and running.
SBL Synoptics Section
The two papers available so far for this year's sessions are those by Travis Derico (on the main SBL Seminar Papers site) and Edward Klink (hosted here). More detail to be added and some tidying yet, but at least the page is up and running.
Listwatch @ Textualcriticism
A couple of items of interest that have been awaiting a spare moment for a mention in the blog, both from Wieland Willker's Textual Criticism e-list:
Free Fonts by Gary S. Dykes
I have not tried these myself, but there are a variety of new and updated fonts here, Aramaic, Coptic, Syriac, Ugaritic.
And Wieland praises the new Münster website:
New Testament Transcripts Prototype
Free Fonts by Gary S. Dykes
I have not tried these myself, but there are a variety of new and updated fonts here, Aramaic, Coptic, Syriac, Ugaritic.
And Wieland praises the new Münster website:
New Testament Transcripts Prototype
It features now the text of e.g. P45, P66, P75, 01, 02 and 03 of the Gospels, complete! You can use a "page view", where you can see e.g. the three columns of one page of B. The umlauts in B are given. Especially helpful is the "Compare" function. You can compare two MSS with each other, verse by verse, and the differences are highlighted!
SBL International 2005
Matthew Collins has today sent around a circular to all SBL members with a call for papers for the SBL International Meeting 2005, which will be in Singapore from 26 June to 1 July:
2005 International Meeting
Tempting.
2005 International Meeting
Tempting.
BNTS mailing list
Since standing down as secretary of the British New Testament Society, I have transferred all of the existing mailing list (which was based at bham) to Google Groups. In order to weed out dozens and dozens of bouncing and dud email addresses, we went for an invitation-based list. So far less than half of those invited have responded. So if you are one of those who used to receive BNTS updates but has not received any information about the change of list, let me or Bridget Gilfillan Upton know. Or, of course, if you are someone who would like to received updates about the conference (for scholars and post graduate students of the New Testament) and have never been on the list, please be in touch.
Alan Wood's Unicode Resources
I've added this to my blogroll:
Alan Wood's Unicode Resouruces
A very useful resource for unicode, now with its own RSS feed for updates. I thought that I had spotted this on goranh but I can't see it at the moment.
Alan Wood's Unicode Resouruces
A very useful resource for unicode, now with its own RSS feed for updates. I thought that I had spotted this on goranh but I can't see it at the moment.
Web Watch
At the Stoa Consortium, Ross Scaife draws attention to this newish resource:
Web Watch
A quick round-up of interesting blog, list and website content
It's a kind of aggregator, run by Tom Elliott, and watches a selected number of blogs and other sites, including some of the biblioblogs like mine, Hypotyposeis and Paleojudaica. There's no RSS feed as far as I can see so it may be of limited usefulness for some at the moment.
Web Watch
A quick round-up of interesting blog, list and website content
It's a kind of aggregator, run by Tom Elliott, and watches a selected number of blogs and other sites, including some of the biblioblogs like mine, Hypotyposeis and Paleojudaica. There's no RSS feed as far as I can see so it may be of limited usefulness for some at the moment.
Tom Wright's Castle
Several of the bibliobloggers have commented on this Daily Telegraph article in which Tom Wright defends his right to live in Auckland Castle:
Bishop Defends his Castle Against Invaders
By Jonathan Petre
Bishop Defends his Castle Against Invaders
By Jonathan Petre
But Bishop Wright is adamant that neither Auckland Castle, the magnificent home of the Bishops of Durham for 900 years, nor other historical houses should be sold. "It is not nostalgia," he said. "It is actually wrong."In Sansblogue, for example, Tim Bulkeley says:
The bishop, a leading theologian and bible scholar, said the Church was under constant assault from sceptics who argued that its days were numbered and it was no longer wanted.
"Every time the Church destroys one if its deep-rooted symbols, it is conniving at that," he said. "That is why it is wrong, not just sad."
Frankly Tom, that kind of symbol the Church of the Crucified Carpenter can do without.But what critics like Tim are missing is that it is quite standard for us English to live in castles. I'm not sure what it's like for Jim Davila up in Scotland, but here in England castles are everywhere. I live in a modest, everyday kind of castle myself. Admittedly, it has nothing like the grandeur of Auckland Castle, but then I don't have quite the same worries that he does about those exceptionally big drafty rooms, the damp, and all that bother of finding and retaining staff. I manage on just a butler and a maid here. And can you imagine the heating bills? No, maintaining an English castle is no walk in the park. Give me a three bed semi any day of the week.
James Ossuary page again
I referred recently to the BAS page on the James Ossuary (More materials on the James Ossuary). They have now organised that page much better and have provided explanations for everything there:
Update -- Finds or Fakes
Update -- Finds or Fakes
Sunday, November 07, 2004
E. P. Sanders's Intellectual Autobiography
I was lucky enough to run across this gem today:
Comparing Judaism and Christianity: An Academic Autobiography
A paper read at “New Views of First-Century Jewish and Christian Self-Definition: An International Conference in honor of E. P. Sanders” (April, 2003)
E. P. Sanders
April-May 2004
It's a 40 page intellectual autobiography of one of the greatest New Testament scholars of our generation (the greatest?). It won't just be his former students like me who find this really fascinating. By the way, I've added a link to Ed Sanders's faculty page on Scholars: S.
Comparing Judaism and Christianity: An Academic Autobiography
A paper read at “New Views of First-Century Jewish and Christian Self-Definition: An International Conference in honor of E. P. Sanders” (April, 2003)
E. P. Sanders
April-May 2004
It's a 40 page intellectual autobiography of one of the greatest New Testament scholars of our generation (the greatest?). It won't just be his former students like me who find this really fascinating. By the way, I've added a link to Ed Sanders's faculty page on Scholars: S.
Colloquium: Covenant to the People, Light to the Nations
This from Annette Yoshiko Reed:
A Covenant to the People, A Light to the Nations:
Universalism, Exceptionalism, and the Problem of Chosenness in Jewish Thought
http://jewishthought.mcmaster.ca
Sponsored by Canada Research Chair in Modern Jewish Thought, Department of Religious Studies, McMaster University
Convened by Dana Hollander (http://univmail.mcmaster.ca/~danahol)
and Annette Yoshiko Reed (http://www.annettereed.com)
COLLOQUIUM - May 18-20, 2005
The Colloquium will consider the ongoing reflection about the concept of Israel as a "light to the nations" (Isa 42:6; 49:6) in ancient, medieval, and modern Jewish thought, together with its relevance for Christianity and contemporary philosophy and theory. This and other biblical attempts to reconcile the election of Israel with the universality of Israel's God will serve as a starting point for exploring the range of ways in which Jews past and present have negotiated the nature and boundaries of their collective identities (ethnic, religious, cultural, political) in relation to other nations and peoples. Inquiries into the historical development of concepts such as chosenness, Jewish exceptionalism, and Jewishness, and the history of their reinterpretation in different socio-cultural contexts, will be combined with philosophical and theoretical explorations of their continued contemporary relevance.
Speakers include Idit Dobbs-Weinstein (Vanderbilt), Willi Goetschel (U of Toronto), Dana Hollander (McMaster), Andrew Jacobs (UC Riverside), Joel Kaminsky (Smith College), David Novak (U of Toronto), Gesine Palmer (FESt, Heidelberg), Randi Rashkover (York College of Pennsylvania), Annette Yoshiko Reed (McMaster), Kenneth Reinhard (UCLA), Peter Schäfer (Princeton/Berlin), Yossef Schwartz (Tel Aviv University), and Susan Shapiro (U of Massachusetts, Amherst)
In the coming months, further information (e.g., paper titles, abstracts, schedule) will be posted at http://jewishthought.mcmaster.ca
PRE-COLLOQUIUM SEMINAR, May 17, 2005
This special daylong Seminar, geared toward graduate students in Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and related fields, will involve intensive discussion of key texts on the theme of chosenness, including classical works such as the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic literature and works by modern and contemporary authors. Sessions will be led by Dana Hollander, Joel Kaminsky, David Novak, and Annette Yoshiko Reed.
