Zealot Outside the Building

Getting Married Today…

Jason A. Staples — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 13:59:16 +0000

Well, today is my wedding day, the day of my first kiss (and my bride’s also), and the start of our new life together. I’ll be back and posting again once we get back from the honeymoon… Related posts:Why Are So Many “Rushing” to Get Married? Related posts:

Why Are So Many “Rushing” to Get Married?

Why Avoiding “Liberal” Universities, Departments, and Faculty Is Misguided

Jason A. Staples — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:59:11 +0000

Susan Wise Bauer over at The Well-Trained Mind Blog has put together an excellent post on how many decent folks are asking the wrong questions when looking for a university or a department (either for their kids or for themselves), trying to avoid being barraged with a “liberal agenda.” I’ve heard similar sentiments myself—”I just [...] Related posts:

This Just In: Language Shapes the Way We Think

Jason A. Staples — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:04:12 +0000

Language indeed shapes the way we think, says Lera Boroditsky’s article in the Wall Street Journal. For anyone with any common sense (or language training), this shouldn’t be especially surprising, but it is an interesting read nonetheless, exploring how the latest cognitive research demonstrates testable differences in cognition between those who speak different languages—differences that [...] Related posts:

Disappearing Middle Class in the USA

Jason A. Staples — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:20:59 +0000

Michael Snyder’s recent Yahoo! Finance article points out quite a few disturbing trends that signal the disappearance of the middle class in the United States, as the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” continues to increase: • 83 percent of all U.S. stocks are in the hands of 1 percent of the people. • 61 [...] Related posts:

Pope calls for a “Global Authority” for worldwide economy

Preparing for a Wedding, Teaching, and Exams Equals a Busy Time

Jason A. Staples — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:25:39 +0000

This last month has been a wild one, from climbing Mount Hood in Oregon with a friend (as you can see from the pictures), to lots of wedding planning (getting married August 15—we haven’t had a lot of time to plan). I have also accepted an offer to teach a course on the historical Jesus [...] Related posts:

Getting Married Today…

Review of Ectaco C-Pen 20 Handheld Pen Scanner

Jason A. Staples — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 23:56:29 +0000

About a month ago, I got a little device that scans printed text into my computer line-by-line. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. The truth is that I got it about a year and a half ago, but when it arrived, I discovered that—despite having seen online that it worked with Macs—it didn’t have a Mac-compatible [...] No related posts.

Jesus, the Tribulation, and the End of the Exile by Brant Pitre

Jason A. Staples — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:18:10 +0000

Been wanting to post on this book for over a week now, but other work has interfered. That said, this book is absolutely a must-read for those interested in the historical Jesus and is one of the better scholarly monographs I’ve read. As my primary research has focused on Paul’s concern with the restoration of [...] Related posts:

Want to Be a Good Reader of the Bible?

Jason A. Staples — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:45:19 +0000

Not many get to be (or want to be) a biblical scholar, but lots of people want to read and understand the Bible well. What must one do to become a good Bible reader? J. R. Daniel Kirk gives exactly the answer that I have made into a mantra the last few years: Learn how [...] Related posts:

BAR “Secret Mark” Handwriting Analysis Unimpressive

Jason A. Staples — Fri, 28 May 2010 06:35:43 +0000

Biblical Archaeology Review has continued their recent assault on the (nearly airtight) case that the “Secret Gospel of Mark” which Morton Smith “discovered” in the Mar Saba monastery is a clever hoax. This time, they’ve hired a handwriting expert to analyze Smith’s handwriting and the handwriting of the letter of Clement in which the Secret [...] Related posts:

“Blank Slates” and Poor English Equal Bad Translation

Sandmel on Cross-Fertilization and the SBL

Jason A. Staples — Wed, 26 May 2010 05:12:27 +0000

Thought this quote from Sandmel (from his famous “Parallelomania”) was worth looking at again: Two hundred years ago Christians and Jews and Roman Catholics and Protestants seldom read each other’s books, and almost never met together to exchange views and opinions on academic matters related to religious documents. Even a hundred years ago such cross-fertilization [...] Related posts:

SBL Annual Meeting 2009 Highlights