Outside the Building

Must-read on Myron Rolle

Jason A. Staples — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:53:11 +0000

ESPN’s Outside the Lines has done a pretty good piece on former Florida State safety and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle. It’s well worth the read. I’ve spent a good bit of time with Myron’s brother McKinley, and I have a great deal of respect for the Rolles. I’ll say this: don’t doubt Myron in the [...] Related posts:

“Flesh” is not “Human effort” in Gal 3:3

Jason A. Staples — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:31:52 +0000

Stephen Carlson has put up a good post on why the translation of σάρξ as anything other than “flesh” in Gal 3:3 is “weak tea.” Carlson observes that Paul is making a point concerning literal flesh—the foreskin—but many translations unfortunately treat Paul’s language as metaphoric, translating σάρξ as “human effort” or other related phrases. I’ll repeat [...] Related posts:

Sources on Tetragrammaton in LXX and First-century?

Jason A. Staples — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:37:51 +0000

I’m presenting a paper at this year’s SECSOR in Atlanta that deals tangentially with the Tetragrammaton in first century Judaism, most notably in how it might have been translated and/or pronounced when incorporated into a Greek text (i.e. κύριος, transliteration, or something else?). Anyone out there in the biblioblogosphere have any suggestions on sources that [...] Related posts:

Great Interview with Craig Keener by Nijay Gupta

Sports and Christianity: How Should Christians Handle Competition?

Jason A. Staples — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:39:24 +0000

A couple days ago, a friend pointed me to, “Sports Fanatics,” a Christianity Today article in which Shirl James Hoffman (author of the book, Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports, from which the article is taken) argues that (mainly Evangelical) Christianity’s relationship with sports has ultimately been detrimental to the faith, with the [...] Related posts:

New Book Release: “And God Said” by Joel Hoffman

Jason A. Staples — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 21:47:28 +0000

Fellow blogger Dr. Joel Hoffman has announced his newest book, And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible’s Original Meaning, which deals with some of the tricky aspects of Bible translation and the way that English translations often obscure the meaning of the ancient texts in their original context. Joel is an excellent writer; this [...] Related posts:

Why the iPad is a Game-changer

Jason A. Staples — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:57:32 +0000

Apple has released its long-awaited tablet computer to mixed reviews. Some apparently expected the so-called “JesusTablet” to have the ability to raise the dead in its first version, expressing disappointment at the lack of a built-in camera, the lack of Adobe Flash support, no GPS, and assorted other perceived shortfalls. Those criticizing the new release [...] Related posts:

A Few Pre-Game Thoughts and Why I Think FSU Beats Miami

A Few Thoughts on “Avatar”

Jason A. Staples — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:10:04 +0000

I finally got a chance to watch Avatar in 3D the other night—strictly business, of course, since I had assigned it to the Sociology of Religion class for which I am guest-lecturing this evening on the nature and definition of religion, using Avatar as a launching point. It was essentially what I had heard: a [...] No related posts.

Interview with Richard Hays of Duke University

Jason A. Staples — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:58:22 +0000

I’m way late to the game on this (thanks to being busy with my real work and falling behind on my feeds), but it’s still worth posting: John Anderson has posted a wonderful interview with Duke NT professor Richard Hays, where Hays gives a lot of details about his background and influences. As a followup, [...] Related posts:

Brett Favre isn’t indecisive; he’s just selfish

Jason A. Staples — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:52:24 +0000

Lots of people have mocked Brett Favre the last few years for his retire, waver, unretire shenanigans, typically portraying him as indecisive or as a guy who just can’t stay away from the game. I’m convinced, however, that Favre is in no way indecisive; on the contrary, he’s just selfish (not really surprising; there’s a [...] Related posts:

Great Interview with Craig Keener by Nijay Gupta

Jason A. Staples — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:58:31 +0000

Nijay Gupta has posted a two-part interview series with NT prof Craig Keener, author of the Romans commentary in the New Covenant Commentary Series (Cascade/Wipf & Stock) with some outstanding material. Part 1 is here and part 2 here. A couple dandy quotes: NKG: Based on your work on this commentary, can you give us a [...] Related posts: