tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86371253519213360842024-03-15T18:10:14.407-07:00The Jesus BlogAnthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.comBlogger1489125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-9023290120860757372020-04-10T08:22:00.000-07:002020-04-10T08:22:04.213-07:00The Historical Jesus in the Time of Coronavirus by Joan TaylorThe Jesus Blog is pleased to host this guest post from <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/joan-taylor">Prof Joan Taylor</a>.<br />
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It is Easter, and yet this is not a year when we will get
together with family, or go to our churches and meetings to remember the events
of Jesus’s last days. We will not gather together to celebrate the proclamation
of his livingness. We are, in many parts of the world, in lockdown. We sign off
emails by saying “stay safe.” We are anxious, isolated, and unsure what the
future holds. We hear a lot about death. People are losing loved ones. It feels
as if there is a demon on the loose, and any one of us could be taken.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Recently, it was me. My husband and I got the virus, and we
went through the lonely days of seeing it play out. It felt like a creature
that could move in different ways in the body it inhabited. Along with a cough
and sore throat, for my husband it was headaches, muscle aches, tight chest,
and a bad rash. For me it was soft to begin with, then it went to a fever,
nausea, diarrhoea, loss of taste and smell, my nose feeling like it was
inflamed inside, and I had an immense tiredness. It took a different shape on
different days, and things went up and down. There was the fear it would turn
worse, go deep into the lungs, but finally it weakened. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the course of days when I couldn’t do much, I thought a
lot about Jesus of Nazareth, walking around Galilee, healing the sick. I
thought of how Jesus ‘rebuked’ the fever of Peter’s mother in law (Mark
1:30-31). I rebuked my fever! It made me think of how much the folk beliefs of
Jesus’s time would have made so much sense to people, before medical science
worked out what viruses were. Even with all the knowledge Google could give me,
the virus felt like a thing invading me and I wanted it evicted from my body. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There have been some great studies on how Jesus healed, by Stevan
Davies, John Dominic Crossan, Pieter Craffert, Elaine Wainwright, Graham Twelftree,
among others. Some scholars would say it was more a kind of psychosomatic
healing, or his healing had a placebo effect, because he couldn’t really have
cured anyone. Others look to anthropological models of how traditional healers
work. I started to get really intrigued by the immune system, and realised how
little we understand it. Covid-19 is mystifying because, while some people are succumbing
because of known factors that make the immune system weaker, others who are
strong and fit are also being defeated. It makes me think that somehow Jesus (like
other traditional/alternative healers but more so) could do something to strengthen
people’s immune systems very rapidly. When Jesus offered ‘release’ (the same
word as ‘forgiveness’ in NT Greek), what was the effect, not only emotionally
but physically, on the immune system? <o:p></o:p></div>
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As a Covid-19 sufferer, you are isolated, and fearful of
passing the virus on to anyone. You feel like you are a source of
contamination. No one should come near. You can only limp along together with a
fellow sufferer, if you are lucky. Anyone possessed by <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a demon who made them ill in Jesus’s
world was unclean, but Jesus, as a rule, directly touched people with his
hands. In Greek, the word for ‘heal’ in the Gospels is actually quite often the
same word for ‘save’, so synagogue ruler Jairus in Mark 5:23 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>falls at his feet and begs Jesus: ‘<span style="color: black;">My little daughter is at the point of death: please come
and lay your hands on her, so that she may be healed/saved, and she will live.’
It makes me think also about soothing touch, and what that also does to our
immune systems. Yet here we are, and we cannot touch each other.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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One thing that struck me too is that Jesus ‘saved’ people
from the grip of demons/illnesses, and never apparently got sick himself, at
least not in what the Gospels tell us. I have never noticed this before, that in
a place where there were deadly diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid, it is
actually an unstated miraculous feature that neither Jesus nor those to whom he
passed on his power, who were commissioned to anoint people with oil and drive
out demons (Mark 6:13), were hit with contagious illnesses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What we are experiencing in terms of mortality in this
disease is still not as bad as for people of the ancient world. There were not
that many old people, for a reason. Children often died. Your spouse and close
family members could die of some illness anytime. We are told that Jesus, with
a reputation as a healer, gathered huge crowds. You bet he did!<o:p></o:p><br />
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I am very grateful now to be almost recovered. I know a lot
of people were praying for us, sending us blessings and positive energy, and I
felt that powerful warmth of care. I strongly believe it made a difference and
am enormously thankful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But I have also reflected on the causes of this particular
virus, unleashed from a market trading in rare wild animals, ripped out of their
natural habitats for the sake of human greed. We have a clear chain from the
exploitation and abuse of the natural world to our current crisis, from greed
to death. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jesus is quite clear that God and nature are firmly on one
side. The earth itself, the natural world, is in the hands of God, and operates according to God's design and care. Jesus looks to nature in his parables to understand what the Kingdom of God is about: God feeds birds and clothes flowers, and thus nature communicates God's message (Mark 4:26-32; 13:30; Matt. 6:25-33). In the 'Nature Miracle' stories Jesus and nature are linked: Jesus can calm down a storm, multiply more food to feed people gathered in community to hear him, or expect water to take his weight and walk on it (mark 4:35-41; 6:30-52; 9:1-10). </div>
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Recently there have been the odd voices saying that somehow
God has sent this virus as a punishment for sins, of one kind of another. However,
in Jesus’s teaching, God does not punish people by nature, though nature will
eventually join with God in the ‘birthpangs’ of the new age (Matt. 24:7-8). Jesus is clear
that illness is not actually from God; it is from Satan. Jesus fights against
Satan and all his minions.</div>
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In the present time, for Jesus, God makes the sun come up and sends rain on good and bad alike, and accidents happen here without God punishing anyone either (Matt. 5:45; Luke 13:2-5). Nature sustains humans, and God directs natural processes, with all their benefits and hazards to humans included. Nevertheless, in Jesus's teaching God does not presently have unfettered rule of the world; that is for when the Kingdom comes. To be on the side of God now, we are to care for the sick, the weak and the marginal, and for creation. We are to tend seeds, watch birds, and take lessons from the mustard trees (Mark 4:30-32).</div>
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For Jesus it's the human will, like Satan, that is outside God's control in this age. Human decisions are made by free choice. And we can make very bad decisions. Jesus really warns against greed (Luke 12:15). We can choose to be greedy, wilfully hurt nature and God's creatures and bring disaster upon ourselves.</div>
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So now, at Easter 2020, as I reflect on Jesus, I am left feeling both grateful to be better and also sad. I am sorry we all have to go through this, and lose so much. I study Jesus as a historian, but I also learn from Jesus. I hope this crisis can help us all understand more about Jesus and his call for people to repent. I hope we can share his beautiful vision of a transformed, better world.</div>
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<br />Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-70570813545104694192020-04-04T17:50:00.000-07:002020-04-04T17:50:10.563-07:00Le Donne BooksHi all,<br />
<br />
I've created a new website that features my writing projects:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://ledonnebooks.com/">LeDonneBooks.com</a><br />
<br />
-anthonyAnthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-54758649292474951692019-12-13T06:04:00.003-08:002019-12-13T06:04:42.967-08:00Larry Hurtado Scholarship Fund at the University of Edinburgh<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHyH40EQwvWHGfUS5BYAJvx3a61zMOaK4MJJfJlmUxvC_uqlFaWObybob35WRnw_qprhBM_aeBCt2OaIxYXt8hucT3xFMbQsz9bbcF6UTdiLthp2Jtbu8_MOTIo0ydgdfpMlRXhwI64bs/s1600/Hurtado+black+and+white.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="700" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHyH40EQwvWHGfUS5BYAJvx3a61zMOaK4MJJfJlmUxvC_uqlFaWObybob35WRnw_qprhBM_aeBCt2OaIxYXt8hucT3xFMbQsz9bbcF6UTdiLthp2Jtbu8_MOTIo0ydgdfpMlRXhwI64bs/s320/Hurtado+black+and+white.jpg" width="320" /></a><b>Professor Larry Hurtado PhD Scholarship Fund</b><br />
<br />
Larry devoted his life to building up the study of New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh, and many PhD students from all over the world have benefited from his friendship and guidance. In an effort to remember Larry's legacy, and even to build on it in a small way, we are delighted to announce the establishment of a new scholarship fund in honour of Larry. It will be known as the Professor Larry Hurtado Scholarship and will<br />
support a PhD candidate at the School of Divinity working in the area of Christian Origins. We would very much value your support in this venture.<br />
<br />
To give online go <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/support/professor-larry-hurtado-phd-scholarship-fund">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Alumni and friends who are taxpayers in the USA can support the University through the University of Edinburgh USA Development Trust <a href="http://www.edinburghtrust.org/make-gift">here</a>. <br />
<br />
<br />
Tributes to Professor Hurtado can be found <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/news-events/latest-news/professor-larry-hurtado">here</a>.Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-65247125143876949242019-12-02T19:12:00.000-08:002019-12-02T19:36:07.869-08:00In Memory of Larry W. Hurtado—Chris Keith<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTE92fpG5j7qpKPMVONwhR9C5LNoZn2TdGPvkpbjXrHNoGnAvN7Zt1lFU9hECWZVhvLAhAJRQoVV5QAI43bNJxe05lpg0qhjFD8CdSjuifKlWYq43XM-PP_pui3BY10ARivGvwtMxtqoc/s1600/Hurtado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTE92fpG5j7qpKPMVONwhR9C5LNoZn2TdGPvkpbjXrHNoGnAvN7Zt1lFU9hECWZVhvLAhAJRQoVV5QAI43bNJxe05lpg0qhjFD8CdSjuifKlWYq43XM-PP_pui3BY10ARivGvwtMxtqoc/s320/Hurtado.jpg" width="320" /></a>My friend and mentor, Larry W. Hurtado, passed from this
life on Monday, November 25. It was Monday night of the Society of Biblical
Literature meeting in San Diego, CA. Somehow it was fitting that Larry departed
while the rest of us were at SBL. Larry loved SBL and was always in top form at
receptions, recalling the events of the day, making introductions, and
generally holding court. I heard about his death as soon as I entered the
T&T Clark reception; it was something of a silver lining to a terribly dark
cloud to receive the news while surrounded by so many of his former Edinburgh
students and colleagues. We raised more than one pint in his honor that night
and I think he would have liked that. I had just texted Larry on Saturday night
from another reception, sending him a picture of me and Paul Middleton, another
of his former students, letting him know that he was missed. His text back was
ominous, telling me he would soon send an email update on his health and that
it looked like it was the end. I received the email on Sunday morning in my
hotel room and exchanged some further emails about plans for his library. That
was last time I heard from him.</div>
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It’s hard to put into words Larry’s impact on me and his
other students. Others have written eloquent tributes that have focused upon
his contributions to scholarship, his faith, and devotion to his wife, Shannon.
All that is true and deserving of recognition, but I want to mention also some
other matters. Larry was, in wonderful ways, a hard person to categorize. He
was a Missourian and Pentecostal pastor who moved away from both but never
quite left either altogether. American evangelicals loved Larry because of his
arguments for early high Christology and flocked to study with him, but he was
not nearly as conservative as many thought he was and did not think that early
Jesus followers’ Christology was necessarily “true” because it was “early” or “high.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Theological truth was another category for
him, and he was adamant that no one was going to come to Edinburgh and argue
their presuppositions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In some ways he was a throwback historical critic who really
did fit entirely within the British academic scene rather than the American one.
