According to Jimmy Kimmel, “Jesus really is everywhere!” (And I thought he was Jewish!) Just the other night Jimmy Kimmel had a special clip about Jesus sightings called “Where’s Jesus?” It was rather funny — there have been sightings of Jesus in rocks, wood panelling, fish sticks, mugs, pancakes, ceiling tiles, MRIs, pumpkins, dental x-rays, among other things. You can watch the segment here.
Jim West also noted another Jesus sighting… this time in the foam at the bottom of a pint of beer.
Just a quick reminder that Biblical Studies Carnival X — the big number ten! — will be hosted by Phil Harland over at Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean during the first week of October 2006. His call for submissions may be found here. 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.
As you are reading posts around the blogosphere, make sure to nominate at least one post for the next Carnival!
This month’s carnival is online over at hypotyposeis and you can view an entire list of all past carnivals, as well as some general guidelines about the Carnival, at the Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.
Dr. David M. Gunn will be visiting Edmonton for the next couple weeks through a grant from the University of Alberta’s EFF Distinguished Visitor Fund. The Program in Religious Studies at the University of Alberta is hosting a series of lectures with Dr. Gunn. In addition, the Religion & Theology Department at Taylor University College is fortunante enough to be hosting one of the lectures on our campus.
Professor David M. Gunn (Ph.D., Newcastle-Upon-Tyne) is the A. A. Bradford Chair in Religion at Texas Christian University. The author or co-author of six monographs and close to four dozen substantive articles, as well as the editor or co-editor of six volumes of collected essays and translated works, and the general editor of 77 more, Dr. Gunn has been described as a prolific and diverse scholar. Originally a classicist, Dr. Gunn became interested in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Significant results of that interest include the births of the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament and the JSOT Supplement Series, known today as the Library for Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies. This astounding legacy helped make possible the methodological transformation of the discipline of biblical studies that occurred in the 1980s as scholars moved from a modernist historical-critical paradigm toward theories of reception history. Dr. Gunn currently serves as an editor for the Blackwell Bible Commentary Series, in which he wrote the volume on Judges (2005).
The theme of the free lectures is “Used and Re-Used: Episodes from the History of the Bible’s Reception.” The lectures are as follows (I have bolded the lecture at Taylor):
The lecture that Dr. Gunn will be delivering at Taylor University College will be drawing on the reception history of the book of Judges to illustrate responses through the centuries, by clerics, commentators, educators, artists, and archaeologists, to the material world of the Bible, particularly to problems raised by material objects and their use. He promises a mixture of the serious and whimsical, with some visual illustrations to temper the talking. One of the illustrations he sent me for a poster I was working on was from a comic based on the Jael-Sisera episode in Judges 4. I thought it was a hoot, so here it is:
This looks to be a great lecture series. If you are in the Edmonton area, I encourage you to attend.
I just had a chance to see the July 2006 volume of Dead Sea Discoveries (Volume 13, Issue 2). There are a number of interesting articles in it, especially the ones on “David’s Compositions” and the Qumran cemetery. The contents are as follows:
As one who has been wondering about the development of Logos Bible Software for Macintosh (see previous posts here and here), I wasn’t entirely surprised to receive an email from Bob Pritchett yesterday explaining the long delay.
As it turns out, it was a much larger project than they anticipated and they are not setting any (more) dates for its release just yet.
Here is the letter in full:
I am sorry for the length of time between updates about Logos for the Mac. I know it’s frustrating for all of you, and it is frustrating for us, too. Let me catch you up on some details of where we are now.
Logos has been developing Logos Bible Software for Microsoft Windows for 15 years. We know a lot about Windows, and over the years we’ve built a pretty powerful application with a very large code base.
Our developers are a very talented bunch, and I have every confidence that they could master programming for the Mac platform just as they have mastered programming for Windows. But a) we need to keep them developing our Windows application, and b) I know that there’s no substitute for years of experience on a platform. We want Logos for the Mac to be a first-class Mac application, and to reflect a deep understanding of — and love for — the Mac platform.
