For some reason that I cannot explain (but which was NOT the skill of other drivers ;) I was thinking on my drive to work this morning about the question: What would I change about my life if I KNEW there was no God and that death was the final curtain.- Would I still have wanted to be a faithful husband and father? Yes!
- Would I still love teaching? Yes!
- Would I still be glad we spent a decade teaching in Africa? Yes!!
- Would I still want to have been a Bible teacher for almost all my working life? No...
Frankly, if I did not believe (I do not use "know" for probabilities I assess as less than 85%, actually I am reluctant to say "know" at much higher probabilities than that, I am not even sure I would say 'I know that night will fall this evening' for I can envisage possibilities with greater than zero probability that it might not, but for this conversation let's set the bar low ;) that God exists, and that the Bible in some sense reveals God to us, then why bother spending the hours I do studying (even if not scholarshiping - since Philip and the others would claim that scholarship is not what I do) and teaching the Bible?
OK, the Bible is an interesting ancient text, its narrative style and poetry are striking and often beautiful... but to spend my life digging at it and encouraging others to do the same? Surely without belief that is הֲבֵל הֲבָלִים and great weariness of the flesh.
What a shame!
If I believe Philip and the other Secular Biblical Scholars that this title is redundant, and Believing Biblical Scholarship is an oxymoron, then I'd rather be no scholar, but continue to study (am I allowed that word or is that too an oxymoron?) Scripture, because it is Scripture. I just hope my fellow students (who are, at least some of them are, like me, no-scholars but believers of a sort, and so bereft of the Olympian certitude of the much-proclaimed "scholars") will continue to criticise and debate and discuss and test what I write as they always have and not descend into the moronic dictats that the "scholars" claim is the inevitable result of studying anything one actually ascribes value to!
Labels: biblical.studies, culture
¶ 12:40 PM
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Thanks for this post Tim. We don't actually deal in probabilities or certainty but in faithfulness, trust, and hope. And it is not a disappointment. Knowledge is a two way street.
I am writing to ask in general if you are aware of any other dubious ethical practices used by this publisher, and in particular if anyone else has seen examples of comment spam from them?
For the record if the person who wrote the comment, even had they chosen to hide behind anonymity, had interacted with my material or other comments in some way I would NOT have deleted the comment. As it is I intend to cease recommending any works audio or print published by Nelson to students and churches if a viable alternative exists from a more ethical publisher.
Addendum: [in case you do not rerad the comments] this comment is posted below, in fairness to Thomas Nelson I am copying it here so that you can read it with my post:Michael Hyatt left a comment:Blogger, unlike WordPress :( does not seem to collect (or at least does not offer bloggers a chance to see) the IP addresses of commenters, and this one was "Annonymous" but I am glad to hear that such behaviour is not approved, though puzzled since another biblical studies blogger has had similar experiences advertising your company's products. I do NOT object to anyone linking to your product pages, IF they are relevant and add something to the discussion.
I am the CEO of Thomas Nelson. We do not encourage or promote comment spam. Like you, I hate it. I spend more time than I would like deleting it from my own blog.
If you have an IP address or other information from the person who commented, I will be happy to take the appropriate action.
Labels: audio.bible, podcast, publication, publish
¶ 9:07 AM
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I am the CEO of Thomas Nelson. We do not encourage or promote comment spam. Like you, I hate it. I spend more time than I would like deleting it from my own blog.
If you have an IP address or other information from the person who commented, I will be happy to take the appropriate action.
Thanks.
By 
Michael Hyatt, at
October 22, 2009 1:05 PM
Tim,
It is quite possible that someone in the marketing arm of Nelson thought this would be a good idea and either didn't clear it with their boss or the boss didn't think to mention it to the CEO. I know that our marketing people had some problems with a young and enthusiastic staff member making inappropriate use of one of the social networking sites. It was very rapidly stopped when the person's manager found out and it was made clear to all staff that it wasn't an appropriate use of the medium. It just hadn't occurred to the manager that anyone would think to do it in the first place. It sounds as though this is a similar incident.
By Judy Redman, at
October 22, 2009 6:34 PM
With some 500 employees, we may have a rogue marketing associate doing this; I don't know. Regardless, I have sent an email to our Bible marketing people, letting them know that this is inappropriate behavior.
Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
Chris thus joins the existing biblical studies podcast series (the order is chronological, since style, audience and frequency offer interesting variety):
- Matt Page's Jesus Films (Sept 2006)
- My 5 Minute Bible (April 2007)
- Phil Harland's Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (Oct 2007)
- Mark Goodacre's NTPod (June 2009)
- Steve Wiggins’s Sects and Violence in the Ancient World (July 2009)
Incidentally (but appropriately) our PodBible daily podcasts of the Bible itself from various amateur readers precedes all of these biblical studies 'casts :)
Labels: audio, audio.bible, bible.reading, biblical.studies, biblical.studies.online, podcast
¶ 7:01 AM
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nice place. my question would be, "who are your neighbors?"
By Bruce, at
October 21, 2009 3:53 PM
Quite a few pukeko, other birds, the odd deer, and up above the bluffs some kiwifruit farmers, plus six or seven other similar blocks down in the gorge :)
By Tim, at
October 21, 2009 5:38 PM
Since this department is both well-respected and ranks highly on most formal and informal assessments, and since I enjoyed a most stimulating sabbatical there ;) I have written the email below to the Vice-Chancellor:
Prof. Keith BurnettIf you are a biblical scholar, or amateur of the field, you might consider a similar letter, the address is vc@sheffield.ac.uk
Vice-Chancellor
The University of Sheffield
Dear Sir,
I have been shocked to read reports that the University is considering closing the Biblical Studies department. As you know this department regularly scores highly in various comparative assessments, and has a excellent reputation worldwide as one of the major research and teaching institutions in the discipline. A generation ago there was suspicion of the unusual step of creating a biblical studies department outside theology, however developments in society and especially in the discipline since then have vindicated this decision.
As well as knowing of the department through its staff's publications I spent a highly stimulating sabbatical in Sheffield a few years ago, and have the highest respect for the work I saw. Teaching an undergraduate course as well as participating in the departmental seminars, which were the liveliest and most intellectually stimulating I have attended.
It would be a loss to the discipline globally if this department were closed. Many staff in institutions such as the one in which I teach received their PhDs from Sheffield (in our case most of us studied in NZ, but the head of our Mandarin-speaking programme is a Sheffield graduate).
I find the decision particularly shocking as there seems to have been little consultation either within the University or beyond.
Yours sincerely,
Tim Bulkeley
Labels: biblical.studies
¶ 6:31 AM
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fantastic tim, thanks
By Jim, at
October 9, 2009 6:49 AM
Thank you for your support. I would like to add that I think you will find both its undergraduate and graduate programs are equally innovative and respected, as attendance at any conference in the field will attest.
By 
, at
October 9, 2009 8:38 AM
My "at least for UG programmes" was meant to suggest only that I am unclear whether the PG programmes are also endangered, not that the department is any less innovative and respected at other levels <shocked horror> see the comments in the letter copied below.
I do indeed relish the contributions from past and present Sheffield staff and PG students at conferences as well as in journals.
By Tim, at
October 9, 2009 10:37 AM
Strangely enough I read this just after reading at Ruth Gledhill's blog that Rev Rob Marshall, who is one of the clergy at David Cameron's church in Kensington, London, "studied Biblical theology at Sheffield". Perhaps if you can somehow contact Rev Marshall (who is currently in Iona, but maybe someone will answer his phone as listed at the church website) he can get support for this campaign the man likely to be our next Prime Minister.
By Peter Kirk, at
October 9, 2009 11:34 AM
yea verily - I have emailed a similar letter. Nicely put, Tim.
By , at
October 9, 2009 2:02 PM
Just to clarify about the UG/PG situation, in the words of a current PG:
"The proposal (which remains indetermined) is to close the department to undergraduates, which would close the department completely - reassigning staff to other departments in the faculty. The plan to then create a research 'centre' of international excellence is weak and undeveloped, especially in light of recent redundancies."
The department currently has 3 full-time staff and one of these is on a years sabbatical.
The Facebook Group 'Don't shut down Biblical Studies at Sheffield' now has all of relevant information in detail.
By , at
October 10, 2009 2:12 AM
Post-graduate provision is indeed threatened. The closure 'to undergraduates' also means the closure of the departure proper.