Larry loved a pint, a pipe, and cursing. He was a ferocious champion for his
students but also a harsh critic. He suffered no fools in print or in his office,
and handed out few compliments. Once you finally received a compliment from
him, you felt as if you’d climbed a mountain and put a flag in the top. At the
same time, he was also genuinely warm, funny, and always had an open office
door. He took great pride in having brought back Edinburgh’s New Testament program
and great pride in his former students.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I cherish many conversations with him where he challenged
me, corrected me, encouraged me, and congratulated me, and have not time to
recount them all here. Instead, I pass along the most Hurtado-esque story I can
think of, one that has already gone down in SBL lore.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Larry’s <i>The Earliest Christian Artifacts</i> once received a
panel review at SBL. It was a packed room. Bart Ehrman took Larry to task for
doing “theology masked as history.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
offending matter was that Larry had labelled some of the papyri in his index
with the phrase “New Testament” even though there was no such thing as the “New
Testament” in the period to which those papyri were dated. Bart was right in
the criticism. Larry fought for a bit, but eventually threw his hands up in the
air and said, “Well, fuck it! I am a Christian.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I saw Larry’s face several times when this story was
recounted in his presence. I swear he took as much pleasure in the F-bomb as he
did in the confession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was Larry W.
Hurtado.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-220190189390035012019-11-01T07:46:00.001-07:002019-12-14T18:05:34.924-08:002019 JSHJ Board2019-20 editorial board for JSHJ:<br />
<br />
<b>Executive Editors</b> <br />
James G. Crossley <br />
Anthony Le Donne <br />
<br />
<b>Book Review Editor </b><br />
Michael Daise <br />
<br />
<b>Editorial Board </b><br />
Dale C. Allison, Jr <br />
Jonathan Bernier<br />
Michael F. Bird<br />
Helen Bond <br />
Pieter F. Craffert <br />
Tucker S. Ferda<br />
Tom Holmén <br />
Richard A. Horsley<br />
Obery Hendricks, Jr <br />
Thomas Kazen <br />
Chris Keith <br />
John S. Kloppenborg <br />
Amy-Jill Levine <br />
Esau Mccaulley<br />
Annette Merz <br />
Halvor Moxnes<br />
Sara Parks<br />
Rafael Rodríguez <br />
Sarah E. Rollens <br />
Jens Schröter <br />
Mitzi J. Smith<br />
Joan Taylor <br />
Graham H. Twelftree <br />
Robert L. Webb<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
-anthony</div>
Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-60146189688262273452019-04-17T14:01:00.002-07:002019-04-17T17:26:23.952-07:00Joan Taylor responds to the Israel Folau Controversy<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
The Jesus Blog is honored to, once more, feature a guest post from Joan Taylor, Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King's College, London. <br />
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Her latest book, by the way, is fascinating. Have a look:<br />
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<br />
On April 10, the Tongan-Australian Rugby star Israel Folau expressed on social media his views on God’s plan for gay people, namely: “HELL – unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.” He stated that "hell waits" for drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators. <br />
<br />
For this, he was hit with immediate censure. Rugby Australia decided to terminate his $4 million contract for breaching their code of conduct. The media and huge numbers of people around the world have joined together in condemning his remarks. He has now notified Rugby Australia of his intention to contest their decision.<br />
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He posted a saying from Jesus: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake” (Matt. 5:10-11). He has apparently expressed that he wants to do what God wills, and would sacrifice his rugby career. He is determined to follow what is written in the Bible.<br />
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And frankly it looks quite a lot like he is being severely condemned for quoting the Bible. This is a man of faith who wants to do the right thing. <br />
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In my view, the central problem is not with what is written in the Bible, but with certain Bible translations. The Bible was not written in English, and what is being quoted by Israel Folau as God-given wording is in fact a very dubious rendering of the original Greek. As someone who has spent my academic career working on the Bible and its historical context, I have long been worried about the way that passages of the Bible have been translated and/or interpreted to justify oppression rather than liberation, abuse rather than care. Over history, the Church has condoned numerous heinous crimes by basing itself on wrong understandings of what was written in the Bible. In this case, there is a glaring problem in the verse that Israel has used to justify his views. But he is, it seems, in a faith context in which this has not yet been explored. It is vital this is explored right now.<br />
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I am sure that Israel thinks he is abiding totally by what was written by the apostle Paul, using words that are part of Holy Scripture. When he stated that drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolators were bound for Hell he is resourcing a translation into English of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (6:7-10), written in Greek. There is a picture online of Israel Folau reading the Bible as translated into English in the King James version, produced in 1611, and here the passage reads:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
7.Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.</blockquote>
The trouble is that the Bible as quoted here is an old English translation that has been identified as seriously faulty. <br />
<br />
So let’s look at Paul, to begin with. He was on a mission to spread the word about Christ and worked hard to found churches. These were made up of men and women who were both slaves and non-slaves, Jews and non-Jews. Here in this passage he wanted to advise them about the right way of behaving, and deal with situations when they were harmed. Paul’s letter here is to the church he co-founded at Corinth, a Roman city in Greece, and this was a city in which men could behave badly. He starts off in this passage saying that Christian men should not go to court to challenge when they were defrauded of money. Actually, only free men could do this, but Paul says that even they should not try to seek justice in the court system. He then lists actions of men who were unrighteous and harmful and says – effectively – that they would not inherit the Kingdom of God. There was no point in seeking redress in court when harmed by them, because they would not be included in God’s perfect world when it came about anyway. <br />
<br />
This is not ‘Heaven’: the Kingdom of God’ is a kind of utopia, and there was a kind of karmic concept of good following good, bad following bad, though with the difference that God can intervene and forgive at any time with repentance and changed actions, and you try to live now as if living in the Kingdom. And it is full of surprises. As Jesus said to the legal experts of his time, “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matt. 21:31).<br />
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Would the wrongdoers go to Hell? In Paul’s way of thinking there was not really ‘Hell’ as such. “Hell”, as a later concept, was a blend of Roman Tartarus (a place of punishment), Gehenna (a rubbish tip where things got incinerated), and Hades/Sheol (a shadowy world of death-sleep). The King James version often translates the words Gehenna and Hades as “Hell”, so it is easy to get the wrong idea. Paul thinks of new life in Christ, in community, and a new way of being; the opposite of this was the punishment of destruction/death, given God’s anger about evil actions. This is not great, but it is not Hell (as in a place of torture), see 2 Thessalonians 1:8-10.<br />
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In terms of the apostle Paul’s own concerns with sexual immorality, Paul wanted people to be celibate like him, and even marriage was a concession (see 1 Corinthians 7), so he does not map on to contemporary understandings of relationships very well. Nevertheless, a key concern for Paul was love and respect. If I don’t have love, he said, I am just a sounding gong and clanging cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1): all noise, nothing else. I am convinced that what Paul wanted to see was loving relationships. The concern for loving, respectful behaviour underpins everything he says about how people relate to each other. Even the threat of death/destruction was designed to make people realise there was a chance for true life, here and in the future, and in this passage it is actually a prod towards forgiveness. The point is: do not seek redress in court. Let it go. Turn the other cheek. <br />
<br />
But who are the wrongdoers? What Paul wrote in his letters is not always crystal clear. Paul was very concerned here with the right way for men to behave, and Paul’s real concern is with abusive behaviour that attacked the weak. He is particularly concerned with what men should do, because men had the most power in society and could abuse, but we need to understand the behaviours in the light of what happened in the Graeco-Roman world in the first century, and the concerns are quite specific. <br />
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So, in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 we have a list of male vices. Being a male adulterer, for example, was a huge man-to-man abuse, in that the adulterer was ‘taking’ another man’s wife. My own translation of 1 Corinthians 6:9 would be: “Or do you not know that unrighteous men shall not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: neither whoremongers (<i>pornoi</i>), nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor spineless cowards (<i>malakoi</i>), nor ‘male-bedders’ (<i>arsenokoitai</i>), nor thieves, nor covetous, drunk or reviling men, shall inherit the Kingdom of God”. <br />
<br />
In the Greek text it seems very clear that the concern Paul has is with damaging male behaviour that would lead to a complaint by another man. All these can easily get lost in translations, done by different committees of translators at different times. So, one of the greatest outrages of Bible translation ever done has been that the word <i>arsenokoitai</i> is translated as ’homosexuals’ in many English Bibles from the 20th century onwards. The problem for all translators is that <i>arsenokoites</i> is a rare word. However, studies have shown that it is always associated with vices of seizing, or raping, and therefore it should be understood as involving male-on-male rape or coercion, and socially at the time it would be more connected with pederasts seizing boys. This behavior does not in any way map on ‘homosexuality’ as we understand it: it is not a word about same-sex love. It is a word describing abusers. To translate <i>arsenokoitai</i> as indicating homosexuals is utterly, totally mistaken, wrong, and itself a kind of abuse by faulty translation. <br />
<br />
In the Jerusalem Bible and New Revised Standard Version we have 'sodomites’, which would only be right if the sodomy was understood as forced. The King James Version has more vaguely 'abusers of themselves with mankind‘, which does at least still ensure that the fundamental concern is with abuse (though here it is of themselves). But all these get interpreted as indicating ‘homosexuals’ thanks to certain interpretive trends.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, <i>malakoi</i>, literally ‘softies’, indicates spineless cowards and weaklings in other comparable lists of male vices, but is translated in the King James Bible as ‘effeminate’, again making the Bible condemn male to female transgender people or indeed any male who seems to be ‘girly’ in the eyes of certain beholders. This again is wrong translation, and its ramifications are incredibly serious, as we see. <br />
<br />
I am summarising here what has been written about by excellent scholars of the Bible and in many books and articles by gay Christians. Among the best work, I recommend: Dale Martin, ‘Arsenokoités and Malakos: Meanings and Consequences,’ in Biblical Ethics and Homosexuality: Listening to Scripture, ed. by Robert L. Brawley (1996).<br />
<br />
How could such English translations be so wrong, you may ask? The problem is that the King James Bible translators did not have access to all the wealth of comparative Graeco-Roman texts we have today. Then, 20th-century translation teams have tended all too quickly to follow what had already been faultily established. In terms of modern English Bibles, I would like to say there is one that has got it right, but this is not yet so. We have a huge lag between scholarship on this passage and some better Bible edition that will sort out a translation that has been responsible for untold misery and misunderstanding.<br />
<br />
The passage in question is not the only one used by Christians to condemn homosexuality, but all of these other texts have also been shown to be either misinterpreted (not taking into account the historical and cultural contexts) or mistranslated. There is resistance to this correction. Once a view is formed, about the right wording, it is incredibly hard to change. But this change is absolutely vital. The Bible was not written in English. We sometimes need to work very hard to understand its meaning.<br />
<br />
Truly, however, Paul never wrote that ‘homosexuals’ are going to Hell unless they repent. His Greek words have been lost in translation, bent into a meaning that fitted a world intent on condemning gay people. It is one of the worst things that has ever happened to his words.<br />
<br />
And it is truly ironic that Israel Folau is accused of transgressing a code of conduct on account of abusive statements, when Paul was identifying precisely the harm done by <i>abusers</i>.