So we partnered with a third-party organization that specializes in Mac software development. They love the Mac and have years of experience building Mac applications. The plan was to have them do the bulk of the Mac development, working with our existing team to share code and expertise as needed.
The plan has worked fine, except that our partners dramatically underestimated the size and complexity of our code base and the time required to recreate it on the Mac.
I don’t want to point fingers or assign blame. Neither of us understood how big this project was.
The project is not in trouble, it is not undoable; it is just taking longer than we planned.
I wish I could tell you that I know when it is going to be done, but (as you can see) we’ve already been burned by announcing dates.
The two development teams exchange emails every day. Every week a progress report shows what code has been completed and tested, and the “percent done” keeps going up. Sometimes it takes less time than planned to complete a component, but sometimes a lot longer. We just don’t know.
Why haven’t we provided more screenshots or even video clips along the way?
The short answer is that the majority of the development work is “under the hood” and results in nothing to show visually.
For those who like technical details: the Libronix Digital Library System is actually a very large programming platform composed of hundreds of objects and interfaces that we code the reports and user interface against. The object model grew organically over the years, as we added features to the product. Today’s reports and features use the whole library, and to implement even one of them on the Mac requires having almost the entire library ported.
So the reason there aren’t many new screenshots is that we need to have this whole back-end library available in order to implement almost any report, and that’s the bulk of the coding. Once that back-end library is done, it is almost trivial to implement the reports that use it.
At the moment we have an application that runs, has a functioning “My Library” dialog, and reads and displays our existing electronic books correctly (and without modification). This is the hard part, and it’s done. What’s left is completing the port of the back-end object library. It’s not particularly hard, it’s just a lot of work. It _is_ very far along, but it needs to be 100% complete before we can show search results or run a Passage Guide. (And we won’t beta test without those things.)
Then we’ll test, polish, and ship.
I apologize for the delay, and for the lack of communication. I am not trying to put the blame on someone else. (That’s why I have said so little along the way.) I am just trying to explain why there isn’t much we can report or do, other than wait.
I will try to do a better job of reporting progress in the future and appreciate your continued patience.
Bob Pritchett
President & CEO, Logos Bible Software
What I wonder about is that by the time the product is ready to ship, why wouldn’t any Macintosh user who wanted to use Logos just run it on their Intel Mac with a program like Parallels?
My previous post, “Abbott and Costello Learn Hebrew,” seems to have been a hit, so I thought I would post a reading that I use when I teach Koine Greek. This has its origins in my days as a student at Regent College in Vancouver, B.C. I can’t recall who originally wrote it, but I have had a copy that I have edited through the years.
Feel free to use it with attribution (“Got this from Tyler Williams who got it from someone at Regent College”!). If I find out who wrote the original I will post it. Enjoy.
Do you like to study Greek?
I do not like to study Greek
Whoever does becomes a geek.
Will you study here? or there?
I will not study here or there
I will not study anywhere.
Would you study in your room?
Not in my room
Not in a tomb
Not here or there
Not anywhere
I do not want to study Greek
I do not want to be a geek.
Would you study at a table?
Would you, would you, if you’re able?
I will not study at a table,
I will not study, though I’m able
I do not like that Greek you see
At college or at seminary
I do not want to study Greek
I do not want to be a geek.
Would you study in the rain?
Would you like to use your brain?
Not in the rain
Not with my brain
Stop please stop
Don’t ask again
Would you, could you on term break?
Do it for the gospel’s sake?
I will not do it on term break
Not even for the gospel’s sake
I do not like to memorize
Those funny letters hurt my eyes
Not in the rain
Not with my brain
Not at a table
Though I’m able
Not in my room
Not in a tomb
Not here or there
Not anywhere
I do not want to study Greek
I do not want to be a geek.
You may like it, you will see
Try studying Greek in a tree.
I would not, could not in a tree
Not on term break
Quit bugging me!