Seminar participants will be selected through application and will be granted stipends to cover the costs of travel, meals, and accommodations during both the Seminar and the Colloquium. Interested students should submit a CV and a letter detailing their relevant academic background and research interests to Dr. Hollander (danahol@mcmaster.ca) by DECEMBER 15, 2004. The Seminar is geared towards graduate students but open to post-docs and other interested scholars.
FURTHER INFORMATION
These events are the first in a series to be sponsored by the recently established Canada Research Chair in Modern Jewish Thought at McMaster University. McMaster's Department of Religious Studies has been distinguished by a long tradition of studying Judaism and Christianity in concert, as equally significant yet intertwined religions, and in conjunction with philosophy and political thought. Building on this
scholarly profile, the conference aims to promote a vision of the study of Jewish thought traditions as engaged in an ongoing conversation with philosophy and theory, political thought, and the study of Christianity, both classical and contemporary.
For more information about the Seminar and Colloquium, please contact Alisha
Pomazon (pomazoaj@mcmaster.ca) or see our website:
http://jewishthought.mcmaster.ca/
A Covenant to the People, A Light to the Nations:
Universalism, Exceptionalism, and the Problem of Chosenness in Jewish Thought
http://jewishthought.mcmaster.ca
Sponsored by Canada Research Chair in Modern Jewish Thought, Department of Religious Studies, McMaster University
Convened by Dana Hollander (http://univmail.mcmaster.ca/~danahol)
and Annette Yoshiko Reed (http://www.annettereed.com)
COLLOQUIUM - May 18-20, 2005
The Colloquium will consider the ongoing reflection about the concept of Israel as a "light to the nations" (Isa 42:6; 49:6) in ancient, medieval, and modern Jewish thought, together with its relevance for Christianity and contemporary philosophy and theory. This and other biblical attempts to reconcile the election of Israel with the universality of Israel's God will serve as a starting point for exploring the range of ways in which Jews past and present have negotiated the nature and boundaries of their collective identities (ethnic, religious, cultural, political) in relation to other nations and peoples. Inquiries into the historical development of concepts such as chosenness, Jewish exceptionalism, and Jewishness, and the history of their reinterpretation in different socio-cultural contexts, will be combined with philosophical and theoretical explorations of their continued contemporary relevance.
Speakers include Idit Dobbs-Weinstein (Vanderbilt), Willi Goetschel (U of Toronto), Dana Hollander (McMaster), Andrew Jacobs (UC Riverside), Joel Kaminsky (Smith College), David Novak (U of Toronto), Gesine Palmer (FESt, Heidelberg), Randi Rashkover (York College of Pennsylvania), Annette Yoshiko Reed (McMaster), Kenneth Reinhard (UCLA), Peter Schäfer (Princeton/Berlin), Yossef Schwartz (Tel Aviv University), and Susan Shapiro (U of Massachusetts, Amherst)
In the coming months, further information (e.g., paper titles, abstracts, schedule) will be posted at http://jewishthought.mcmaster.ca
PRE-COLLOQUIUM SEMINAR, May 17, 2005
This special daylong Seminar, geared toward graduate students in Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and related fields, will involve intensive discussion of key texts on the theme of chosenness, including classical works such as the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic literature and works by modern and contemporary authors. Sessions will be led by Dana Hollander, Joel Kaminsky, David Novak, and Annette Yoshiko Reed.
Seminar participants will be selected through application and will be granted stipends to cover the costs of travel, meals, and accommodations during both the Seminar and the Colloquium. Interested students should submit a CV and a letter detailing their relevant academic background and research interests to Dr. Hollander (danahol@mcmaster.ca) by DECEMBER 15, 2004. The Seminar is geared towards graduate students but open to post-docs and other interested scholars.
FURTHER INFORMATION
These events are the first in a series to be sponsored by the recently established Canada Research Chair in Modern Jewish Thought at McMaster University. McMaster's Department of Religious Studies has been distinguished by a long tradition of studying Judaism and Christianity in concert, as equally significant yet intertwined religions, and in conjunction with philosophy and political thought. Building on this
scholarly profile, the conference aims to promote a vision of the study of Jewish thought traditions as engaged in an ongoing conversation with philosophy and theory, political thought, and the study of Christianity, both classical and contemporary.
For more information about the Seminar and Colloquium, please contact Alisha
Pomazon (pomazoaj@mcmaster.ca) or see our website:
http://jewishthought.mcmaster.ca/
SBL Forum New Articles
There are some new articles on the SBL Forum:
Jacques Derrida and Biblical Studies
Yvonne Sherwood
"Things That Matter": Historical Jesus Studies in the New Millennium
by Mark Allan Powell
Was Jesus a Bad Stoic?
by Thomas E. Phillips
Archaeology and the Historical Jesus: Recent Developments
by Craig A. Evans
Jacques Derrida and Biblical Studies
Yvonne Sherwood
"Things That Matter": Historical Jesus Studies in the New Millennium
by Mark Allan Powell
Was Jesus a Bad Stoic?
by Thomas E. Phillips
Archaeology and the Historical Jesus: Recent Developments
by Craig A. Evans
New version of Cardo
The Stoa announce a new version of the free unicode font Cardo:
Cardo Font Page
A major update to Cardo, a Unicode font designed for scholars, is now available at scholarsfonts.net. Version .98 adds over 1400 new characters, including all the Greek characters proposed for Unicode by the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, variants of Greek letters for epigraphy and numismatics, and all the characters recommended by the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative. This version also supports glyph variants through OpenType features and provides other typographic refinements such as small capitals. Please pass the word to any colleagues who might be interested. Cardo works under Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.The Cardo Font page is here:
Version .98 will be in beta testing until January 31, 2005, after which it will be replaced by version 1.0. Please send any corrections or suggestions to me by that date.
Cardo Font Page
Friday, November 05, 2004
NT Gateway updates
Haven't been able to post to the blog all day. But I've made some updates on The New Testament Gateway -- Luke-Acts and Q and Synoptic Problem and Q: Books and Articles. I've repaired dozens of broken links and have added a couple of John Kloppenborg's articles, now reproduced on his webpage.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
SBL Forum New Editor
I had the email notification of this sometime ago but am only steadily catching up with things. The SBL Forum, which in the several months since its launch has made an excellent contribution, now has a new editor, Leonard Greenspoon who is taking over from Frank Ames:
Greenspoon to be Editor of Forum
Kent Richards
Greenspoon to be Editor of Forum
Kent Richards
As Leonard said, "I am not beginning ex nihilo, and I have every intention of building on and expanding the very firm foundations that are already in place. There is an advisory board, to which I hope to add members, especially younger scholars. In the coming months you will, I hope, notice some differences as well as continuities. Of greatest important is my desire to have an ever increasing number of you as authors or guest editors."This sounds good to me. I am on the advisory board myself and look forward to meeting Leonard Greenspoon in San Antonio in a fortnight. I've shared several ideas concerning the forum in recent months and I hope that some of them will be taken up. I had another thought the other day -- what about an RSS feed for the forum? It would be ideal given its live, frequently updated content. Something else I'll suggest.
Survey on effects of Passion of the Christ
A report on a survey on audience reactions to the film The Passion of the Christ that may be of interest:
Barna survey shows ‘Passion’ had little evangelicalistic effect
Numbers higher for personal behavioral changes
This is by a staff reporter at the Christian Examiner.
Barna survey shows ‘Passion’ had little evangelicalistic effect
Numbers higher for personal behavioral changes
This is by a staff reporter at the Christian Examiner.
