Biblische Ausbildung

Dr. Alan Tull, 1933 - 2009

2009-11-06T15:36:00.006-05:00

One of my religion professors back at college in the early 1980s has died: Prof. Alan Tull. I remember very fondly the many deep discussions and lively arguments we had over the Greek New Testament in his big stone office within the towering Gothic college chapel. Alan always had plenty of time to tutor me, to argue with me, and of course, to try to shock me out of dogmatic slumber. Here is his obituary graciously forwarded to me by my NT colleague, Dr. Tony Lewis:

The Rev. Canon Dr. Alan Condie Tull
July 7, 1933 - November 4, 2009

Canon Alan Tull passed away peacefully November 4, 2009. He was born July 7, 1933 in Salt Lake City to Verna Condie and Alan Tull. He earned a BA with Distinction from Stanford University in 1955 and a Theological Doctorate from General Theological Seminary in 1968. Fr. Tull was ordained deacon by Bishop Watson, June 10, 1958 and priest on December 13, 1958.

Canon Tull served the church in many capacities. From 1958-1961 he was Vicar of St Paul's in Vernal; and priest in charge at Holy Spirit in Randlett, St. Elizabeth's in White Rocks and St. Timothy's in Rangeley, Colorado; 1961-1964 Tutor at General Seminary; 1964-1990 Chaplain and Professor at Trinity College. In 1990 he returned to Utah and served as Rector of St. Mary's in Provo until his retirement in 1997, after 51 years of service in various capacities including Canon Theologian to the Bishop of Utah.

Canon Tull was a firm believer in equal rights. He was an avid reader and enjoyed traveling. He was passionate about good food and good drink as any of his emails from his travels to his friends would confirm.

He is survived by his brother Darrell (Joe) (Gloria); nephew Kevin; niece Tiffany; 2 grand nieces; and 1 grand nephew. He was preceded in death by his parents.

A Requiem Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, November 14th at 11 a.m. at St. Mark's Cathedral, 231 East 100 South, Salt Lake City. A reception will follow in the Deans' Hall at the Cathedral.

Update: Dr. Gettier forwarded this obituary that was sent to the Trinity College Community:

A native of Utah, Dr. Tull attended Stanford University as an undergraduate and received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the General Theological Seminary in 1958. He served as a vicar in the Episcopal Missionary District in the state of Utah, and then returned to the General Theological Seminary as a fellow and tutor and as a candidate for the Th.D. degree. With his academic background in Patristics, Dr. Tull came to Trinity in 1964 as an instructor of religion and taught courses in church history and in ethics. He was officially named Chaplain in February 1965 and became Assistant Professor in 1968. He was the third Episcopal priest to be installed as Chaplain here after the post was created in 1946. (Prior to that the College President also served as Chaplain.) Dr. Tull served Trinity College for 25 years as Chaplain and 26 as a member of the Religion department. He retired from Trinity at the end of the spring semester in 1990. After leaving Trinity, Chaplain Tull went on to serve as Episcopal Chaplain at Brigham Young University and rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Provo, Utah. He was later named canon theologian for the Episcopal diocese of Utah.

Respected by his students as “a faithful priest, a fine scholar, and a friend and mentor,” Chaplain Tull is most vividly remembered for his activism during the civil rights and Vietnam eras. During his tenure, Chaplain Tull oversaw many projects in the Chapel—the organ, organ case and music gallery, addition of bells to the carillon, stained glass windows on the North Porch, memorial garden, sedilia, entryway, gates to the Friendship Chapel, and others. He was very sensitive to the integrity of the building. Upon his retirement from Trinity, in 1991 friends and colleagues of Tull commissioned a stonecarving in the Chapel in the likeness of Dr. Tull. Remembered with affection for his wit and sense of adventure in retirement, we are grateful today for this playful and lasting remembrance of our former Chaplain. A funeral is planned for Saturday, November 14th, at St Mark's Cathedral, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Claude Levi-Strauss 1908 - 2009

2009-11-03T13:03:00.005-05:00

Claude Levi-Strauss, the famous French social anthropologist known for his approach of Structuralism, died over the weekend at the age of 100. I first heard lectures on Levi-Strauss in English courses during college in the mid 1980s, and subsequently realized his impact on biblical studies when I was a seminary and graduate student. I continue to find his work helpful for a critical understanding of the nature of mythology, and I still lecture on him briefly in my Old Testament Interpretation course when we cover contemporary literary approaches to the Bible. Levi-Strauss influenced generations of intellectuals with his ideas on culture.

