Memory and Controlled Manipulation - Le Donne

This short lecture by Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu is well worth a watch for those interested in false memories and memory refraction. Keep in mind that Liu grants that memory is "dynamic and sophisticated".  His illustration of a film clip is only heuristic.

-anthony

More on Loving my Ancient Alien Brothers (gender-specific language intended) - Le Donne

If you missed my interreligious exchange on "problem texts", you can catch up here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And I think that Larry might have one or two more posts in him. I'll be sure to link them when they surface over at his blog: Jewish Christian Intersections.

At present, I'd like to reply to Barbara a bit more about my reading of Deut 21:10-15. Barbara writes:

As a captive of war, the woman was probably going to end up as a slave or concubine; isn't that right? This seems a far better outcome, to me; the man is being constrained and the woman has a chance at a better life - no better or worse than any other woman.

Barbara, I think that I understand your point. In a world where misogyny is the norm, any step toward humanization should be seen as good news. I wouldn't want to dispute this.

But as I hint in my post, I'm not only wrestling with this text as a window into an ancient culture. For me, this text is sacred. And if sacred, then very troubling. This text has shaped my culture, my religion, and will continue to shape my faith community.

I wrestle with it not because I want to, but because I need to. And if what Larry says is true, that "God is good" - and I really want to believe this despite my doubts - then I cannot help but be repulsed by a representation of the voice of God that grants misogynistic and warlike premises.

Do you hear my concern? I'm not trying to write the definitive word on this... I wouldn't want to give the impression that an adversarial posture is the only viable posture. I'm just working out this messy relationship as best I can.

-anthony

Too Much Good in the World! - Le Donne

The University of the Pacific requires every undergraduate to take a senior seminar called "What is an ethical life?"  Because every senior must take this course, the need for adjunct lecturers is high.  Given this need (please don't laugh), I was asked to take on one of these ethics seminars.  This has meant something of a crash course in ethical theory and ethical problems and exposure to narratives that explore ethical themes.  I picked up the course reader determined to choose ten essays to feature in the course.  What I found was that each essay was more intriguing than the next.  Even better, I began revisiting some of my favorite books and films from a pedagogical perspective (i.e. asking how would I use this in class?).

In addition to the required course reader, I've decided to have my students choose from: The Autobiography of Malcolm X with Alex Haley; A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin; or The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs. Alongside several film clips and comedy sketches, we will view in full the following films: "Crimes and Misdemeanors" (1989), "Gandhi" (1982), and "Stranger than Fiction" (2006).

I have lamented more than once that there just isn't enough time to cover the ocean of amazing books, films, philosophers, religious thinkers that explore ethics. My most recent lament came in the form of an audible cry within earshot of my of my wife: "There is just too much good in the world!"  Her reply: "You don't hear that very often."

-anthony

Jesus and Dental Care

David Capes asks a question that I've never considered before...
Did Jesus Have All His Teeth?

The Top Ten Reasons Why My Book is Titled “The Wife of Jesus” - Le Donne

10) Films, fictions, and feasible forgeries have constructed this title and category.  My book speaks directly to the construct.

9) I just really love the definite article.

8) Chris Keith and I flipped a coin. I got the wife topic and he got the literacy question.

7) The title “Bride of Christ” would have given away the ending. This was my biggest complaint with the New Testament... so predictable.

6) It was a typo – it should have read The Life of Jesus.

5) I had a dance-off with Robert Gundry for the topic.  And won!  He won’t be showing his face around here for a while.

4) My publishers didn’t go for the title “Modern Scandals about a God in Sandals”…. among others.

3) The title Inferno was taken… twice.

2) I felt it was time revisit the topic, offering evidence for and against a married Jesus.

...and the top reason why my book is titled The Wife of Jesus:

1) I felt that the title “The Wives of Jesus” would have been too controversial.

___

Pre-order The Wife of Jesus: Ancient Texts and Modern Scandals and save the the universe five dollars!

Review of Goodacre’s Thomas and the Gospels—Chris Keith

My review of Mark Goodacre’s Thomas and the Gospels in Journal for Theological Studies has now appeared online.  You can read it here  In short, I find Goodacre’s arguments for the Gospel of Thomas’s “familiarity” with the Synoptic Gospels convincing.  I especially appreciate Mark’s argument that Thomas should be seen as a serious innovator who was creatively reshaping the gospel tradition for purposes that both did and did not align with the purposes of the Synoptic authors.

Final Thoughts on Problem Texts

See Larry's rejoinder to my "Communing with the Dead" over at Jewish Christian Intersections:

http://jewishchristianintersections.com/?p=362

I am deeply grateful for such a rewarding dialogue.

-anthony

Communing with the Dead: An Other-than Kosher Reading of "Problem Texts" - Le Donne

It should be stated that what Larry and I are doing (see here, here, here, here, and here) is something like a Jewish-Christian dialogue.  I say “something like” because it is nontraditional.  There is something lost when we lack physicality.  There is less of a chance for hospitality and humanization. We are not joined in a group discussion and there are hundreds of eyes looking on, most of them represented by people who never intend to self-identify.  Face-to-face dialogue is preferred because it allows me to see the reflected image of God in the eyes of my counterparts.  But this exchange was my idea.  So if the medium has cheapened the experience, I’m to blame.  If the contents herein do not meet your satisfaction, there are undoubtedly better offerings on the internet.

Jesus and Gender Equality

Our latest poll is intended to measure our readers' general impression of Jesus on the topic of gender equality. Vote above and comment below.

-anthony

David Williams on Christian Scholarship

In the third installment of "Why you must be Dying to be a Christian Scholar", David Williams addresses the uniquely liminal space that Christian Scholars must reside.  This three-part series is a must read for anyone who cares about the well-being of Christians in higher education.

-anthony

My Ongoing Struggle with Scripture (one Christian's response to Larry Behrendt's problem text) - Le Donne

Larry Behrendt, my counterpart in this Jewish-Christian exchange, offers his first take on so-called “problem texts” here.  My first observation is that Larry might be spending a bit too much time on the internet.  His post has more links than a Latvian sausage factory.  Speaking of which, Larry and I might be a tad too sausagy to be discussing Ephesians 5:22-24 with any credibility.  But here we are.

Like most Christians, I begin with the premise that my Bible is true.  I must quickly qualify this statement by admitting that the truth of many passages are not clear to me.  I often feel like the disciples who gape at Jesus like slack-jawed fools because “they did not understand about the loaves” (Mark 6:52).  I have no clue how to interpret “the loaves” in this context.  I’m even further from figuring out how to draw truth from this passage.  So here I acknowledge that I am fallible.  Scripture, as filtered through me, is not to be swallowed uncritically.

Josh Mann's Brilliant Idea - Le Donne

Great Tool + Free = You'd be silly not to check this out.

http://www.joshualmann.com/research-engine-a-simple-tool-for-your-workflow/

-anthony

Christopher Skinner reviews Jesus' Literacy--Chris Keith

Over at Peje Iesous, Christopher Skinner reviews my monograph, Jesus' Literacy: Scribal Culture and the Teacher from Galilee.  He also provides a useful survey of the chapters for those who are more interested in a summary than the whole book.