Old in the New

distracted

2008-07-23T08:37:00.000-04:00

A month or so ago, I posted about an article written in the Atlantic, titled "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" In the post (here), I raised the question of how the medium of Bible software effects our ability to interpret the text .

I just came across another article that's somewhat related - this one in The Times Online - "Stoooopid .... why the Google generation isn’t as smart as it thinks," by Bryan Appleyard. The article's quite a jeremiad. The tagline states that "the digital age is destroying us by ruining our ability to concentrate." The article does not simply rail against Google or the information age, but it challenges the "distractedness" that comes with being electronically "connected." This distractedness goes beyond computers and reaches into how we handle our actual flesh-and-bone lives. One particular quote stood out to me. One of the interviewees of the article stated that he found himself “loving novelty” and yet “craving depth”. What a beautiful way of putting it, unfortunately it's downright scary for me to hear my own soul in his words. The article reminds me of a passage from Luke:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)

Just how much do I miss because of my self-imposed technological distractions?

Sean McDonough (my original thesis advisor) preached a related sermon in the seminary chapel on November 20, 2007, titled "Virtually Communicating" (mp3).

On a somewhat related note: L. Gregory Jones (Dean of Duke Divinity School) has put out a small article about his use of Facebook, titled "My Facebook Friends." The article is rather balanced. While he notes the advantages of Facebook in keeping in touch with folks, he states that "Facebook friends and social networking are not adequate substitutes for authentic friendship."

BTW: While I was reading article by Appelyard, I was distracted by my Facebook Firefox toolbar, where my current status had not been updated, so naturally I had to update it. At least I made it through the article without skimming!

Always Remember Scrapbooks

2008-07-18T08:01:00.000-04:00

I can't help being proud. My wonderful wife, Amanda, is starting her own scrapbooking business: Always Remember Scrapbooks.

Always Remember is here to make the elephant-sized task of organizing and artfully displaying your memories more manageable. Whether you want help making your own scrapbook or would like me to make it for you, I can help.

a modular lego townhouse

2008-07-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

Last week my wife was away visiting family. While she was gone, I spent a few evenings working on this Lego townhouse. The model was based on misc2006's alternate model for set 4954. It is compatible with other modular Lego models (e.g. Cafe Corner, Market Street, and Green Grocer). I used mainly pieces from 4954, but I did supplement the model with pieces not found in that set.

Ninjas vs. Professors (PhD Comics)

2008-07-10T13:27:00.000-04:00

The Charis in Charisma

2008-07-05T09:52:00.000-04:00

So, I have not followed the whole Bentley revival in Florida. I have grown up in the Pentecostal church. I'm not ashamed of that, and I still attend a Pentecostal church where I serve as an elder. I pray regularly for people to be healed. I speak in tongues, and I have felt God's power in inexplicable ways. I think that as the People of God - the firstfruits of the final new creation (Jas 1:18; Rev 14:4) - we should expect God to work in extraordinary ways in his church. As I grew up in the Pentecostal church, I observed things like the Toronto Vineyard revival and the Brownsville revival. I actually attended the Brownsville revival (at the tail end of its popularity), and I very much felt God's presence meet me in a profound way. God works through concentrated outpourings of his Holy Spirit at different times in different locations.

I have observed a few things about the work of the Spirit in my own life. One of which has been that the move of God is not necessarily dependent upon the holiness, orthodoxy or the spiritual maturity of the person that is "leading" the revival. Often in Charistmatic/Pentecostal churches a kind of cult-of-personality will develop around someone whom God uses to minister to others - especially those who minister in public, overt, or extraordinary ways. The assumption is usually something like this. "Wow, I really need to go to X's church or X's revival because this person has a powerful ministry." A group forms around this lightning rod of God's power and a "revival" breaks out. Mr. or Mrs. X then starts publishing books and broadcasting television shows because obviously God is using X, therefore X has something important to say and teach. This does not always happen like this, but I've seen it dozens of times.

Anyway, a little Greek is helpful here. Charismatics put an emphasis on the Charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. We expect God to grace us with a little bit of the "already" in the midst of our "not yet," and he does. One thing to note is that the Charismatic gifts are just that - charisma - a word based on another Greek word, charis - the same word that is translated as "grace" throughout the New Testament. One Greek dictionary (BDAG) defines charisma as "that which is freely and graciously given, favor bestowed, gift". Just as "grace"/charis is God's favor poured out upon us in spite of our sin, immaturity or lack of qualification, the charismatic gifts are God's favor poured out upon the church in spite of our sin, immaturity or lack of qualification. Charisma is no indicator of holiness, maturity, or orthodoxy. Am I saying that Bentley is not holy, mature or orthodox? No. I have not watched enough of the revival or listened to enough of his teaching to judge that fairly. I can say, that the fact that God is possibly working in Lakeland is not an indicator of Bentley's maturity. To the skeptic I would also say that a lack of maturity or orthodoxy in a "revival" is not an indicator that God is not working there. God works in spite of us as often as he works through us. This is the case whether you're a revival leader, a pastor or a scholar.