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #1d2228; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our thanks to Joan Taylor for this thoughtful reflection.</span></span></blockquote>
<br />Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-63734044956382684132018-10-27T10:48:00.002-07:002018-10-27T10:50:32.758-07:00Statement of Solidarity with our Jewish NeighborsThe following is a letter jointly authored by the faculty of United Theological Seminary, of which I count myself a member. This was written last year but seems relevant today.<div>
-anthony<br /><div>
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Statement of Solidarity with our Jewish neighbors</h4>
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March 24, 2017</div>
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In light of the demonstrable uptick in anti-Semitic incidents since November, we the Christian faculty at United Theological Seminary offer this statement of solidarity with our Jewish neighbors:</div>
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Locally and globally, we have observed bomb threats targeting Jewish centers and schools, desecrations of Jewish gravestones and defacements of Jewish institutions. While this has been a national trend, we witnessed one such incident at a local institution — a public act of hatred in the form of a swastika.</div>
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We are greatly disturbed by this trend along with its historical precedents and implications. Not only does this activity evoke the hostility toward Jewish life and culture in Europe leading up to the Shoah, it is a symptom of the present political climate in America. In short, we acknowledge that these are acts of terror specifically targeting our Jewish neighbors. We also acknowledge that these incidents are part of a larger social trend, one that injures a wider network of neighborly relationships. Recent reports of our Muslim neighbors who have helped to restore Jewish cemeteries after vandalism are inspiring. We count this show of friendship as a courageous example for Christian hospitality.</div>
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We therefore stand with our neighbors and denounce this trend as both anti-Semitic and anti-Christian. Such hatred stands in opposition to the good news upon which our faith is built. Central to historic Christian doctrine is extravagant love as taught by the author of our faith, a rabbi who was first and foremost a Jew. We believe that Jesus’ entire life was lived as a Jew and that his central mission sought the wellbeing of the Jewish people and their neighbors. We also believe that Jesus’ command to love our neighbors extends the ancient Jewish teaching that all humankind is made in the image of our Creator and deserves respect. As such, symbols of hate are an affront not only to those targeted but to all of G-d’s children.</div>
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At the same time, we acknowledge that Christian history is replete with examples of Christians perpetrating or condoning acts of hatred. We at United Theological Seminary hope that we can help to break this pattern and to seek the well-being of our Jewish neighbors. Toward that end, toward the world to come, we stand and will act as we are led in the days to come. If there is a seed of collaboration to be planted here, we stand at the ready to listen and to participate. We invite others in our community to do the same.</div>
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In determined hope,</div>
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The faculty of United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio</div>
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Peter Bellini<br />
Sarah Brooks Blair<br />
Presian Burroughs<br />
Wendy Deichmann<br />
Thomas Dozeman<br />
James Eller<br />
Phyllis Ennist<br />
Lisa Hess<br />
Harold Hudson<br />
Justus Hunter<br />
Vivian Johnson<br />
Scott Kisker<br />
Anthony Le Donne<br />
Luther Oconer<br />
Andrew Sung Park<br />
Joni Sancken<br />
Jerome Stevenson<br />
David Watson</div>
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Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-68236297900491047012018-10-25T12:40:00.003-07:002018-10-25T12:53:34.952-07:00Game of Thrones Religion Book<div class="tr_bq">
Everyone needs a hobby and mine is teaching seminarians at a United Methodist place of higher learning. My day job is that I think deeply about fantasy literature, fake religions, and real baseball. The <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JLNZB9G/" target="_blank">following book</a> thus combines two of my central professional interests. Moreover, it is presently the number one rated new release in the category of comparative religions on Amazon:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKeIRaa9O9vip82IwiacOgKFOXm8xbydGVqjjsuFASWipfLyQF8BcUWRytfsowzzWx2mVnNx2nHLmXWBDBj__eTi9OQKVa9hbq2t7yk8L9NDABHym_Ae17VHtONDsESkjSvpXDHp0KOw4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-25+at+3.27.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="895" data-original-width="1600" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKeIRaa9O9vip82IwiacOgKFOXm8xbydGVqjjsuFASWipfLyQF8BcUWRytfsowzzWx2mVnNx2nHLmXWBDBj__eTi9OQKVa9hbq2t7yk8L9NDABHym_Ae17VHtONDsESkjSvpXDHp0KOw4/s640/Screen+Shot+2018-10-25+at+3.27.03+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JLNZB9G/"><i>Gods of Thrones</i> </a>will do three things for you. It will explain the fictional religions in George R. R. Martin's fantasy. It will explain ancient and modern religions using examples from the novels and HBO show. And it will bring more texture to your favorite plots, characters, and fan theories by explaining how the ancient and medieval worlds worked.<br />
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Here is an excerpt:<br />
<blockquote>
Premodern Jewish mythology tells of a subhuman creation called the golem. In most iterations of the story, the golem is formed of clay or mud and then animated by a rabbi or sage. In early forms of the myth, the golem is unable to speak, lacking much intelligence. But the golem is usually obedient, following directions well (albeit taking some directions too literally). As the myth evolves in later centuries, the golem gets too large to control or goes on a violent rampage. The golem is created by writing the holy name of God (or a variation of it) on the creature’s forehead or inserting a piece of paper with the name into its mouth. In some stories, the word “truth” is used. In order to decommission the golem, one letter is removed, changing the word from “truth” to “dead”. The most famous golem myth is set in 16th-century Prague. In this story, the golem is created to protect Jews against anti-Semitic attacks. </blockquote>
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. . . perhaps the best analogy for Ser Robert Strong is the golem myth. First, both Frankenstein’s monster and Osiris are intelligent and able to speak. But like the golem, Ser Robert is mute and functions as an automaton. Second, neither Frankenstein’s monster nor Osiris serve as a personal bodyguard. But like the golem, Ser Robert’s primary purpose is to defend. Indeed he is reanimated specifically to fight Cersei’s enemies. Ser Robert’s story and golem mythology differ, however, in their religious significance. The golem is created by a holy man to defend the pious. By contrast, Ser Robert is reanimated by an infidel and thought to be an abomination. So it seems that Ser Robert Strong is stitched together using parts of multiple fictions.</blockquote>
As you can see, I take my day job very seriously.<br />
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-anthonyAnthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-28612281133869057082018-08-15T20:32:00.001-07:002018-08-15T20:32:22.959-07:00Jesus: A Beginner's Guide<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4JS6S9xtDt8Hh_Y9Xz9nVT6S4isB7bG8Dgs47cwb4HiJzEZ_M-o8APVYdsMzYFy4RnN8hBr3Bb5GYzfemMafXuUgoGdfYmrZJbfwTszTT1vFKzZKJSbNqh-bicX-PJ8Rt7napdc16C4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-03-07+at+1.34.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="468" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4JS6S9xtDt8Hh_Y9Xz9nVT6S4isB7bG8Dgs47cwb4HiJzEZ_M-o8APVYdsMzYFy4RnN8hBr3Bb5GYzfemMafXuUgoGdfYmrZJbfwTszTT1vFKzZKJSbNqh-bicX-PJ8Rt7napdc16C4/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-03-07+at+1.34.42+PM.png" width="207" /></a></div>
My <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Beginners-Guide-Anthony-Donne/dp/1786071444/">most recent book</a>, is now in print and can be purchased using your favorite legal currency. The idea with this book was to play in the space created by Jaroslav Pelikan. In other words, this is heavy on "Jesus through the centuries" and reception history. That said, the book begins with some basic historical Jesus elements and introduces early Christian literature. I conclude with a Jesus in pop-culture section. My hope is that this book might work as a supplementary text for classes on Christianity or World Religions.<br />
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Here is some praise for the book.<br />
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"I loved this book and will definitely be using it in my teaching. Hope the following will suffice: Le Donne's writing never fails to evoke, entertain and educate students - and this volume on Jesus is no exception. Covering Jesus' construction within historical enquiry to reception in pop culture this will be a welcome addition to the reading lists of many undergraduate programmes and an invaluable and accessible teaching resource."<br />
- Louise Lawrence, University of Exeter<br />
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'This little book punches far above its light weight. In Jesus: A Beginner’s Guide, Anthony Le Donne has given us an excellent short cultural history of Jesus. From the letters of Paul to the Gospel of Mary, from the Alexamenos graffito to Timothy Schmalz’s “Homeless Jesus,” from Clare of Assisi to Martin Luther King, Jr., it is all here, expertly narrated and beautifully illustrated." <br />
- Matthew V. Novenson, University of Edinburgh<br />
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"Fresh, punchy and perfectly crafted for those with little or no background in this field of study,<br />
Le Donne explains Jesus not only in terms of long ago, but through the centuries to today. He traces not one Jesus but many, each reshaped for different reasons. Ultimately, this book presents Jesus as a remarkably malleable entity, and yet a figure who is as critically relevant now as ever."<br />
- Joan E. Taylor, King's College London<br />
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"As fascinating as it is wide-ranging, Anthony Le Donne's Jesus: A Beginner's Guide is a master class on a two thousand year long tradition of questing for, commemorating, and creatively appropriating Jesus. From magic bowls to Muhammad Ali, and with equal parts wit and learning, Le Donne canvasses a captivating range of sources to produce an engrossing account of the one the most important figures in history."<br />
- David Lincicum, University of Notre Dame<br />
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Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-86260033181463431212018-08-13T10:02:00.000-07:002018-08-13T10:02:15.462-07:00A Book or FourI realized a few days ago that in 2017 and 2018 I've published 4 books. This, of course, is too many. Therefore it is highly likely that a couple of these books will not be good. I am sorry to say that I am too close to the problem to see it clearly. The best course of action is for you to buy all four and determine for yourself which of these books were not worth reading. I have just finished a rough draft of number five (due out in November) so you will have to wait until then to determine how bad that one is. The worst part of all of this is that I've neglected this blog too often as a result.<br />
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This week I plan to pick up the pace a bit by writing about my writing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlBR04bgRti-4Noa42TO1oxqw7W59cqXzEJp72ph6L6gi_Gi-jn0seQXVr8tE5shrZ2yo7Uh8gG4mnDGzZe9K2zloutfT3VAEVnUle7oAVg63jK13K8iyrTgtxDpSsayYZTI9UVtLTzM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-10-16+at+9.31.10+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlBR04bgRti-4Noa42TO1oxqw7W59cqXzEJp72ph6L6gi_Gi-jn0seQXVr8tE5shrZ2yo7Uh8gG4mnDGzZe9K2zloutfT3VAEVnUle7oAVg63jK13K8iyrTgtxDpSsayYZTI9UVtLTzM/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-10-16+at+9.31.10+PM.png" width="210" /></a><i><a href="http://www.hendrickson.com/html/product/070672.trade.html">Sacred Dissonance</a> </i>was cowritten with Larry Behrendt and published with Hendrickson. It is the book that took the longest and required the most of me in terms of emotion, new research, and personal reflection. Rather than recap the book, here is an email I wrote Larry yesterday.<br />
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Larry, it's been a minute since we discussed Xty/Judaism stuff. I had an experience this morning that I thought I'd share.<br />
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So for our birthdays (which are only days apart), Sarah and I bought each other a year-long Sunday subscription to the Times. When I had this idea I imagined myself sitting down with coffee and the paper on the front porch. That's exactly what I did this morning. I read a couple articles on the front page, looked at the best-seller list, and opened to the sports page. I can't tell you how much nostalgic joy I got from the tactile experience. So much of my youth was spent underlining stats and circling boxscores. There were no boxscores today. That was sort of jarring. But the AL and NL league leaders were there just as I remembered them. 20 years ago I might have written out several permutations of a trade to land Nick Markakis so I could flip him for some other player that always has a strong second half. Having the paper in my hands brought back the feeling of all of those wasted hours. With one key difference. The "leaders" section for batters begins with a category called "batting." This, of course, refers to batting average, a stat that I view with different eyes. For pitchers, the top categories is called "pitching." This is essentially a wins-losses stat. Not only do I look at this stat differently, I no longer care about it. It's interesting but it's not telling. Even so, I enjoy the experience of revisiting those old, outmoded categories. They are meaningful touchstones. They are part of the entire experience of holding a newspaper in my hands and wasting time with baseball. But nostalgia is almost always tinged with lament. I've changed. Baseball has changed. The world has changed.</blockquote>