What?! Use my brain?
Not at a table
Though I’m able
Not in my room
Not in a tomb
Not here or there
Not anywhere
I do not want to study Greek
I do not want to be a geek.
Take Greek this term
Without apology
Drop Systematic Theology
Perhaps for you, but not for me
Greek isn’t practical, you see
I’d rather learn to fix transmissions
I’m a candidate for missions
Would you take it in the summer?
Six weeks of verbs won’t make you dumber
You might like the paradigms
Repeating lists five thousand times
I would not, could not in the summer
For six whole weeks–what a bummer!
I will not drop another class
My GPA!! I might not pass
I will not study Greek at all
Not in summer, not in fall
You don’t like Greek
That’s what I’m hearing
You won’t get lost!
That’s what I’m fearing!
Could you not learn three small words?
Not three
Not two
Not even one
Too much pain
Not much gain
Against my grain
Do you think Greek is for the birds?
Not for birds, perhaps for nerds
I will not learn it
It ain’t fun
Not three, not two
Not even one
I will not study Greek at all
Not in summer, not in fall
I’d rather take Christology
Or Gypsy Numerology
Not in the rain
Not with my brain
I will not study in a tree
Get off my case and let me be!
Not at a table
Though I’m able
Not in my room
Not in a tomb
Not here or there, not anywhere
I do not want to study Greek
I do not want to be a geek.
You do not like it, so you say
Try it, try it, and you may
Try it and you may, I say
O.K., if you will let me be
I will try it, watch and see
Λεγω, λεγεις, λεγει, λεγομεν
I can’t do this stuff — Amen!
Say it again
Forget “amen”
You will do better
If you say each letter
Λεγετε, λεγει, λεγεις, λεγω
I think I’ve got it!
Do you think so?
Now you’ve got it!
You’re on your way
A Bible scholar
Some future day
Without a dollar
And hair all grey
If you pass Greek intro
To Greek exegesis you will go
And if you really want some fun
You can take Greek until you’re done
Then it’s Hebrew
I will teach you
Λεγετε, λεγω, λεγεις, λεγει
Those few verbs and I’m on my way
Learning Greek is so much fun
Barely started, and I’m almost done
Now I’ll learn those paradigms
Repeat vocab a million times
Cards on a ring
Will be my thing
In the summer, in the fall
I’ll do it any time at all
I’ll switch Greek for other classes
No one hits a geek with glasses
I will study in a tree
Now I know Greek is for me
I will do a PhD
I will study on term break
Greek will be a piece of cake
I will study in the rain
Let conjugations fill my brain
I will study at a table
Learn the aorist since I’m able
I will study in my room
Morning, night and afternoon
I will study here and there
I will study EVERYwhere
I do so love to study Greek
I will be a first class geek!
I am not sure where I got this little sketch written by Rabbi Jack Moline, but I always enjoy doing it in my introductory Hebrew course in the first couple weeks of classes (I also have a Dr. Seuss Learns Greek which is quite funny).
ABBOTT: I see you’re here for your Hebrew lesson.
COSTELLO: I’m ready to learn.
ABBOTT: Now, the first thing you must understand is that Hebrew and English have many words which sound alike, but they do not mean the same thing.
COSTELLO: Sure, I understand.
ABBOTT: Now, don’t be too quick to say that.
COSTELLO: How stupid do you think I am – don’t answer that. It’s simple – some words in Hebrew sound like words in English, but they don’t mean the same.
ABBOTT: Precisely.
COSTELLO: We have that word in English, too. What does it mean in Hebrew?
ABBOTT: No, no. Precisely is an English word.
COSTELLO: I didn’t come here to learn English, I came to learn Hebrew. So make with the Hebrew.
ABBOTT: Fine. Let’s start with mee.
COSTELLO: You.
ABBOTT: No, mee.
COSTELLO: Fine, we’ll start with you.
ABBOTT: No, we’ll start with mee.