I made mention above to the revival leader as a "lightning rod". I think that this is a good analogy. A lightning rod stands as a conductive contact point between positively charged clouds and the negatively charged ground. This imbalanced charge is remedied as the charge moves from cloud to land and meets with a charge moving from land to cloud. A lightning rod "draws" the charge. Is the power in the lightning rod? No. Is the charge coming from the lightning rod? No. The imbalanced charge builds up in the clouds and in the ground and the lightning rod is a point of contact. The revival leader is similar. Does he or she have any power? No, but often they stand as a point of contact between a charged audience and a powerful God. The audience is charged with the anticipation that God will work in powerful ways, and God is a benificent and gracious God who gives good gifts to his children. No one says "boy, that's a powerful lightning rod!" No one says that it is by any extraordinary merit of a hunk of metal that lightning is generated. No, the electricity is part of a much bigger system.

Of course all analogies break down after a while, and I would not tease this out too far! This is God we're talking about - he does not fit into analogies. One thing that could be teased out of the analogy is that revivals are by their nature "imbalanced" (a partial truth, when I think about it).

a license to curse

2008-06-25T08:57:00.002-04:00

Unshelved is a comic strip about "life" in a public library (by Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum).

When Books & Bricks Collide

2008-06-20T08:33:00.000-04:00

Here's a fantastic Second Hand Book Shop by xueren. I love it when books and bricks collide! Click the pic for more. HT Brick Town Talk.

Thesis Tag Cloud

2008-06-16T09:21:00.000-04:00

Below is a visual representation of common words in my thesis on "The Eschatological Elijah in the Epistle of James."For the sake of contrast, here's a tag cloud of James (NIV):These tag clouds were produced with Jonathan Feinberg's "Wordle" (via Tame the Web).

Is Bible software making us stupid?

2008-06-14T20:32:00.000-04:00

I'm an avid user of Bible software. I love BibleWorks. I dabble in Accordance. I use Logos. While I was writing my thesis, this software was indispensable. I've been wondering, however, if the use of Bible software has a price (besides dollars). One obvious cost is proficiency in the original languages. I've often heard Bible software referred to as a "crutch." I must admit, I've allowed myself to grow too lazy with Greek and Hebrew in the last couple of years partly because of the readily available grammatical helps in the software I use. This "cost" of Bible software has been commented upon by many folks, and that's not my point here. There is a more hidden insidious cost, I think. Guy Billout of theAtlantic.com has written a piece titled, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" I think that his concern applies to digital biblical scholarship:

... media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles.

In an age where vast commentaries of Scripture and ancient texts are readily available at our digital fingertips, I wonder if we run into the same problem. I remember writing a paper where I noticed that I was looking at snippets of an author's thought rather than his whole argument. Now, I was not simply looking for a quote that supported my point. I was really looking for information. I was researching. I just realized how easy it was to decontextualize the information. It was easy enough for me to do this skimming a paper book. I believe it is all the more easy to decontextualize an author's thoughts while we're browsing search results on a screen. Billout quotes Maryanne Wolf, a developmental psychologist at Tufts University and the author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.

We are not only what we read. . . . We are how we read.

I wonder if our method of doing computer based research of biblical texts actually shapes the thought that we put into it. It seems that this is an area where the hermeneutics gurus could lend a hand. I seem to remember Vanhoozer speaking of "a hermeneutics of love." Incidentally, I Googled this phrase and found indeed that Vanhoozer has written of this - as has N. T. Wright. This hermeneutic respects the "otherness" of the text and the author and seeks to understand them on their own terms without imposing our own desired meaning. It would seem that this course needs to be taken by researchers - especially those who are using "search results".

I would certainly not want to throw out the Bible software baby with the bathwater. We need not wipe our hard drives. Still, it would seem that we should acknowledge the way media steers our train of thought. We should discipline ourselves to "love" the text enough to actually spend time with it and read to understand rather than to mine disconnected data.

I wonder, as a librarian - one who is supposed to help others gather evaluate and use information effectively - how can I help teach this "hermeneutics of love"? How can I model it? As an academic do I practice it? I wonder if anyone has tried to apply this kind of hermeneutic to "information science" in general? How does one discipline one's self to practice charity when reading texts using Bible software?