This is not the place to reproduce the entire text or Larry's reply. The gist of this exchange was my sense that I experience the sacred far less now than I once did. Whether it is my relationship to the Church or baseball, I am simply in a different place than I once was. I have different categories by which I process the world. While I don't regret the path I've taken, I do miss crossing the border from mundane to sacred. This isn't a loss of faith or devotion. I still enjoy baseball (except when it sucks) and I still love my church (except when I don't). But my new categories incline me less to sacramental experience.<br />
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I think that my pursuit of Jewish-Christian dialogue was a decision to chase the sacred. In writing this book I wanted to understand what Larry finds sacred in Judaism and Jewishness. And I wanted to see my own tradition anew through his eyes. But the process of our dialogue has become sacred on another level. My pursuit of the sacred (because it's always something of social construct; see e.g. baseball) required some community of devotion. For me, people who are hanging out at the borders of Christianity are best equipped to help me process my own experience. Somewhere along the way, the process of dialogue itself became sacred to me. But, as the title of the book suggests, it is not a process that requires harmony of belief, praxis, or symmetry. It is an altogether different experience of the sacred.<br />
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-anthony<br />
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Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-536295028777790612018-06-10T11:33:00.004-07:002018-06-10T11:33:57.466-07:00BASP SubscriptionsI'm happy to pass along the following from William Johnson of Duke University. Some readers of the Jesus Blog may be interested in this offer for annual subscriptions to the <i>Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists</i>.<br />
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________________________________________<br />
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Dear colleagues,<div class="">
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If you have papyrological interests, I want to point out to you the great deal offered by the American Society of Papyrologists. <b class="">An individual ASP membership costs $35, and for that you will an annual subscription to the<i class="">Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists</i>, almost 400 pages of high-quality papyrology spanning a wide range of subject matter, from editions to essays.</b> Our new arrangement with Peeters Publishers allows us to offer this without shipping or other additional costs. </div>
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<b class="">Where else can you subscribe to a papyrological journal for $35? (Or $16 if you are a student!)</b></div>
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To become a member, simply go to:</div>
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<a class="" href="https://exchange-fr1.stmarys.ac.uk/owa/redir.aspx?C=Y7bD51pqUy4XnhfanyD_a-zVpI0hzViSomGmDiHtxc-xFfA6AM_VCA..&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.papyrology.org%2f" target="_blank">http://www.papyrology.org</a></div>
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and click on the membership button.</div>
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Memberships also go to support the Society’s other activities, for which see the blurb below.</div>
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With best wishes to you all,</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span><i class="">William Johnson</i></div>
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<i class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>Secretary-Treasurer, American Society of Papyrologists</i></div>
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Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-63480813268941283592018-06-10T05:50:00.003-07:002018-06-10T11:31:38.818-07:00Kiffiak Book GiveawayOver at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ZurichNewTestamentBlog/posts/1792434940838261">Zurich New Testament Blog</a>, they're running the following promotion for a free copy of Jordash Kiffiak's <i>Responses in the Miracle Stories of the Gospels</i> (WUNT 2; Mohr Siebeck). Readers of the Jesus Blog may have interest in winning this study of over 700 pages!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-L6DQucd03w6wiPFD_y_NEJZc3Mn5zYIZLg9AcNxrNEjTwX4sUQOyd5RlR2ixIp2iCYxoimf6Vq4jiP1XrV82T376VDiPXiLWTzkSXy7pUhR0uFWMp_5K8Rv7ehTVu1e4v6aRp-qNu6Pr/s1600/Kiffiak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; clear: right; color: #1d2129; float: right; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-L6DQucd03w6wiPFD_y_NEJZc3Mn5zYIZLg9AcNxrNEjTwX4sUQOyd5RlR2ixIp2iCYxoimf6Vq4jiP1XrV82T376VDiPXiLWTzkSXy7pUhR0uFWMp_5K8Rv7ehTVu1e4v6aRp-qNu6Pr/s400/Kiffiak.jpg" width="300" /></a><br />
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This is your chance to win a FREE COPY of the acclaimed, 700+ page study by Jordash Kiffiak, “Responses in the Miracle Stories of the Gospels”!</div>
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The book has been praised by Andreas Lindemann in no uncertain terms:</div>
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Man wird bei einem derart umfangreichen, m. E. im besten Sinne als „innovativ“ zu bezeichnenden Werk Fragen und Einwände vorbringen können. Gleichwohl scheint mir die Studie von Jordash Kiffiak im Ansatz und in der sorgfältigen Durchführung der Frage nach der Bedeutung der „responses“ in den Wundererzählungen in ganz besondere Weise erwähnenswert zu sein.</div>
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(“With such an enormous work - and in my opinion one to be labeled ‘innovative’ in the best sense of the word - one might be able to raise questions and objections. Nevertheless the study of Jordash Kiffiak in its approach and meticulous execution regarding the question of the meaning of the ‘responses’ in the miracle stories appears to me to be worthy of mention in a very exceptional way.”)</div>
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To take part in the competition, you’ll need to do two things.</div>
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1. Write a two- or three-sentence comment, telling us why you need this volume from Mohr Siebeck’s WUNT II series.</div>
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2. Submit a one-page (500 words max.) piece, giving a fuller explanation of your rationale.</div>
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The prize will be awarded on the basis of not only logical argumentation but also creativity!</div>
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Note: this competition is for graduate students. Your document will need to have your full name, status (MA student, PhD candidate), program/specialization (NT, early Christianity, early Judaism etc.), current year of studies, title of MA thesis (if relevant) or PhD thesis, and the name of your institute. Send it to jordash.kiffiak@uzh.ch by Thursday 14 June 2018.</div>
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You can read a blog post summarizing the book <a href="https://www.uzh.ch/blog/theologie-nt/2017/07/29/characters-responses-to-miracles-in-the-gospels/">here</a>:</div>
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All the best!</div>
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Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-31783733320826434202018-05-02T09:19:00.001-07:002018-05-02T19:34:55.038-07:00"Christian Origins and Social-Scientific Criticism: Past, Present, and Future" Schedule—Chris Keith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUi_zj3b1mZKFlQBGbpxMIVFY3KzzJkk4ZmfdeToY0Mb28H-aLLBEsODyEQUboHAadEcy-ic-zzobfBiOuSaW9A8LY7Revi0bWx_zI3_vVqLXF_Rvi91QBz1Bjh4vvyVIb917QUC5Ximx7/s1600/St+Mary%2527s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="674" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUi_zj3b1mZKFlQBGbpxMIVFY3KzzJkk4ZmfdeToY0Mb28H-aLLBEsODyEQUboHAadEcy-ic-zzobfBiOuSaW9A8LY7Revi0bWx_zI3_vVqLXF_Rvi91QBz1Bjh4vvyVIb917QUC5Ximx7/s400/St+Mary%2527s.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I'm happy to share the schedule for the <a href="https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/research/centres/social-scientific-biblical-studies-centre/overview.aspx">Centre for the Social-Scientific Study of the Bible</a>'s upcoming conference on May 25 at <a href="http://www.stmarys.ac.uk/">St Mary's University, Twickenham</a> on "Christian Origins and Social-Scientific Criticism: Past, Present, and Future." If you've not registered yet and would like to join us, you can do so <a href="https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/events/2018/05/christian-origins-and-social-scientific-criticism">here</a>.<br />
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‘Social-Scientific Criticism’ now serves in New Testament
studies as an umbrella term for a variety of critical approaches to early
Christianity, which include cultural anthropology, social identity theory, social
history, ancient and modern media studies, memory theories, human geography,
ancient and modern politics, race theory, trauma studies, and others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This conference gathers leading scholars to discuss the progress of the scholarly discourse from
initial applications to the current state, as well as offer
thoughts about the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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8.00–9.00<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Registration<o:p></o:p></div>
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9.00–9.10<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Welcome <o:p></o:p></div>
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9.10–9.20<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Introduction to
the Conference (Chris Keith)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Session 1: Theoretical Origins and Texts<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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9.20–9.50<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘From Honour and
Shame to Theorizing Christian Origins’ (John Kloppenborg)<o:p></o:p></div>
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9.50–10.20<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Competitive Textualization
in the Jesus Tradition’ (Chris Keith)<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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10.20–10.50<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘The Letter to Titus
as a Site of Memory’ (Michael Scott Robertson)<o:p></o:p></div>
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10.50–11.20<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>coffee and tea break<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Session 2: Violence and Identity<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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11.20–12.10<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Violence as Social
Currency in Early Christianity’ (Sarah Rollens)<o:p></o:p></div>
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12.10–12.40 <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘The Death of John
the Baptist and the Sociology of Beheading in the Ancient World’ (Nathan Shedd)<o:p></o:p></div>
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12.40–1.00<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Open Discussion<o:p></o:p></div>
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1.00–2.00 <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lunch<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Session 3: Space and Language<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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2.00–2.40 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Diverse Futures of Social-Scientific
Criticism of the New Testament: Affective, Spatial, Cognitive, and Digital
Turns’ (Louise J. Lawrence)<o:p></o:p></div>
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2.40–3.20<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Apocalyptic Language in the New Testament:
Can Cognitive Linguistics <o:p></o:p></div>
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Help?’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Jamie Davies)<o:p></o:p></div>
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3.20–3.40<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>coffee and tea
break<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Session 4: Ethnicity, Race, and Ideology<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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3.40–4.10<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Whose Race Needs
to be Noted? Further Reflections on Whiteness and Biblical Studies’ (David
Horrell)<o:p></o:p></div>
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4.40–5.10<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>‘Social-Scientific
Criticism and the Bible: Investigating Ideological Trend’ (Taylor Weaver)<o:p></o:p></div>
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5.10–5.30<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>coffee and tea
break<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Session 5: Politics and Social-Scientific Criticism<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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5.30–6.00<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Keynote
Address:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Cults, Martyrs, and Good
Samaritans’ (James Crossley)<o:p></o:p></div>
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6.00–6.20<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Respondent:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hannah Strømmen<o:p></o:p></div>
