Along with everyone who has been watching TV, I have seen some of the rescue efforts as people are plucked off roof tops by helicopter or pulled into boats. It is so common to hear people praising God for their rescue. The cynic in me asks why people should praise God from rescuing them from an act of God; instead, why shouldn't people who believe there is a God be angry that such devastation and misery has been inflicted upon them by the God who they praise? Frankly, I never quite figured that one out. If you have a moment to share your thoughts while getting your own family's lives back in order, I would appreciate it. Please take care with your return.

this last remark was quite impressive and right on target, and i haven't stopped quoting it to my colleagues. those of us with strong religious identifications sometime think that we have answers where there are no answers, and we have seen and heard this in the aftermaths of the twin towers, the tsunami, and, now, katrina. "for My thoughts are not your thoughts...says the Lord" (Isa 55:8 and note the meteorological context!)

There is a beautiful double entendre in the final word, depending on whether we read the genitive emunatekha as subjective or objective. Rashi writes something like "great is your trustworthiness and it it is a great thing to trust in you." But why end your prayer there? Lam 3:24-33 (note - the exact center of the book of lamentations) sends a message which we must all draw on in times like these. And 3:40 is a pretty good place to start our subsequent reflections.

My immediate, perhaps uninformed, suspicion was that "gam l'ishah imah" was being taken as just meaning "to the man-with-her," i.e., "to her husband," rather than "to her man (= husband) next to her." This would be typical of the NJPS tendency to replace the longer and usually more concrete with the shorter but slightly more abstract, supposedly in the interests of escaping a "mechanical" translation. (I personally think that mid-twentieth-century "officialese" was too often their answer to Margolis' problem with dignified language and stylistic decorum.) And, if so, it also would have been following the then-recent RSV reading. As it happens, Harry Orlinsky participated in both projects, so what, if anything, he had to say would be interesting from the perspective as well.

In more than 300 pages, nobody tells a joke. Nobody does much work. Nobody sits and eats and enjoys their food. You've lived all your life in America, never attended a megachurch or a brothel, don't own guns, are non-Amish, and it dawns on you that this is a book about the French. There's no reason for it to exist in English, except as evidence that travel need not be broadening and one should be wary of books with Tocqueville in the title.

You're not subtle, but you don't want to be. Fast, loud, and dramatic, you want people to notice you, and then get out of the way. In a world full of sheep, you're a raging bull.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

]]> 15 2006-01-29 21:32:00 2006-01-30 01:32:00 open open which-sports-car-are-you publish 0 0 post http://targuman.org/blog/?p=16 Mon, 30 Jan 2006 14:00:00 +0000 Cb http://targuman.org/blog/?p=16 On Friday we began a discussion of Gen. 3:6 and whether or Eve's husband was "with her" when she gave him the fruit. This morning I have access to my commentaries and can give a quick run down on their thoughts on the relevant passage, including their lack of comments on the phrase וַתִּתֵּ֧ן גַּם־לְאִישָׁ֛הּ עִמָּ֖הּ Exegetical Issue This all began because I was suggesting that the text implied that Adam was there with Eve during the entire encounter with the serpent. I admit(ed) that one could easily argue that there is a gap between the conversation of Eve/serpent and "when the woman saw that the tree was good for eatings and a delight to the eyes." Of course the first thing I should have done is to go back and read the entire passage in Hebrew. Had I done so I would have noted that the serpent consistently uses the plural when questioning the woman. וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה ֚אַף כִּֽי־אָמַ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹ֣א תֹֽאכְל֔וּ מִכֹּ֖ל עֵ֥ץ הַגָּֽן׃ Nahum Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis (1989), p. 25, notes this as well. "This suggests that the man was all the time within ear's reach of the conversation and was equally seduced by its persuasiveness." Sarna, who is of course working with the JPS that translates the passage "She also gave some to her husband, and he ate," goes on to say, "In fact, the Hebrew text her literally means, 'She also gave to her husband with her ('immah),' suggesting that he was a full participant in the sin, thereby refuting in advance his later excuse." It is not surprise that my reading was preceded by Sarna's and in fact may well have been informed by his since I read his works years ago. So credit where credit is due! Modern Commentary Round Up On the question of translation you have already seen Ian's excellent comments. I will simply note that other than Sarna other commentaries on my shelf make little or no comment on עמה. Now, to those commentaries that I have on my shelf: Hamilton, Victor P. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: The Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17. The translation appears to be his own and he renders the phrase "she also gave to her husband with her and he ate," p. 186. He does not comment on the language but notes,

The woman does not try to tempt the man. She simply gives and he takes. He neither challenges nor raises questions. The woman allows her mind and her own judgment to be her guide; the man neither approves nor rebukes. Hers is a sin of initiative. His is a sin of acquiescence. (pp. 190-191)

She "gave it to her husband with her": this last phrase emphasizes the man's association with the woman in the eating (cf. 6:18; 7:7; 13:1). Indeed, his eating is the last and decisive act of disobedience, for immediately the consequences of their sin are described. (pp. 75-76)

The one who has been led astray now becomes a temptress. That is meant to indicate that the woman confronts the obscure allurements and mysteries that beset our limited life more directly that the man does. In the history of Yahweh-religion it has always been the women who have shown an inclination for obscure astrological cults. (p. 90)

The supposed warlike mentality of Christians is the message that another media icon, Walter Cronkite, delivers in a mailing in which his opening antiphon is "I understand that freedom of speech is a founding principle of our nation." Then comes the "however," as Cronkite writes of his "increasing alarm" at "the intolerant influence of the Religious Right," saying that it "has gone too far" in trying to influence Congress with "its intolerant political platform." Faith, he implies, should avoid advocacy and play "a healing role ... in public life." But Cronkite then urges recipients to join an organization whose aim is the very one he decries in evangelicals, to "influence elections and political candidates."

[I wrote] If I may clarify one more point, archaeology does offer challenges, some serious, just not insurmountable from my perspective. Now of course, as I note in the article, if one is predisposed to viewing the biblical account as largely fiction then no amount of archaeological evidence supporting it will validate the Bible. (The same is true of course for those who insist that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God.) My primary focus in that article was the argument found in popular articles like Lazare's that state that "archaeology disproves the Bible." I know of very few colleagues who would go that far. [Jim replied] As to the first paragraph, I'm not sure why we need to think in terms of "surmounting" problems with the Bible unless it's already part of the agenda that they need to be surmounted. That language makes me wary: my agenda is to try to work out what actually happened in the history of the ancient world and I don't care one way or another about which sources turn out to be accurate or not about what. I agree that if one is determined to find a specific outcome in advance, the evidence will be made to fit.

I Own Phil Jackson Not literally of course. That thrill belongs to the smartest businesswoman in professional sports, Jeannie Buss. Figuratively however, the coach formerly known as the Zen Master must now be considered my bucket boy.

Rick Dickson thought he had seen the worst last summer after Hurricane Katrina caused $3.5-million in damage to Tulane University's athletics facilities and forced its teams to relocate to four different colleges. But nothing prepared Mr. Dickson, Tulane's athletics director, for December 5, the day he learned that Tulane's trustees had suspended eight of the university's sports teams as part of a $60-million universitywide cutback. After hearing the news, Mr. Dickson says, he put his head on his desk and started to cry.

