Author Archives: Tyler F. Williams

Pop Culture Profile: U2 (UPDATED)

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Next week I will deliver a lecture in my Religion & Popular Culture class entitled “The Gospel according to U2.” Readers of this blog know that I am a huge U2 fan and I am looking forward to this lecture.

I am also looking forward to receiving my copy of U2’s latest DVD, U2: Vertigo 2005 – Live From Chicago which should be coming in the mail soon. U2 is a great live band and I’ve enjoyed all of their DVDs, though my favourite is probably Rattle & Hum, though Elevation is also quite good. I also quite like their collection of music videos, The Best of 1990-2000. Here is a sampling of their videography, starting with their most recent:

There have been a number of books over the years chronicling the Irish rock band. I would highly recommend Stockman’s book (My good friend Bob Derrenbacker is allegedly mentioned in the preface of the revised edition). Some of my favourites include:

UPDATE: My good friend Bob Derrenbacker has highlighted some additional U2 resources. He mentioned the November RollingStone interview with Bono (for the print version see here; for an MP3 of the interview see here). He also noted another very recent book that I wasn’t aware of:

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Call for Papers: 4th Annual Research in Religious Studies Conference

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On behalf of Dr. James Linville of the University of Lethbridge, I am pleased to announce a call for student papers for the 4th Annual Research in Religious Studies Conference at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta, Saturday 29 April – Sunday 30 April 2006. This is a special conference that their Department of Religious Studies holds especially for undergraduate and graduate students.

Papers from every discipline within the academic fields of the humanities and social sciences are welcome. The call for papers is posted online at the Lethbridge Religious Studies Department website or may be downloaded here.

From talking to Jim, he hopes that this conference will become a major event for Religious Studies students in the western provinces and neighbouring states.

Jim also noted that the University of Lethbridge has been selected to host the 2007 Pacific Northwest Regional meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Society of Biblical Literature and American School of Oriental Research. In light of this, the 2007 student’s conference will likely be scheduled just prior to this meeting, so contributors can attend both.

I think this student conference is a great idea and I am hoping to go down in April with some Taylor students in tow. Thanks for organizing this, Jim.

Tel Zeitah Abecedary Photo and Update

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There has been a bit more discussion on the blog in regards to the 10th century abecedary inscription discovered at Tel Zeitah. See the additional posts by Jim West (here and here), while Joe Cathy responds to his detractors here. There is also a good discussion of the origin and order of the Hebrew alphabet on the Daily Hebrew blog.

As a point of clarification, the AP picture that I included on my previous blog entry on the inscription did identify P. Kyle McCarter as the individual in the photograph. The photograph was taken at a news conference at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary on Wednesday 9 November 2005.

Here is another AP photograph of the stone with Ron E. Tappy, the project director of the excavations, in the foreground. This side of the stone has a bowl-shaped hollow was carved in the side, which may suggest (according to Tappy) that the stone had been a drinking vessel for cult rituals.

BTW: The picture of the inscription by itself which is surfacing on the blogosphere is just a cropped version of the AP picture with P. Kyle McCarter in the foreground.

Hebrew Bible Related Reviews from RBL (8 November 2005)

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The latest Review of Biblical Literature has been posted. There are a number of Hebrew Bible related reviews as well as some interesting Second Temple ones. Here is a complete listing:

  • Walter Brueggemann, Worship in Ancient Israel: An Essential Guide. Reviewed by Nijay Gupta and Thomas Hieke
  • Bernd Janowski and Peter Stuhlmacher, eds., The Suffering Servant: Isaiah 53 in Jewish and Christian Sources (Translated by Daniel P. Bailey). Reviewed by William Barker
  • Rolf P. Knierim and George W. Coats, Numbers. Reviewed by Reinhard Achenbach
  • Eckart Otto and Reinhard Achenbach, eds., Das Deuteronomium zwischen Pentateuch und Deuteronomistichem Geschichtswerk. Reviewed by A.G. Auld
  • Madaline Vartejanu-Joubert, Folie et Société dans l’israël antique. Reviewed by Walter Vogels
  • David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance. Reviewed by Eric Noffke
  • Jean Duhaime, The War Texts: 1QM and Related Manuscripts. Reviewed by Annette Steudel
  • Anthony Hilhorst and George H. Van Kooten, eds., The Wisdom of Egypt: Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic Essays in Honour of Gerard P. Luttikhuizen. Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas

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