The Epistle of James at Boston SBL

2008-06-13T07:32:00.000-04:00

Michael Bird at Euangelion notes that a draft of the Boston SBL program has been posted. Here's my own "bird's eye view" of papers presented on the Epistle of James, or the "historical James":

A New Fragment of James from Oxyrhynchus / Michael Theophilos, University of Oxford
It is not insignificant that 42% of published New Testament papyri are from Oxyrhynchus, Egypt. Furthermore, of the fifty-eight NT papyri dated to the first half of the fourth century or earlier, Oxyrhynchus contributes to nearly 60% of the material, i.e. thirty four fragmentary papyri. Given Oxyrhynchus’ prominence, prosperity and significant Christian influence this is somewhat understandable, even if it is equally as baffling as to why so much literature, both biblical and otherwise was ‘thrown out’ en masse, only to be found centuries later by two Oxford graduates, B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt of Queen’s College. The primary research that will be undertaken in this study concerns an assessment of a previously unknown New Testament papyrus fragment of the epistle of James from Oxyrhynchus (inventory number 51 4B.18/c [1-4]b). The significance of this study is to offer original and focused research into the history of the textual tradition of the New Testament. Discussion of the fragment will be divided into three sections. Firstly, an extended introduction which will note, among other things, the paleographic points of interest - roll/codex, recto/verso, date, lines/width/height of columns, estimated length of roll and significant reading marks (accents, breathings, quantity marks, punctuation). Secondly, an edited Greek text, both diplomatic and transcriptional (with a short description of how multi-spectral imaging aided in this process, and finally, a section devoted to issues which require further treatment, including exegetical comment, notable paleographic details and collation with other extant manuscripts. Images of the papyri will be included in the presentation.
Ill-Skilled Postmen and the Addressees of James: The Socio-rhetorical Function of the Prescript of James / Erin Vearncombe, University of Toronto
The prescript of James serves an important socio-rhetorical function which provides the key to understanding the purpose of the paraenetic letter as a whole, establishing a guide for exegesis. James 1:1 is the only epistolary element in the document, yet the identification of the (fictive) sender James and the (fictive) audience of the twelve tribes is essential to the interpretation of the text. The address of James “to the twelve tribes in the Diaspora,” along with the pseudepigraphical identification of the author, functions to signal the rhetorical strategy of the letter, acting as a guide for the interpretation of the social world which is constructed in the document. A discussion of previous approaches to the prescript and epistolary status of James, including the characterization of James as a Judean Diaspora letter, an analysis of the pseudepigraphical character of James and the construction of ethos in the letter and a comparison of the text to other Greco-Roman paraenetic letters in terms of the primary importance of status association and negotiation in paraenesis will help to shed light on this socio-rhetorical functioning of the prescript.
Jesus and James on Justice in the Courts: A Reconsideration of the Ward/Allison Proposal / Christopher N. Chandler, University of St. Andrews-Scotland
When interpreters of James come to the discussion about the seating of the rich and the poor in 2:1-13, they are faced with two interpretive options. The majority of recent interpreters, based upon parallel passages in later church orders, opt to understand this to be about seating arrangements in an early Christian worship service. A minority position, which is often noted but rarely taken seriously, is that 2:1-13 depicts an ancient judicial setting between two litigants. This latter position was argued for by R. B. Ward in his 1966 dissertation and a subsequent article in 1969. D. C. Allison demonstrated convincingly in 2000 that Ward’s position, far from being new, was a viable interpretive option among a majority of scholars prior to the 20th century. This paper seeks to build upon the ‘Ward/Allison’ thesis that 2:1-13 depicts an ancient litigious scene in two ways: 1) by demonstrating a significant but rarely noticed parallel between James 2:1-13 and Matthew 7:1-5, and 2) by uncovering the exegetical underpinnings of both of these passages in their halakhic, midrashic engagement with Lev 19:15-18—a section of laws governing just legal judging. Some of the theological implications such an interpretive shift of 2:1-13 might have upon the discussion of faith and works in James 2:14-26 may also be explored.
“Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” (Leviticus 19:18b) in Early Jewish-Christian Exegetical Practice and Ethical Formulation / Christopher N. Chandler, University of St. Andrews-Scotland