It shows a bearded Abramoff in the background as Bush greets an Abramoff client, Raul Garza, who was then the chairman of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas;

A few Bradyisms for you... "Everytime I think I'm a geek, I just get outgeeked." In Historical Jesus: "Good name for a band, that: 'Genuine Josephus.'" Late in the day halfway through a long seminar: "I see eyes glazing over, including my own." There was too much noise in the Brady household: "Something needs to turn off, and it can't be one of the kids, because I'm not allowed to gag them." "When I have my glasses off, I can't hear very well." "I know little children can be complete SOBs." Shocked disagreement. "Well, obviously you've never been around little children." "Contemporary church politics: it's like jello-wrestling in habits."

Pompeii. Herculaneum. New Orleans. Natural disasters that destroy part or all of a city are nothing new, says classical studies assistant professor Susann Lusnia. The spring course she teaches at Tulane about Pompeii, before and after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, has allowed students to discuss parallels between New Orleans, Pompeii and Herculaneum, a second city devastated by the eruption.

Just in time to celebrate JBL's 125th birthday, the SBL is pleased to offer all members free access to the full text of the Journal of Biblical Literature (1881-) within the JSTOR archive (recent issues will continue to be made available on the SBL website). Thus, for the first time ever, SBL members can search for any word or phrase within JBL, browse the contents of any issue, and read or print any article — no matter how long ago it may have been published.

The right-wing hijacking of the role of religion in our political discourse is as undeniable as it is inappropriate. Eric Alterman explains the media's willful ignorance on the subject and why the disconnect on religion is one of liberalism's most serious problems.

The right-wing hijacking of religion's public role in our political discourse is as undeniable as it is inappropriate, and represents one of liberalism's most serious problems.

"That decision has to be taken and has to be lived with," he said, according to the ITV transcript, "and in the end there is a judgment that — well, I think if you have faith about these things, then you realize that judgment is made by other people." Asked to explain what he meant, he replied, "If you believe in God, it's made by God as well." "This is not just a matter of a policy here or a thing there, but of their lives and in some case their death," he said. "The only way you can take a decision like that is to try to do the right thing, according to your conscience, and for the rest of it you leave it to the judgment that history will make."

Rose Gentle, an antiwar activist whose son Gordon died with British forces in Iraq, said: "A good Christian wouldn't be for this war. I'm actually quite disgusted by the comments. It's a joke."

He says he'll fight the ticket because "if you do something wrong, you pay for it. If you didn't, you don't ever say you did."

In a slam-dunk rebuke to the nation's law schools, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday unanimously upheld the constitutionality of a federal law that requires colleges to give military recruiters access to their campuses. The eight justices -- not including Samuel A. Alito Jr., who joined the court after the oral argument in the case occurred in December -- agreed that the so-called Solomon Amendment does not restrict educational institutions' rights to freedom of speech or association, as a coalition of law schools had argued. "A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant the law school considers the recruiter's message," Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in his opinion for the court. The Supreme Court's ruling overturns a June 2004 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and sends the case back to that court to reconsider. More information on this case will be available on our Web site, at http://insidehighered.com

"Everyone has the right to learn in an environment that is free of guilt presumption and fear, and Turnitin.com does exactly what it shouldn’t be doing in a higher educational environment," Ms. Brushett said. "It creates a culture of fear, it creates a culture of guilt and to me, that hinders some people from pursuing higher education and doing it with an open mind.

But professors also have a responsibility to get to know their students and to do their own homework to suss out the cheaters, Ms. Brushett said. "We feel that Turnitin.com is a back-end approach. We need to promote academic integrity, we need to teach students what is plagiarism, what you should do, what you shouldn’t do and have more personalized ways of checking for plagiarism. "I don’t think Turnitin.com is a necessary tool when it comes to teaching students."

FWIW, my favorite line on this is this quote from E.P. Sanders' The Historical Figure of Jesus (pages 74-75): "Mary Magdalene has appealed enormously to people who have imagined all sorts of romantic things about her: she had been a prostitute, she was beautiful, she was in love with Jesus, she fled to France carrying his child. For all we know, on the basis of our sources, she was eighty-six, childless, and keen to mother unkempt young men."

- Integrates with OS X Address Book - Syncs with all your other clients - Lightweight and easy to use The Plaxo Toolbar for Mac synchronizes your Mac OS X Address Book with your Plaxo Universal Address Book. Wherever you install a Plaxo toolbar, your address book will be consistent and stay up-to-date automatically. You can also access your address book on the web through Plaxo Online.

All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate. (p. 1, DVC, emphasis mine)

Madonna turned heads dressed as a sexy French maid at a fancy dress Kabbalah party. The Hung Up singer was accompanied to the bash, held to celebrate the Jewish festival of Purim, by husband Guy Ritchie who was wearing a Native American outfit - complete with a long black wig. Madonna and Guy arrived at the Los Angeles Kabbalah Centre smiling and appeared happy - dampening rumours their relationship is on the rocks. Once inside, the couple enjoyed a traditional feast to honour the ancient story of Queen Esther's victory against evil - with who Madonna shares her Hebrew name. Luckily, the sexy star's choice of outfit, which included a feather duster for tickling, didn't offend anyone this year . Twelve months ago Madonna caused outrage at a London Purim celebration after she went dressed as a nun, while Guy wore a priest outfit. William Donahue, president of the American Catholic League, insisted the two stars should be beaten by a real life priest and nun for desecrating the sacred attire. He fumed at the time: "They're trying to tweak Catholicism again by exploiting the Jewish holiday. "She needs to be beaten with a ruler by a real-life nun and he needs to paddled on his behind by a real-life priest."

Dr. Barrow, 53, a mathematical sciences professor at the University of Cambridge, is best known for his work on the anthropic principle, which has been the subject of debate in physics circles in recent years. Life as we know it would be impossible, he and others have pointed out, if certain constants of nature %u2014 numbers denoting the relative strengths of fundamental forces and masses of elementary particles %u2014 had values much different from the ones they have, leading to the appearance that the universe was 'well tuned for life,' as Dr. Barrow put it.

As Tulane University implements its Renewal Plan in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Board of Tulane approved a sweeping set of recommendations on Thursday (March 16) to preserve some of the university's most time-honored traditions. It renewed its historic ties to Paul Tulane and H. Sophie Newcomb by naming the university's new undergraduate college the Newcomb-Tulane College.

The board also established The H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute, which will draw women students and all faculties from across the university in a dynamic, interdisciplinary program designed to enhance women's education and continue to enrich the women's community at Tulane. The Newcomb College Institute will be housed on the Newcomb campus and will be headed by an executive director who will also be the holder of a newly created Newcomb College Endowed Chair.

There may be political bias in the classroom, but headed in the other direction. A new study — soon to be published in PS: Political Science & Politics — finds that students are the ones with bias, attributing characteristics to their professors based on the students’ perceptions of their faculty members’ politics and how much they differ from their own. The authors of the study say that it backs the claims of proponents of the Academic Bill of Rights that students think about — and are in some cases concerned about — the politics of their professors. But the authors also say that the study directly refutes the idea that students are being somehow indoctrinated by views that they don’t like. “Students aren’t simply sponges,” says April Kelly-Woessner, part of the husband-and-wife team of political scientists who wrote the study. Further, she adds that the study suggests that not only do students not change their views because of professors, but may even “push back” and judge professors based on politics, not merit.

TULANE UNIVERSITY seeks to make a one-year appointment at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor, to begin August 2007, in the field of Ancient Judaism. The position would be a joint appointment with the Department of Classical Studies and the Jewish Studies Program. The candidate should have specialization in Rabbinic Judaism with ability to teach courses in Hebrew Bible and Judaism. If you are interested please email your c.v. and letter of application to Prof. Brian Horowitz (JWST@tulane.edu). We will consider applications until the position is filled. Tulane University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action employer.