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6.20–6.40<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Respondent:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yvonne Sherwood<o:p></o:p></div>
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6.40–7.00<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Discussion<o:p></o:p></div>
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7.00<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>supper at La
Dolce Vita for those who have reserved a place, otherwise the St Mary’s dining
room will be open<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-65194068625496237252018-04-11T12:06:00.002-07:002018-04-11T12:06:21.594-07:00Adele Reinhartz on the Gospel of John—Chris Keith<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMDKgf22ktxl4vSJFu7VCZ_OJuzd3Zffl3gkVL7X79c0cfrYgoIPtim9EtqPKTU37aK3SP4VkqV5sr_M7XKIGD5S76iG_TPVi023MnyNEtfPgqXntj76LWY5Nu55NK_sYl49JUbWc3ani/s1600/Adele.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMDKgf22ktxl4vSJFu7VCZ_OJuzd3Zffl3gkVL7X79c0cfrYgoIPtim9EtqPKTU37aK3SP4VkqV5sr_M7XKIGD5S76iG_TPVi023MnyNEtfPgqXntj76LWY5Nu55NK_sYl49JUbWc3ani/s320/Adele.jpg" width="320" /></a>Over at <i><a href="http://www.ancientjewreview.com/articles/2018/2/24/reflections-on-my-journey-with-john-a-retrospective-from-adele-reinhartz">Ancient Jew Review</a></i>, Adele Reinhartz has a fascinating retrospective on her contributions to the scholarly study of the Gospel of John. Johannine scholars will no doubt recognize Reinhartz as a giant in the field, and rightly so. She pitches these thoughts as a "break-up" with the Beloved Disciple, however. She notes that she's come to abandon her three-tiered reading of the Fourth Gospel, thereby abandoning also the (still dominant) idea that the Gospel tells us something concrete about the Johannine community. She now affirms that the Gospel moves on a "historical level" and a "cosmological level," not an "ecclesiological level." She also notes that she's now convinced that the Fourth Gospel's anti-Judaism is not simply part of its overall narrative package, which it offers to Jewish readers, but the core of its rhetorical construction, which it offers to Gentile readers. The whole retrospective is fascinating, and Reinhartz's work is as important now as it has ever been.<br />
<br />Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-8227819820623012842018-04-09T05:52:00.000-07:002018-04-09T05:52:17.120-07:00Another Fake Bites the DustI confess that whenever I hear about some newly discovered bit of fancy material evidence, I'm immediate skeptical. This was the case when I first learned of the so-called Jordan Codices. It turns out that caution <a href="http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/jordan-codices%E2%80%99-proven-fake-%E2%80%94-doa">was indeed warranted</a>. While the artifact uses ancient materials, they are most likely forged says the Department of Antiquities Director General, Monther Jamhawi.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0e8qG2k7gqFe5d31MmK2SZROFldQnJUi63I1kgipYzbKuLiPqn1cEfCQs8_7l41IODIEpK-ktQ0QHjA9dQerrpl174dMEKNh1zrYwZXPLoXaqXFKoUqtZ9BrFBwzlsePwB2B5VYyqo8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-04-09+at+8.28.05+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="615" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy0e8qG2k7gqFe5d31MmK2SZROFldQnJUi63I1kgipYzbKuLiPqn1cEfCQs8_7l41IODIEpK-ktQ0QHjA9dQerrpl174dMEKNh1zrYwZXPLoXaqXFKoUqtZ9BrFBwzlsePwB2B5VYyqo8/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-04-09+at+8.28.05+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
The trouble, it seems to me, is twofold as we lay another forgery to rest.<br />
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1. Forgers are good at their jobs and getting better.<br />
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2. Media coverage of the fraud will always been less than the coverage of the initial "discovery."<br />
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These two points are related. One wonders if the goal of the forgers isn't to fool folks only for a few years. A few years is enough time to ride a media wave and monetize it.<br />
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Bottom line: one doesn't need to fool experts forever; one only needs to rely on the facts that it will take a few years for refutation and that media coverage will atrophy over time. This brings me to a third point.<br />
<br />
3. I have no doubt that the initial stories of these codices will continue to circulate and fool folks who are seeing them for the first time. Search engines will grab the initial reports more readily (as they have been more trafficked) and bury the reports of refutation over time (as they are less trafficked).<br />
<br />
So you can expect to see these pop up from time to time on social media for years to come.<br />
<br />
-anthony<br />
<br />Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-8082961746950600972018-04-04T07:12:00.002-07:002018-04-04T07:12:33.091-07:00Image of Cerula, Catacomb of San GennaroBBC 4 reports on an image found in a catacomb in San Gennaro, Naples. The image suggests that Christianity continued to employ female bishops as late as the fifth century.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFOz95gPr4tezyNMfL5niC-BDlvHz5vg79oUq8z1VGrtuqdAmxR7x1Kzq6F3BFCa2iCcACH-wDEy8xPd9runNcSGnfxgBColqXI_RO2Q7r9VmG9P8x-zMMP_ud3BycXYflfm78KNn5WU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-04-04+at+10.04.19+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFOz95gPr4tezyNMfL5niC-BDlvHz5vg79oUq8z1VGrtuqdAmxR7x1Kzq6F3BFCa2iCcACH-wDEy8xPd9runNcSGnfxgBColqXI_RO2Q7r9VmG9P8x-zMMP_ud3BycXYflfm78KNn5WU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-04-04+at+10.04.19+AM.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The super-duper, dynamic duo of Helen Bond and Joan Taylor featured here:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/31/early-church-found-place-female-bishops-experts-claim/">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/31/early-church-found-place-female-bishops-experts-claim/</a><br />
<br />
-anthonyAnthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-92164637430488376102018-03-20T05:18:00.003-07:002018-03-20T05:18:28.891-07:00An Article on Renan Will Theiss has written a nice article on Ernst Renan for Marginalia. It provides fascinating backdrop for Renan's scholarship and (I don't mind saying) is beautifully written.<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_589936597"><br /></a>
<a href="https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/pale-galilean-ernest-renan-jesus-modern-history/">https://marginalia.lareviewofbooks.org/pale-galilean-ernest-renan-jesus-modern-history/</a><br />
<br />
-anthonyAnthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-28832934354575115932018-03-15T10:58:00.001-07:002018-03-15T10:58:49.427-07:00Wayne Coppins's Review of the Jesus HandbuchThe Jesus Blog is pleased today to publish Wayne Coppins's detailed review of the new <i>Jesus Handbuch</i>, edited by Jens Schroeter and Christine Jacobi and published by Mohr Siebeck in their Handbuecher Theologie series. This review will particularly be helpful for those readers of the Jesus Blog who can't read the <i>Jesus Handbuch</i> in German, though an English translation is planned. You can find Wayne on the web <a href="https://www.mohr.de/buch/jesus-handbuch-9783161538537">here</a> and you can buy the book <a href="https://www.mohr.de/buch/jesus-handbuch-9783161538537">here</a>.<div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The <i>Jesus Handbuch</i>:<i> </i>An Excellent
Resource for Students and Scholars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Wayne Coppins, University of Georgia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPye3eih9e4MDb8vuF0MlHWnMDJuqmqqy2wpm_0C7-HJ0wAFnWf0IixGzcviXU8KUaw5RIHerbv26VEiUgSbtM4avsS-8PVDD6p2jDNk-oySBOHEDWkRop6kRF6jx526Z9H3VY1nFnyY_/s1600/Coppins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAPye3eih9e4MDb8vuF0MlHWnMDJuqmqqy2wpm_0C7-HJ0wAFnWf0IixGzcviXU8KUaw5RIHerbv26VEiUgSbtM4avsS-8PVDD6p2jDNk-oySBOHEDWkRop6kRF6jx526Z9H3VY1nFnyY_/s1600/Coppins.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Christoph Heilig from www.uzh.ch</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Unlike the newest Star Wars movie, the <i>Jesus
Handbuch</i> (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017) exceeded my high expectations. Since
its success is due not least to the particular way that the volume has been conceptualized
by the editors, I recommend that one begin by reading Jens Schröter and
Christine Jacobi’s introduction to the handbook (1-14) as well as their
introductions to each section of the volume (16-20, 126-130, 184-185, 488-489).
In my judgment, the extensive discussion of methodological, hermeneutical, and
historiographical considerations and developments in the section on the history
of historical-critical Jesus research is especially important to the overall
concept of the work. Accordingly, I have given somewhat greater attention to
this part of the book in my review.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The contents of the volume are as follows:
Preface (v-vi), Introduction (A: 1-14), History of Historical-Critical Jesus
Research (B: 15-124), The Historical Material (C: 125-181), Life and Activity
of Jesus (D: 183-486), Early Traces of Impacts and Receptions of Jesus (E:
487-561), List of Contributing Authors (563-564), Bibliography (565-617), and Indexes
(619-685). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because the individual sections are
relatively succinct and presented with clarity, the handbook will be an
excellent resource for students who wish to gain an introduction to a specific
topic or to historical Jesus research as a whole. At the same time, since the
authors have been given enough space and freedom to develop their ideas at the highest
level, it will also be of great benefit to scholars in the field. With regard
to the high quality of the volume, credit is due not only to the editors and
authors but also to Lena Nogossek for her significant contributions to the realization
of the project and to Matthias Müller for his excellent translation of the
English essays (vi).</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let me now provide some brief comments on 22
of the 65 sections of the handbook, highlighting lines of argument that I regard
as especially interesting, insightful, or significant. At the end of my review,
I will conclude with one specific point of criticism and one suggestion for
revision with respect to future editions of the handbook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In his valuable section on “The Critical Historical
Scholarship of the Late Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century” (pp. 37-42), Eckart
David Schmidt claims that Ranke’s statement that the historian wants “merely to
say how it actually was” should not be misinterpreted in a “positivistic”
sense. In his view, this represents a misinterpretation both because this
statement does not represent Ranke’s own program but rather a qualification or
demarcation from the particular approach of Enlightenment pragmatism and
because Ranke himself stresses shortly beforehand that “the aim of a historian
depends on his point of view” (40).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAjdjS8An_YtqkiHHLitaFmcLS0qNfqaX4y5ubBVbdXm_g8uwakp9FzXWw1e82J_PI6q8oQ2yphkoJICenRyWWz0EZPqEyB7dm8l5f_d0_MjLz_oaXHL5cYSXX5uNRsJbauzjH4tBJ514/s1600/Jesus+Handbuch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="358" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAjdjS8An_YtqkiHHLitaFmcLS0qNfqaX4y5ubBVbdXm_g8uwakp9FzXWw1e82J_PI6q8oQ2yphkoJICenRyWWz0EZPqEyB7dm8l5f_d0_MjLz_oaXHL5cYSXX5uNRsJbauzjH4tBJ514/s320/Jesus+Handbuch.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">James Carleton Paget provides an outstanding
analysis of Johannes Weiss’s and Albert Schweitzer’s interpretations of the
kingdom of God as an eschatological concept (55-65). In terms of content, I
found it significant that Weiss revised his advocacy of thoroughgoing
eschatology in the second edition of his work, namely by conceding that “not
all ethical statements of Jesus must be exclusively traced back to his
eschatological worldview” (61). Here, I was especially struck by the extent to
which Weiss’s thinking prefigured that of Dale Allison, who modified his earlier
views on thoroughgoing eschatology in a similar manner in <i>Constructing Jesus</i>
(see 134n461 with 97, 134-135, and 144-146). Since Weiss and Allison both explicitly
revised their earlier endorsement of “thoroughgoing eschatology,” I think that
scholars should cease using this phrase to describe their respective views of
Jesus’s eschatology. In terms of methodology, Carleton Paget rightly stresses
the need to treat Weiss and Schweitzer as equal discussion partners rather than
as representatives of stages of development (57-58). Indeed, in reading Carleton
Paget’s section, I realized how a tacit acceptance of Schweitzer’s developmental
framework had contributed to my failure to read Weiss’s actual work—sackcloth
and ashes!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In “Historical Jesus and Kerygmatic
Christ” (66-74), Reinhard von Bendemann provides a sympathetic yet critical
analysis of the contributions of Martin Kähler, Rudolf Bultmann, and Luke
Timothy Johnson. Notably, von Bendemann stresses that Bultmann was indeed concerned
to uphold, better understand, and make theologically fruitful “a ‘historical’
connection between the historical Jesus and the post-Easter Christology and
theology” (69). Moreover, he argues that Bultmann’s talk of “historical
presupposition” should not be interpreted to suggest otherwise, and claims that
Bultmann, like Schweitzer, did not suspend the quest for the historical Jesus
or lead it to its end but rather attempted to make his own contribution to it
(69-70). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In “The Literary Conceptions of the
Gospels and Their Relation to the Historical Jesus” (75-86), Cilliers
Breytenbach skillfully develops his own perspectives in dialogue with the
history of research. On the one hand, in critical dialogue with Willi Marxsen
and Rudolf Bultmann, he insists with Julius Schniewind and Ernst Käsemann that
Mark is not a sermon in which the exalted one directly addresses the Markan
community but rather a narrative in which Mark has “the <i>earthly one</i>
speak to the disciples and not the <i>exalted one</i> to the community” (78).