The exhortation to “love your neighbour as yourself” from Leviticus 19:18b is a central maxim of Jesus and the early Christian movement. Yet the meaning of this expression attributed to Jesus and the NT authors is often taken for granted as a universalizing principle. The central ethic of the Jesus movement, ‘love,’ is therefore either understood as a kind/gentle attitude or is left rather undefined and vague. This discussion needs more nuance. Drawing upon Jewish exegetical traditions surrounding Leviticus 19:15-18, I shall suggest that both Jesus and his brother James understand Leviticus 19:18b not merely as a summary of the entire Torah, but firstly as a summary of the laws governing just legal judging in Leviticus 19:15-18a. Although Paul and Luke, engaged as they are in the Gentile mission, apply with rigour this principle of ‘love’ in a much broader universalizing manner in order to promote inclusiveness among Jewish/Gentile relations, this interpretation of the love commandment should not necessarily be assumed to be the sole view or use of Lev 19:18b in every case in the NT. The conclusion argued for in this paper, therefore, is that “love your neighbour as yourself” was not only viewed by early Jewish Christians as an ethical principle of universalizing peaceful relations between ethnicities, but was also seen to have ethical implications to do justice to one’s neighbour in the judicial system as well.
The Speech of Stephen; the Death of James / Shelly Matthews, Furman University
This paper will consider the martyrdom of Stephen alongside related traditions concerning the death of James to underscore how both traditions grasp for ways to assert the split of Jesus believers, or Christians, from "The Jews." As part of this analysis, the speech of Stephen will be set alongside the historiographical speech preserved in the Pseudo-Clementine recognitions 1.27-71, so that the relative hostility of each text toward unbelieving Jews might be better assessed.
There will be a joint session of the Letters of James, Peter, and Jude and Philo of Alexandria sections on The Formation of the Soul in Hellenistic Judaism and James. The meeting will be chaired by Stanley Stowers (Brown University) and will include the following papers:
- “Living in the Soul Alone”: Philo of Alexandria on Soul Formation / Hindy Najman, University of Toronto
  This paper is interested in the way Philo depicts the natural course of the life of the sage as he eventually becomes soul or mind alone. Additionally, the paper considers how natural law and mosaic can serve to guide the soul on its journey to its telos.
- Philo of Alexandria on the Contemplative and the Active Lives / Gretchen Reydams-Schils, University of Notre Dame
  Philo uses the phrase ‘unsociable community’ to criticize misguided forms of sociability. In the Roman era and so-called Middle-Platonism, under the influence of Stoicism, the boundary between the theoretical and the practical life becomes blurred (even more so than in the Stoicism of the Hellenistic era). This paper will examine the relationship between these two types of life in Philo’s work, taking also into account the relation between an individual and community, and the differences among different kind of communities.
- Stoic Psychagogy and the Letter of James / John S. Kloppenborg, University of Toronto
  Interpreters have occasionally noted the coincidence between James' vocabulary and technical terms of Stoicism, usually dismissing them as coincidental. This paper argues that in significant ways, James shares with Stoicism notions of care of the soul, control of the epithymiai, and the role of rational persuasion in the guidance of the soul.
- Self-Mastery, Apatheia, Metriopatheia, and Moral Theory in the Epistle of James / Luiz Felipe Ribeiro, University of Toronto
  The reading of the Stoics’ influence on James received little support and only very recently got a comprehensive treatment in Matt A. Jackson-McCabe’s “Logos and Law in the Letter of James: the Law of Nature, the Law of Moses and the Law of Freedom. Before Logos and Law in the Letter of James, Jackson-McCabe contends, two lonely treatments of the Epistle allowed for a straight connection between James and Stoic Philosophy. Arnold Meyer in 1930, and M.-E. Boismard in 1957, independently argued that implanted logon (Jas 1,21) and the Perfect Law of Freedom (Jas 1,25) were drawn by the author of the Epistle from a Greek environment, particularly from Stoicism. According to Jackson-McCabe, James’ use of Implanted Logos derived from the early Stoa understanding of Émphutoi Prolepseis (Implanted Preconceptions). This paper proposes to add to Jackson-McCabe’s thesis of Stoic influences in James’ psychology and moral theory. It argues that the pseudonym Yakob might be read in light of the Jewish Hellenistic reception of Stoicism of the idea of the Stoic sage who achieves apatheia, or of the sage who is striving to control his passions through moderation (metriopatheia). This conflation of the Jewish Patriarch and Stoic sage can be seen in the figure of Joseph in the Testaments of the XII Patriarchs and in Abraham, Isaac and Yakob in Philo of Alexandria. The Epistle of James is seen deriving its own ideas about the sage from the Jewish Hellenistic reception of Stoicism and the tradition of the haploûs sophos, the single-minded sage, the man who is the embodiment of simplicity, showing no sign of duplicity, listening and practicing the Logos (Jas 1, 33-35).
The Jewish Christianity / Christian Judaism sessions may be of interest as well:
- How “Jewish” Is the Protevangelium of James? Mary, the Temple, and Ritual Purity / Lily Vuong, McMaster University
- Characterization of Women in the Pseudo-Clementine Literature / Päivi Vähäkangas, University of Helsinki
- Jews and/or “Judaizers” in the Epistle of Barnabas: Internal Threat, External Rival, or Ideological Construct? / James N. Rhodes, Saint Michael’s College
- Mandaean Polemic against Jews and Christians as Evidence about the Origins and Setting of Early Mandaism / James F. McGrath, Butler University

Archived Treasure?