The Department of Classical Studies at Tulane University seeks to make a one-year appointment at the rank of visiting assistant professor for 2006-2007. This position will involve teaching a variety of courses in early Christianity, early Christian literature, and the New Testament. Completion of the Ph.D. is required at the time of the appointment. If you are interested please email your c.v. and letter of application to Prof. Dennis Kehoe (kehoe@tulane.edu). We also invite you to see our website: http://www.tulane.edu/~classics/ We will consider applications until the position is filled. Tulane University is an equal-opportunity, affirmative-action employer.

More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today. As elegant as it gets Boot Camp lets you install Windows XP without moving your Mac data, though you will need to bring your own copy to the table, as Apple Computer does not sell or support Microsoft Windows.(1) Boot Camp will burn a CD of all the required drivers for Windows so you don't have to scrounge around the Internet looking for them. Run XP natively Once you've completed Boot Camp, simply hold down the option key at startup to choose between Mac OS X and Windows. (That's the "alt" key for you longtime Windows users.) After starting up, your Mac runs Windows completely natively. Simply restart to come back to Mac.

I suppose it bears repeating: (1) none of the Gnostic gospels, which date from at least a century after the time of Christ, have any credible claim to provide evidence about the historical Jesus; (2) none of the early New Testament canons ever included any gnostic Gospels, therefore those Gospels could not have been "edited out"; (2) any theological perspective held by grown-ups on the formation of the canon should be able to accommodate both the governing hand of God and the presence of "historical and political forces." Sigh.

Yes, it's that authentic "rabbit caught in the headlights" look. An expression of total disbelief and sheer terror recently crossed the face of Blake Bergstrom, a youth pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Parker, Colorado. In mid-sermon, he was describing what happened when the biblical character Lot pitched his tents too close to Sodom and Gomorrah when the mother of all sermon blunders fell from a clear blue sky. But God is good. Clearly, before the beginning of time, He had purposed that the whole event should be recorded on video. Blake Bergstrom is good, too, as he generously released the video onto the Net. Click here to view the best blunder since Pat Robertson called for the assassination of the President of Venezuela.

The principle matters. Not the party.

Whether they identify themselves as Democrats or Republicans, college students agree on the importance of religion and share a concern for the country's moral direction. But their views on the role religion should play in politics break down along party lines, according to a new poll of student's political and religious views.

But when it comes to mixing religion and politics, views diverged sharply. Fewer than a quarter (21 percent) of self-described Democrats said they wanted to hear politicians discuss religion. In contrast, 56 percent of those identifying themselves as Republicans thought politicians should discuss religion. A majority of college Republicans (62 percent) said they perceived religion's influence in American life to be declining and felt that that was a "bad thing." But 54 percent of college Democrats said that religion was gaining influence and, by a ratio of two to one, considered that a negative trend.

Some of the theological arguments are, to put it mildly, purely speculative, such as: “If God decided to deliver Christ to the chief priests, Judas cannot be blamed for it” or “If Jesus possessed prescience, he must have known and willed the future conduct of Judas, betrayal included”. Such reasoning cuts no ice with the historically minded.

Yet for all the polemic and literary fireworks, all this remains a show to watch rather than a serious engagement with the truth. This is because of four fundamental failures. First, these writers focus exclusively on the worst examples and excesses of religion. Daniel Dennett, for example, seems to have a bible-belt fundamentalist built into his mind with whom he is continually arguing. A good rule of intellectual debate is that you should try to face your opponent's strongest argument. Anybody can expose their weakest ones.

Technorati Tags: MarsEdit, Software Review Technorati Tags End ]]> 141 2006-04-23 23:14:16 2006-04-24 03:14:16 open open marsedit-im-liking-it publish 0 0 post http://targuman.org/blog/?p=142 Wed, 26 Apr 2006 03:56:58 +0000 Cb http://targuman.org/blog/?p=142 One Day, That Economy Ticket May Buy You a Place to Stand - New York Times Wow! I find this so hard to believe. The first thing that came to my mind (aside from how long a flight could I stand?) was how many more passengers can you add before you have to limit luggage so that the maximum weight limit of the plane is not exceeded. Then I got to this paragraph:

That such things are even being considered is a result of several factors. High fuel costs, for example, are making it difficult for carriers to turn a profit. The new seat technology alone, when used to add more places for passengers, can add millions in additional annual revenue. The new designs also reduce a seat's weight by up to 15 pounds, helping to hold down fuel consumption. A typical seat in economy class now weighs 74 to 82 pounds.

Technorati Tags: airplane

Judge joins Da Vinci fun with a code of his own - Britain - Times Online: "Judge joins Da Vinci fun with a code of his own By Ian Evans and Steve Bird Can you break the code? Read the judgment in full and send your ideas to our weblog IT HAS provided global intrigue and controversy but the enigma that is The Da Vinci Code is not over yet. In another twist to the publishing phenomenon, it was disclosed yesterday that the judge in the recent plagiarism court case included a coded message in his written judgment. Contained within certain words, Mr Justice Peter Smith wrote certain letters in bold italic. On first inspection, there seems to be no pattern or reason why the letters are chosen and they could be easily viewed as a typographical errors. But Dan Tench, an observant solicitor at the London-based law firm Olswang, thought otherwise. "We're not sure yet what it means, but we're working on it," he said."

(Thanks to JD http://paleojudaica.blogspot.com/2006/04/da-vinci-code-judge-gets-in-on.html.)

(Thanks JD.)

'I don't think you'll ever see another 'Calvin & Hobbes,' 'Bloom County' or 'Doonesbury' again,' says Breathed, 48, who received the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1987. 'The popularity of those strips was built on a young audience %u2014 great comic strips are not built on the backs of aging readers.'

(Via Evil, Inc..)

JOHH C. TREVER -- R. I. P. I am sorry to inform you that John Trever died on Saturday morning. I received the news today from Risa Levitt Kohn, who forwarded an e-mail from his son, Jim Trever. He writes, 'There will be a memorial service for him next Saturday at 2:30pm or 3pm Pacific time at the Freedom Village Chapel 23442 El Toro Rd. Lake Forest, CA 92630.' John Trever was acting director of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem in 1948 and he participated in the authentication of the first Dead Sea Scrolls, taking important photographs of Cave I material. He continued to work on the Scrolls through his lifetime. His book, The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Personal Account, has been published in revised form by Gorgias Press.

(Via PaleoJudaica.com.)

Inside Higher Ed :: The Evolving (Eroding?) Faculty Job

A week ago, new data on faculty salaries showed that professors’ pay fell behind inflation for the second year in a row. A month ago, when a federal commission studying higher education released a paper on reasons that college costs so much, it identified professors — their power and tenure — as a prime culprit. Feeling underappreciated and under siege? Does your job feel unstable? There’s a reason, according to two of the leading scholars of the professoriate. They have

The pace of change has accelerated dramatically. While new models in higher education historically have taken decades to establish themselves, today’s changes are having nationwide impact very quickly after they emerge.

Government and the public have come to think of higher education as an industry with a key role in the economy, not as a separate entity that should be left to itself.

The faculties and student bodies of colleges are much more diverse than they used to be.

There has been enormous growth in the use of part-time faculty members, and far greater growth rates for those jobs than for full-time jobs. Similarly, full-time faculty positions off the tenure track have grown.