Moreover, he thinks that Jürgen Roloff has successfully demonstrated that “Mark
presents the relationship between the Markan Jesus and the disciples of the
Gospel as a past event” (80). On the other hand, Breytenbach criticizes Roloff
for failing to distinguish between ‘Jesus’s history’ and ‘Jesus’s history according
to Mark’ and stresses that the question of the closeness of Mark’s portrayal to
the history of the earthly Jesus must be answered via tradition history and not
through literary methods (80-81). Finally, Breytenbach turns specifically to
the topics of narrative, memory, and history. Here, he claims that rather than
being a record of events experienced by individual witnesses, Mark is based on
the structured, <i>secondary</i> recollection of the community (83). Moreover,
he argues that the Gospel of Mark as a whole, i.e. the macro-narrative, must be
viewed as a fictional narrative rather than a historical one, while allowing
that individual aspects of the plot may be used for a historical construction (83-84).
Altogether, Breytenbach emerges as <i>Wrede redivivus</i>, formidably reasserting
the concerns of the great master within the horizon of current New Testament
scholarship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Chris Keith’s section, “The Gospels as
‘Kerygmatic Narratives’ about Jesus and the ‘Criteria’ in Jesus Research”
(86-98), examines the establishment of “criteria” for the determination of
“authentic” material by means of a close reading of the work of Ernst Käsemann,
Günther Bornkamm, and Ferdinand Hahn. Through a careful analysis of the metaphors
they employ, Keith highlights both their fundamental assumption that authentic
and non-authentic material are joined in the Gospels in a way that permits them
to be identified and separated and their corresponding goal of detaching the
authentic, original Jesus material from the kerygmatic narratives of the
Gospels (89, 91, 94). At the same time, Keith perceptively points out that rather
than limiting themselves to this approach, Bornkamm and Hahn looked for more
than one way to the historical Jesus (93, 95). With respect to the implications
of Keith’s analysis, it is crucial to stress to that Keith’s focus is <i>not</i>
on “criteria” in general but rather on the emergence and logic of the criteria
of <i>authenticity</i> with special reference to the assumption that it is
possible to employ such criteria to get behind the Gospels to a Jesus who is
still untouched by the interpretations of his first followers (96-97; cf. 121,
124 [Jens Schröter]). For me, Keith’s analysis raised the question of whether
it is beneficial for scholars to continue using the terms <i>authentisch</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">/authentic</span>, <i>Authentizität</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">/authenticity</span>, and<i> Echtheit</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">/genuineness</span>, since the shared use of
these shorthand expressions can mask rather different assumptions and
understandings of what is being claimed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In his section on “The ‘Remembered Jesus’:
Memory as Historical-Hermeneutical paradigm of Jesus Research” (112-124), Jens
Schröter distinguishes between two “memory” models, one in which the concept of
memory is related to “individual processes of memory of persons from the
environment of Jesus” (115), and one in which “the concept of memory is used as
a cultural-hermeneutical category” (118). For Schröter, the most fundamental
difference between them is that the latter model “does not place the question
of the origin and transmission of the Jesus tradition in the center but rather
the question of the appropriation of the past from the perspective of the
respective present” (120). Moreover, what one is seeking to grasp with this
concept of memory is not “processes of preservation or forgetting in the memory
of individuals” but rather “those processes through which communities form
traditions that preserve the past that is relevant for their own
self-understanding, a past that is made present time and again in texts,
rituals, festivals, and places of memory” (120).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Steve Mason provides a wonderful
discussion of the non-Christian texts about Jesus. In his section on “Greek,
Roman, and Syriac Texts” (159-165), he suggests that these ancient sources do
not provide independent information but rather make use of Christian tradition
(164), while mentioning the possibility that Tacitus might be dependent upon
Josephus for his information (163). Moreover, he argues that the phrase <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">impulsore Chresto</i> in Suetonius is probably
<i>not</i> a reference to Christ or Christian missionaries (162). Mason’s discussion
of “Jewish Sources: Flavius Josephus” (165-170) was one of my favorite sections
in the handbook. Here, special mention may be made of his respectful dialogue
with Richard Carrier’s thesis (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">JECS</i>
20:489-514) that in Ant. 20:200 Josephus refers not to James the brother of
Jesus but rather to James the brother of the high priest Jesus ben Damneus. While
recognizing the intellectual merit of this proposal as an “original,
alternative explanation,” Mason argues that it “creates more problems than it
can solve,” since it “explains neither the accusation of transgressing the law
… nor the fact that James is condemned with other men” and also leaves
unexplained “the reaction of the other members of the Jewish leadership to the illegal
proceedings” and “the presentation of a high priest who has overstepped his
authority in legal proceedings, but not in an action against competitors within
the Jewish leadership” (169). Thus, for Mason: “the simplest explanation for
the text in Ant. 20 … remains the assumption that in Book 18 Josephus had
already mentioned a Jesus, who was called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Christos</i>,
to which he now refers” (169).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Daniel R. Schwartz’s analysis of the
“Political Conditions: Roman Rule, Herod the Great, Antipas” (184-197) is a
tightly argued section marked by clarity of presentation and coherence of
argument. What I found especially noteworthy was his thesis that from the
beginning Rome’s endgame was to annex Judea, together his corresponding
suggestion that Herod the Great’s long reign facilitated their decision to do
so, insofar as it convinced them that it was possible to separate the Jewish
religion from the state, so that the state could be conducted as a normal
kingdom (194-195). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In his discussion of the “Religious
Context” (197-213), Lutz Doering uses the categories of “integration” and
“diversification” to describe Judaism in the Hellenistic-Roman period, noting that
this approach represents both a continuation and nuancing modification of
Sanders’ model of “common Judaism,” which rightly stressed what was common but
did not give sufficient attention to the profiles of the different groups (199;
cf. also 204). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From Stephen Hultgren’s section on “The
Education and Language of Jesus” (219-227) I learned that our picture of the
linguistic situation in Jewish Palestine has changed to a greater extent than I
had realized. In short, it seems that, in addition to Aramaic, both Hebrew and
Greek were in greater use than I had thought (225-226; cf. also 234, 239 [J. K.
Zangenberg]).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In his section on “Galilee and
Surroundings as Sphere of Activity” (230-237), Jürgen K. Zangenberg makes the
valuable observation that with respect to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galilean context</i> of Jesus, the Gospels provide only an excerpt and
not a representative <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Durchschnitt</i> of
the Galilean milieu. More specifically, the Jesus tradition creates “its”
Galilee just as Josephus sets forth “his” Galilee in various works (230). Concretely,
Zangenberg explains that “Galilee at the time of Jesus was a region set in motion
by inner and outer factors” and suggests that the Jesus tradition’s emphasis on
the <i>personae miserae</i> and the subversive character of the kingdom of God should
be attributed not to an especially oppressive poverty in Galilee but rather to
an accent set by Jesus himself (237). Notably, Darrell Bock and Jens Schröter
develop a similar line of argument in their section on “Jesus’s Perspective on
Israel” (338-348). Arguing that Jesus’s activity and teaching should not be
explained primarily as a reaction to foreign rule and social oppression but
rather have a more fundamental orientation, they claim that this is already
probable because “Galilee at the time of Jesus was not characterized by
far-reaching political and social tensions” (339).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">In his section on “Jesus and the
Political and Social Environment of his Time” (252-262), James Crossley sets a somewhat
different accent than Bock/Schröter with respect to the situation in Galilee (Zangenberg
arguably falls somewhere between them on the spectrum). Crossley is especially
interested in the social effects of the urbanization projects, irrespective of
whether the population regarded these developments as responsible for the
changing life conditions (254). On the one hand, he is cautious about what can
be said regarding the life standard, the extent of disturbances, the use of
physical violence, and the “oppression” of the population in Galilee (254). On
the other hand, he stresses that “in the time in which Jesus grew up in Galilee
there were, in fact, dramatic upheavals, which probably also included
resettlements and expulsions” (254-255). For me, a particularly illuminating
insight from Crossley’s discussion of Galilee was his observation that what is
decisive is not simply the political, social, or economic situation as such but
rather “how certain changes were <i>perceived</i> by the population” (254, my
emphasis). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Annette Weissenrieder’s section on
“Jesus’ Healings” (298-310) proved insightful at many points. In my case, her
documentation of the similar descriptions of the symptoms of the sick and
possessed in the Gospels and in ancient medical literature was particularly
instructive (300), for example the parallels to Matthew’s use of “moonstruck” (</span><span lang="EL" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EL; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">σεληνιάζομαι</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">, 17:15) in Aret. SD 1.4.2; Gal.di.dec. 3.2 [9.902-903 Kühn];
loc.aff. 3.9 [8.175-177, 233]. In terms of the state of research, it is noteworthy
that Weissenrieder challenges the applicability of the distinction between
“disease” as biological sickness and “illness” as social (and ritual)
experience on the ground that it presupposes a clear separation between the
physical and social-cultural phenomena of a sickness, which she regards as problematic
in light of the connection between them in the ancient texts (301).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">In his section on “Tax Collectors
and Sinners as Addressees of the Activity of Jesus” (348-356), Yair Furstenberg
provides a fine discussion of the designation “sinner,” a classic <i>crux
interpretum</i>. In critical dialogue with Sanders, Furstenberg argues that
“sinner” is not a fixed category but rather a designation whose scope and
meaning depends on the precise context in which it is used (350). Moreover, he
suggests that the accusation of fellowship with sinners is specifically related
to Jesus’s disregard of the existing conventions of table fellowship, according
to which Jesus’s eating with evildoers called into question his moral integrity
(350).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">In “Jesus’s Picture of God and the
Significance of Father Metaphoricism” (361-368) Christine Gerber consciously
interprets Jesus’s picture of God in continuity with Jewish conceptions of God
(361). In terms of methodology and content, a strength of her treatment lies in
the attention she gives to the metaphorical character of the individual
statements, which are interpreted with a view to “<i>what from the ancient
father conception is concretely transferred to God in each case</i>” (366).
Among other things, she notes here that “father” is a “term of relation,” which
implies a relation that is characterized by lifelong duration and asymmetrical
exclusivity. Negatively, she makes the interesting observation that there is no
explicit talk of “fatherly love,” while granting that it indirectly comes into
play in Luke 6.36; 15.11-32 (367).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Among the many striking lines of
argument in Thomas Kazen’s section on “Jesus’s Interpretation of the Torah”
(402-416), special mention may be made of the way that he attempts to situate
the Jesus tradition in relation to developments in the halakic patterns of
argumentation toward the end of the second temple period (408). Notably, this approach
leads him to a different evaluation of the development of the tradition at many
points. For example, while many scholars treat the rabbinic principle that
acute danger to a person’s life overrides the Sabbath regulations (<i>piquach</i>
<i>nefesh</i>) as the background context of Jesus’s arguments with his
interlocutors, Kazen argues that the formulation of this principle represents a
later stage of development, which was not yet in play for Jesus’s own debates with
the Pharisees and was first introduced by the evangelists with a view to the
current state of discussion in their day (409-410).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Michael Wolter’s section on “Jesus’s
Self-Understanding” (425-431) reflects well his characteristic combination of
exegetical precision and conceptual clarity. What is refreshing about this
section is that rather than restricting his attention to a few classic texts,
Wolter’s presentation incorporates an extremely wide range of texts and themes.