Bibledudes
Following on from reading reflections on the outcome of the US election in Michael Homan's Blog, I enjoyed visiting a web site to which he refers there:
Bibledudes
Michael Homan is responsible for much of the content, along with several others. It's not finished yet, e.g. nothing yet on the NT, but it's a remarkable project, aiming to provide lively, introductory materials to those who know nothing about the Bible using cartoon characters who speak in colloquial contemporary American. This is the kind of site where you really can begin from scratch and build. I doubt that anyone who reads this blog is anywhere near the target audience for this site, but it is an encouragement to those of us who are committed to communicating Biblical scholarship to a wide population to see academics thinking creatively about how to reach people. Good for them.
Just one thought: is this website going to look pretty dated in a few years time when noone says "dude" anymore, and all its other colloquialisms, even in America? Think of Godspell, aiming at the height of trendiness in 1973 and now horrendously and embarrassingly dated, and not in the delightful way that people now celebrate. Here would be a real challenge: create a website like this in which the content is separated from the vehicle conveying it, and use CSS for all the latter, so that you could then find out about the Bible by clicking "1970s style", "1990s style", "classical style", "slasher movie style" and so on.
To see the kind of thing I mean, have a look at the CSS Zen Garden, to which The Coding Humanist recently referred. This is a fantastic advert for the value of using CSS. (Excuse the digression, which has ended up being an excuse to draw attention to another great site).
Update (8 November, 00.03): AKMA comments, Totally.
Bibledudes
Michael Homan is responsible for much of the content, along with several others. It's not finished yet, e.g. nothing yet on the NT, but it's a remarkable project, aiming to provide lively, introductory materials to those who know nothing about the Bible using cartoon characters who speak in colloquial contemporary American. This is the kind of site where you really can begin from scratch and build. I doubt that anyone who reads this blog is anywhere near the target audience for this site, but it is an encouragement to those of us who are committed to communicating Biblical scholarship to a wide population to see academics thinking creatively about how to reach people. Good for them.
Just one thought: is this website going to look pretty dated in a few years time when noone says "dude" anymore, and all its other colloquialisms, even in America? Think of Godspell, aiming at the height of trendiness in 1973 and now horrendously and embarrassingly dated, and not in the delightful way that people now celebrate. Here would be a real challenge: create a website like this in which the content is separated from the vehicle conveying it, and use CSS for all the latter, so that you could then find out about the Bible by clicking "1970s style", "1990s style", "classical style", "slasher movie style" and so on.
To see the kind of thing I mean, have a look at the CSS Zen Garden, to which The Coding Humanist recently referred. This is a fantastic advert for the value of using CSS. (Excuse the digression, which has ended up being an excuse to draw attention to another great site).
Update (8 November, 00.03): AKMA comments, Totally.
Top 500 World Universities
I spotted this on the University of Birmingham website today; it may have been around for a bit -- I don't know:
Top 500 World Universities
It's carried out by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and correlates all sorts of different factors like awards, citations, articles in prestigious journals. Among UK universities, Oxford and Cambridge both make it into the Top 10. Birmingham just squeezes into the Top 100 at 93. Our marketing people are obviously happy with that and have placed upfront on the website "One of the World's Top 100 Universities".
Top 500 World Universities
It's carried out by the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and correlates all sorts of different factors like awards, citations, articles in prestigious journals. Among UK universities, Oxford and Cambridge both make it into the Top 10. Birmingham just squeezes into the Top 100 at 93. Our marketing people are obviously happy with that and have placed upfront on the website "One of the World's Top 100 Universities".
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
More materials on the James Ossuary
I've been monitoring the Biblical Archaeology Society's page on the James ossuary and note that a substantial number of new materials have been added:
Update -- Finds or Fakes?
There is now a wealth of materials on the ossuary, including PDFs of various key lectures.
Update -- Finds or Fakes?
There is now a wealth of materials on the ossuary, including PDFs of various key lectures.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Review of Biblical Literature latest
Just in case you thought the blog had fallen asleep, here's the latest from the SBL Review of Biblical Literature under the NT and related heading:
Dunn, James D. G. and John Rogerson, eds.
Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
Reviewed by James Nogalski
Capshaw, Jeffery L.
A Textlinguistic Analysis of Selected Old Testament Texts in Matthew 1-4
Reviewed by Daniel Gurtner
Deming, Will
Paul on Marriage & Celibacy: The Hellenistic Background of 1 Corinthians 7
Reviewed by Brent Smith
Johnson, Luke Timothy
Brother of Jesus, Friend of God: Studies in the Letter of James:
Putting Jesus in His Place: A Radical Vision of Household and Kingdom
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Pinero, Antonio and Jesús Peláez
The Study of the New Testament: A Comprehensive Introduction
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Draper, Jonathan A. , ed.
Orality, Literacy and Colonialism in Southern Africa
Dunn, James D. G. and John Rogerson, eds.
Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible
Reviewed by James Nogalski
Capshaw, Jeffery L.
A Textlinguistic Analysis of Selected Old Testament Texts in Matthew 1-4
Reviewed by Daniel Gurtner
Deming, Will
Paul on Marriage & Celibacy: The Hellenistic Background of 1 Corinthians 7
Reviewed by Brent Smith
Johnson, Luke Timothy
Brother of Jesus, Friend of God: Studies in the Letter of James:
Reviewed by Markus OehlerMoxnes, Haylor
Reviewed by Kari Syreeni
Reviewed by William Wilson
Putting Jesus in His Place: A Radical Vision of Household and Kingdom
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Pinero, Antonio and Jesús Peláez
The Study of the New Testament: A Comprehensive Introduction
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Draper, Jonathan A. , ed.
Orality, Literacy and Colonialism in Southern Africa
Reviewed by Janet Howe Gaines
Reviewed by Werner Lategan
Reviewed by Robin Gallaher Branch
Friday, October 29, 2004
Songs of Praise
Just before I dash off again, a quick note about this Sunday's Songs of Praise on BBC1, 17.10-17.45:
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise
Jonathan Edwards presents a Songs of Praise in celebration of the world's best-selling book - the Bible - to mark the 200th anniversary of the Bible Society.The programme features s a short interview with me too about what's in the Bible.
Jonathan hears amazing and controversial stories of people whose lives have been changed forever by the 'Good Book', and introduces hymns including We Have A Gospel To Proclaim, Lord Of The Years, and Wonderful Love. There are also performances from Stuart Townend, and even a rap version of Psalm 23 from actor Rob Lacy's 'Street Bible'!
So What Colour Was Jesus?
It's half term week here in the UK, which means the desperate attempt to juggle an already overloaded work schedule with the kids being off school. Still, I did manage to fit in a five or ten minute telephone conversation with a BBC reporter on Wednesday morning, in between classes and meetings, who asked me for my comments as a follow-up to the New Nation poll that listed Jesus as the top black icon (on which, as it happens, I blogged on Tuesday -- see Jesus the Black Icon). The piece has been mentioned in a couple of the blogs and has given birth to a thread on Xtalk; thanks too to those who sent me over the link to the article, including Giles Wilson who wrote it:
So What Colour Was Jesus?
And I am not so self indulgent that I will quote myself here! But I will add a whimsical side note from that article -- Jesus' eye colour. The article concludes with a comment that the world of film is slowly catching up. I am not in quotation on this bit, but it was something that I explained to the reporter. In Jesus of Nazareth, Robert Powell was chosen for the role for his piercing blue eyes, which he never shuts once, on camera, for the entire piece, one of the reasons he has a rather spaced-out look. Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, also has piercing blue eyes -- it's one of the reasons he was chosen for the
role in Angel Eyes. But Gibson digitally altered the colour throughout to brown.
So What Colour Was Jesus?
And I am not so self indulgent that I will quote myself here! But I will add a whimsical side note from that article -- Jesus' eye colour. The article concludes with a comment that the world of film is slowly catching up. I am not in quotation on this bit, but it was something that I explained to the reporter. In Jesus of Nazareth, Robert Powell was chosen for the role for his piercing blue eyes, which he never shuts once, on camera, for the entire piece, one of the reasons he has a rather spaced-out look. Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, also has piercing blue eyes -- it's one of the reasons he was chosen for the
role in Angel Eyes. But Gibson digitally altered the colour throughout to brown.