Enrollments have moved away from the liberal arts and toward the professions, with a resulting shift in faculty jobs.

(Via http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/05/01/faculty.)

Technorati Tags: Education, Faculty

Technorati Tags: Colbert

The Plank

I'm a big Stephen Colbert fan, a huge Bush detractor, and I think the White House press corps has been out to lunch for much of the last five years. (Though, unlike many in the blogosphere, I don't think that's because White House reporters are lazy or stupid.) That should have made me the ideal audience-member for Colbert's performance at this weekend's White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD). As it happens, though, I laughed out loud maybe twice during Colbert's entire 20-odd minute routine. Colbert's problem, blogosphere conspiracy theories notwithstanding, is that he just wasn't very entertaining. Most of the funny lines had been recycled from his show; the new material was all pretty tired--including a way-too-long video presentation whose big joke was that ... Helen Thomas is old and batty. (Stop me if you've heard that one.)

(Via TNR "The Plank".)

Technorati Tags: Colbert, Scheiber

(Via The Cult of Mac Blog.)

The Blue Cord Bible Dictionary is a Bible wiki. A wiki is a site where numerous people are able to contribute freely to the content of the pages. Unlike standard wikis, however, the Blue Cord Bible Dictionary is a wiki written only by biblical scholars. In order to contribute to this site, scholars must hold a master's degree or higher in the field of biblical studies or a related field such as archaeology, classics, Egyptology, or Assyriology.

(Via Blue Cord Bible Dictionary.)

Technorati Tags: Bible, Scholarship, Ancient Near East

Dr Jaroslav Pelikan falls asleep in the Lord Christ is Risen! We have just learned that our seminary trustee and friend, Dr Jaroslav Pelikan, fell asleep in the Lord this afternoon, Saturday, May 13 around 2:30pm after a long battle with lung cancer. The schedule of services in the seminary chapel is as follows: Tuesday evening, May 16 7:00 pm VIGIL (FUNERAL) SERVICE Wednesday morning, May 17 9:00 am MEMORIAL DIVINE LITURGY Recognized by many as the most noted church historian of our times, Dr Pelikan made St Vladimir’s his parish home upon his reception into the Orthodox Church along with his wife in 1998. Memory Eternal!

MacBook At a Glance 1.83GHz or 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo 13.3-inch (diagonal) TFT glossy widescreen display Apple Remote with Front Row Up to 2GB memory(3) Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Slot-loading optical drive Up to 120GB hard drive(3) Built-in 54-Mbps 802.11g AirPort Extreme wireless Analog and digital audio in and out FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ports iLife ’06, Mac OS X Tiger

Key figure MacBook features a unique new keyboard design that sits flush against the bed for a sleeker, lower profile. Plus, you’ll find a firmer touch when typing. That ought to make your fingers happy.

we have had a flood of think pieces on everything from Jesus and Mary Magdalene's pre-nuptial agreement to the secret recipes of Opus Dei, and vexed, urgent questions have been raised. Is Christianity a conspiracy? Is "The Da Vinci Code" a dangerous, anti-Christian hoax? What's up with Tom Hanks's hair? Luckily, I lack the learning to address the first two questions. As for the third, well, it's long, and so is the movie."The Da Vinci Code" is one of the few screen versions of a book that may take longer to watch than to read.

To their credit, the director and his screenwriter, Akiva Goldsman (who collaborated with Mr. Howard on "Cinderella Man" and "A Beautiful Mind"), have streamlined Mr. Brown's story and refrained from trying to capture his, um, prose style. "Almost inconceivably, the gun into which she was now staring was clutched in the pale hand of an enormous albino with long white hair." Such language — note the exquisite "almost" and the fastidious tucking of the "which" after the preposition — can only live on the page.

"The Da Vinci Code" takes a while to establish who is who, what they're doing and why.

Ron Howard handles the supposedly provocative material in Dan Brown's best-selling book with kid gloves.

(Via SPI.)

"Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson is warning that, according to God, storms and possibly a tidal wave will pound America this year."

20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken? — 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him.

(Via The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com.)

Technorati Tags: Prophet, Pat Robertson, There he goes again

The Davinci Code is not revisionist history any more than Star Wars is. It's a fictional thriller. It's a novel. Fiction. The very word FICTION defines it as NOT BEING TRUE.

" I was prepared for this movie to be a bomb. Actually, its not. It stands up rather well as a suspensful movie, and it is not the case that there are long boring discussions of ancient lore in this movie. "

This is a dark movie, but the "con of man" in this movie is not one perpetrated by the church about Jesus and his real nature, but rather one foisted on a Biblically illiterate public large numbers of which seem naive enough to believe the hysterical fiction in Brown's novel.

There is really not a single positive portrayal of a devout Christian in this movie, and that in itself is disturbing in a movie that is so much about the history of Christianity. Christian audiences therefore should be cautious, and come prepared to thinking critically about the movie if you go.

(Via Ben Witherington.)

Technorati Tags: Comics, Over the Hedge, William Shatner ]]> 170 2006-05-22 13:01:29 2006-05-22 17:01:29 open open all-over-the-hedge publish 0 0 post http://targuman.org/blog/?p=171 Tue, 23 May 2006 14:10:40 +0000 Cb http://targuman.org/blog/?p=171 The Busybody for the title above. I couldn't beat it, so I used it!)

Jim Davila gives his review of the Da Vini Code. So far he echoes the comments i have heard from others:

I thought it was interesting that the movie not only corrected some errors by omission (e.g., that the Dead Sea Scrolls were Christian documents), it also seemed to go out of its way to correct a few (by no means all!!) of the historical errors in the book. Langdon challenges Teabing's reference to the Priory of Sion and says that it's been discredited. (Teabing, of course, says ha ha that's what they want you to think.) And when Teabing spouts the nonsense about the idea of a divine Jesus only arising in Constantine's time, Langdon vigorously and correctly asserts that it had been around for a long time before that, and Teabing does not disagree. All in all, that awful bogus infodump in the middle of the book is made more bearable in the movie, mainly because it's shorter.

(Via PaleoJudaica.com.)

Technorati Tags: Historical Jesus, Da Vinci Code, Bad Movies

That symbolized this Mavericks team. Dirk and Avery are our leaders, but first and foremost we are a team.  A very special group of guys that make me incredibly proud. A couple shoutouts are required here. To the Spurs fans sitting by the bench last night. They were first class. They took responsibility of quieting the jerks.   To the Spurs fans on boats in the Riverwalk dragging a floating Mark Cuban in effigy. Hysterical. To the city of San Antonio. Contrary to what people have written and said, I rhink its a beautiful city with a great culture and city pride. Even if the water in the Riverwalk is muddy :) To what looked like thousands of  Mavs fans who came out to see us when we landed about 1am last night. You have no idea how much that meant to all the guys and everyone in the organization. To all Mavs fans everywhere who I know were jumping up and down and screaming and enjoying the moment. This is YOUR TEAM.

(Via Blog Maverick.)

Technorati Tags: Basketball, Mark Cuban, Spurs, Mavs

[Today is] the official release date of Accordance 7! That's right, you can purchase and download the upgrade to version 7 right now. :-) We've already covered a few of the new features in detail, and I'll be talking about the rest in the coming weeks. You can also view a Flash demo of many of the new features in 7.

(Via Accordance Blog.)

"A top official at the Comedy Central television station has apologized on behalf of the members of a fictitious news crew who misrepresented themselves to two faculty members during separate tapings of a forthcoming series called Dog Bites Man. (for subscribers)"

"They're pissing in our pool, and I can't have that," he said. "I think I'm representing all faculty members, and I'm hoping that other people will join the cause."