For more obituary comment, click here.

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception

2009-10-31T12:36:00.002-05:00

The new Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception is now appearing on library shelves, and the VTS library now has the first two volumes, up through the entry on "Atheism." One of my contributions is in vol. 2, “Apocalypses and Apocalypticism, II. Hebrew Bible / Old Testament,” in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Volume 2, Anim – Atheism (ed. Hans-Josef Klauck, et al.; Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 2009) cols. 321–324.

A Wonderful Occasion

2009-10-30T04:45:00.001-05:00

The celebration for Bob Wilson was a marvelous event, and one I will long remember. The book has come out beautifully, and Bob was delighted to see it for the first time---just perfect. The attendance was huge and the many speeches a delight.

In Transit to New Haven

2009-10-29T09:43:00.001-05:00

I'm between Wilmington and Philadelphia on the Acela Express in route to Yale to present our new Tribute Volume to Dr. Robert Wilson. The event tonight promises to be very special, with plenty of major OT scholars in attendance.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Trick-or-Treating Day at the Seminary

2009-10-28T17:30:00.001-05:00

-- Posted from my iPhone

The Episcopal Church: Who Are We?

2009-10-27T13:39:00.003-05:00

My friend the Rev. Frank Logue recently sent me this video his church has put on youtube with a vision of who the Episcopal Church is. It was partially inspired as a more humorous alternative to the video posted by the national church ("815") at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/AroundOneTable/. It is at once powerful and lighthearted. Comments welcome...

Invitation to a Festschrift Honoring Professor Robert Wilson

2009-10-23T08:20:00.002-05:00

Here is the invitation to next Thursday's Festschrift Presentation to Robert R. Wilson issued by the Dean's Office at Yale Divinity School (click to enlarge):

My Sessions at the 2009 SBL Conference

2009-10-22T15:39:00.005-05:00

Following up on yesterday's post, here are the sessions where I am on the 2009 SBL program:

21-326b
Levites and Priests in History and Tradition
11/21/2009
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Regent - MR
Theme: Levites in Urban and Rural Social Context
Sarah Shectman, Binghamton University, Presiding

Jeremy Hutton, Princeton Theological Seminary
Modern Perspectives on the Levitical Cities Lists and Levitical Function (20 min)
Diana Edelman, University of Sheffield
Non-‘Priestly’ Roles of the Kohanim in the Hebrew Bible (20 min)
Stephen L. Cook, Virginia Theological Seminary
Those Stubborn Levites: Overcoming Levitical Disenfranchisement (20 min)
Joel S. Baden, Yale University
The Violent Origins of the Levites: Text and Tradition (20 min)
Mark A. Christian, Middle Tennessee State University
Middle-Tier Levites and the Plenary Reception of Revelation (20 min)
Jeffrey Stackert, University of Chicago
The Cultic Status of the Levites in the Temple Scroll: Historical and Exegetical Considerations (20 min)
Discussion (30 min)

22-215
Exile (Forced Migrations) in Biblical Literature
11/22/2009
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Grand Ballroom B - SH
Theme: Exilic Prophetic Gattung: North American Perspective
John Ahn, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Presiding

David L. Petersen, Emory University
Prophetic Rhetoric and Exile (30 min)
Louis Stulman, University of Findlay
Speaking on Behalf of the Losers: Reading Ezekiel as Disaster/Survival Literature (30 min)
Christopher Seitz, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto
Provenance and Interpretation: Isaiah 40--66 (30 min)
Stephen L. Cook, Virginia Theological Seminary
Second Isaiah and the Aaronid Response to Judah's Exile (Forced Migrations) (30 min)
David McLain Carr, Union Theological Seminary
Markers of Potential Exilic Dating of Biblical Literature (30 min)

In addition, John Ahn and I will be doing a special presentation of Robert Wilson's Festschrift at the Yale University Reception:

M22-406
Yale Alumni Reception
11/22/2009 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Room: Gallery - SH