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Review of Biblical Literature latest
Latest from the SBL's Review of Biblical Literature under the New Testament heading:
Barker, Margaret
The Great High Priest: The Temple Roots of Christian Liturgy
Reviewed by Karl-Heinz Ostmeyer
Ferguson, Everett
Backgrounds of Early Christianity
Reviewed by Robert Seesengood
Grassi, Joseph
Peace on Earth: Roots and Practices from Luke's Gospel
Reviewed by Ronald Clark
Kauffman, Ivan J.
He Was Here: Those Who Knew Jesus Speak
Reviewed by Matthew Dunn
Matera, Frank J.
II Corinthians
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
McClymond, Michael J.
Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth
Reviewed by Lawrence Dipaolo
Wierzbicka, Anna
What Did Jesus Mean?: Explaining the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables in Simple and Universal Human Concepts
Reviewed by Hyunsok Doh
Barker, Margaret
The Great High Priest: The Temple Roots of Christian Liturgy
Reviewed by Karl-Heinz Ostmeyer
Ferguson, Everett
Backgrounds of Early Christianity
Reviewed by Robert Seesengood
Grassi, Joseph
Peace on Earth: Roots and Practices from Luke's Gospel
Reviewed by Ronald Clark
Kauffman, Ivan J.
He Was Here: Those Who Knew Jesus Speak
Reviewed by Matthew Dunn
Matera, Frank J.
II Corinthians
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
McClymond, Michael J.
Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth
Reviewed by Lawrence Dipaolo
Wierzbicka, Anna
What Did Jesus Mean?: Explaining the Sermon on the Mount and the Parables in Simple and Universal Human Concepts
Reviewed by Hyunsok Doh
Wright latest
I referred recently to Wright on the Lambeth Commission. He also has a piece in The Tablet
The Windsor Report is a Step Towards Maturity
(And scroll down a bit).
The N. T. Wright page also gathers together some material on this, from Fulcrum, Thoughts on Concerns and Questions about the Windsor Report and last Saturday's Guardian in "Face to Faith":
Blindly embracing diversity will damage unity
My Pilgrimage in Theology
(Originally Published in Themelios, January, 1993, 18.2, 35).
He speaks about his evangelical heritage, the growth of his ideas and depression.
The Windsor Report is a Step Towards Maturity
(And scroll down a bit).
The N. T. Wright page also gathers together some material on this, from Fulcrum, Thoughts on Concerns and Questions about the Windsor Report and last Saturday's Guardian in "Face to Faith":
Blindly embracing diversity will damage unity
Here the Windsor report restates a classic Anglican (and Pauline) doctrine: adiaphora ("things indifferent"). Some differences, particularly those involving ethnic diversity, must not be allowed to fracture communion. But one must distinguish the differences which must not make a difference and those which are bound to do so. Not all cultural charac teristics are to be embraced. The Scythians were famous for being hot-tempered; the Corinthians, for sexual laxity. Both lifestyles are ruled out, declares Paul, for those "in Christ". To insist on them is to divide the church.And the N. T. Wright page publishes this piece itself, from just over ten years ago, a bit of autobiography:
The question then is: Which things come into which category? Which differences make a difference?
My Pilgrimage in Theology
(Originally Published in Themelios, January, 1993, 18.2, 35).
He speaks about his evangelical heritage, the growth of his ideas and depression.
First Christian Document?
Here's the link to the "listen again" of the programme about The Didache and featuring Alan Garrow:
The First Christian Document?
There's been a little discussion of this on Xtalk. I've had a chance to listen to it myself this morning. It's a useful introduction to The Didache for those unfamiliar with the work and it reflects on the possible importance of the work in early Christianity. The title is not accurate, though, since the programme has little on the claim that was flagged up here and in the advertising material to the effect that The Didache provides us with the document to which reference is made in Acts 15. For that, I think we will have to await Garrow's further work on the document, which is sketched on his Didache Cube, but on which Garrow himself is not yet convinced ("The parallels between the Didache's base layer and the Apostolic Decree are striking in several important respects. Further work is required before a link between the two may be described as firmly established.").
The documentary was very much Garrow's vehicle. Other than the presenter, Roger Bolton, the only other person to feature was Ruth Fleischer and a Messianic Jewish community. So it was in the David Starky tradition of documentaries in which only the one voice is heard, a little disappointing given the brief mention at the end of the programme that "many" do not accept the early dating of the work. But still, good to hear the BBC taking interesting materials like The Didache seriously and if Garrow himself took the inititiative on getting their interest, good for him.
The First Christian Document?
There's been a little discussion of this on Xtalk. I've had a chance to listen to it myself this morning. It's a useful introduction to The Didache for those unfamiliar with the work and it reflects on the possible importance of the work in early Christianity. The title is not accurate, though, since the programme has little on the claim that was flagged up here and in the advertising material to the effect that The Didache provides us with the document to which reference is made in Acts 15. For that, I think we will have to await Garrow's further work on the document, which is sketched on his Didache Cube, but on which Garrow himself is not yet convinced ("The parallels between the Didache's base layer and the Apostolic Decree are striking in several important respects. Further work is required before a link between the two may be described as firmly established.").
The documentary was very much Garrow's vehicle. Other than the presenter, Roger Bolton, the only other person to feature was Ruth Fleischer and a Messianic Jewish community. So it was in the David Starky tradition of documentaries in which only the one voice is heard, a little disappointing given the brief mention at the end of the programme that "many" do not accept the early dating of the work. But still, good to hear the BBC taking interesting materials like The Didache seriously and if Garrow himself took the inititiative on getting their interest, good for him.
Jesus the Black Icon
Yesterday's Guardian featured this article, the result of a poll in black newspaper New Nation:
Jesus the black icon tops list of greatest
Hugh Muir
Jesus the black icon tops list of greatest
Hugh Muir
He [Justin Onyeka, deputy editor] said many of the paper's readers would think of Jesus as having been black. "In the Bible he is described as dark skinned. Throughout history we have been presented with him having blonde hair and blue eyes, but that idea is not commonly believed.I think he'll find that the Bible doesn't describe Jesus' appearance at all, but I am in favour of informed speculation on this.
"He never wrote a book, never recorded a hit song, never made a movie, never sought political office, nor did he ever have his own official website - yet he remains a major figure in the world's two leading religions."
Friday, October 22, 2004
Elaine Pagels interviews
The Memphis Flyer has this interview with Elaine Pagels:
The Gospel Truth
Elaine Pagels: writer on the Word.
LEONARD GILL
It's a short piece in which Pagels reveals that she is now working on Revelation. The article concludes with this interesting exchange:
The Gospel Truth
Elaine Pagels: writer on the Word.
LEONARD GILL
It's a short piece in which Pagels reveals that she is now working on Revelation. The article concludes with this interesting exchange:
I asked my teacher, Krister Stendahl, why, when he'd studied the Dead Sea Scrolls, he never wrote about them for a popular audience. Krister, a Lutheran bishop, looked at me and said, "Well, we and the clergy were afraid it would upset people if they learned that Jesus wasn't who they wanted to think he was." Krister and others thought they were being protective. But I said to him, "That's condescending -- to think that people shouldn't know." So we went to work on the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. Hundreds of people still are. "
Sheffield Phoenix Website
At least a couple of other bibliobloggers have already noticed this, but I wanted to mention it myself since David Clines asked me to. Sheffield Phoenix Press now have their slick new website up and running:
Sheffield Phoenix Press
They don't actually refer to "Sheffield Academic Press", on which some of those responsible for Sheffield Phoenix used to work, but they speak of "the best traditions of academic publishing from Sheffield". As some will know, Sheffield Academic Press itself is now part of T & T Clark International, along with the former T and T Clark and Trinity Press International. (I should probably declare my own interest as an employee of T & T Clark International, editing the JSNTS and thus any comments I make will be influenced by my own interests).
