U2 3D Not Coming to Edmonton… Waaa!

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I am sadly disappointed that it doesn’t look like U2 3D (Catherine Owens and Mark Pellington, 2007; IMDb) is coming to Edmonton. I guess the fact that Edmonton only has around a million residents makes it too small! Oh, that can’t be the reason, because even Halifax managed to get it. Actually, it appears that the reason it is very unlikely U2 3D will not be showing in Edmonton is because the brain trusts at the IMAX theater capable of 3D IMAX films in Edmonton have the it booked solid until December. Do I sound bitter?

I emailed my sister in Vancouver and asked her (tongue in cheek) to fly me out so I can see it there (my brother-in-law works for an airline) — I’m not expecting it will work. 🙁

Feel free to click on my Paypal link to the right if you want to donate to my “Road Trip to U2 3D” fund.

Well at least I can watch some clips on You Tube…

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Biblical Studies Carnival News & Call for Submissions

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I have up-dated the Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage, as well as the Blog Carnival listings for the Biblical Studies Carnivals. As the unofficial (yet kind of official) coordinator for the Biblical Studies Carnivals, I have summarily pronounced Doug Chaplin‘s “A little unofficial Biblical Studies carnivalette” over at MetaCatholic the official Biblical Studies Carnival for December 2007. I was hoping to put together a carnival due to a last minute cancellation, though with all of the end of term marking and getting ready for an Arizona vacation, I just couldn’t pull it off. I even took everything with me on holidays, but between Christmas, golfing in Yuma, and Sea World San Diego, I just couldn’t find the time (or perhaps more accurately, the energy) to put it all together. I have a rough word document with all of the urls and some narrative, but I don’t think I will spend the time making it publishable. Sorry to disappoint everyone in the blogosphere 🙂

Call for Submissions: BSC XXVII

Kevin Wilson over at Blue Cord has published a call for submissions for the next Biblical Studies Carnival. If you have read some interesting blog posts that relate to academic biblical studies, please nominate them today! It can be one of your own posts or you can nominate a post written by someone else — don’t forget that the post needs to fit into the general category of academic biblical studies and cognate areas and needs to have been written sometime in February 2008.

You can submit/nominate posts by emailing Kevin directly at kwilson [at] bluecord.org or you may email them to biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail DOT com.

Upcoming Carnival Hosts Needed

If you are interested in hosting a future Biblical Studies Carnival, I am looking for hosts. I have hosts for the next two Carnivals (March and April) and then I am open for nominations.

For more information on all of this, consult the Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.


How Do You Like My New Digs?

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I have transitioned to a new host provider for my website and blog and everything appears to be working fine and dandy. I was pleased that there was really no down time, though my blog looked goofy and wasn’t entirely functional until this morning. I am really impressed with my new web host — I get tonnes of disk space and bandwidth, multiple mySQL databases, unlimited email accounts and as many domains as anyone would possibly want. Very nice.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am going to re-enter blogdom and will try to post regularly. I have thoroughly enjoyed blogging over the last couple years and have appreciated the number of emails I have received wondering if everything was well and asking why I stopped blogging. Let’s consider it a sabbatical and move on!

I am glad to hear that Jim West has decided to follow Jesus to blog again. His new blog may be found at http://jwest.wordpress.com. Welcome back Jim!


Back to Blogging

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OK, I don’t know why it has been so hard to get back to blogging. Last semester I was teaching an overload and with other volunteer responsibilities I just found it hard to blog. This semester I am teaching a lighter load, though once you are out of the habit of blogging, I find it extremely difficult to get back to it. But I am determined that I will get back to blogging regularly.

I wanted to announce however, that this blog and my web site may be down for a day or so as I change internet hosting providers. I am moving my domain to a new host that will allow me multiple mySQL databases and multiple domain names so that I can install and play with moodle and a number of other things. The transition may be smooth and you won’t notice any interrupton in service, but I thought I should note it in case you think my blog was hacked like Jim West’s blog (I can’t believe someone went and deleted his entire blog!).


Hockey Night Brawl in Canada

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Hockey is a big part of Canadian self-identity. When I started coaching and managing my son’s hockey teams, I somehow felt more Canadian. I love watching my son play — it’s really a lot of fun to watch (and he loves playing).

What saddens me is when it is taken too seriously — usually by parents. Take a look at this video of a brawl at a novice hockey game in Ontario. These are eight year old kids. What’s perhaps worse is that some of the parents starting fighting on the bench! What role models they were!

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It’s a game. It’s for fun. Your kid will NOT make the NHL. OK, some kids do make the NHL, but there is more likelihood that you will win a lottery. When I was at a Hockey Canada safety certification course a week ago, the instructor noted that just over 40 kids worldwide born in any given year make it to the NHL. That’s it.

Let’s  work to make hockey what it is – the best game in the world (next to rugby, that is!).


Biblical Studies Carnival XXIV – Call for Submissions (Pretty Please!)

