SBL: The Sessions, Preliminary Schedule, if I don’t become a lemming
Posted by Joel in Biblioblogging on November 18, 2010
Can you spot Jeremy Thompson?
I will be attending only but a few days – Sunday and Monday. Just enough, really, to get a few sessions in and attend the 2nd Annual Biblioblogger dinner on Sunday night. I have a roommate who is too embarrassed to know me and asked me not to reveal who he or she is. (I’m trying to use more inclusive language, although, there are times that I really don’t know the gender of my roomie).
Anyway, there are plenty of sessions that I want to attend at the 9am-11:30 section, but that means I would have to leave my house at midnight. If I don’t make it for that….
I’ll start my day at 1pm. I most likely will attend P21-214 International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (they are the ones who translated the New English Translation of the Septuagint).
Then, rushing from there, I’ll attend between 4-6:30 p21-318 Functions of Apocryphal and Pseudepographal Writings in Early Judaism and Early Christianity Section. The theme for this section is 1st Enoch.
Let’s just be honest here – Throw in Septuagint, Deuteronomy, Wisdom or Deuterocanonical and I’m there.
Monday morning’s going to be tough… but most likely, I’ll end up at Wisdom and Apocalypticism in Early Judaism and Early Christianity Section/Qumran Section.
And of course, without question (okay, so a lot because Larry Hurtado is presenting on early Jewish monotheism too) the Biblioblogger section – s22-209
I’ll end my time at SBL with the Markan Literary Sources Seminar, which will feature Adam Winn as a presenter.
Thoughts on War in the Bible and Terrorism in the 21st Century, Essay 3 – Toward Shalom: Absorbing the Violence
Posted by Joel in Book Review, Religion and Politics on November 18, 2010
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For an introduction to the series, see here.
Elmer A. Martens, a co-editor of this volume and a Professor Emeritus at the Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary, brings us the second essay which attempts to answer, somewhat, Regina Schwartz‘s book which called for the end of Monotheism. In this essay, Martens attempts to answer the charges against the Cross as a symbol of a violent and uncaring God, but doesn’t exclude the fact that their is violence in Holy Writ, and that God does at times cause it. What is interesting is first his notion of shalom, which while we tend to think that it fits neatly as ‘peace’, really doesn’t, and second, his view of the absorption of violence by the believers, but most notably, by the Cross.
While I enjoyed his theme overall and found him honest in his treatment of Old Testament violence, I found his translation attempts compelling. Admittedly, I know nothing of Hebrew except to find someone who does. In examining his translation of I found that it is allowable. And if it is allowable, it is, well, preachable:
Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.
Essentially, Martens seeks to translates the eschatological bent out of the English versions and instead, read it prophetically. His demand is that the text is better served as translated, ‘Now, it will come about that whenever…the mountain of the House…many peoples will come….and they will hammer their swords into plowshares…’. Martens contends that this era of peace herein described is attainable now. He goes to write ‘God’s intent is peace’ (p38), and shows throughout his essay that God’s interaction and intervention with humanity is about peace, which culminates in the Incarnation which for all time absorbed the violence of sin.
Superbowl and Texas, the den of depravity
Posted by Joel in Religious News on November 18, 2010
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It’s the seedy side of the Super Bowl. While thousands of fans flock to whichever city each Super Bowl is held, so do sex traffickers. The problem of sex trafficking is already huge in Texas. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services The state may account for 25% of all human trafficking victims, with thousands women and children trafficked in and through the state each year. Not all of them are forced into sex slavery. Some are forced into other work. But Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says the problem is big- and getting worse. He’s convened a Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force which is now focusing its efforts on making sure Super Bowl 2011 in Arlington doesn’t signal open season for sex trafficking.
A pretty eye opening statistic, if you ask me.
Related articles
- Sex Trafficking Survivor Wins Freedom Award For Fighting Slavery (humantrafficking.change.org)
- Hate Human Trafficking? Call Your Congressman Nov. 17 Regarding HR 5575 (oklahomawomen.blogspot.com)
Community, From the Beginning to the End
Posted by Joel in Devotional on November 18, 2010
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This is actually a conglomeration of thoughts from two classes this week.
In the first class, the topic of community and individualism came up. To think that we have always seen a push towards individualism is to not know the history of either civilization of Christianity. Just the opposite is true, which is why we read ‘body of Christ’, ‘we all’, and ‘We the People…’. (Although, in reality, the ‘People’ of that last document was only white, land owning males.’) The sense of corporate direction is present throughout human civilization and thought.
But, the press towards individualism came up again in the first class this week. My response was that from the very beginning, we were made for community, and depending on the Creation account, in community:
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
In the second account, man was created first and then woman. But, why? When Adam was created, he was alone. Nothing, no plant made for him, no animal made for him and all of Creation could not feel that gap in his humanity. So, God created Ishshah. Why? Because without another, a human is lonely.
And then, reading last night in Romans, someone brought up Romans 14 as a standout in which we read about the community of the Saints. (Or Romans 16, for that matter). If we are all one in Christ –
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
There was a community in the beginning which was purposed to commune with God; and now, we have a community of one another, to commune with God through Christ.
The Church
Posted by Newtaste in Other Posts on November 18, 2010
Thinking about this …
The tasks and responsibilities of the Church are determined by the nature of the Church. Bruce Milne.
Know the Truth: A Handbook of Christian Belief, Bruce Milne
In the Mail: The Sound of (Methodist) Music….
Posted by Joel in Book Review on November 17, 2010
Thanks to Michael at the University of Illinois press,
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From the product description:
Providing new insight into the Wesley family, the fundamental importance of music in the development of Methodism, and the history of art music in Britain, Music and the Wesleys examines more than 150 years of a rich music-making tradition in England. John Wesley and his brother Charles, founders of the Methodist movement, considered music to be a vital part of religion, while Charles’s sons Charles and Samuel and grandson Samuel Sebastian were among the most important English composers of their time. Exploring British concert life, sacred music forms, and hymnology, the contributors analyze the political, cultural, and social history of the Wesleys’ enormous influence on English culture and religious practices. Contributors are Stephen Banfield, Jonathan Barry, Martin V. Clarke, Sally Drage, Peter S. Forsaith, Peter Holman, Peter Horton, Robin A. Leaver, Alyson McLamore, Geoffrey C. Moore, John Nightingale, Philip Olleson, Nicholas Temperley, J. R. Watson, Anne Bagnall Yardley, and Carlton R. Young. Nicholas Temperley is professor emeritus of musicology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the author of The Music of the English Parish Church and other works. Stephen Banfield is Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of Music at the University of Bristol. His books include Sensibility and English Song: Critical Studies of the Early Twentieth Century.
41st and One-half Annual Open House Thanksgiving Community Dinner Thingie
Posted by Joel in Other Posts on November 17, 2010
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So here’s the thing –
Thanksgiving is around the corner. Surely, you know someone who doesn’t have a family, or maybe doesn’t like their family…. Why don’t you invite them, or if you are one of them, join with others, to celebrate the holiday together?
Remember, this is our 41.5th year doing this, so come on everybody!
For those of you in the Charleston, West Virginia area, I would like to invite you to join us!