One positive element here is the commitment "to maintain an accurate and up-to-date website". This is going to be a challenge, but it is good to see a publisher taking this seriously, not least given some of the difficulties that the old Sheffield Academic Press website faced here. I would also like to comment briefly on the commitment "to offer a 50% discount for individual scholars and students on all hardback books, year round". This is something that is still offered by Trinity Press International but which is not adequately flagged up in publicity materials, and I have been in discussions about this.
Anyway, good luck to Sheffield Phoenix. One specific, and this carries on something that was originally promised by Sheffield Academic Press, the Journal for Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism is planned initially as an internet publication (see here), but then is to remove itself from the net and be solely in printed form. I can't help thinking that this is counter-intuitive. I can see the reasons for the alternative course, from print to internet publication, so that the initial print-run taken by libraries and scholars is expanded to ultimate open-access for all. But why would one want to go in the reverse direction, from internet publication to print? In some other contexts, the move from internet to print makes some sense, e.g. if the internet publication is a temporary try-out, work-in-progress piece that finds its way to print in its more perfect form, but this is not like that -- the articles are already done and dusted in their internet format. So this policy, pretty much unprecedented as far as I am aware, is a bit of a puzzle to me.
Sheffield Phoenix Press
They don't actually refer to "Sheffield Academic Press", on which some of those responsible for Sheffield Phoenix used to work, but they speak of "the best traditions of academic publishing from Sheffield". As some will know, Sheffield Academic Press itself is now part of T & T Clark International, along with the former T and T Clark and Trinity Press International. (I should probably declare my own interest as an employee of T & T Clark International, editing the JSNTS and thus any comments I make will be influenced by my own interests).
One positive element here is the commitment "to maintain an accurate and up-to-date website". This is going to be a challenge, but it is good to see a publisher taking this seriously, not least given some of the difficulties that the old Sheffield Academic Press website faced here. I would also like to comment briefly on the commitment "to offer a 50% discount for individual scholars and students on all hardback books, year round". This is something that is still offered by Trinity Press International but which is not adequately flagged up in publicity materials, and I have been in discussions about this.
Anyway, good luck to Sheffield Phoenix. One specific, and this carries on something that was originally promised by Sheffield Academic Press, the Journal for Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism is planned initially as an internet publication (see here), but then is to remove itself from the net and be solely in printed form. I can't help thinking that this is counter-intuitive. I can see the reasons for the alternative course, from print to internet publication, so that the initial print-run taken by libraries and scholars is expanded to ultimate open-access for all. But why would one want to go in the reverse direction, from internet publication to print? In some other contexts, the move from internet to print makes some sense, e.g. if the internet publication is a temporary try-out, work-in-progress piece that finds its way to print in its more perfect form, but this is not like that -- the articles are already done and dusted in their internet format. So this policy, pretty much unprecedented as far as I am aware, is a bit of a puzzle to me.
Jesus Film Project on the Internet
Jim West draws my attention to this from the Corvallis Gazette Times:
Much-seen film ‘Jesus' will go onto Internet
World's Most-Translated Film Makes Internet Debut
On 25th Anniversary, Film Premieres on the Web in More than 300 Languages
Much-seen film ‘Jesus' will go onto Internet
Twenty-five years since its theatrical release, the world's most-watched movie, "Jesus," will make its Internet debut Tuesday.The article is a puzzle because Jesus has in fact been available on the internet for years, one of two Jesus films that is available wholly like this. (Quiz question: what's the other?). I looked to the Jesus Film Project website for clarification and see the same story in more detail in a press release there:
The effort will allow people to see the two-hour film online in more than 300 separate language translations.
World's Most-Translated Film Makes Internet Debut
On 25th Anniversary, Film Premieres on the Web in More than 300 Languages
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., Oct. 13, 2004—Celebrating 25 years since its theatrical release, the world’s most-watched movie, JESUS, with more than 5 billion impressions globally, is making its Internet debut, Oct. 19. In conjunction with Salem Web Network and Caliber Media Group, The JESUS Film Project will use a Streaming OS System to make JESUS available online (www.JesusFilm.org) in more than 300 separate language translations.It seems that what is being advertised is the film's twenty-fifth anniversary, and a bigger internet release, i.e. more different language versions (now over 300). But it is manifestly incorrect to speak about this as an "internet debut" and it is to be regretted that this marketing strategy does not take representing itself accurately seriously enough.
“To our knowledge, a film has never been freely available on the Internet in so many different languages,” said Jim Green, executive director of The JESUS Film Project. “The 300 plus translations available represent the heart language of more than 90 percent of the world’s population.”
Radio 4 on The First Christian Document?
BBC Radio 4 are advertising a programme at the moment to be broadcast next Monday at 8 p.m.:
The First Christian Document?
The First Christian Document?
I have to say that the thesis strikes me initially as highly unlikely, but I am always willing to learn. One thing about the blurb above concerns me a little, the notion that "St Paul persuaded Jesus's Disciples, at a crisis meeting in Jerusalem, that you didn't have to become a Jew to be a Christian". I doubt that Paul persuaded them of this -- it's not the impression given by Galatians 2 or by Acts 15. I don't think anyone significant was suggesting that Gentile Christians should be circumcised in the early years. It's why Paul is so outraged and surprised by this innovation in Galatians.
The First Christian Document?
Christianity as a world religion began when St Paul persuaded Jesus's Disciples, at a crisis meeting in Jerusalem, that you didn't have to become a Jew to be a Christian.Intrigued? The document in question is The Didache and the thesis is developed out of Garrow's doctoral work on The Didache (hence the term "Oxford academic" above), recently published as The Gospel of Matthew's Dependence on the Didache (JSNTSup; London & New York: T & T Clark International, 2004). I have referred here before to Garrow's Didache Cube and I note that he has prepared some materials there to accompany the forthcoming programme:
An Oxford Academic, Alan Garrow, claims to have identified the record of that meeting.
Roger Bolton investigates
The First Christian Document?
I have to say that the thesis strikes me initially as highly unlikely, but I am always willing to learn. One thing about the blurb above concerns me a little, the notion that "St Paul persuaded Jesus's Disciples, at a crisis meeting in Jerusalem, that you didn't have to become a Jew to be a Christian". I doubt that Paul persuaded them of this -- it's not the impression given by Galatians 2 or by Acts 15. I don't think anyone significant was suggesting that Gentile Christians should be circumcised in the early years. It's why Paul is so outraged and surprised by this innovation in Galatians.
Wright on the Lambeth Commission
I tend to avoid extensive discussion in this blog of Church politics except where it directly impinges on, relates to or comes out of New Testament scholarship. That's not because I am not interested in such issues (I am) but I don't see engaging in the broader debate in this context as particularly helpful, and it is not why people read this blog. But anyway, one of the areas where the current discussions about homosexuality and the Anglican communion become relevant are, of course, in relation to the interpretation of Scripture, and I was interested this morning to read Tom Wright's insider's views of the recent Lambeth Commission. This article is in Christianity Today and after the link, I quote one pertinent element in the interview:
N.T. Wright: Anglican Report is 'Fireproofing the House'
Top theologian on Lambeth Commission talks about what happened behind the scenes, whether the report should have been tougher, and why it's critical of some conservative bishops.
Interview by Douglas LeBlanc
N.T. Wright: Anglican Report is 'Fireproofing the House'
Top theologian on Lambeth Commission talks about what happened behind the scenes, whether the report should have been tougher, and why it's critical of some conservative bishops.