Although the Senate has not approved the closure, the Faculty of Arts & Humanities (whose review recommended closure) has already declined to give the department an acting head (Hugh Pyper is on sabbatical). This means the department has no representation on the Faculty Board.
The Faculty is nominally committed to the creation of a 'centre for postgraduate research' once it has dismantled the department (the latter action being specifically detailed in the papers presented to the Senate), yet it has no plans to recruit new staff in the light of significant departures.
By , at
October 10, 2009 6:20 AM
Labels: bible, bible.dictionary, biblical.studies, multimedia
¶ 7:32 AM
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Check out the series of walkthrough videos on YouTube for a better look at the product. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZRx0QQJEX8
By William, at
October 4, 2009 6:20 AM
The link above should go here
By Tim, at
October 5, 2009 6:53 AM
PS thanks for the link William :)
By Tim, at
October 5, 2009 6:53 AM
Hi Tim,
Available now from Manna... I'm installing a copy as I type, but be warned - installation is not for the faint-hearted (and neither is the >1GB update it immediately wants!)
Looks great though!
Mark.
By Nichthus, at
October 14, 2009 5:43 PM
Labels: biblical.studies.online
¶ 7:06 AM
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Tools in my Granddad's workshop were sharp, honed and glistened with a thin film of oil. My mother's dad was a carpenter. I'm not a carpenter, the tools in my garage are a disgrace, granddad would be ashamed, blunt and hardly usable, sometimes even rusted...
So, in Carey chapel recently, when Rachel asked some Carey staff if they could tell her in one word: What makes a good sermon?
I had the answer...
Over the years I've heard lots of sermons: students, visiting preachers, churches I visit... Frankly, too many sermons are like the tools in my garage, blunt, occasionally rusty, and often being used for the wrong job.
Like many people who grew to adulthood in the TV age, I have a short attention span. Like many people who spend a lot of time on the Internet, my attention span has probably shortened in recent years. I'm used to sound bites, and quickly clicking on to another destination. I recorded one of Spurgeon's sermons for LibriVox.org, the site that provides free audio books, it lasted nearly 45 minutes! Presumably, in the Nineteenth century, Spurgeon fans could keep their attention focused that long. I can't. My students can't. And my children (grown up though they are) certainly can't!
So, I have the answer to Rachel's question. In one word. "Sharp". A good sermon is sharp. Like the finely honed tools in granddad's workshop, a good sermon cuts straight to the point. As few extras as possible. Like those tools it HAS a point. A good sermon is brief, to be memorable. It has a point; it should leave its hearers with some call to action. Their living should change somehow from hearing it.
Pointed, memorable, and short, a good sermon calls me to conversion. Either to that first conversion where we turn to God in Christ and away from self and sin, or the regular smaller conversions that follow the first big turnaround as Jesus takes over as master of our lives more and more. That's pointed! But how many sermons fail to make a connection to my daily living that requires me to act?
If that "point" is blunt, then the sermon is worthless, merely good advice from some smart guy (and it is often a mistake male preachers make) to others whose lives are pretty much "together", but just need a little tinkering. I don't need advice on living; I need to be brought face to face with my saviour.
Other sermons have a point, but they are rusty. The point is blunted by too much other stuff that creeps into the sermon by the back door. Funny stories, scenes from the latest movies (that I have not yet seen), reminiscences from the preacher's previous church... if these "illustrations" really DO illustrate, they can help me remember, but if they fail in that, they merely blunt the point, like rust on my chisels.
So, in one word (since the six hundred I was allocated are nearly used ;) a good sermon is "sharp". Short, so busy TV educated, Wikipedia consulting scatterbrains like me can concentrate for the 15-20 minutes without wandering too much. Sharp, they prod me to change; they aim at conversion - avoiding the temptation to be clever or wise. Memorable, after all, if your sermon has three alliterative sections, that between them neatly encapsulate the message of the Bible text, but I forget them before my car has left the church car park, what use was it?
Like granddad's chisels a good sermon is sharp!
Labels: preaching
¶ 5:38 PM
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I love your analogy and I agree. "Sharp" is a great word to describe a great sermon.
Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Mark