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So, as it turns out, the individual responsible for this month’s Biblical Studies Carnival had to back out last minute (today). As the ever-faithful coordinator of the carnivals (lol!), I am going to step in and do the Carnival for this month. I will not be able to get it uploaded for tomorrow; but I am aiming for early in the week (probably Monday).

What you can do to help me out is nominate some posts. I know I won’t be able to do much of anything tomorrow (my sister is in town and my son and I have hockey — he plays, I coach), so if you can get nominations in today and tomorrow, that would be great. I will spend some time Sunday and Monday putting the Carnival together. Please don’t be shy — nominate one of your own posts, or you can nominate a post written by someone else — don’t forget that the post needs to fit into the general category of academic biblical studies and cognate areas and needs to have been written sometime in November 2007.

You can submit/nominate posts via the submission form at BlogCarnival.com or you may email them to biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail DOT com.

For more information, consult the Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.

Thanks in advance!


In Remembrance

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Today is Remembrance Day (11 November) in Canada (as well as in the UK, Australia, and other Commonwealth nations), a day that we remember the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and civilians in times of war and peacekeeping.

All schools in Canada will have Remembrance Day assemblies and one of the traditions is to recite a famous Canadian poem about World War I, “In Flanders Fields.” Here is the poem:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— John McCrae

One of my favourite Dire Straits songs is “Brothers in Arms,” a haunting ode to the foolishness of war.

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These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And youll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
Ive watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

Theres so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the suns gone to hell
And the moons riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But its written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
Were fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

May we never forget.

He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more (Isa 2:4)


A Major Pet Peeve: Writing in Library Books

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I really really hate it when I take out a library book only to find that some doorknob has written in it — I don’t care if it is just neat little underlines or asterisks in the margin or dumb comments. I also don’t care if you intend to erase your pencil marks when you are done — it still damages the book. If you want to fold, spindle, or mutilate a book, then buy it yourself!

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If you write in library books considered yourself on notice! And stop it!

(And for what it is worth, I personally only make very minor marks in pencil in my own books)


Commentaries on Chronicles Galore!

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There has been a resurgence of scholarly interest in Chronicles, which is evident in the number of commentaries recently published on this oft-neglected book. There is truly a wealth of resources in English for those interested in studying this theologically facinating book of the Bible. My division of the commentaries into those for “Scholars and Teachers” and “Pastors and Students” is admittedly somewhat artificial. Assiduious readers will glean much excellent information from most of the commentaries listed below.

Commentaries for Scholars and Teachers

With recent publications by Klein and Knoppers, there is no shortage of academic commentaries on Chronicles — especially 1 Chronicles. The academic heavyweights for 1 Chronicles are clearly Gary Knoppers‘s Anchor Bible volumes and Ralph Klein‘s Hermeneia commentary. Knoppers is second to none in terms of text-critical analysis, while Klein’s work is solidly academic, though also easily accessibly for pastors and students. I find Johnstone‘s analysis of the Masoretic text of Chronicles to be rather refreshing and original.

Other commentaries geared more for scholars and teachers include the excellent WBC volumes by Braun and Dillard (perhaps the best from an evangelical perspective) and De Vries, who is quite insightful in his analysis (but is limited by the format of the FOTL commentary series). Another commentary that is hampered by the format of the series, yet is invaluable for scholar and student alike, is Williamson‘s NCB commentary. Other scholarly volumes worthy of perusal include Jarick‘s interesting reading of Chronicles that “tunes out” other competing traditions, Dirksen‘s thorough historical critical study, as well as Curtis and Madsen‘s more traditional (albeit dated) philological commentary.

Finally, pride of place for academic commentaries on the book of Chronicles still has to go to Sarah Japhet‘s majesterial volume, not only because it covers both 1 and 2 Chronicles in one volume, but more importantly, it is both insightful and thorough in its exposition.

Commentaries for Teachers and Pastors

There have been a number of new commentaries published on Chronicles from a popular perspective in recent years. Selman‘s two volumes are quite good, as are the works by Thompson and Tuell. Pastors will find Allen‘s and Hill‘s commentaries quite useful, though I find Allen’s discussions of modern applications to be closer to the mark. Out of all of these more popular commentaries I would probably give the strongest recommendation to McKenzie‘s volume. I have used it for seminary and undergraduate classes and have found that it both represents the state of current scholarship and is theologically sensitive.

I would welcome your comments — what commentaries on Chronicles do you find most useful and why?

For more commentary recommendations, see my “Old Testament Commentary Survey.”


Biblical Studies Carnival XXIII online at Ancient Hebrew Poetry

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John Hobbins over at his Ancient Hebrew Poetry blog has uploaded Biblical Studies Carnival XXIII.
John has done a superb job highlighting academic biblical studies in the blogosphere for the month of October 2007. He has even posted a follow-up post, “What I Left out the First Time.”

The next Biblical Studies Carnival will be hosted by James M. Darlack over at Old in the New in the first week of December 2007. Make sure to regularly nominate posts you read around the blogosphere this month.

For more information, please consult the Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.