Interview by Douglas LeBlanc
One of the things I find depressing about some of the upper echelons of Anglicanism on both sides of the Atlantic is that it's sort of taken for granted that we all basically know what's in the Bible, and so we just glance at a few verses for devotional purposes and then get on to the real business. I look forward to the day, and I think the report is pressing for this very strongly, when not in some kind of fundamentalistic way but with real serious creative engagement and interpretative activity with Scripture, we can actually really learn from one another and one another's readings of Scripture. Not that all readings are equally good. I would never dream of saying that, of course, as a biblical scholar. But that we do need to listen to one another in our readings of Scripture and we need to grow up in those readings. And frankly, some of the readings of Scripture which come out of the liberal tradition, and some of the readings which come out of the so-called conservative tradition are really immature readings of Scripture and need to be challenged. I and others spend our lives trying to do that.Well, I suppose that as someone devoted to the business of reading and teaching about the Bible and Christian Origins, I would agree with that, but I found it enormously encouraging to see these views articulated so clearly and responsibly.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative
I've uploaded, temporarily at least, a copy of my paper for the SBL Annual Meeting Mark Group:
Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative
It's a Word document. Of course there is still lots to do on it, but at least I've begun the process of exploration which writing a conference paper offers.
Scripturalization in Mark's Crucifixion Narrative
It's a Word document. Of course there is still lots to do on it, but at least I've begun the process of exploration which writing a conference paper offers.
Fun with the SBL Programme
I having one of my late nights doing some writing tonight, nowadays the only way I can get any writing done given supremely crowded, overworked days. Since I am working on my paper for the SBL this year, it is a particular pleasure to have my work broken up by Paul Nikkel's message on Deinde:
Testifyin' at the SBL
You'd never have guessed you could have had so much fun with the programme book; I particularly enjoyed the "Award for Transgressive Punctuation".
On the issue of titles, I have a principle that I occasionally share with post graduate students and it is to include as much of your thesis as you can into the title of the paper. It's best not to take for granted that others will read / hear / pay attention to your abstract, let alone your paper, so the title may be the only chance one gets to give many a clue to your views.
Testifyin' at the SBL
You'd never have guessed you could have had so much fun with the programme book; I particularly enjoyed the "Award for Transgressive Punctuation".
On the issue of titles, I have a principle that I occasionally share with post graduate students and it is to include as much of your thesis as you can into the title of the paper. It's best not to take for granted that others will read / hear / pay attention to your abstract, let alone your paper, so the title may be the only chance one gets to give many a clue to your views.
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
VanderKam on the High Priests
This press release is from Fortress Press:
James VanderKam Assembles the First History of the Jewish High Priests
MINNEAPOLIS (October 18, 2004)— From one of the most authoritative and respected scholars of early Judaism comes From Joshua to Caiaphus: High Priests after the Exile, a unique history of the central actors in Israel’s religious and civil history. Beginning late in the Old Testament period and continuing for the next six hundred years, the Jewish high priests were often the most important members of Jewish society. They not only possessed religious authority but also exercised political control. This book gathers and assesses the surviving evidence about each of the fifty-one men who served as high priest from about 515 BCE until approximately 70 CE when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
—John J. Collins, Author of Introduction to the Hebrew Bible with CD-ROM
“An extremely significant comprehensive study of the high priesthood of the Second Temple. It is becoming increasingly clear how all-important the priesthood was in early Judaism. This study is now the indispensable starting point for sorting through the texts and research on this topic.”
—David M. Carr, Author of Writing on the Tablet of the Heart
“VanderKam shows how to sustain a historical narrative while presenting the detailed exegesis and nuanced judgments that inform and support it. His meticulous research brings to life in their contexts the influential personages who populate the world of the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, and Josephus and provides fresh insights and historical refinements for students of Second Temple Judaism and first-century Christianity. A Mature piece of historical analysis.”
—George W. E. Nickelsburg, Author of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins
James VanderKam is the John A. O'Brien Professor of Hebrew Scriptures at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. He is the author of numerous works, including The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (1994), An Introduction to Early Judaism (2001), The Book of Jubilees (2001), and The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (with Peter Flint, 2002).
Format: Hardcover 568 pages 6 x 9 inches
Item No: 0800626176
Price: $35.00
To order From Joshua To Caiaphas please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the web site at www.augsburgfortress.com. To request review copies or exam copies please call 1-800-426-0115 ext. 234. For interviews, speaking engagements, and writing assignments please call 1-800-426-0115 ext. 234 or email toddb@augsburgfortress.org.
James VanderKam Assembles the First History of the Jewish High Priests
MINNEAPOLIS (October 18, 2004)— From one of the most authoritative and respected scholars of early Judaism comes From Joshua to Caiaphus: High Priests after the Exile, a unique history of the central actors in Israel’s religious and civil history. Beginning late in the Old Testament period and continuing for the next six hundred years, the Jewish high priests were often the most important members of Jewish society. They not only possessed religious authority but also exercised political control. This book gathers and assesses the surviving evidence about each of the fifty-one men who served as high priest from about 515 BCE until approximately 70 CE when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.
''The primary purpose of this history of the high priests in the Second Temple age has been to gather and assess all of the available information about each one of them, from Joshua in the late sixth century BCE to Phannias during the Jewish revolt against Rome (66–70 CE). A secondary aim has been to investigate the status of these high-ranking officials—specifically whether they also wielded civic authority. . . .“James VanderKam has written the first complete history of the high priests in the Second Temple period. Like all VanderKam’s work, this is marked by clarity of style, thoroughness of coverage, and sound judgment. An Indispensable reference work for the study of Second Temple Judaism.”
“It is worth emphasizing what this book is and is not. It is a history of the Second Temple high priests; it is not a history of the priesthood. . . . The book is not primarily a history of the Second Temple period, although the history regularly impinges on the narrative and provides the organizing principle of the presentation.''
— from the Preface
—John J. Collins, Author of Introduction to the Hebrew Bible with CD-ROM
“An extremely significant comprehensive study of the high priesthood of the Second Temple. It is becoming increasingly clear how all-important the priesthood was in early Judaism. This study is now the indispensable starting point for sorting through the texts and research on this topic.”
—David M. Carr, Author of Writing on the Tablet of the Heart
“VanderKam shows how to sustain a historical narrative while presenting the detailed exegesis and nuanced judgments that inform and support it. His meticulous research brings to life in their contexts the influential personages who populate the world of the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament, and Josephus and provides fresh insights and historical refinements for students of Second Temple Judaism and first-century Christianity. A Mature piece of historical analysis.”
—George W. E. Nickelsburg, Author of Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins
James VanderKam is the John A. O'Brien Professor of Hebrew Scriptures at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. He is the author of numerous works, including The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (1994), An Introduction to Early Judaism (2001), The Book of Jubilees (2001), and The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls (with Peter Flint, 2002).
Format: Hardcover 568 pages 6 x 9 inches
Item No: 0800626176
Price: $35.00
To order From Joshua To Caiaphas please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the web site at www.augsburgfortress.com. To request review copies or exam copies please call 1-800-426-0115 ext. 234. For interviews, speaking engagements, and writing assignments please call 1-800-426-0115 ext. 234 or email toddb@augsburgfortress.org.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Review of Biblical Literature latest
Latest from Review of Biblical Literature under the New Testament heading:
Baur, F. C.
Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ: His Life and Works, His Epistles and Teachings
Reviewed by James Sweeney
Ehrman, Bart D.
The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings
Reviewed by Lincoln Blumell
Lorein, G. W.
The Antichrist Theme in the Intertestamental Period
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Lorein, G. W.
The Antichrist Theme in the Intertestamental Period
Reviewed by Michael Kaler
Lorein, G. W.
The Antichrist Theme in the Intertestamental Period
Reviewed by Henry Sturcke
Marguerat, Daniel
McKinney, Ken, Gregory J. Laughery, and Richard Bauckham, translators
The First Christian Historian: Writing the 'Acts of the Apostles'
Reviewed by Milton Moreland
Meyer, Paul W.