2009 SBL Annual Meeting, New Orleans, November 21-24

2009-10-21T19:52:00.002-05:00

As of today, the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature is just one month away. It will be held in New Orleans from November 21-24. To see an overview and links, click here. To accessthe online program booklet, click here. (To see the entire preliminary program book, leave all the fields blank and click the submit button. )

I have made my plane reservation, and will be flying in a smaller size jet called an Embraer-175. Here is a file-shot of the interior of one:

George H. W. Bush and Virginia Seminary

2009-10-20T20:11:00.003-05:00

Before faculty meeting started today, the dean talked a little about his meeting with former president George H. W. Bush, and showed us the presidential cufflinks that he was given. The visit was also the topic in the dean's blog today. Here are some excerpts:

...I had the opportunity to meet with former President George H. W. Bush and then later in the day with his Secretary of State James Baker. ...As a lifelong Episcopalian, President Bush mused on his many and varied connections with clergy in our church (leaders like M. L. Agnew, Peter Cheney, and Russ Levenson). Virtually every single priest he mentioned was an alum of Virginia Theological Seminary. ...As we listened to the President reflect on his years of service in various administrations and at the highest levels of leadership in this country, we also heard about the service of our alums who provide a careful faithful witness to the Gospel that supports the people of God....

VTS Football Team Victorious Saturday!

2009-10-19T20:20:00.004-05:00

Our Seminary Football Team, The Fighting Friars, fought aptly and bravely on the field Saturday, beating General Theological Seminary 62-38 in a cold, rainy game. GO FRIARS!

photo credit: Cayce Ramey (click to enlarge photo)

2009 Zabriskie Lectures: Part 1

2009-10-06T20:28:00.005-05:00

The first of our convocation lectures was given today by Dr. Eboo Patel - perhaps the first Muslim scholar to give these lectures. Patel is Founder and Executive Director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based institution building the global interfaith youth movement. He was recently appointed by President Obama to the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Initiatives. The presentation was an eloquent and engaging "pep talk" on living together in a diverse world, finding a way to build bridges in a pluralistic society. The audience loved the lecture, although I found its main thrust rather obvious, viz., that in a pluralistic world it is better to build "bridges" than to live in "bubbles" or throw "bombs" (the talk was based on "b" words). Patel believes that the real issue and challenge in bridge-building is not at the intellectual-theological level but turns on skill-building at praxis--getting youth from diverse backgrounds together to work improving this world, accepting each others full humanity and dignity. Unfortunately, this left the talk rather devoid of theological reflection. Things started to get more interesting in the discussion period following the lecture. Prof. Elizabeth Kimball, tomorrow's lecturer, pressed Patel on the question of ultimate truth in a world of diversity. At this point it became clear that Patel is not advocating a strong pluralism that believes all religions are equally true, but a weaker sort of pluralism that celebrates diverse ethnic, racial, and religious groups each maintaining and deepening their claims to have the best insights while committing to improve together this present, concrete world.

Big Tree Down

2009-10-05T20:02:00.002-05:00

The huge tree in front of the campus house of my colleague Dr. Judy Fentress-Williams is down (the old Jim Ross and then, Ellen Davis, house). This was the tree on Seminary Road so large, the sidewalk circled around it. It fell suddenly, late enough at night that no cars or pedestrians were hit. Apparently, much of the root-system was dead; this was a felling waiting to happen. The tree will be much missed by the walkers and runners who passed it every day.

-- Posted from my iPhone

Jonah "In the Belly of the Whale" (Music-Video)

2009-10-03T19:55:00.001-05:00

New English Translation of the Septuagint

2009-10-02T08:23:00.006-05:00

After many years (since the 19th century work of Lancelot Brenton), there is now a new English translations of the Septuagint: "NETS" = Pietersma, Albert, and Benjamin G. Wright III, eds., A New English Translation of the Septuagint and the Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included Under That Title (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007; pp. xx + 1027).

Update: An online version is available free as PDF files: click here.

I understand that the textual base of NETS is the Göttingen Septuagint, and that where that work is not yet complete, the edition by Rahlfs (1935) is used. As for translation theory, it may be considered a modified NRSV.

