Do You Want An Autographed Bible?

Rumor has it, there's a special copy available at certain local stores...

N.T. Wright Clip of the Day - Evil

Here's a clip of the esteemed bishop giving his pitch, of sorts, for one of his great popular (as in for everyone, not just scholars) books, Evil and the Justice of God. 


In this book N.T. Wright lays out his critique of modern Western culture's failure to recognize evil for what it is, and for going about "solving" the problem of evil through arrogant, misguided, harmful,  and 
ultimately ineffective means (which is an intregal part of his take on post-Enlightenment thought), while  infecting at least part of the Church with this mindset along the way. 

What Did a Synagogue of Jesus' Time Look Like?

If you enjoy reading the Bible, you might enjoy the Gospels. And if you're one who enjoys the Gospels, you probably try to picture what Jesus'  ministry was like. Part of that ministry involved teaching, reading, and speaking in synagogues in and around Palestine.

Well, what was a synagogue like there? The Gospel writers give us little to no details. Was it like a small bungalow? Was it a marble building? Was it akin to a Greek stadium? For those answers, check out this informative and concise article by Paul Flesher:
What Did a Synagogue of Jesus' Time Look Like?

Free Online Academic Bibles Are Now Available!

Right now, everyone in the world has free access to some of the best (arguable) scholarly work on the biblical texts. The internet is awesome.


I'm not sure how long this site has been up, but the German Bible Society (Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft), which is well-known among Bible scholars for their critical editions of the Bible and apocryphal texts, have published them online for your viewing pleasure!

Bibleworks Manuscripts

Ok, so this alone almost makes me want to get Bibleworks 9.
Bibleworks 9 - the MSS Tab

For those who may not be textual biblical text nerds, this is obviously a good idea that I've dreamed of using one day, but clearly a lot of work at the same time. Basically, what it does is let you look at specific biblical manuscripts as you look at certain verses of the Bible. This way you can analyze for yourself the manuscripts and perhaps do some textual criticism for yourself, instead of depending solely on published critical editions.

Just think how useful and crazy awesome this would be if every ancient witness to the text were digitally imagined and searchable in this way...

And as a side note, the more at least some people start (hopefully) reading manuscripts, the more and more they'll see how the Koine pronunciation of this time was akin to how the esteemed Dr. Randall Buth lays it out here: http://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/assets/pdf/PRONSYS1_US.pdf.
(I did see an εκει spelled εκι in the video...)

Would It Be Ok To Burn the Koran?

If you said no to the title of this post and you're honest to yourself, the following link should just rankle you silly, Iranians Seize 6500 Bibles, Burn 300.


Remember Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who made all the fuss in burning ONE Koran? Will those non-Muslims (at least for the sake of argument) who were offended at such insensitivity now condemn the action of the Iranian government here? Is there any reason they shouldn't if they claim to be fair to all people?


(By the way, I don't think it's ok to burn a Koran. I'd rather have someone actually read it [I know, I know, translations aren't inspired..., but you can get a "gist,"at least] and get back to me. :) )

N.T. Wright Clip of the Day - Character

This is why Christians don't live "good" or moral in order to "get to heaven" or "avoid hell."

Here's N.T. Wright succinctly giving the biblical rationale for developing character and virtue, keeping in mind the proper eschatology.

After You Believe

What Do Most Americans Think Jesus Did?

I find this fascinating. On one of the blog sites I follow via RSS, the Friendly Atheist, the author shared a video of a secular Jew telling what she knows about Jesus' life by piecing together bits from Christmas stories specials (which I admit, I haven't seen many of, if at all...) and the trailer for the Passion of the Christ. Here's a link to the page: A Secular Jew Explains the New Testament

Now, before perhaps a Christian shrugs it off before looking at: Yes, I know it's a semi-impromptu synopsis of the Gospels and NOT the New Testament, but just remember, the blogger Hemant's expertise isn't in the biblical texts. And that's fair enough since he doesn't claim to be (and I take his comment "Sounds perfect to me" to just be him being facetious, hence the :)). And just think, how well do most Christians know the Gospels beyond several snippets?

Machine Gun Preacher

Thanks goes to my brother Stephen for sharing this:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/machinegunpreacher/

Now, I know nothing at all beyond the trailer. But I have a few questions to throw out there:

Does this show what a genuine faith could look like which takes the good news to heart that God created and redeemed this world through the work of Israel's Messiah Jesus, and through his Spirit he sets people apart (sanctifies) to be part of his restoring purposes?

Craigs Evans on the "Third Quest" of Jesus Studies

If you're interested in what's been called the "Third Quest" of Jesus studies, or have never heard of the various "Quests," you'll find this short interview with Craig Evans interesting:
The Future of Historical Jesus Studies.

This is something N.T. Wright covers as well in detail in volume 2 of his Magnum Opus, "Jesus and the Victory of God" (isn't that an awesome title?). It's a book I'd highly recommend to anyone who wants to check out the Gospels in a fresh perspective, while looking at the big narrative picture in the Bible and incorporating much of what we know from modern Jesus research and Second Temple sources we've now discovered in the past century.

I've attached an Amazon link below if you want to give it a look:

What Did Jesus Look Like?

I say an article about a week back about Rembrandt's painting(s) of Jesus on Veith's blog (The Face of Jesus). 


What's interesting to me is two things, and they both are related. One, how different people in different ages and countries have depicted Jesus in art. I think it's healthy and good to have Jesus looking different, aka, not ALWAYS a 1st century Galiliean (though those are probably my favorite ones...). This personalizes him and can move people to engage the good news with their senses. Of course, the good news itself that Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead is God's power (Romans 1), but that power works psychologically and through our senses. 

The KJV, Tyndale, and Translating the Good News

The infamous N.T. Wright recently presented a paper in London at the International SBL conference on Bible Translation. I've given the link here: N.T. Wright SBL Monarch's Message.

This is a must read for anyone involved in the current dialog and debates about which Bible translation(s) to use, and whoever has interest into the story and development of the 1611 King James Bible.

That's not in the Bible...

Have any one of you "liturgical" guys out there found yourselves in a similar discussion?

Talking With Biblicists

Quite the Useful Term, Christianism

I just may be slow, but I came across the term "Christianism" in a recent blog post and it caught my eye. The link is here: CHRISTIANISM REDUX. 


The concise definition he gives is: "the fusion of politics and religion for the advancement of political goals." Nifty, eh?

Has the New Atheist Movement Fizzled Out?

As a sort of follow-up to my previous post on New Atheism, The Naive Epistemology of the New Atheist Movement, a recent book was published by Anglican priest Alister McGrath on the sort of "fizzling" of the New Atheist movement. I've only read excerpts, but it looks promising! 


I mean, I have noticed personally that on several (by several, I mean 20+) of the prominent "atheist" blogs (which for the time will remain nameless) I regularly follow that the bloggers tend to keep repeating the same basic ideas, and thereby not really advance much discussion or ideas...


Here is a link to a concise review:
Book Review: "Why Won't God Go Away" by Alister McGrath