Edited by John T. Carroll
The Word in this World: Essays in New Testament Exegesis and Theology
Reviewed by Michael Gilmour
Meyer, Paul W.
Edited by John T. Carroll
The Word in this World: Essays in New Testament Exegesis and Theology
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Meyer, Paul W.
Edited by John T. Carroll
The Word in this World: Essays in New Testament Exegesis and Theology
Reviewed by Scott Yoshikawa
Moore, Stephen D. and Janice Capel Anderson, eds.
New Testament Masculinities
Reviewed by Michael Carden
Witherington III, Ben and Darlene Hyatt
Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
Reviewed by John Bertone
Witherington III, Ben and Darlene Hyatt
Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
Reviewed by Fred Rich
Baur, F. C.
Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ: His Life and Works, His Epistles and Teachings
Reviewed by James Sweeney
Ehrman, Bart D.
The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings
Reviewed by Lincoln Blumell
Lorein, G. W.
The Antichrist Theme in the Intertestamental Period
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Lorein, G. W.
The Antichrist Theme in the Intertestamental Period
Reviewed by Michael Kaler
Lorein, G. W.
The Antichrist Theme in the Intertestamental Period
Reviewed by Henry Sturcke
Marguerat, Daniel
McKinney, Ken, Gregory J. Laughery, and Richard Bauckham, translators
The First Christian Historian: Writing the 'Acts of the Apostles'
Reviewed by Milton Moreland
Meyer, Paul W.
Edited by John T. Carroll
The Word in this World: Essays in New Testament Exegesis and Theology
Reviewed by Michael Gilmour
Meyer, Paul W.
Edited by John T. Carroll
The Word in this World: Essays in New Testament Exegesis and Theology
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas
Meyer, Paul W.
Edited by John T. Carroll
The Word in this World: Essays in New Testament Exegesis and Theology
Reviewed by Scott Yoshikawa
Moore, Stephen D. and Janice Capel Anderson, eds.
New Testament Masculinities
Reviewed by Michael Carden
Witherington III, Ben and Darlene Hyatt
Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
Reviewed by John Bertone
Witherington III, Ben and Darlene Hyatt
Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary
Reviewed by Fred Rich
Friday, October 15, 2004
Private Publishing and Harmonizing
[Writing on the train on the way down to London; having to get up every five minutes to close the door to stop a massive breeze.]
My post Lament over a Gospel Harmony, based on a post from Danny Zacharias on Deinde, generated a couple of comments, the first from "Jim" objecting to the term "vanity publishing" and the second from Wieland Willker objecting to the disparagement of Gospel harmonies. In response to Jim, I would note that my preferred term, and the one I used in the post, is "privately published", a term that I explained by noting that some use the more disparaging term "vanity publishing". Let me be clear here. There is nothing necessarily problematic about privately published work. Sometimes it is, quite simply, the most appropriate, the cheapest, the most cost-effective way to get something out. Most of what is published on the internet, including by established academics, is in a sense privately published -- it is not run through a peer-review process or anything else. It's simply put out there for the world to take or leave as they please. This blog is like that. In some ways the net has decreased the need for disseminating ideas by privately printed work, but the latter still often has an important place too. My dad, for example, writes on Lewis Carroll and children's literature and often finds the most appropriate means of getting his material out to those who want to read it, is to arrange publication himself. It's the same process as those who in the music industry sell CDs at gigs or via the net -- it's often more cost effective, more efficient, more direct and one retains much more control over one's product.
But in the context of my post on the topic, I was commenting on Danny's lament that this is the kind of book that gets into the "pop.christian" book shops where superior books find it more difficult to find their way to the average Church-goer. I was commenting that one should probably not be too concerned in a case like this because the book in question is privately published and it is a particular difficulty, usually, to get privately published material into book shops. That's not the function of the best privately published material, which is rather dissemination via networks of friends and the potentially interested. And it needs to be added, I think, that the publication of academic books by established publishers is often an indicator that the quality of the book in question is superior to a similar book published privately. The reason is straightforward and is nothing to do with "intellectual eggheads" or prejudice. It is, rather, because the book produced by the established publisher will have been through a peer-review process in which it is subjected to rigorous academic scrutiny by experts in the field. And it is a tough business. Much of my time is spent reviewing manuscripts for publication, and it is a demanding, if necessary, job. I would also add that if you publish with Brill, you are highly unlikely to get paid at all, let alone "paid before a single copy sells".
And so to the question of Gospel harmonies. Wieland Willker wonders why it is that they get disparaged by scholars. What is wrong with them? I think that an important point wants making here: it depends on what the function of the Gospel Harmony in question is. If the function is literary, artistic, devotional, dramatic, there often remains a role for the Gospel Harmony. I have myself written in defence of the use of harmony in The Passion of the Christ, complaining about those scholars who have overreacted to its use of harmonizing, criticizing this work of art as if it were an undergraduate essay on the historical Jesus (see "The Power of the Passion of the Christ: Reacting and Over-reacting to Gibson's Artistic Vision" in Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, Chapter 3, based on an earlier blog post, The harmonizing tradition in Jesus films). But herein lies the important point -- treating an artistic work as if it is an academic one is problematic. Harmonizing does not have a role to play in serious academic work on the Gospels, unless one wishes to argue that the major advances in critical work on the Gospels are wrong-headed. One may wish to argue that but I cannot myself imagine how such an argument could be successfully mounted. Certainly it will not do, if one wishes to be taken seriously, to ignore such work. At the very least it needs to be engaged.
In other words, it is a question of context. When my kids take part in their nativity play this Christmas, I would be an utter nerd if I were to go to the person organizing it to complain about its having harmonized the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But when I lectured to my first year undergraduates a fortnight ago on Matthew 1-2, it would have been irresponsible for me to be involved in uncritical harmonizing.
My post Lament over a Gospel Harmony, based on a post from Danny Zacharias on Deinde, generated a couple of comments, the first from "Jim" objecting to the term "vanity publishing" and the second from Wieland Willker objecting to the disparagement of Gospel harmonies. In response to Jim, I would note that my preferred term, and the one I used in the post, is "privately published", a term that I explained by noting that some use the more disparaging term "vanity publishing". Let me be clear here. There is nothing necessarily problematic about privately published work. Sometimes it is, quite simply, the most appropriate, the cheapest, the most cost-effective way to get something out. Most of what is published on the internet, including by established academics, is in a sense privately published -- it is not run through a peer-review process or anything else. It's simply put out there for the world to take or leave as they please. This blog is like that. In some ways the net has decreased the need for disseminating ideas by privately printed work, but the latter still often has an important place too. My dad, for example, writes on Lewis Carroll and children's literature and often finds the most appropriate means of getting his material out to those who want to read it, is to arrange publication himself. It's the same process as those who in the music industry sell CDs at gigs or via the net -- it's often more cost effective, more efficient, more direct and one retains much more control over one's product.
But in the context of my post on the topic, I was commenting on Danny's lament that this is the kind of book that gets into the "pop.christian" book shops where superior books find it more difficult to find their way to the average Church-goer. I was commenting that one should probably not be too concerned in a case like this because the book in question is privately published and it is a particular difficulty, usually, to get privately published material into book shops. That's not the function of the best privately published material, which is rather dissemination via networks of friends and the potentially interested. And it needs to be added, I think, that the publication of academic books by established publishers is often an indicator that the quality of the book in question is superior to a similar book published privately. The reason is straightforward and is nothing to do with "intellectual eggheads" or prejudice. It is, rather, because the book produced by the established publisher will have been through a peer-review process in which it is subjected to rigorous academic scrutiny by experts in the field. And it is a tough business. Much of my time is spent reviewing manuscripts for publication, and it is a demanding, if necessary, job. I would also add that if you publish with Brill, you are highly unlikely to get paid at all, let alone "paid before a single copy sells".