In terms of content, Wolter argues at several points that Jesus claims to act
in the place of God (426, 427) and states that “Jesus proclaims not simply the
mercy of God, who forgives humans their sins, but he <i>is</i> God’s mercy or</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">—</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">stated more fully</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">—</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">that God’s mercy takes place in his activity” (428). While many texts
are drawn upon, it is notable that Wolter (431) gives only minimal attention to
the so-called “titles of majesty,” which often play a larger role in this
connection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Michael Labahn achieves a very high
level of conceptual clarity in his section on “Discipleship, Radical
Renunciation, ‘A-Familial’ Ethos” (445-454). Indeed, for me his analysis gave much
sharper contours and depth to many of my favorite themes and sayings in the
Jesus tradition. Against Schweitzer, Labahn rightly argues that Jesus’s radical
demands are not an “interim ethic” but rather “form a counterpole to structures
of the present world and anticipate the kingdom of God” (454).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">In his section on Jesus’s entry into
Jerusalem and his stance toward the temple (460-467), Markus Tiwald provides an
instructive discussion of early Jewish positions on the temple (462) and the potential
relevance of this material for interpreting Jesus’s temple action and temple
saying (463-466). The significance of his analysis is not simply that he
identifies Jesus’s action as a prophetic sign act rather than a “temple
cleansing” but, more specifically, his twofold claim that Jesus, too, expected
a new temple in the endtime and that he, as the messenger of the kingdom of
God, saw it as his duty to reclaim the temple in the sense of his message, not
as an abrogation but as an integration of the temple institution into the idea
of the now dawning kingdom of God (464).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Christine Jacobi’s section on
“Resurrection, Appearances, Instructions of the Risen One” (490-504) is
chock-full of perceptive insights. Perhaps most fundamentally, she fruitfully
develops the insight that “from a history-of-theology perspective the
appearance experiences and resurrection faith are … to be understood not as
caesura but as junction” (491). A strength of Jacobi’s analysis is her
attention both to the tradition historical background of the Christian
confession that Jesus was raised from the dead and to possible starting points
in the activity of the earthly Jesus (492). Throughout she skillfully
identifies patterns of interpretation that may have co-determined the character
of the appearance experiences themselves or informed their interpretation, while
consistently showing an appropriate sensitivity to points of difference with
regard to proposed parallels. One of her most striking lines of thought
involves the suggestion that the innovative Christian connection of an
individual resurrection with the dawning of the endtime and the expectation of
a general resurrection may have been informed by a post-Easter interpretation
of distinctive features of the pre-Easter proclamation, e.g., the conviction
that in Jesus’s resurrection the endtime resurrection of the dead is announced
could have been formed by analogy to the connection between the episodic
presence of the kingdom in Jesus’s activity and the future coming of the
kingdom in power (500-502). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Let me now offer one specific
criticism and one suggestion for revision. My criticism pertains to a statement
found in Craig A. Evans and Jeremiah J. Johnston’s section on the “Kingdom of
God” (369-378). With respect to Matthew’s preferential use of the phrase “kingdom
of heaven,” they explain that “the difference is purely formal and reflects
Matthew’s tendency to avoid the name of God, which probably follows the use of
the contemporary synagogue” (376). In my view, this widely held interpretation
is no longer tenable, having been effectively challenged by my UGA colleague
Robert Foster in his article “Why on Earth Use ‘Kingdom of Heaven’?: Matthew’s
Terminology Revisited” (<i>NTS</i> 48 [2002], 487-499) and then decisively
refuted by Jonathan T. Pennington in his book <i>Heaven and Earth in the Gospel
of Matthew</i> (Leiden: Brill, 2007). Rather than being attributable to a
tendency to avoid the name of God, the phrase kingdom of heavens must be
interpreted in relation to Matthew’s other ‘heavenly’ language (Foster) and,
more specifically, with reference to its function in his heaven and earth theme
(Pennington).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">My suggestion for revision concerns the
handbook’s treatment of the synoptic problem. My criticism here is not primarily
directed at individual authors. In particular, while it is commendable that
Ruben Zimmermann explicitly addresses the issue (382), I think it is also
perfectly reasonable that many authors develop their argument on the basis of
the two-source hypothesis without further justification. There is simply not
space for everything within the confines of a handbook. Likewise, I think it is
appropriate for John S. Kloppenborg to give exclusive attention to the
two-source hypothesis in his valuable sections on “The Introduction of the
Concept of Myth into Jesus Research and the Emergence of the Two-Source Theory”
(47-55) and “The Synoptic Gospels, the Sayings Source (Q), and the Historical
Jesus” (130-137). Instead, my criticism and suggestion for revision is principally
addressed to the two editors. Due to the extent to which historical Jesus
research is informed by the solution that one adopts to the synoptic problem, I
think that a 2017 handbook on the historical Jesus needs to discuss</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">—</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">or at least highlight</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">—</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">the fact that at present the two-source hypothesis does not seem to
command the same level of consensus as it did in some other phases of Jesus
research. Moreover, in light of this perceptible shift, I think that it would be
beneficial for the handbook to include at least some discussion of different
solutions to the synoptic problem and their bearing upon historical Jesus
research. <i>How</i> this should be done is less clear to me. One option would
be to include a brief discussion of the synoptic problem and its relevance for historical
Jesus research in the editors’ introduction to section C. Another solution
might be to (also) add a new section after C.II.1.1 on the “Farrer Hypothesis
and the Historical Jesus,” which could include a very brief discussion of other
rivals to the two-source hypothesis in its opening paragraph. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-bidi-theme-font: major-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-bidi;">Let me conclude my review by restating
my conviction that the <i>Jesus Handbuch</i> is an excellent volume that will
prove to be a rich resource for both students and seasoned scholars. I hope
that the German volume will be widely read and that it will translated into
English in due course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-25001284668272340692018-03-13T06:26:00.001-07:002018-03-13T06:26:26.308-07:00Winner of the Snodgrass<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJFpoOQrotu2tk7bvnp6WUsBxRJyGBR31HF5KH0kaiT3mbm9uK4M1jAafQr4UiSyFXzdPjUBiuEXPEfIiZY6oFxOIePMEH2eVz7PxbOnaIQf3MD7HYbsknfgnvsd7l0brke-Ok7VBl4vY/s1600/Snodgrass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1060" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpJFpoOQrotu2tk7bvnp6WUsBxRJyGBR31HF5KH0kaiT3mbm9uK4M1jAafQr4UiSyFXzdPjUBiuEXPEfIiZY6oFxOIePMEH2eVz7PxbOnaIQf3MD7HYbsknfgnvsd7l0brke-Ok7VBl4vY/s320/Snodgrass.jpg" width="211" /></a>The true random number generator has spoken. The winner of the Snodgrass second edition from Eerdmans is the owner of comment 3.<br />
<br />
<span id="true-random-integer-generator-title" style="background: rgb(204, 204, 255); border: 0px; display: block; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 12px; margin: -6px -6px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 1px; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;">True Random Number Generator</span><span id="true-random-integer-generator-min-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #777777; display: block; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><label for="true-random-integer-generator-min" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Min:</label> <input id="true-random-integer-generator-min" maxlength="9" name="true-random-integer-generator-min" style="margin-left: 10px; width: 77px;" type="number" value="1" /></span><span id="true-random-integer-generator-max-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #777777; display: block; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><label for="true-random-integer-generator-max" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Max:</label> <input id="true-random-integer-generator-max" maxlength="9" name="true-random-integer-generator-max" style="margin-left: 6px; width: 77px;" type="number" value="100" /></span><span id="true-random-integer-generator-max-button-span" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #777777; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><input id="true-random-integer-generator-button" name="true-random-integer-generator-button" style="display: block;" type="button" value="Generate" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #777777; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 12px;"></span><label for="true-random-integer-generator-result" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #777777; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Result:</label><span style="background-color: white; color: #777777; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 12px;"></span><span id="true-random-integer-generator-result" style="background: rgb(204, 204, 255); border: 0px; display: block; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span><span id="true-random-integer-generator-credits" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #777777; display: block; font-family: verdana, sans; font-size: 6pt; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 1px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">Powered by <a href="https://www.random.org/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #777777; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">RANDOM.ORG</a></span><br />
<br />
Comment 3 comes from none other than "Wild Bill" Heroman:<br />
<br />
<div class="comment-header" id="bc_0_2M" kind="m" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.88px; margin: 0px 0px 8px;">
<cite class="user" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/05283809456471966882" rel="nofollow" style="color: #660000; text-decoration-line: none;">Bill Heroman</a></cite><span class="icon user" style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span class="datetime secondary-text" style="margin-left: 6px;"><a href="http://historicaljesusresearch.blogspot.com/2018/02/snipe-hunting-for-free-snodgrasschris.html?showComment=1517970681373#c255605075827532577" rel="nofollow" style="color: #660000; text-decoration-line: none;">February 6, 2018 at 6:31 PM</a></span></div>
<div class="comment-content" id="bc_0_2MC" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.88px; margin-bottom: 8px; text-align: justify;">
Some of my best friends have seen snipes.<br /><br />I like them best with Chick-Fil-A sauce.</div>
<span class="comment-actions secondary-text" id="bc_0_2MN" kind="m" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 12.88px;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" kind="i" o="r" style="color: #660000; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px;" target="_self">Reply</a><span class="item-control blog-admin pid-799257657" style="display: inline;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/delete-comment.g?blogID=8637125351921336084&postID=255605075827532577" o="d" style="color: #660000; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_self">Delete</a></span></span><br />
<br />
Bill, if you'll send me your address to chris.keith@stmarys.ac.uk, I'll make sure that Eerdmans gets you the book.Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-34897876075959238662018-03-07T10:32:00.003-08:002018-03-07T10:35:33.862-08:00Coming Soon...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXw7O7VSPsp6-RRshyMFQbTsrEYesmCUEjSviZXa0MvtXAJ4nr11rBCMUnk3uyB7ug43Oprpo8bPCgWzJO1cK8Z13U3kZxfT15ypti20n6kLBu63CDErYFi4E6sNKlunfL4Ow8KUVQsE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-03-07+at+1.34.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="468" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiXw7O7VSPsp6-RRshyMFQbTsrEYesmCUEjSviZXa0MvtXAJ4nr11rBCMUnk3uyB7ug43Oprpo8bPCgWzJO1cK8Z13U3kZxfT15ypti20n6kLBu63CDErYFi4E6sNKlunfL4Ow8KUVQsE/s640/Screen+Shot+2018-03-07+at+1.34.42+PM.png" width="412" /></a></div>
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<br />Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-45364478181430691492018-02-22T10:46:00.001-08:002018-02-22T10:57:11.105-08:00Why Billy Graham Gets a C–<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5BTYCNlStgOGrrSxjSK-5ong9tfRMxvuNRXbz_rTO5Nc7lvwRG3J7xIo4LZdO0aLNWcpsC-hQeOztVGpYGRdNBxr16c8OOOJX7haoae1k9jT4V55O5uOUKZxU8ahvaYbUVHqodAgu9oY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-02-22+at+11.52.28+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="1279" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5BTYCNlStgOGrrSxjSK-5ong9tfRMxvuNRXbz_rTO5Nc7lvwRG3J7xIo4LZdO0aLNWcpsC-hQeOztVGpYGRdNBxr16c8OOOJX7haoae1k9jT4V55O5uOUKZxU8ahvaYbUVHqodAgu9oY/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-02-22+at+11.52.28+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Allow me to say first and foremost, I personally hold the late Billy Graham in high regard. While I can find problematic elements of his theology, I stand in awe of Graham's political legacy. I admire his epic, bipartisan career in the same way that I admire Ted William's 1941 batting average. (I was never a Red Sox fan and I don't really believe in the value of batting averages anymore but nobody is likely to bat .406 again!) </div>