2008-05-30T20:30:00.001-04:00

Mark Hoffmann (of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and the Biblical Studies and Technological Tools blog) recently posted about Microsoft's decision to drop it's "Book Search" program - a decision that may affect the Internet Archive. A few responses ensued, including my own. In the comments, Michael Hanel (my co-conspirator at the BibleWorks blog) noted that the Internet Archive is "cautiously optimistic" about being able to continue on in spite of the loss of Microsoft's funding. The prospect of losing the Archive is a bit scary, and makes me want to buy a terabyte of memory and download everything I'd ever find useful. In my reply to Mark's post I listed a few of the more important works that I've found for biblical studies on the Internet Archive:

How about the works of Kirsopp Lake - including the four volume set of articles on the Book of Acts, titled "The Beginnings of Christianity". There are also the classics by Henry Barclay Swete - including his version of the Greek OT, as well as his works on the Holy Spirit in the NT and the early church. One of the best finds on this site is the "Cambridge Septuagint." All the volumes are included -- including the volumes on the Historical Books of the OT. These particular volumes are not covered in the TC Ebind Index. Solomon Schechter's Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology is still used as a textbook in the subject, and has been reprinted many times. J. B. Lightfoot's multi-volume text and commentary on several of the Apostolic Fathers is also available.

What other treasures are hidden on the Internet Archive? Any that you can't live without?

you can write in library books

2008-05-30T11:25:00.001-04:00

I'm a librarian. Currently I work at the reference desk, but in the past I've worked at the circulation desk (where the books come back in and get checked out). Nothing - well, almost nothing - gets me more steamed than when a book is returned with scads of fresh marginal notes and underlining. I dislike the practice so much, that I'm hesitant to mark in my own books - for fear that I'll one day donate the book to a library and make another librarian hot-under-the-collar because of my marginalia.

I have one good friend who marks up his own books quite a bit. He reasons that each underline is an act of "praying" the text back to God. He reads and studies as an act of devotion. What a guy! That being said, I'm very glad he does not "pray" in the library's books. (I'm now stepping quietly off of the soap box.)

~~Now there's a way to write in borrowed books (or even your own) without ticking off librarians!~~** The "unclutterer" recently posted about 3M's Sheer Color Post-it Notes. These notes are transparent, allowing the reader to lay down the protective note on a page of text and "mark up" the note instead of the book. Genius!

Of course if the book is really good, and you want to use one of these stickies on each page, you will end up with a very fat book (with a skinny binding). This leads me to another pet peeve. At the end of the semester, we get loads of book returns. There's bound to be several books in the pile that has Post-its hanging off of every other page with the last patron's annotations. What a pain to remove them! (It's not as big a pain as erasing pencil marks or lamenting pen/marker marks, but still a pain!) So, if you do start using these Sheer Post-its on library books, make sure you remove them first.

(HT Lifehacker).

Testing Testing 123

2008-05-12T10:15:00.001-04:00

~~If you happen to subscribe to this blog via a feed, could you please respond to this post with a comment. It would be helpful for me to know if my feedburner settings are working.~~

Thanks. It looks like it's working.

Problems with Blogger & Yahoo!

2008-05-12T09:54:00.000-04:00

I've been having problems with the blog. For the last week or so I have not been able to post through Blogger on to my Yahoo!SmallBusiness server. So, I'm going to switch blogs and switch servers. For now, Old in the New will be parked at http://oldinthenew.blogspot.com.

Pentecost Sunday

2008-05-11T22:02:00.007-04:00

My pastor, Jim Williams of Gloucester Assembly of God, preached a fantastic sermon today on Acts 2. It was perhaps the most refreshing sermon I've ever heard on the chapter. Being a Pentecostal, I can assure you, I have heard many a preacher wax eloquent on this passage! For the most part, they've tended to focus on things like "tongues" or "power" or "witnessing" or some other kind of phenomenon having to do with the Pentecostal distinctives of today, but rarely have I heard a sermon that actually "agrees" with Peter's own explanation of the events of Pentecost. The mighty rushing wind and the tongues of fire were not merely manifestations geared towards producing goosebumps on the backs of the people of Judea and beyond!* The proclamation of the "wonders of God" in other tongues (v. 11) was not meant to serve as a mere precedent for Pentecostal prayer. (There are other places in Scripture that support that!) No. The manifestations of Pentecost pointed to the exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of the Father. My pastor's homiletical point was that "believers are to be compelling evidence that Jesus is Lord and Christ." Jesus' status is made explicit in Luke's account of Peter's sermon:

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
   " 'The Lord said to my Lord:
     "Sit at my right hand
   until I make your enemies
     a footstool for your feet." '
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

The manifestations of Pentecost were evidence of the inauguration of the risen and exalted Christ. In today's Pentecostal circles (at least the circles where I've grown up), the issue of "evidence" is very important. For instance, the Assemblies of God "Statement of Fundamental Truths" (our "creed") states that speaking in tongues is "the initial physical evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit."** Of course, I know that this point causes a bit of a interpretive hiccup even among many professed "Pentecostals" (myself included). That's not the point of this post, though. What strikes me about Acts 2 (coming away from my pastor's sermon) is that the phenomena that attended that first Pentecost does serve as evidence - not primarily of "Spirit baptism" (at least in "Pentecostal" terms) - but rather as evidence that the once crucified Jesus was now the exalted Messiah of Israel. He was not only the promised Messiah. He was also exalted as Lord. This is a scandalous statement for a sect birthed out of monotheistic Judaism given that kurios (the Greek word translated as "Lord") is the the word often used in Greek translations of the Old Testament to translate the Hebrew name of God - Yahweh. Jesus, the exalted Messiah - Jesus, the exalted Lord, poured out his Spirit on the church that was to stand as evidence of his status at the right hand of the Father.

Well, I've rambled long enough. All that is to say that I very much appreciated my pastor's sermon this Pentecost Sunday!

* Note that Michael Barber at "Singing in the Reign" recently posted an interesting explanation of the "tongues of fire" phenomenon in Acts 2 [HERE].

Online Research at the Boston Public Library

2008-04-22T09:54:00.008-04:00

Are you studying in Massachusetts? Well, I've got some good news for you.

Students and residents in Massachusetts can sign up with the Boston Public Library for a library card. Besides allowing borrowing privileges, this card gives access to many of the electronic databases to which the BPL subscribes, including JSTOR, the ATLA Religion Database, PSYCinfo, and the full-text version of Dissertation Abstracts.

A potential patron does not need to be a resident of Boston, and the patron does not even have to be an official Massachusetts resident – they can be a student studying in Massachusetts with declared residency in another state.

Just to make things easier, the BPL also offers an “eCard” for those who do not intend to borrow books, but use the online resources. You do not have to travel to the BPL to obtain one of these cards, you can simply sign up at the library’s web site (see the “Register for a Library Card Online” link in the center column on their home page (www.bpl.org).

If you have any questions about this service, visit their F.A.Q. page.

It’s great to see our Massachusetts tax dollars at work on something useful!

Lego - A Grievous Alternative

2008-04-15T09:30:00.006-04:00

Late last Friday night I spent a few hours playing with Lego blocks - my new obsession... I put together an alternate model for the 7656-1 General Grievous Starfighter. I've been reading various Lego blogs and catching up on new building techniques that have developed since I stopped playing with Legos 20 years ago, and I decided to give some of them a try. Well, here's the finished product. It was my first original model in the past two decades. Overall, I don't think it's too shabby. It's amazing how cathartic it is to have a non-academic, non-book, non-computer hobby! (Click the thumbnail/this link to see other views of the model.)

An Easter Proclamation - John 11

2008-03-22T21:57:00.002-04:00

This Easter, I've been given the privilege of speaking at our church's sunrise service. Here it is:

In John chapter 11 we read the story of a family in grief. Mary and Martha watched their brother Lazarus suffer with sickness. They called out to Jesus for help, saying, “The one you love is sick.” Jesus responded and kindled the hopes of the two sisters. He assured them: “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Jesus promised life.

But by all appearances, Jesus did not keep his promise. While Mary and Martha sat at the bedside of their dying brother, Jesus did not arrive. He did not show up until four days after Lazarus was buried. Martha’s frustration was apparent. “If you had only come sooner, my brother would not have died.” Mary was frank as well. “If you had only come sooner, my brother would not have died.”

We live in a world of grief. Sickness, death, war, disease – they are all part of our world. Countries are embroiled in ethnic wars. Madmen dictators drive their nations into poverty. Sure, these things are all distant problems that we hear about on the news, but they are still real – no less real than the pain felt by people here in Gloucester. Abuse, alcoholism and drug addiction ruin lives and tare apart families. Our world, our town cries out to God, “If you had only come sooner, my child would not have died.” “If you had only come sooner, my family would still be together.” “If you had only come sooner, my life would not be in ruins.” “If you had only come sooner – God - we would not be in this mess.” If many of us were honest, we would sound a lot like Mary and Martha.