And so to the question of Gospel harmonies. Wieland Willker wonders why it is that they get disparaged by scholars. What is wrong with them? I think that an important point wants making here: it depends on what the function of the Gospel Harmony in question is. If the function is literary, artistic, devotional, dramatic, there often remains a role for the Gospel Harmony. I have myself written in defence of the use of harmony in The Passion of the Christ, complaining about those scholars who have overreacted to its use of harmonizing, criticizing this work of art as if it were an undergraduate essay on the historical Jesus (see "The Power of the Passion of the Christ: Reacting and Over-reacting to Gibson's Artistic Vision" in Jesus and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, Chapter 3, based on an earlier blog post, The harmonizing tradition in Jesus films). But herein lies the important point -- treating an artistic work as if it is an academic one is problematic. Harmonizing does not have a role to play in serious academic work on the Gospels, unless one wishes to argue that the major advances in critical work on the Gospels are wrong-headed. One may wish to argue that but I cannot myself imagine how such an argument could be successfully mounted. Certainly it will not do, if one wishes to be taken seriously, to ignore such work. At the very least it needs to be engaged.
In other words, it is a question of context. When my kids take part in their nativity play this Christmas, I would be an utter nerd if I were to go to the person organizing it to complain about its having harmonized the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. But when I lectured to my first year undergraduates a fortnight ago on Matthew 1-2, it would have been irresponsible for me to be involved in uncritical harmonizing.
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Lament over a new Gospel harmony
On Deinde, Danny Zacharias offers a lament on a new book that harmonises the Gospels (a book also mentioned to me by Jim West, who also blogs it):
A new gospel harmony . . . a lament
A new gospel harmony . . . a lament
Why is it that it is this type of work which receives media attention and will be carried in the pop.christian bookstores? The publisher pushes the Gospel of the Four as if this were the first concerted attempt to create a synopsis of the gospel, despite the excellent published resources and online resources as well . . . . I don't pretend to have any answers, and i know that everyone author has a right to their opinions, but how can the best in biblical scholarship penetrate the pop.christian bookstores?Danny's points and questions are helpful. One comment: it is all the more important for scholars to look to communicate with that wider public, to communicate via books, the internet, the media, or those outside of universities and seminaries will go to less reputable sources that are willing -- and waiting -- to fill any gap. But a second comment too: I am much less concerned than Danny here. As far as I can tell, the work in question is privately published (what some more disparagingly might call vanity publishing), and the "press release" in question is presumably written by the author; it is disseminated via eMediaWire, which is a free press release service that anyone can use. It is a notorious difficulty to get privately published books into mainstream bookshops.
Blogroll
I have moved over to publishing my Bloglines Blogroll in the left-hand column. This makes my blogroll easier to update. The days of coding things manually are coming to an end! This makes little difference to the user except that several feeds have been added on the left.
At the same time, I've scrunched up the archiving so that archives are listed by month on the left and not, as before, by week. I figure that if people want to find an old post they are more likely to search for it than browse. And the Google search of the site, also on the left, offers a good way of doing that.
And while I'm at it, I've added one of those buttons that enables you to subscribe to this blog within Bloglines with just one click.
At the same time, I've scrunched up the archiving so that archives are listed by month on the left and not, as before, by week. I figure that if people want to find an old post they are more likely to search for it than browse. And the Google search of the site, also on the left, offers a good way of doing that.
And while I'm at it, I've added one of those buttons that enables you to subscribe to this blog within Bloglines with just one click.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
The Coding Humanist
This has recently been mentioned on both Hypotyposeis and goranh, which has reminded me that I had a nice email from the author of this blog several days ago:
The Coding Humanist
Eric Sowell
It includes lots of material of interest to those interested in Biblical Studies, especially if you are interested also in technical gubbins. Eric is apparently behind the fine-looking new Online Critical Pseudepigrapha on which I recently blogged. More on the latter in due course; I've decided to use its version of the Testament of Abraham for my post-graduate Greek class.
I would add a link to this new blog on my blogroll on the left but I am beginning to do this too often, so will now move over simply to publishing my more comprehensive blogroll which I use on Bloglines.
Update (09.57): Whoops -- got the wrong site. I knew Eric had designed something I'd been looking at and blogging on recently and it's not the Online Critical Pseudepigrapha, on which Eric offers some useful comments (Online Critical Pseudepigrapha), but the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (see Nice to be Appreciated).
The Coding Humanist
Eric Sowell
It includes lots of material of interest to those interested in Biblical Studies, especially if you are interested also in technical gubbins. Eric is apparently behind the fine-looking new Online Critical Pseudepigrapha on which I recently blogged. More on the latter in due course; I've decided to use its version of the Testament of Abraham for my post-graduate Greek class.
I would add a link to this new blog on my blogroll on the left but I am beginning to do this too often, so will now move over simply to publishing my more comprehensive blogroll which I use on Bloglines.
Update (09.57): Whoops -- got the wrong site. I knew Eric had designed something I'd been looking at and blogging on recently and it's not the Online Critical Pseudepigrapha, on which Eric offers some useful comments (Online Critical Pseudepigrapha), but the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (see Nice to be Appreciated).
Guardian investigates academic blogs
A colleague today handed me a useful article from The Guardian Online all about academic blogging. It's a couple of weeks old now but I must have missed it at the time. It's well worth a read:
Inside the ivory tower
Blogging is allowing academics to develop and share their ideas with an audience beyond the universities. But as Jim McClellan reports, not everyone is convinced
Inside the ivory tower
Blogging is allowing academics to develop and share their ideas with an audience beyond the universities. But as Jim McClellan reports, not everyone is convinced
Academic researchers are drawn to blogs because they're useful knowledge management tools. MacCallum-Stewart says that her site quickly became a kind of "mind gym", a place to test out and develop ideas and to hone her prose style. The social networking side of blogging became very important here, she says. Her blog helped her build links and share ideas with researchers in the area at other universities.I quite agree. One of the things that is indeed very useful to the individual academic blogger is the encouragement to be thinking about how to present his/her research and ideas to a broader public.
More interestingly, her blog has drawn in non-academic readers. Writing every day for them - making sure her arguments on current popular myths about the first world war are clear and concise - has helped her prose style, she says. "I think I write in a more accessible, less academic way now," she says. The sense of connecting with a larger public is important, she adds. "You get so obsessed with a thesis. It's just you most of the time, so to be able to talk about it to all sorts of people is very useful."
But many more traditional academics are suspicious of taking their ideas public in this way. For some, the blogging academic is the latest incarnation of the media don, ready to simplify complex ideas in return for a few minutes of fame. Others are wary of sharing ideas before they are ready - or of seeing original theories stolen before they are published.Well, I don't worry too much about academics who think this way. I doubt that such people are genuinely concerned about one simplifying complex ideas, and I can't help suspecting that they are more concerned about their own shortfalls in attempting to communicate with a broader public. That may sound harsh, but I must admit to being puzzled by those who appear to go out of their way to avoid talking coherently to anyone other than their own students, and sometimes not even to them! It is a strange educational ethos. The worry about having original ideas stolen before publication is actually discouraged and not encouraged by blogging. With blogging one can document and date the articulation of the idea in question, often long before it finds a "final" form in a peer-reviewed article or a book.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
SBL Forum latest
The October content on the SBL Forum has now appeared:
SBL Forum
It's looking a bit sparser than usual this month; perhaps there is more to come in the coming weeks. Perhaps they should have reproduced some of the bibliobloggers' discussions on the SBL Seminar Papers online! Anyway, so far there is the following:
Obituary: Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)
The Future of Biblical Studies
Marc Zvi Brettler
Effective Learning Facilitation
Heather McKay
SBL Forum
It's looking a bit sparser than usual this month; perhaps there is more to come in the coming weeks. Perhaps they should have reproduced some of the bibliobloggers' discussions on the SBL Seminar Papers online! Anyway, so far there is the following:
Obituary: Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)
The Future of Biblical Studies
Marc Zvi Brettler
Effective Learning Facilitation
Heather McKay
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)