(Via Chronicle.com - Today's News.)

The Symbolic Jesus I have not read the book, but obviously I need to.

Conclusion The Symbolic Jesus is an important book that, while containing objectionable inferences along the way, makes the reader ask the right questions for the right reasons, just as Schweitzer's classic did a century ago. Liberal agendas have involved self-portraits, and they're easy to spot. Orthodox agendas deal with apologetics, and they're also hard to miss. But somewhere in between lurk new and murky agendas relating to the question of our identities -- academic, political, religious, and cultural -- and the front for these agendas is, of all things, Jesus' Jewishness. A curious development, to say the least.

(Via The Busybody.)

Technorati Tags: Graduation, Comics, Bo Nanas

Technorati Tags: iPod, iriver, techno lust

(Via Element Owners Club.)

Technorati Tags: Honda, Element

VALLEY OF THE KINGS, Egypt — It had been 84 years since a tomb was unearthed here in the scorching desert burial ground for pharaohs, and the hope, of course, was for mummies. What else could be inside the seven coffins, at the bottom of a shaft that until February had been sealed off from all but termites for over three millenniums? Very nice pillows, for starters.

Technorati Tags: Ancient Near East, Egypt

Alternative. Indie. Pop. Vibe. Late night chill.

Technorati Tags: Music, Groups, iTunes

Congratulations! You are one of five winners in the iLounge Gear Launch Giveaway. Before Speck Products sends you your new Specktone Speakers, we need to know what color you would like. Color Choices: Black, Green, or White. http://www.speckproducts.com/specktone/ Thank you Dennis Lloyd Founder & Publisher, iLounge http://www.ilounge.com

The SpeckTone Retro features a four-inch subwoofer and two three-inch drivers with 28 watts of output. The Retro’s throwback underpinnings go beyond the looks — it also features analog circuitry, which Speck says offers more rich, deep tones.

Technorati Tags: iPod, Specktone

OCHJS NEWS BULLETIN NO 29 : JUNE 2006 PATRONS DINNER in LONDON On 4th May 2006 the Centre held a Patrons Dinner at the Draper’s Hall in London. The purpose was threefold: to greet existing and prospective supporters; to thank Sir Richard Greenbury for his service as Chairman of the Governors from 1996 to 2004; and to pay tribute to the memory of David Patterson as the Centre’s founder president. Participants, numbering some 160, were unanimous in their appreciation of the evening – so much so, that the next such dinner is already provisionally booked for 3rd May 2007. Sir Victor Blank read out a message from Oxford’s Vice Chancellor, Dr John Hood. The President, Peter Oppenheimer, spoke a propos of the Centre’s new constitutional designation as a Recognised Independent Centre of the University. (His remarks, on Oxford’s corporate culture, will appear in the Centre’s Annual Report for 2005-06). Dan Patterson, David’s son and a newly appointed Governor, gave a hilarious introduction to one of the evening’s two guest speakers, namely Stephen Fry, who paid tribute to David Patterson’s achievements. The other guest speaker was Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, and we have pleasure in reproducing here a slightly shortened version of his speech: “One of the many pleasures of being DG is the many interactions I have with the public. In public meetings, phone-ins but above all in e-mails and letters. I don’t suppose there are many people in UK who get so many thoughtful and well-expressed letters. Or so many splenetic or downright peculiar ones either….. Try this heart-felt plea: Dear Director-General, are there no longer dress regulations at the BBC? Like many others, I am appalled at the tieless habit that has suddenly invaded our screens. How scruffy the open-necked community appear! As another correspondent was kind enough to note: the middle-aged male neck is not a thing of beauty! Sometimes though the point is a rather more obscure one. Dear Sir, There was a time when I would have liked to be King of Britain. Now I have come to realise that Prince Charles is more suitably qualified for the job. I hope you will communicate this fact to all concerned... On the face of it, my world – the world of broadcasting and the BBC – has little in common with Yarnton. Much of broadcasting is about the ephemeral, time-sensitive information and entertainment – whereas the Oxford Centre of course is focused on scholarship of lasting value. But there are three points of commonality I thought I’d touch on this evening. The first is the remarkable Patterson family. Everyone here knows about David Patterson, whom I was lucky enough to meet a few times and whose vision and determination led to the foundation of the Yarnton Centre. But David’s son, Dan, is a sometime colleague of mine – one of British television’s most gifted comedy writers and producers. Whose Line Is It Anyway to Mock The Week. Those Pattersons turn up in all sorts of interesting places. The second connection between Yarnton and the BBC is what you could call the spirit of open-minded enquiry. If you wanted to boil the BBC’s mission down to one word, I think that word would be enlightenment. We don’t always succeed of course, but what we aim to do more than anything is to provide disinterested, open-minded insight and knowledge with which people can not just inform themselves but enrich and improve their lives. News. Planet Earth. Beethoven Experience. Bleak House. The BBC was founded with that ambition. At our best, it is still our goal. Now I think that same spirit is also deeply present in Yarnton. An age of sharp, sectarian differences and loyalties where inter-faith connections are often troubled and the boundaries between faith and the secular world can be jagged and disputed. It was, I believe, always David’s vision that Yarnton should be different – broad in its remit with a focus on secular and demotic literature and culture as well on the highest level of scholarship in the study of ancient texts and culture. Open to inter-faith and cross-disciplinary studies, and encouraging enquiry and dialogue. These qualities are more rare – and more precious today than they have ever been – and they’ve made Yarnton a kind of beacon. The third common theme is a culture which focuses on the uncompromising pursuit of excellence. In the case of the BBC, of course we often fall short, but from Day 1, from John Reith’s founding vision, excellence matters more than anything. Whether it’s the work of Dan – or indeed of Stephen – refining and refining a comedy idea or comedy script (and there’s nothing harder in any area of broadcasting), or its one of our camera teams spending week after week literally living in a cave in a remote corner of Pakistan in the hope of one shot of a snow-leopard, I have many thousands of colleagues who put creativity and excellence before everything else. Again, my sense is that that is the spirit of Yarnton. The Oxford Hebrew Centre is a very young institution. So is the BBC though it sometimes likes to pretend that it isn’t. Earlier this week we opened an exhibition of our history, including the portraits of the people who have led the BBC from John Reith onwards. John’s daughter Marista spoke about her father and her first memories of the early days of the BBC. It’s important that institutions understand and celebrate their beginnings and their founding purposes. It’s also important that, in the light of those purposes, they lay plans for the future – again, over the past week, we’ve been talking about that in the BBC. I believe that David Patterson and the many other people who have contributed to Yarnton’s success in its first three or so decades have laid a superb foundation on which to build the future. And I’m sure that everyone here would want to join me in wishing those who have followed them and who are charged with taking Yarnton on to the next stage in its evolution every success in their endeavours. Thank you.” Mark Thompson Peter Oppenheimer – President Sue Forteath - Bulletin Compiler

I agree so much with Tyler (except for his reading of 616; I agree wit Ed Cook on that) that I will post his entry today (please be sure to visit his site):

The publicity office of a B-grade Hollywood remake of a mediocre film, The Omen, is hyping the fact that today is the sixth day of the sixth month in the year two thousand and six (= 666). And that is all it is: hype. As Ed Cook points out over at Ralph the Sacred River, today’s date is not significant — at least not because of any satanic connections (Contrary to Ed, I tend to think that the real number is 616). At any rate, the significance of today is not any silly satanic movie-tie-in. Rather, June 6 is significant as it is the anniversary of D-Day. Enough said.