Jesus’ response in Bethany is the same response he has for us today. In response to Mary’s grief, “Jesus wept.” Jesus was not aloof. He shared their grief. This is the same response that God himself gave our world when he sent his son. Rather than standing aloof, he sent Jesus to live among us, to experience life, grief and disappointment, and ultimately to face the horrors of our world in death on the cross.

But we know from rest of the story that this is not God’s final response. Jesus assured Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even in death.” God’s final answer is life. His final answer is resurrection. Jesus promised Mary and Martha that the glory of God would be shown even in the death of their brother. He assured them at the grave, “If you believe, you will see the glory of God.” He called them to trust in him.

While Jesus came into this world to suffer along side us, he also came to embody life itself. He healed the sick and proclaimed liberty to the captives. His resurrection asserted God’s victory over the powers of darkness.

God does not simply answer a world of sin and death with empathy, he answers with life giving power.

Just as Jesus called Mary and Martha to believe, he calls us today to stake our lives in him – the one who embodies God’s resurrection power. As we believe in him, we are brought to see the glory of God. Jesus called Lazarus from the grave. He spoke life into death. Today he speaks life into our own dead situations. He speaks life into our own shattered dreams by replacing them with his own dreams for us. He speaks life into our families through reconciliation and healing. He speaks life into Gloucester as he asserts God’s rule over addiction and abuse.

This Easter he is resurrection. He is life. Believe in him, even in the midst of death, and you will live. Trust in him, and you will see the glory of God.

Star light! Star bright! Make me a Talmud scholar tonight!

2008-03-12T11:50:00.008-04:00

James Davila at Paleojudaica notes that Madonna supposedly cited the Talmud in her recent acceptance speech at her induction into the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame. The pop star stated:

There’s a saying in the Talmud that for every blade of glass there’s an angel that watches over it and whispers grow, grow. And I could still hear those angels whispering. And even the naysayers, the ones that said I was talentless, that I was chubby, that I couldn’t sing, that I was a one hit wonder, they helped me too. (Quoted from "The Bangkok Jungle")

Well, it turns out that the "Material Girl" was a bit mistaken. She did not quote from the Talmud, but from the Zohar:

The Holy One brings out all the hosts, camps, and stars, each one is called by its own name, and "not one faileth" (Isa 40:26). Over all these stars and constellations of the firmament there have been set chiefs, leaders, and ministers, whose duty is to serve the world each one according to his appointed station. And not the tiniest grass-blade on earth but has its own appointed star in heaven. Each star, too, has over it a being appointed who ministers before the Holy One as its representative, each according to his order. All the stars in the firmaments keep watch over this world: they are appointed to minister to every individual object in this world, to each object a star. Herbs and trees, gras and wild plants, cannot flourish and grow except from the influence of the stars who stand above them and gaze upon them face to face, each according to his fashon. (Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 171b)

While she's certainly no Talmud scholar, her lyrics have a new (and potentially more profound) meaning:

You must be my lucky star
‘Cause you make the darkness seem so far
And when I’m lost you’ll be my guide
I just turn around and you’re by my side

Starlight, star bright first star I see tonight
Starlight, (star bright) make everything all right
Starlight, star bright first star I see tonight
Starlight, (star bright) yeah

Come on shine your heavenly body tonight
‘Cause I know you’re gonna make everything all right

Update: Manuscript Boy (from Hagahot) e-mailed Jim Davila of Paleojudaica with the following quote from Genesis Rabbah 10.6:

א"ר סימון אין לך כל עשב ועשב ברקיע שאין לו מזל ברקיע שמכה אותו ואומר לו גדל

Neusner's translation:

Said R. Simon, 'There is not a single herb which is not subject to the influence of a planet in heaven, which smites it and says to it, "Grow!"'

As Manuscript Boy notes, it's "Not whispers but beatings. Other than that, it's pretty close."

Huckabee & Allusions to/in the Bible

2008-02-08T18:11:00.000-05:00

On the way home from work today, I was listening to NPR's "All Things Considered." In one piece they noted biblical allusions strewn throughout Huckabee's speeches. Certainly references to biblical allusions are in no way "new" to the political scene. From Lincoln to MLK to Obama the Bible has been a seedbed of imagery to suit political agendas. The NPR slot noted, however, that Huckabee's allusions were being lost on biblically illiterate ears. For instance, Huckabee stated in one address, "Sometimes, one small smooth stone is even more effective than a whole lot of armor." This is a rather easy allusion to pick out for the few folks who may happen to read this blog. Clearly Huckabee is speaking in a code that his conservative Evangelical supporters can decipher without too much trouble. NPR interviewed several folks in DC about these statements and most did not have a clue as to what a "widow's mite" was or the significance of "loaves and fishes." Many of these folks were born into Christian homes and attended Sunday school, but they still could not recognize Huckabee's allusions. I even had to think a little bit harder than usual to completely take in the allusion to the little boy named David. So, while Huckabee may be speaking in the "Bible code", many folks - even those who have had a "Christian" upbringing are hearing gibberish. Is Huckabee intentionally alluding to Scripture? Or is he simply speaking the language of a Baptist minister- turned-public-servant without intentionally trying to send encoded messages to his Christian constituency?