COSTELLO: Okay, have it your way.
ABBOTT: Now, mee is who.
COSTELLO: You is Abbott.
ABBOTT: No, no, no. Mee is who.
COSTELLO: You is Abbott.
ABBOTT: You don’t understand.
COSTELLO: I don’t understand? Did you just say me is who?
ABBOTT: Yes I did. Mee is who.
COSTELLO: You is Abbott.
ABBOTT: No, you misunderstand what I am saying. Tell me about mee.
COSTELLO: Well, you’re a nice enough guy.
ABBOTT: No, no. Tell me about mee!
COSTELLO: Who?
ABBOTT: Precisely.
COSTELLO: Precisely what?
ABBOTT: Precisely who.
COSTELLO: It’s precisely whom!
ABBOTT: No, mee is who.
COSTELLO: Don’t start that again – go on to something else.
ABBOTT: All right. Hu is he.
COSTELLO: Who is he?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: I don’t know. Who is he?
ABBOTT: Sure you do. You just said it.
COSTELLO: I just said what?
ABBOTT: Hu is he.
COSTELLO: Who is he?
ABBOTT: Precisely.
COSTELLO: Again with the precisely! Precisely who?
ABBOTT: No, precisely he.
COSTELLO: Precisely he? Who is he?
ABBOTT: Precisely!
COSTELLO: And what about me?
ABBOTT: Who.
COSTELLO: me, me, me!
ABBOTT: Who, who, who!
COSTELLO: What are you, an owl? Me! Who is me?
ABBOTT: No, hu is he!
COSTELLO: I don’t know, maybe he is me!
ABBOTT: No, hee is she!
COSTELLO: (STARE AT ABBOTT) Do his parents know about this?
ABBOTT: About what?
COSTELLO: About her!
ABBOTT: What about her?
COSTELLO: That she is he!
ABBOTT: No, you’ve got it wrong – hee is she!
COSTELLO:’ Then who is he?
ABBOTT: Precisely!
COSTELLO: Who?
ABBOTT: He!
COSTELLO: Me?
ABBOTT: Who!
COSTELLO: He?
ABBOTT: She!
COSTELLO: Who is she?
ABBOTT: No, hu is he.
COSTELLO: I don’t care who is he, I want to know who is she?
ABBOTT: No, that’s not right.
COSTELLO: How can it not be right? I said it. I was standing here when I said it, and I know me.
ABBOTT: Who.
COSTELLO: Who?
ABBOTT: Precisely!
COSTELLO: Me! Me is that he you are talking about! He is me!
ABBOTT: No, hee is she!
COSTELLO: Wait a Minute, wait a minute! I’m trying to learn a little Hebrew, and now I can’t even speak English. Let me review.
ABBOTT: Go ahead.
COSTELLO: Now first You want to know me is who.
ABBOTT: Correct.
COSTELLO: And then you say who is he.
ABBOTT: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: And then you tell me he is she.
ABBOTT & COSTELLO: Precisely!
COSTELLO: Now look at this logically. If me is who, and who is he, and he is she, don’t it stand to reason that me is she?
ABBOTT: Who?
COSTELLO: She!
ABBOTT: That is he!
COSTELLO: Who is he?
ABBOTT & COSTELLO: Precisely!
COSTELLO: I have just about had it. You have me confused I want to go home. You know what I want? Ma!
ABBOTT: What.
COSTELLO: I said Ma.
ABBOTT: What.
COSTELLO: What are you, deaf? I want Ma!
ABBOTT: What!
COSTELLO: Not what, who!
ABBOTT: He!
COSTELLO: Not he! Ma is not he!
ABBOTT: Of course not! Hu is he!
COSTELLO: I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t care. I don’t care who is he, he is she, me is who, ma is what. I just want to go home now and play with my dog.
ABBOTT: Fish.
I mentioned the rumours that U2 was heading into the studio this fall here.
As it turns out they released a new single already! Check it out here.
(HT Looking Closer)