(Via Codex: Biblical Studies Blogspot.)

It is beautiful. Let me know if you would like the full size.

Technorati Tags: Saint Louis Cathedral

The little secret behind the Illinois record is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs. But as the project began to develop into an unwieldy epic, common sense weighed in—as did the opinions of others—and the project was cut in half. But as 2005 came to a close, Sufjan returned to the old, forsaken songs on his 8-track like a grandfather remembering his youth, indulging in old journals and newspaper clippings...

Technorati Tags: Sufjan Stevens

There is a new book on the Septuagint that focuses on the legends surrounding its origins (the Letter of Aristeas), as well as its reception history: The Legend of the Septuagint: From Classical Antiquity to Today, Abraham Wasserstein and David J. Wasserstein (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006; Buy from Amazon.ca | Buy from Amazon.com).

(Via Codex: Biblical Studies Blogspot.)

How are we ahead ? We have not played well at all. we took advantage of some mistakes, they made, but we need to push the ball more and take it stronger to the hoop. Which is what I know Avery is telling the guys right now. Lets hope we can play better in the 2nd half. m

What a mesmerising performance from Murali on Monday, though, and not just from the viewpoint of England batsmen who would have had more success reading the Dead Sea Scrolls. Every ball was a mystery, delivered by a goggle-eyed contortionist who greeted the result, good or, rarely, bad, with a grin.

New Orleans is a tale of two cities these days. In areas that were smashed and then sat for weeks underwater when the levees broke, the devastation still stretches for miles and the valiant cleanup efforts seem as daunting as mopping sand from a beach. But the older areas that make the town famous, built on higher ground along the river, are humming again. From Tulane University through the Garden District to the business district and the French Quarter, people are back at work while chefs and musicians ply their wondrous magic.

[M]any people will find that it's a great time to be back in a city they love. They will relish the rare opportunity to be part of something historic, creative and larger than themselves. More outside money will flow in than has for decades, so the city could become the entrepreneurial magnet it was a century ago. For students, few places will offer a more enriching education in what it means to be a useful citizen than Tulane, Xavier, Loyola and the other New Orleans colleges.

(Via The New York Times.)

Technorati Tags: Bible, Comics

Technorati Tags: Cars, Pixar

College students are biblically illiterate, according to a Templeton Foundation study:

College students need to be more familiar with the Bible, according to a report based on a survey of 39 English professors from different types of institutions across the country.

Eighteen of the English professors surveyed said students know less about the Bible now than when the professors began teaching. All but one of the professors said knowledge of the Bible was important for students in their classes.

Some biblical knowledge is 'absolutely requisite,' according to Ernest B. Gilman, a professor of English at New York University. He said some freshmen are surprised that passages from the Bible are on the syllabus when they come to college.

Is this a surprise? How can you understand Milton or Shakespeare, Hobbes (especially) or Locke, Bacon or Galileo, Nietzsche or Kierkegaard without a working Scriptural literacy? It is without a doubt the most important single collection of documents in the Western traditions, as well as exercising influence upon some Eastern traditions. We can at least insist upon literacy. ...not that students are expected to read Milton or Hobbes anyway.

(Via The Weekender Blog.)

moves over the eastern Gulf of MexicoAs of 10 p.m., Tropical Depression One was moving North-Northwest near 9 MPH and was located about 290 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida. This track is expect to hold though Sunday.

"Sunday, June 11, 2006Tropical Storm Alberto becomes first named stormAs of 10 a.m., Tropical Depression One has strengthened to Tropical Storm Alberto, the first named storm in 2006. It is moving north-worthwest near 9 m.p.h. and is located about 400 miles west-southwest of Key West, Florida. "

(Via NOLA.com.)

The Short F.A.Q. Q. Who are you? A. My name is John B. Hare. I put this site together. Q. Why did you do it? A. To do something nice for people. Q. Will you link to my site? A. Probably not. The site isn't about links, it's about texts. (See links). Q. Can I use stuff from this site? A. Sure. Most of the site is not copyrighted. It should be obvious what parts of the site are copyrighted. Please don't copy those parts. Everything else, you can use for anything you can dream up. (See copyrights and TOS). Q. Did you write all this stuff? A. No. Most of it was written by dead people, a long time ago. Q. But what do you believe? A. The site isn't about me, it's about the texts. Q. How can I help? A. Buy a CD-ROM. Make an etext of a public domain book and give it to the site (See volunteer). Be nice to someone. Do something creative. Q. Help me with my problems! A. I'm sorry you have problems, but I can't help you with them.

In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear. In settings where cellphone use is forbidden - in class, for example - it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species. "When I heard about it I didn't believe it at first," said Donna Lewis, a technology teacher at the Trinity School in Manhattan. "But one of the kids gave me a copy, and I sent it to a colleague. She played it for her first graders. All of them could hear it, and neither she nor I could."

Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.2.4 Update This update fixes vulnerabilities in Office 2004 for Mac that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with malicious code. This update also fixes issues in Microsoft PowerPoint 2004 and Entourage 2004, and it includes all of the improvements released in all previous Office 2004 updates. Applies to: Microsoft Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Office 2004 Professional Edition, Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004, Entourage 2004. Released: June, 13, 2006

Tulane Students Rush to Make Up Classes by Elaine Korry All Things Considered, June 13, 2006 · For displaced students planning on returning to Tulane University in New Orleans, the school is offering a special, six-week "lagniappe session" this summer. The name comes from a Creole word meaning "a little something extra." The goal is to offer more courses than would normally be available in the summer to help students catch up on their degree requirements.

Technorati Tags: Interfaith, Israel

While Mac users may be in a minority nationally, there are parts of academe where there numbers are far from small.

Two characters killed off in final Potter book Author hints that Harry himself might be among characters to die

(Via Two characters killed off in final Potter book - BOOKS - MSNBC.com.)

Dr. Zahi Hawass's theory that a tomb in the Valley of Kings was the burial place of King Tut's mother is disputed.

Peter Williams describes how to findimages of the Genizah targum mss! The zoom mechanism is great. This really is wonderful (although no TgLam ;-).

(Via JD@PaleoJudaica.)

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 6 other people to see what they're listening to.

I will readily admit that I came upon the Jet Beetle via Ripley's Believe it or Not this Sunday. This is simply the wildest thing I have ever seen: a street legal VW Beetle powered by (the gas engine) and a jet engine (that is the thing spitting flames at the back). The only thing that will beat it, imho, is the JetScooter. Oh I hope he builds it!

The concordance produced by Marty Abegg, James Bowley, and Ed Cook is being reviewed and Ed himself offers comments on Vermes' review.

Vermes's verdict on the Concordance: "an outstanding achievement ... truly indispensable." It's always nice to hear such kind words about a project in which one has participated. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Vermes's review appears in Journal of Jewish Studies 57 (Spring 2006), 177-179.

(Via Ralph the Sacred River.)

Technorati Tags: Scholarship, Dead Sea Scrolls, Review

Among the selections are 10 [scrolls] that have never been on public display before and scrolls that have been studied by four Southern California scholars: David Noel Freedman from UCSD, Russell Fuller from USD, Bruce Zuckerman from the University of Southern California and James Sanders from the School of Theology at Claremont.

Technorati Tags: Bible, Scholarship, Dead Sea Scrolls

Steam powered iMac Wow. That anyone would dream up such a thing, let alone make it. If Douglas Adams can see this now I am sure he is proud.