This got me to thinking about the debates concerning the New Testament's use of the Old Testament, particularly the detection of allusions and echoes to Jewish Scripture. Why would Paul put allusions to Scripture in texts that were primarily written for a Gentile, and (some assume) "biblically illiterate" audience? Did Paul simply speak the language of a learned Jewish Christian? Did he always intentionally encode his message with the intent of the audience knowing what he was talking about? Is it possible that Paul meant his allusions to "shout out" to those who could understand, while leaving others confused in a fashion similar to Jesus' parables? How intentional was Paul? Are biblical allusions only meaningful from the standpoint of the author's (or speech writer's) intent? Or, do allusions and echoes take on a valid meaningful life of their own in the mind of the audience?

Another thing struck me regarding this NPR piece. Ultimately, when Huckabee uses these veiled references to Scripture in a country where only a relative few "know the code", he is in effect speaking gibberish. Preachers and teachers beware! We need not confound people with allusions they don't understand - we don't want their "biblical illiteracy" to get in the way of them hearing the Gospel. Of course, we are to teach people the content of Scripture – for their souls' sake – but until they "learn the language" we just sound like the builders of Babel.

Read the NPR print version of the segment "Understanding the Gospel According to Huckabee," by Barbara Bradley Hagerty.

Captain Kirk Wanted to be a Librarian

2008-02-08T08:18:00.000-05:00

Librarianship: a job "no less challenging," but "a lot less dangerous."

Legomania

2008-02-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

So, I've decided to embark on a new hobby - one that does not involve "reading" or "research" and one that takes me back to the family room floor during my childhood. I'm going to start building with Legos again. Boy, I wish I had all the bricks I had when I was a kid. I had pirate ships, space ships, and castles. I remember fondly having all of the collection in one big tupperware container. My younger brother and I would fight over all the "good pieces" (the neat little intricate guns, walkie-talkies, and swords that went with the minifigures). I think I lost a certain frequency range of my hearing from all the times I clawed my way through the big bin looking for that one tiny little piece that would complete my latest creation (it's a sound I'll never forget). So, forgive my waxing nostalgic, but I figured I'd vent my desire to regress into childhood. If you happen to have Legos and want to get rid of them, contact me!

Oh, and by the way - "lego" in Homeric Greek (λέγω) can mean "to gather" (LSJ), and it is used at least once in the context of "picking out stones for building a wall" (Ody. 18.359). A similar meaning is given to the Latin, lĕgo (Lewish & Short). The original name "Lego" is derived from the Danish leg godt, meaning "play well" (Wikipedia).

Wikindx anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

2008-01-12T20:52:00.000-05:00

Does anyone out there know how to implement Wikindx on a site hosted by Yahoo? Anyone . . . ? Anyone . . . ? The James Bibliography on ΑΓΑΠΗΣΕΙΣ reminds me of a project I've had on the back burner. I've been meaning to put together a James bibliography for some time now, but I've wanted to do it in the database format that the "Paul and Scripture" section of SBL has been using [link]. I haven't done so, mainly because of my ignorance with MySQL and PHP (which are needed to implement Wikindx). So, if there is anyone out there who knows how to implement Wikindx on a site that's hosted on Yahoo, I'd love some pointers!

UPDATE: Thanks to the help of the wikindx creator, Mark Grimshaw, I have been able successfully install the program. See http://www.oldinthenew.org/wikindx3. Of course the bibliography is not fully developed yet - given that there are only 3 entries!

Epistle of James Bibliography at ΑΓΑΠΗΣΕΙΣ

2008-01-12T20:44:00.000-05:00

"Zephyr," at ΑΓΑΠΗΣΕΙΣ, has been posting a running bibliography on "Recent Scholarship" on the Epistle of James [link]. It's a great list, and I'm sure it will continue to grow [see his latest update]. If you know of any more texts, be sure to submit them by way of the comments!

Overdue Overhall

2008-01-12T20:31:00.000-05:00

I just realized that this site does not display correctly in Internet Explorer. I'm gonna have to fix that. I'm thinking about moving over to WordPress as well... Hmmm... Sorry for the inconvenience. Though I doubt I inconvenienced many!