I hope that the folks at BibleWorks will be able to get a license to incorporate this into the program! Accordance already has it as an add-on module. I had an email this morning that Dove Booksellers has the volume for about $27 (click here), but Amazon has it for $19 (use the link-box above).

Yom Kippur

2009-09-28T08:04:00.000-05:00

Yom Kippur is a most significant and holy day in the Jewish calendar. Even if they don't observe other holidays and rites, many folk will put aside all work, fast, and attend services on this day of demonstrating repentence and making amends to God.

The "Judaism 101" WebSite has a brief audio clip that plays a portion of the "Kol Nidre" prayer, which forms part of the traditional evening service that begins Yom Kippur. Click here to listen to the clip.

Here is a Jewish meditation for use on Yom Kippur:

Compassionate God, let the promise be fulfilled: "I will bring peace to the land; you shall be serene and unafraid. I will rid the land of vicious beasts, and the sword of war shall be set aside. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor ever again shall they train for war. Justice shall roll down like waters, righteousness as a mighty stream."

New Book in Final Proofs

2009-09-27T15:50:00.003-05:00

I've been spending much of the weekend going over final-proofs and index-proofs for the upcoming publication of a book I am co-editing: Thus Says the Lord: Essays on the Former and Latter Prophets in Honor of Robert R. Wilson (click here). We plan two presentations of the book to Dr. Wilson, one at Yale at the end of October and the other at the Society of Biblical Literature Meetings in New Orleans at Thanksgiving time. I'm very much looking forward to it all!

Homily on Ezekiel 37

2009-09-25T20:46:00.002-05:00

I've received such nice words about the homily that I posted Wednesday that I thought I would re-post a similar homily on Ezekiel 37 that I gave in the VTS chapel in March 2008. It is 12 minutes long, and the file is about 5 MB in size, so a broad-band internet connection is recommended. To download, click on the image above, or right click here and choose "save as." Enjoy!

My Homily Today on Psalm 1

2009-09-23T14:49:00.003-05:00

At the weekly Seminary Eucharist today, I gave the homily presenting my exposition of Psalm 1, the psalm of the day. I'm posting it here online for all who are interested. Because the sermon was a bit over 13 minutes long and resulted in a rather large sound file, I have split it into two parts, each about 3 or 4 MB in size and about 7 minutes long. To download part 1, right-click here. For part 2, right-click here. Enjoy! (You can also hear the homily directly using the "Sermons and Homilies" box on my seminary faculty page: click here.)

VTS Colloquium on Chinese Biblical Hermeneutics

2009-09-21T20:12:00.003-05:00

Before attending the lovely reception and dinner this evening, I heard two excellent talks this afternoon at the Conference on Chinese Biblical Hermeneutics being held here at the Seminary this week. The first paper was by Philip Chia of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who addressed reading Amos 5 as a "social text" rather than a text for reading as a personal, spiritual exercise. By a "social text" he meant a text to be read with a sense of social responsibility, consciously aware of social needs within our current global realities. The second paper I heard was by Li Zhe, also of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She looked at the Rape of Daughter Zion in Lamentations 1 (see v. 10b and cf. Ezek 23:39&44), comparing it to modern literature and films on the Japanese atrocities against women at the fall of Nanking during World War II. I was reminded again of the stories we were told when in China of the terrors inflicted on China by the Japanese, of which most Americans have little knowledge.

Taping a DVD in New Canaan, Connecticut Today

2009-09-17T20:01:00.001-05:00

-- Posted from my iPhone

On Assignment in Connecticut

2009-09-16T14:37:00.001-05:00

I'm being treated very well up here... This is my room at the Maples Inn.

-- Posted from my iPhone

One Hundred Thousand Visitors

2009-09-13T20:29:00.003-05:00

This blog has officially passed the 100,000 visitor milestone. Thank you all for your support!

Elie Wiesel on Rashi, the Great Premodern Commentator

2009-09-11T12:37:00.003-05:00

Most readers of this blog will be familiar with Rashi, the great biblical and Talmudic commentator of the Middle Ages. Not too long ago I posted a link to Rashi's classic commentary on the Hebrew Bible available online (click here). Today I received the news that Elie Wiesel has a new book on Rashi (click here). Here is a short video, in which Wiesel makes a few comments about Rashi's significance. Enjoy!

Rashi by Elie Wiesel from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.