Total Depravity: Oral Roberts University Style

Total Depravity has made a fine showing today- first with the aforementioned pre-Christmas layoffs at Dobson’s Focus on my Own Political Agenda the Family.  And now with ORU’s ’severance package’ for the extravagant and overindulged Richard Roberts (whilst 100 employees of the University got the ax).  Drew makes all the points that need to be made.  It’s sickening.  It’s totally depraved.

Why Would They Host Simcha?

The University of Nebraska at Omaha hosted Simcha Jacobovici and featured him as a guest speaker at a recent biblical archaeology conference.  Why?  Do the organizers not realize that Jacobovici isn’t an archaeologist, biblical scholar, or even skilled in any of the related subdisciplines? Isn’t having him speak at an archaeological seminar the same thing as having George Bush speak at a Mensa Meeting?

A crowd of religion, history and philosophy scholars gathered Thursday in the Thompson Alumni Center to preview an episode of the History Channel’s “The Naked Archaeologist.”  The presentation was part of the 10th annual Batchelder Biblical Archaeology Conference, which featured three days of lectures on discoveries of the ancient world in and around Jerusalem.

No offense, but they couldn’t have been very scholarly if they gathered to preview an episode of the Naked Archaeologist.  That particular show is more appropriate for a gathering of high school kids who haven’t ever heard of academic discourse.  But perhaps the academic level of the crowd matched that of the speaker after all, as they report

After the speech, the crowd viewed a new episode of “The Naked Archeologist” focused on the lost Hebrew treasure from King Solomon’s second temple in Jerusalem. These treasures – including the Arc of the Covenant, the Candelabra, the Silver Trumpets of Truth and the Table of Divine Presence – were all located in the temple and considered to be the holiest of holies.

Ah yes, the famous ‘arc’ of the covenant.  So beloved of welders, and placed inside Solomon’s Second Temple (because the first one he built wasn’t very pretty).  And those crazy trumpets of truth along with the other things located in the ‘holiest of holies’…

Dan Bahat and Rami Arav both took part as well.  Sad, really, that Jacobovici was included elsewise it probably would have been something quite useful.  The sad little report concludes with this line:

According to the Bible, Herod tried so hard in life to make his name last by building great cities and massacring thousands of people, but he is remembered only as a bloodthirsty tyrant.

Yes, I remember reading just that in the Bible, in 2 Omahas 4:2…  Perhaps the kids who wrote the piece might want to spend their time actually reading the Bible (since they clearly don’t have a clue as to what’s in it) instead of listening to the not naked non archaeologist.

A New Inscription

Chip Hardy has posted a fine photo of the new Zincirli inscription certainly worth looking at.

On the heals [sic!  I'm sure Chip meant heels] of D. Schloen’s Saturday ASOR talk and of D. Pardee’s presentation on the new Zincirli Inscription at SBL this coming Sunday, the NY Times is publishing an article with photograph (!) tomorrow (11/18) in the Science section.

Thanks Chip!!!!

A Delightful New Widget Thing

Is called ‘Flagcounter’- it puts a little flag and the number of visitors for that country on your nav panel (or wherever you put the code- I just happened to have put it in the nav panel at the bottom).  You can get the counter free here (with thanks to Polycarp, the long dead Bishop (or at least so I thought) who blogs here and where I first saw the widget).

Calvin 2009

There’s a fantastic magazine being published for Calvin’s 500th Anniversary that readers will doubtless enjoy titled, cleverly, Calvin. Das Magazin zum Calvin-Jahr 2009. My copy arrived today and so I found in it a number of the coolest little photo-shopped bits from Calvin’s life:

Click to enlarge.  And, by the way, these are just a few of them.  Not to mention the fantastic articles and, believe it or not, the Calvin board game that came as an insert!!!!  Brilliant!

Poor Dobson, Literally

The Denver Post is reporting

Focus on the Family announced Monday that it will cut 202 staff positions at its Colorado Springs headquarters, beginning at month’s end. Of these jobs, 149 are filled and 53 positions are vacant, officials said. About 20 percent of the positions are in management. Most of the jobs end Nov. 28; however, some will be phased out December through February. These losses and 46 layoffs announced by the ministry in October will bring its staff size to about 950, down from about 1,200 last year, said Focus chief operating officer Glenn Williams.

While I feel badly for the employees, I can’t help but feeling that Dobson’s organization is getting just what it deserves. He long ago stopped ‘focusing on the family’ and turned his gaze to political power, which alone has been his central concern for decades now. Aside from that, Dobson should probably consider the fact that, as he would put it, God is withholding blessing from an organization that is living is disobedience to the divine will. If Focus has to close it’s doors, it’s because God wishes it to die off. By the same token, it is also God’s will that Focus shrivel before it dies.

True, The Finite isn’t Capable of the Infinite

I recently learned of the biblioblog / theoblog of one Art Boulet, a student at Westminster Seminary and apparently also a new member of the Guild of Biblical Minimalists.  Who doesn’t love a blog with a Latin title?  Art’s got some good thoughts and is definitely worth a look.  I’m even adding him to the roll where he will remain so long as he isn’t rolled off.