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

Technorati Tags: iMac, Apple, England

Serendipity 35: iTunes U Public Sites

iTunes U is the free, hosted service for colleges and universities to make podcasts easily available to students, faculty, staff, alumni and the general public through the iTunes Music Store.

Apparently a good number of schools are signing on, but there are only a few that have a public face (Apple allows participating schools to have a private face with school-controlled login for protected content such as courseware).

There were four schools used during their beta testing that now have public access which means you can enter (through iTunes, of course) and listen/watch and download public content.

NJIT will have its podcast content in iTunes U (somehow calling it a 'music store' doesn't sound right, though they all do pop up within the iTunes Music Store) for this fall semester. We have been distributing podcasts from our website since fall 2005 in iTunes compatible formats.

The two big public sites for now are Stanford and UC Berkeley, plus the business schools at U of Michigan and Duke. Here are the links - check out their content.

http://itunes.stanford.edu/ http://itunes.berkeley.edu/ http://itunes.bus.umich.edu/ http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/itunes

(Via Serendipity 35.)

Thanks Moshe M from Haifa for this via Moshe B from Yeshiva!

[Dr. Brian Schmisek, professor at the University of Dallas] says, "...the gospels were written by the apostles in Greek.”

Evidence shows Aramaic texts do go all the way back to the Targums; Hebrew translated to Aramaic, B.C.). [sic] Schmisek agrees "The Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest biblical texts we have ... -- they are in Aramaic.“

In the meantime, I will try and find something interesting to say here, maybe even intelligent, but probably not. Most of my time now is spent arranging the move, lamenting a comatose car (I refuse to say "dead"!), and getting ready for the Next Great Adventure.

Filed under: Other Events

I just finished speaking on a panel -- Primp Your Blog -- at BlogHer '06. The audience was mostly women -- for a change. And here's the really good news: a cheer went up when I introduced myself as a Mac user, and a majority of hands went up when I asked how many in the room were Mac users. Women Mac geeks rule! I've always wondered how many women are out there in the TUAW audience. Make yourselves known.

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

Noah Video We're doing a Noah story in our Sunday School program, so I put the superb and easy video tools on my new Mac to good use and made this video for them.

This problem is, only the first minute and a half of Cosby's Noah routines were ever recorded on TV (and hence, video), so I've spliced sound recordings from the rest together with photos so the kids could enjoy the whole thing with some well-timed visuals.

(Via The Macintosh Biblioblog.)

S19-4 Aramaic Studies 11/19/2006 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM Room: 302 - CC Theme: Mishnaic and Targumic Aramaic Aaron Koller, Yeshiva University The Aramaic of Hillel (30 min) Moshe J. Bernstein, Yeshiva University Nabal in the Aramaic Versions of the Bible: Morally or Intellectually Deficient? (30 min) Douglas M. Gropp, Catholic University of America, The Thinking the Targum’s Thoughts After It: The Song of Hannah (30 min) David L. Everson, Hebrew Union College Aging Angels: Investigating the Date of Pseudo-Jonathan in Light of Rabbinic and Targumic Angelology (30 min)

S21-3 Aramaic Studies 11/21/2006 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM Room: 149B-CC Tawny L. Holm, Indiana University of Pennsylvania The Sheikh Fadl Inscription and Its Literary Context (30 min) Bennie H. Reynolds III, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill What Are Demons of Error? The Meaning of ???? ????? and the Concept of Israelite Child Sacrifice (30 min) Marina Greatrex, St Paul University Scriptural Citations on the Angels in the Hexaemeron of Jacob of Edessa. (30 min) Stephen Ryan, Dominican House of Studies The Syriac Commentary on Ben Sira by Dionysius bar Salibi (30 min)

S18-74 Teaching Biblical Literature in an Undergraduate Liberal Arts Context 11/18/2006 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM Room: 154A - CC Theme: Transforming the Curriculum Jane Webster, Barton College, Presiding Susanne Scholz, Merrimack College Gold Mine or Coal Mine? Teaching the Hebrew Bible in the Undergraduate Classroom (25 min) Stan Harstine, Friends University Challenges to Teaching Biblical Literature as a General Education Requirement (25 min) John Lanci, Stonehill College, Respondent (10 min) Break (10 min) Glenn S. Holland, Allegheny College “Not as the Scribes:” Biblical Studies in the Liberal Arts Curriculum (25 min) Christian Brady, PennState University "God is not in this classroom" or Reading the Bible in a Secular School (25 min) Colleen Conway, Seton Hall University, Respondent (10 min) Discussion (20 min) There will be ample opportunity to ask questions and to share ideas for future directions.

(Via Dvorak Uncensored.)

1986 Kings Dominion Concert Schedule May 25 Robert Palmer / Belinda Carlisle $4 June 1 Ready for the World / Zapp/Roger / Sly Fox / Eugene Wilde $4 June 22 Jimmy Buffett $5 July 6 New Edition $5 July 13 Starship $4 July 19 Air Supply $4 July 20 Billy Ocean and Meli'sa Morgan $5 July 27 Patti Labelle $6 August 3 Eddie Rabbit / Exile / Janie Frickie / TG Sheppard / Sylvia $4 August 17 David Copperfield $4 Things that Happened in 1986 The US officially observes Martin Luther King Day as a national holiday for the first time The space shuttle Challenger explodes moments after lift off, killing 6 astronauts and a teacher A major nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union Japanese video game maker Nintendo introduces its games to America US warplanes bomb Libyan headquarters in retaliation for terrorist attacks The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station IBM unveils the PC Convertible, the first laptop computer Charlotte Church, The Olsen twins, and Lindsay Lohan are born Chicago Bears win Superbowl XX Top Gun is the top grossing film "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne & Friendsspends the most time at the top of the US charts ALF, the Oprah Winfrey Show , and Pee-Wee's Playhouse premiere

Monday, September 11, 2006 Altoona, Pa. -- Chemical cues from fathers may be delaying the onset of sexual maturity in daughters, as part of an evolutionary strategy to prevent inbreeding, according to researchers at Penn State. "Biological fathers send out inhibitory chemical signals to their daughters," said Robert Matchock, assistant professor of psychology at Penn State Altoona. "In the absence of these signals, girls tend to sexually mature earlier." The effect of chemical cues on sexual maturity is common in the animal world, Matchock explained. If the biological father is removed from rodent families, the daughters tend to mature faster, he said.

It doesn’t seem right, of course, that watching “24” or playing a video game could be a important cognitively as reading a book. Isn’ the extraordinary success of the “Harry Potter novels better news for the culture than the equivalent success of “Grand Theft Auto III” Johnson’s response is to imagine what cultural critics might have said had video games been invented hundreds of years ago, and onl recently had something called the book been marketed aggressively to children:

Reading books chronically understimulates the senses. Unlike the longstanding tradition of gameplaying—which engages the child in a vivid, three-dimensional world filled with moving images and musical sound-scapes, navigated and controlled with complex muscular movements—books are simply a barren string of words on the page.... Books are also tragically isolating. While games have for many years engaged the young in complex social relationships with their peers, building and exploring worlds together, books force the child to sequester him or herself in a quiet space, shut off from interaction with other children. . . . But perhaps the most dangerous property of these books is the fact that they follow a fixed linear path. You can’t control their narratives in any fashion—you simply sit back and have the story dictated to you. . . . This risks instilling a general passivity in our children, making them feel as though they’re powerless to change their circumstances. Reading is not an active, participatory process; it’s a submissive one.

