Well, I don’t want to be quite so strident, but some have no such qualms. This past week I came across, via Facebook, this post “Are Christians Wrong About Heaven?” which was in turn inspired by this old interview of NT Wright in Time magazine. So in the more recent […]
Christianity
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In the late 80s early 90s I read a bunch of Chaim Potok’s works, his famous books about young Jewish men growing up in a modernizing world. He came to speak at Wheaton College when I was there as a grad student. For those who do not know, Potok was […]
My wife has recently written about the fact that when we travel and there are churches or cathedrals to visit, we light a candle for Mack. We have done this since last summer, the summer after he passed. There are usually hundreds of candles burning there. People light them for […]
This week at the International SBL meeting, three Qumran sessions were given over to commemorating the work of John Collins on Apocalypticism. In the first session Prof. Collins, in his summary of his work on apocalypticism, said something that made me go “hmmmm.” Now, I should say that I may […]
Every now and then a group that I really care about goes on tour. It is rare, but it happens. Even more rarely I am able to go and see them. Such is the case next Tuesday! The 77’s, a group I have followed since the 80s, will be in […]
The idea for this post came not really so much from reflecting upon the process of selecting Mack’s headstone, but on some recent conversations. People have a habit of using the phrase “I want my obituary to say…” as a way to express the impetus or motivation for their actions […]
There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so. One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the […]
[pullquote] John 14:1-1414:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.14:2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?14:3 And if I go and prepare […]
Dineke Houtman sent me word of this new and intriguing book. It’s Brill so save up your shekelim. A Jewish Targum in a Christian World ISBN: 9789004267817 What is the use of a Targum in a cultural setting where Aramaic is not a common language anymore? And why would Christians be […]