SansBlogue: Sermons you shouldn't have preached! What's with nuns? and a fine new biblical studies blog :)

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Sermons you shouldn't have preached! What's with nuns? and a fine new biblical studies blog :)

Jim pointed to it, and it's shaping up to be a fun read... "Stupid Bible Tricks" a new column in Ethics Daily. The first does the dirty on the delightful, amazing, but false claim that the presence of the letters את untranslated in Genesis 1:1 puts Christ into the first verse of the Bible. Actually the easy way to get the series is to subscribe to Susan Piggott's blog since Ethics Daily does not make their RSS feed very visible :( that way though you'll get any other good posts Susan offers as a bonus :)

As an example of what to expect from such posts, here's an extract from one on practical ecumenism (called "My Sister the Sister") answering the questions that arise when people hear that Susan's sister is a real life cloistered nun:

Many people are quite curious when they find out my sister’s a nun. “What on earth does she do all day?” they wonder. “Doesn’t she want to get married?” others ask, mystified. “You mean she stays in that monastery all the time and doesn’t come out?” still others demand. And, there’s always the Evangelical who wants to know, “But, is she saved?”

In response: (1) she prays for the world all day and in the middle of the night, too. (2) She considers herself married to Jesus, and I’ve heard he’s quite the bridegroom. (3) Yes, except for doctor’s appointments and medical emergencies. (4) She loves Jesus with her soul and has devoted her life entirely to God. What do you think?

...But do read the whole post, as I missed out some of the best bits!

Labels: biblical.studies.online, blog

¶ 4:44 PM

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Hi Tim
I don't think I have time for that stuff. There's enough nonsense around without my having to read it on a blog.

Since I don't preach, I am not in danger of reading Christ into the TNK - except to ask why the NT authors did this - especially in the psalms. (But I can seriously spoof with the letters too.) What do you think of Psalm 89 for instance? You will find the DRM version on my blog (that's me) or you can just read it with traditional piety or historical criticism. I like history but I have so much to learn and do I can't keep up with all the necessary work.

I really value your voice. My diocese recently did a fund raiser for the theological college in Burma. Our companion diocese is there so they are always in our prayers.

Peace.

By Bob MacDonald, at September 25, 2008 5:27 PM

Christian reader I am sufre you can recognise Christ in all sorts of parts of the Hebrew Bible, but not in the sign of the accusative ;)

I enjoyed the post because it was so well written, and because as a teacher I'm "always" coming across such well meaning errors.

But time is a problem, I keep meaning to delve more into your psalms visuals, but mostly the pile of marking gets in the way :(

By Tim, at September 26, 2008 6:57 AM

If someone rubbishes the rubbish on a blog I don't have to do it directly I can point the student to the post :)

By Tim, at September 26, 2008 6:58 AM

Thanks Tim - I appreciate the pressure of time and the choices one must make. My structural charts are very raw translation but good for 'seeing' the use of recurrence. More recently I have been trying to morph the raw translations into readable English - a few a week. Occasionally I see things in the text that I think are important but that I have never seen in any other translation.

The other aspect I am looking at is the mind of the first century hearer of the the psalms - particularly as they are used in the NT - particularly Hebrews. Any time you want to interact on this, I am only too happy to do it. I am a little further ahead in my Hebrew learning than two years ago.

By Bob MacDonald, at September 26, 2008 7:47 AM

That first one came out wrong, done in a hurry, between MSN mchat with my son in Europe who has apparently just applied for a job in Kenya!

I meant to write: "As a Christian reader I am sure one can recognise Christ in all sorts of parts of the Hebrew Bible, but not in the sign of the accusative ;)"

In reply to your last comment, Bob, translation is a real problem, any translation hides so much possibility. That's why several are better than any one ;)

It is more years than I care to remember since I last interacted at all seriously with Hebrews. I expect that Hebrew scholars (though I don't recall ever actually meeting one in the flesh) have fun with theuse of the Hebrew Bible with its mix of Matthean-style "filling out" wit typology and a rabbinic-like focus on the words... It does sound like fun, have you any particular posts on that sort of thing? - I don't remember any but my forgettory is powerful :(

By Tim, at September 26, 2008 8:10 AM