Blogging Hiatus

I think the correct term is blogging bankruptcy, but I'll stick to the lame ol' 'just too busy" excuse! Actually, I'm working through grading two sections of Greek 2 final exams and a slew of fourth semester Greek exegetical papers, so the free time has dwindled significantly since the end of the semester. However, I've managed to read about 1/2 of Sparks' "God's Word in Human Words," and I must say that it's a great read! I'm hoping to post a series on my thoughts about the book over the next few weeks - and get back to some posts about post-colonial interpretation. I'm revving up a project on Second Temple Jewish literature, so maybe I'll get around to a little bit of that as well (just so slightly coinciding with John Collins' class next semester on Hellenistic Judaism!!!).  I mean, what else is there to do when the Yanks stink so badly? 

Summer Plans

Here are a few things I'm looking at over the summer:

• Kenton Sparks' God's Word in Human Words
• getting up to par on the Dead Sea Scrolls
• getting the feet wet in narrative criticism & intertexuality
• working through 1 & 2 Thessalonians
• reading, re-reading, and reading again the Apocrypha

So no one is blaming Cuban?

 I was listening to Dallas sports radio this afternoon, and two interesting things happened. First of all, Michael Irvin referenced the greek word for "twin" in scripture. I'm still stunned over this - anyone that listens to his show on a regular basis can probably guess why.  Later in the afternoon the subject of the Mavericks' post-season collapse was brought up. Someone questioned Cuban's responsibility in the whole affair. Since Cuban took over ownership of the club, he's managed to mishandle a talented nucleus (Nash, Finley, Nowitzki), run off a great coach in D. Nelson, and run off his successor, Avery Johnson (a coach of the year). Additionally, he's traded his best young asset in D. Harris and over-invested in Dampier. Let's not forget that now the Mavs have lost two series in a row because they lack speed at the guard position. They'll head into next year with Stackhouse and Kidd on the perimeter. Terry needs more playing time, but I'm not sure where you put the guy, and regardless, he's too reticent to shoot when he's open. Something tells me the Hornets, Suns, and Lakers are licking their chops!

Faith & globalization

YDS recently announced that Miroslav Volf will be team teaching with Tony Blair this semester in a seminar entitled "Faith & Globalization."  I'm especially interested in what the former prime minister has to say in light of his conversion to Catholicism and his ties to the Bush administration. As for professor Volf, I've heard nothing but rave reviews and eagerly await the chance to sit in a class or two.

So what did you accomplish by 19?

This story got me thinking about my own successes (or lack thereof) at 19! 

I'm reminded of what Constanza once said, "If you take everything I've ever done & put it all into one day, it's quite impressive." 

By the way, I beat Zelda by 12! Take that!

Post-colonialism

I'm hoping to start up a short series on post-colonial interpretation and its application in NT studies. There are a few issues I want to cover, starting with the validity of the whole process in light of the over-saturation of "social-scientific" criticism in the academy today. I'm not for a minimalist approach (re. Barclay), but I do think we can say with some certainty that the pendulum has indeed swung too far. I think a great launching point is with Dale Allison's early work on the historical Jesus. Allison refutes any notion of diffusion in comparing "messiahs" from agrarian cults and peasant revolutions with the Jesus of 1st-century Palestine. All questions about his methodology aside, Allison's contends that all eschatological movements have commonalities rooted in their particular socio-cultural settings. These commonalities are similar enough to make cross-cultural & spatial comparisons, not only possible, but fundamental to the task of reconstructing the historical Jesus. Allison lists these commonalities, and I think the list is a great place to jump into the problems and  pitfalls of social-scientific criticism at large and then pin-point the issues surrounding post-colonial hermeneutics.