He’s joking, of course, but only in part.

Unfinished tale by J.R.R. Tolkien to be released An unfinished tale by J.R.R. Tolkien has been edited by his son into a completed work and will be released next spring, American and British publishers announced Monday. Christopher Tolkien has spent the past 30 years working on "The Children of Húrin," an epic tale his father began in 1918 and later abandoned. Excerpts of "The Children of Húrin," which includes the elves and dwarves of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and other works, have been published before. The new book will be published by Houghton Mifflin in the U.S. and HarperCollins in England. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy has sold more than 50 million copies and, of course, was adapted into a blockbuster, Academy Award-winning trio of films. A stage version is scheduled to open next year.

Penn State has been able to rely on the sure foot of Aubrey Aden-Buie to provide a much-needed spark.

Christopher Heard has just made me aware of another targum out there. This one is "an e-magazine published by Highmoon Media Productions to support and enhance role-playing games set in the ancient Near East." It's true! I learn something new everyday!

But wait a minute—isn’t Bob Dylan a born-again Christian? Certainly his most overtly religious songs were the gospel songs he recorded between 1979 and 1981. Nevertheless, in 1982, Dylan’s son Samuel became bar mitzvah, and by 1983, when Dylan was reportedly hanging out with Lubavitcher rabbis in Brooklyn, overtly Jewish themes colored the songs on the album Infidels—the sleeve of which featured a photograph of Dylan overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, taken on a visit earlier that year for son Jesse’s bar mitzvah. The song "Neighborhood Bully"—a drippingly sarcastic overview of Jewish history and persecution through the lens of contemporary Zionism—evinced a strongly nationalistic identification with Jewish peoplehood. Over the next decade, Dylan made several appearances on telethons for Chabad, in one calling the Jewish outreach movement his "favorite organization." During this time, he made several more visits to Israel; he opened a shopping complex in Santa Monica replete with an office, a coffeehouse, a gymnasium, and a synagogue; and he saw his daughter, Maria, marry and begin raising a family with Orthodox singer-songwriter and fellow Minnesotan Peter Himmelman.

In the third century, the rabbis who put together the Talmud instructed fathers to teach their sons to swim. It’s safe to say that most American Jews aren’t familiar with this directive, whether or not they take their kids to the lake or the pool. But one morning this past summer, a group of mostly non-Jewish parents puzzled over its meaning in a classroom at the Carolina Day School, a nonsectarian private school in Asheville, N.C. These mothers and fathers were accidental students of Judaism. They had come together because they often felt flattened by achieving the modern ideal of successful children. They were seeking relief in a weeklong course based on the book “The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children,” by a Los Angeles clinical psychologist named Wendy Mogel.

What's in a name department: Christian M. M. Brady, associate professor of classical/Jewish studies at Tulane U. -- and holder of two advanced degrees in Jewish studies from the University of Oxford -- is the new dean of Penn State U.'s Schreyer Honors College. Onward Christian scholars

Listen to many critics of higher education, and you would think that faith had been long ago banished from the quad - or at least all those quads not at places like Notre Dame or Liberty or Yeshiva.

Professors and Belief in God

Positions of Belief	% of Professors
I don’t believe in God.	10.0%
I don’t know whether there is a God and I don’t believe there is any way to find out.	13.4%
I don’t believe in a personal God, but I do believe in a Higher Power of some kind.	19.6%
I find myself believing in God some of the time, but not at others.	4.4%
While I have my doubts, I feel that I do believe in God.	16.9%
I know God really exists and I have no doubts about it.	35.7%

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

No one even remotely familiar with Biblical Studies will be unfamiliar with the name of James Barr.  Today Jack Sasson passes along word of his death:

James Barr, Distinguished Professor of Hebrew Bible at Vanderbilt University from 1989 until his retirement in 1998, died on 14 October 2006 in Claremont, California. Prior to his tenure at Vanderbilt he was on the faculty of Oxford University from 1976 to 1989, first as the Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture and later as the Regius Professor of Hebrew.

He is survived by his wife Jane Barr and children Catherine, Allan, and Stephen. A memorial service will be held in the chapel of Claremont School of Theology, 1325 N. College Avenue, Claremont, California, on Wednesday, 18 October 2006, at 3:00 p.m.

When Professor Barr delivered the Gifford Lectures, this is the biographical blurb shared with attendees:

James Barr was born in 1924 in Glasgow, Scotland, and received his schooling in Edinburgh. In 1941 he entered the University of Edinburgh as an undergraduate to study classics, but left after one year for wartime service. He resumed his studies in 1945, at which time he met a fellow student of classics, whom he later married. Barr went on to obtain a doctorate from the University of Oxford, and from 1955 to 1961 he served as a professor of Old Testament at Edinburgh. In the course of his career, he also held professorships at Princeton, Manchester, Oxford and Vanderbilt. He is widely acknowledged as one of the leading biblical scholars of the twentieth century.

Barr first made his name in the arena of biblical scholarship with the publication of The Semantics of Biblical Language (1961), a devastating critique of certain questionable linguistic theories associated with the ‘biblical theology’ movement, such as the then-popular notion that vocabulary and structure of the Hebrew language reflect an underlying theological mindset distinct from, and at odds with, that indicated by the Greek language.

In the years following, Barr developed further his critique of prominent themes in the biblical theology movement, before turning his critical eye in the 1970s and 1980s toward the scholarship of Christian ‘fundamentalism’ and its approach to biblical interpretation. In a series of hard-hitting publications, Barr sought to expose what he took to be naïve and irresponsible handling of the Bible within such circles; even so, his assault was raised from a standpoint sympathetic to traditional Christian convictions about the authority of the biblical canon.

In February 1982 Barr delivered the Sprunt Lectures at Union Theological Seminary under the title ‘Holy Scripture: Canon, Authority, Criticism’, in which he presented a critique of the notion of ‘canonical criticism’ in opposition to the view propounded in Brevard Childs’s Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (1979).

He subsequently turned his attention to the question of natural theology, a topic first addressed in his Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh in 1991. Striking a blow at the foundations of the view that Christian theology must have nothing to do with natural theology (a stance propounded most famously by Karl Barth), Barr sought to construct a case for natural theology on the basis of Scripture and biblical scholarship.

Now retired from academic duties, Barr resides with his wife in Claremont, California.

Selected bibliography: The Semantics of Biblical Language (1961); Old and New in Interpretation: A Study of the Two Testaments (1966); Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament (1968); Fundamentalism (1977); Escaping from Fundamentalism (1984); Biblical Faith and Natural Theology (1993); The Concept of Biblical Theology: An Old Testament Perspective (1999). See also Samuel E. Balentine and John Barton, eds., Language, Theology, and the Bible: Essays in Honour of James Barr (1994).

James Anderson
University of Edinburgh

Rest in peace, good sir.

[n.b.- the photo above is from the inner flap of the cover of Barr’s “Biblical Theology”.  I was completely unable to find a picture of Professor Barr anywhere online- so I took a picture of the book flap and uploaded it here.  Click on it to see it enlarged].

(Via Dr Jim West.)

Can scholars build a better version of Wikipedia? Larry Sanger, a co-founder who has since become a critic of the open-source encyclopedia, intends to find out. This week Mr. Sanger announced the creation of the Citizendium, an online, interactive encyclopedia that will be open to public contributors but guided by academic editors. The site aims to give academics more authorial control -- and a less combative environment -- than they find on Wikipedia, which affords all users the same editing privileges, whether they have any proven expertise or not.