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Bibliobloggers

SBL & Biblioblogging

Sep 9th, 2009
by Christian Brady.
1 comment

As many of you all know Jim West has taken the lead to forge an “affiliation” with SBL and is now moving forward with forming a steering committee. Some have responded to these developments with some concern and consternation. Chris Heard is the most outspoken that I have come across and I find myself more than sympathetic to his questions and concerns and have posted my own thoughts here. Still, I prefer to be a part of change so as to help forge the future so I have offered to be a part of the SBL-Biibliobloggers steering committee.

Concerns, thoughts, plans? Let us know.

 

SBL, Biblioblogging and You

Sep 7th, 2009
by Christian Brady.
4 comments

Jim West announced the new status of bibliobloggers vis a vis SBL last week. This led to some reaction by folks like John Hobbins. I have posted a brief comment on Jim’s site, but let me post it here as well with point (3)(2) added.

When I read Jim’s announcement I was wondering how it would all work as well. I think it was the lack of details about what this affiliation meant that sparked such concern. One has to go to three different posts on this blog to piece together what this means. So let me see if this is right:

“Bibliobloggers” are now an SBL sanctioned group. This means

  1. Folks are self-identified as bibliobloggers, after certain basic criteria like having a blog that generally focuses on biblical studies (just like once may self-identify as a scholar in biblical literature by getting an advanced degree and then proposing papers in the field).
  2. This community now may request room space for things like sessions and (the impetus I believe behind this initiative?) receptions.
  3. This community may now submit to create sessions.
    1. And here would begin John H’s questions regarding topics, etc.
    2. And I believe there still needs to be a session organized and approved before any papers can be submitted.

Is that about right?

I don’t see anything wrong with this per se, but I do wonder, perhaps along the lines that John H has already outlined, how this would work for sessions. We are a very disparate group. How much is there to really discuss about “biblioblogging”? And if we are actually debating substance (e.g., minimalism, Jesus research, interpretation of the Hebrew Bible) then shouldn’t those proposals be in the SBL sessions about those topics?

So I am all for having a room for our reception, but I am not sure what is the real usefulness of this new status. I am, nonetheless, very grateful for Jim’s efforts and would have the badge up along with my Biblioblog Top 50 badge if it weren’t for the fact that I cannot get a “text” widget to work in WordPress for me right now.

 

Not quite Top 50

Sep 1st, 2009
by Christian Brady.
2 comments

The Top 50 Bibliobloggers list is up for August and while I am higher than July this past month had relatively few posts so I am, for the second month in a row, just out of the Top 50. I will take down the Top 50 badge that I have proudly worn on my site for the time being, but I hope to be back soon!

UPDATE: I see from their site that “If your biblioblog is one of the prestigious Top 50 Biblioblogs for any month, you are entitled to display the highly sought after Biblioblog Top 50 Icon on your Biblioblog.” So I will proudly repost the badge!

UPDATED UPDATE: Or I would if not for the fact that my “Text” widget in WordPress has gone missing. Anyone know what is up with that? Oh well…

 

New Blogs of Note

Jun 12th, 2009
by Christian Brady.
6 comments

The other day I asked “what is a blog for?” There were several very thoughtful responses and I thought I would bring their blogs to your attention. Some you may be familiar with others may be new to you (they were new to me). I hope you will give them a look.

This blog is my attempt to join further in the conversation happening in biblical studies. With the hope that this conversation will challenge, inspire, and motivate me to develop further my own thoughts.

My interests include (but are not limited to): the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Hebrew syntax, Old Testament theology, serving the church, methodologies, pedagogy, and hearing and reading the Bible.

My academic interests include the book of Genesis, specifically the texts of deception in the Jacob cycle; Old Testament Theology; Psalms; historical Jesus; Gospel of Matthew; ancient and modern Jewish history and philosophy; and anything pertaining to the study and origins of Judaism.

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Alex Lampros, a senior undergraduate philosophy major in the Penn State Schreyer Honors College. Often times when I am attempting to do philosophy, I find that the best way to learn about my own thoughts and convictions is to hash them out in writing; therefore, the purpose of this blog will be to serve as a repository for my thoughts and comments on various topics of interest. The reader should also know that I love a playful argument; if you take me to task on any topic in a respectful way (yes, sarcasm is welcome and appreciated), I will be forever pleased with you.

a blog focusing on NT Studies, Christian Origins, and their corollaries

My research interests are Jesus studies, the Gospels, and Pauline soteriology, though I can be found working elsewhere in the NT and Second Temple Period.

Keith doesn’t have an “About” section for me to quote, but this blog by my long-time friend and one-time roommate is an always thoughtful and insightful collection of essays and speculation about issues relating to the Bible, the Church, and living into the life of Christ.

I am an assistant professor of Hebrew Bible at Furman University in Greenville, SC. On my site you will find questions and thoughts about teaching the Bible to undergraduates, studying the Bible within academic and religious contexts, and relating ancient ethical and religious ideas to the present. There will also be an occasional entry about technology, especially the more “religious” sides of the tech world (Mac OS X, Linux, Privacy, Free Culture, etc.).

 

What is a blog for?

Jun 9th, 2009
by Christian Brady.
8 comments
Apparently we are beyond the point in human history when problems must be solved interpersonally.

Wondermark by David Malki

I suppose that title is not grammatically perfect, but it gets the idea across. The comic above brought the question to mind again, what do we expect our blog to be? A public forum or a private place for reflection? I have always assumed that what I post on the internet, comments, pictures, emails to a discussion group, anything and everything will be available for all to read. Yet I regularly come across people who, like the chap in the last panel (enlarge the image if you cannot read it) who insist that the blog “is MY PRIVATE SPACE.”

I know one person who regularly posted interesting and thought provoking pieces but when people commented with opposing views she would get angry and eventually stopped posting and shut down her blog as a result. This made no sense to me. Aside from the fact that she could have turned off commenting, how is that people reading and writing blogs today do not understand that it is a very public act?

I do know that many of our students come into college with a fairly narrow view of their readership, only their friends read their facebook status. Until they invite the dean of their college to be their friend…. This year we are requiring our first year students to keep a blog/journal and part of the exercise and experience is to get them to realize that they need to “think out loud,” to engage with ideas and issues in the public arena not simply so that their voice can be heard, but so that they can interact with others of opposing view. Cliché though it now may be, Prov. 27.17 still rings true.

Iron sharpens iron,
and one person sharpens the wits of another.

So I wonder what you all understand your blogs to be? For me it is personal in the sense that I am the one writing it and I have decided not to limit my posts to simply my field of study or one particular interests. If you follow Targuman you get a pretty good cross-section of my interests and thoughts. I know that others view their blog as an extension of their research and only blog on biblical studies, etc. Others still use it as a megaphone. If you have a blog, how do you use it, what do you understand it to be about? Public, private, idiosyncratic?

 
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