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Graham, to me, represents a bygone era of politics when relationships were not predetermined by party affiliation. I could also point to Graham's contributions to race relations when such a stance was resisted by many Southern Democrats. I think we ought to measure such steps relative to a person's contemporaries. But, of course, Graham's legacy will not be determined by his time in the Oval Office or his hopes for desegregation. His paragraph in history will be defined primarily by his prolific evangelism and the seeds he planted for modern Evangelicals.</div>
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It is this key element that makes Graham's legacy an interesting cultural puzzle. My guess is that one's opinion of American Christianity (generally speaking) is closely related to one's opinion of Billy Graham. I could be wrong. In fact, I admit that I am an outlier if my theory is correct; I feel generally disappointed with American Christianity and generally positive about Billy Graham. That said, I am more interested in what my readers think. With this in mind, I conducted a poll related to Graham's legacy in 2015.</div>
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Here is a screenshot of the final vote count (of 230 voters):<br />
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So why did approx. 70% of Jesus Blog readers hold a positive opinion of his public legacy? And why did approx. 30% of Jesus Blog readers hold a negative opinion? Or, in terms of rounded-up grades, why does Billy Graham get a C–?</div>
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If you want an immediate answer, you can read a <a href="http://historicaljesusresearch.blogspot.com/2015/04/poll-billy-graham-positive-influence.html">few responses to the poll here</a>. </div>
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I should reiterate the limitations of this sort of poll. I didn't include a spectrum of voting options. I didn't ask a larger sample of political questions to determine my voting demographics. I promised to buy an ice cream cone for all of my liberal, university friends if they promised to vote (pro-tip: academics are coocoo for ice cream). And, worst of all, I knocked everyone's ice cream into the dirt and sent them to bed crying (academics are such babies).</div>
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In all honesty, I put out the poll for two reasons: (1) to determine how Jesusy my readers were. Billy Graham's legacy seemed to me to be a good (unscientific) litmus test for how many conservative evangelicals were reading my terribly heretical blog; (2) I wanted to get some data on Billy Graham's legacy before his passing. Folks tend to speak more kindly of the recently departed.</div>
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These 2015 results were somewhat surprising. I had guessed that Graham would get more of a 50%/50% split. Not so. So either more liberals view Graham's impact in generally positive terms or more conservatives were interested in historical criticism than I had guessed. I think its probably the latter. I should add that over 30% of Jesus Blog readers reside outside of the United States. So my American political lens might have distorted my initial guess.</div>
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I'll include two reader comments here that helped me makes sense of the data. The first helps me understand why Graham's grade was higher than I expected. The second helps me understand why is was "only" a low C given his many decades of popularity. Both commenters modeled, to my mind, reasonable and respectful dialogue.</div>
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(1) A generally positive commenter wrote:</div>
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I speak from the perspective of being raised by parents who were classmates of Billy Graham and held him up to us as a paragon. My father was an American Baptist minister, and every Sunday morning my siblings and I would awake to the strains of Beverly Shea and the Billy Graham Crusade Choir. My parents took us to a couple of his crusades, including one in the old McCormick Place in Chicago. Although I decry his anti-Semitic words in the oval office, I have difficulty viewing him cynically, not just because of my upbringing but also from following him long-term. Although I have few points of agreement with him theologically, I respect the integrity he tried to bring to his work. Let's not forget that he insisted on integration of blacks and whites in his crusades at a time that was not popular, in addition to promoting broad-based ecumenicity. His limitations were the socially influenced limitations we all face when our lives are viewed in retrospect. I think he sincerely tried to be a evening influence and, by virtue of that, had a positive effect.</blockquote>
(2) A generally negative commenter wrote:<br />
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I have fond memories of attending BG crusades in the UK in my younger days although from what I recall he always preached the same simplistic message. Of much more concern was his association with evangelical oddballs like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, his unhealthy relationship with various US Presidents and right wing politicians like Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes, Jesse Helms etc. Added to that was his apparent lack of criticism of some very dubious US foreign policy and human rights abuses in various parts of the World.........Vietnam, Latin America, Iraq spring to mind. Despite what Franklin and the BGEA now claim I don't remember him being very active speaking up about social injustice or against apartheid or in supporting the civil rights movement in the US. While he may have preached to unsegregated audiences, most converts in the Southern States were sent on to segregated Black or White Churches and the leadership of the BGEA itself is still a very conservative white male dominated organisation. The only female Trustee is one of BG's daughters Anne Graham Lotz although many other of his extended family are on the BGEA payroll in various capacities including another daughter Ginny and 3 of Franklin's children. Remarks he has allegedly made on political issues in recent years seem to have been drafted and put out under his name by Franklin who has been using the BGEA to support his personal anti -Obama, anti- Muslim and anti -gay agenda. Any comments one sends to the BGEA website only appear if they are complimentary although Franklin's Facebook page does contain the odd response from somebody who disagrees with his dogmatism on everything from the State of Israel to police shootings of unarmed ethnic minorities</blockquote>
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I appreciate that both comments eschew apologetic whitewashes. My gratitude to these readers.</div>
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What was lacking in any of the comments (and they are always more numerous on Facebook) is an accounting of Graham's primary mission. Graham was all about heathen converting, soul saving, Jesus promoting, and Bible waving. In short, he was an evangelist. And to this end, he was among the best in history.</div>
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With this in mind, many Americans are becoming less inclined to view heathen converting, soul saving, Jesus promoting, and Bible waving in positive terms. If so, Graham's popularity is a snapshot of America's past. It might be a recent past but I doubt there will be another American like him. It's not because there won't be some American version of Bono or Pope Frank who puts a good face on Christianity. I just can't see anyone doing it like Billy Graham did.</div>
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I probably won't be putting out another poll on Graham. While it would be interesting, it wouldn't tell us much and I am more interested in your comments anyway. </div>
Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-46654395704358447272018-02-18T17:19:00.003-08:002018-02-18T17:19:27.581-08:00Quarterly Quote of the Month about Jesus for this Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Bush was so bad that people said, 'Hey maybe this black guy has the answers.' I think people overlook George Bush's contributions to black history. George Bush is a black revolutionary. Trump is so bad he’s going to give us Jesus."<br />
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~Chris RockAnthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-72248707999931551782018-02-11T12:17:00.000-08:002018-02-11T13:51:31.919-08:00Anthony's Forgive-Me-Jesus Coconut Curry Soup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">This the recipe for my </span><br />
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-anthony<br />
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I. Stage one: thank Jesus that you have been preordained to love this soup.<br />
A. Bring two cups of holy water to a boil. Reduce to simmer. If needed to fend off vampires, start process over.<br />
B. Julienne carrots supernaturally thin. I use a paring knife to cut the carrots along their length and then use a peeler to get them as thin as John the Baptist's loincloth.<br />
C. Two tablespoons of chicken bouillon. I use "Better than Bouillon" because it's better.<br />
D. Four tablespoons of fish sauce I use "Lucky" because of first-world privilege.<br />
Add all this stuff to the pot. Keep simmering.<br />
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II. Stage two: thank Jesus that you have free will to choose this soup recipe.<br />
A. Dice two red (new) potatoes. Add to one cup of cold water. Fondly remember the days when misspelling potato disqualified you from being president.<br />
B. Add one carrot and four cloves of garlic (not "heads of garlic" unless, of course, vampires). <br />
C. Puree all ingredients listed in stage two. Think about the Arian controversy. Wonder if Arius got a bad rap. <br />
Add all of this stuff to the pot. Keep simmering.<br />
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III. Stage three: praise Jesus for his critique of civic masculinity. Begin reading <i>The Wife of Jesus: Ancient Texts and Modern Scandals</i>.<br />
A. Julienne 12 green beans. Wonder if Jesus was the leader of a band self-titled "The Twelve" in the same way that The Clash called themselves "the Clash."<br />
B. Tell your daughter to thinly slice one tenth of a red onion. Don't overdo the red onions. <br />
C. Add yellow curry powder to taste (I use about two tablespoons because my favorite aspect of food is how it tastes).<br />
D. Add pinch of turmeric for no reason whatsoever.<br />
Simmer/stir all this stuff for 15 minutes.<br />
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IV. Stage Four: apologize to Jesus for your love of shellfish and wanton gluttony.<br />
A. Add lots of raw scallops (not frozen).<br />
B. Add lots raw, deveined shrimp (not frozen). Think of how Jesus was deveined of his divinity in Philippians 2. Pray to Gordon Fee for forgiveness.<br />
C. Add 16 oz. can of Thai Organic Coconut Milk (unsweetened).<br />
D. Julienne and add four green onions (use the green parts).<br />
Keep simmering/stirring for 5 minutes or until Shrimp are pink.<br />
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V. Stage Five: eat soup while bragging to your wife about your great talent for soup making. Tell her that you make curry soup better than Jesus.<br />
A. Add some of last night's leftover steamed rice if you're into that sort of thing (I'm not).<br />
B. Clean up your mess and take out the garbage before the shrimp tails stink up the joint.<br />
C. Lose your skubala when your son bounces the dog's tennis ball into the pot.<br />
D. Apologize to your son for losing your temper.<br />
Blog about it.<br />
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Anthony Le Donnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01282792648606976883noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-37951224381082358202018-02-09T07:46:00.001-08:002018-02-09T07:46:55.355-08:002018 CSSSB Conference: "Christian Origins and Social-Scientific Criticism: Past, Present, and Future"—Chris KeithOn May 25, 2018, CSSSB will host a day conference on "Christian Origins and Social-Scientific Criticism: Past, Present, and Future." Main lectures will come from John Kloppenborg (University of Toronto), Louise J. Lawrence (Exeter University), and James Crossley (St Mary's University). All are welcome. More details are in the poster included in this post and you can register here:<br />
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https://www.stmarys.ac.uk/events/2018/05/christian-origins-and-social-scientific-criticism<br />
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Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8637125351921336084.post-11555657263959031822018-02-06T18:00:00.000-08:002018-02-06T18:00:47.919-08:00Snipe Hunting for a Free Snodgrass!—Chris Keith<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzVFAj_mGpYiLP9lpQwr7aP3b4ik0AKK06-_9Uo-QvsPtYO1UpIDFNdPmtCWVimfxNcEgCrtxeVdKFsyVgaS_NrxoDTZ8nZEuJtixQw_u0GM6WtViabGXkIbsYcVfSYWoHyw8NupiN7C5/s1600/Snodgrass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1060" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCzVFAj_mGpYiLP9lpQwr7aP3b4ik0AKK06-_9Uo-QvsPtYO1UpIDFNdPmtCWVimfxNcEgCrtxeVdKFsyVgaS_NrxoDTZ8nZEuJtixQw_u0GM6WtViabGXkIbsYcVfSYWoHyw8NupiN7C5/s320/Snodgrass.jpg" width="211" /></a>I suspect that a few of you readers of the Jesus Blog have been snipe hunting. If you haven't been, please let me know and I'll organize a snipe hunt for SBL next November. I understand that the snipe in Denver are huge.</div>
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Even among those of you who are proficient snipe-hunters, though, I imagine few of you have ever hunted, much less seen, a Snodgrass. The Snodgrass is an important but unassuming animal. It's hard to catch because it doesn't draw attention to itself; there's no trail for the hunter to follow because the Snodgrass doesn't drag its ego behind it. But beware the person who forgets or ignores the Snodgrass, because the Snodgrass is quietly authoritative, comprehensive in its approach, subtle in its takedown. Before you know it, the Snodgrass has snuck up on you, disassembled your gear, left you discombobulated, and disappeared to the place from whence it came. Like Aslan, the Snodgrass is dangerous, but good.</div>
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Beware, friends, because the Snodgrass is new and improved. A second edition is coming out and Eerdmans, as friends of the Jesus Blog, have decided to give away a free copy. You can enter by leaving a comment here, sharing us on social media (and leaving a comment to let us know you did), signing up to follow the blog (and leaving a comment to let us know you did), or, the wild card entry, sharing in the comments your closest encounter with a snipe. </div>
Chris Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12007521996155910288noreply@blogger.com34