Biblical Studies Carnival 44: The Funhouse Edition

And now for something completely different.  This Carnival will have another sort of flavor than its predecessors.

Go ahead, glower at me all you like, I’m still calling this the ‘Funhouse Edition’.  Funhouses are filled with distorting mirrors and freakish, bizarre and scary sights as well as funny stuff.    If you find your benighted self included in this particular freak show, don’t be mad- it’s ok to be a freak.  Just remember, I love all, most, some, a few, one or two of you!

Too, it’s good to have fun- even at our own expense sometimes.  As I’ve said and as Scott has pointed out, even bibliobloggers need to be multi-dimensional or they’re just boring (and you boring one’s know just who you are…).

Yes, EVEN bibliobloggers should be engaging and interesting.  But if for some odd reason you feel yourself persecuted, poached upon, or criticized in what follows, read Ben’s post when you can and you’ll feel all better.

The House of Mirrors: Stuff That’s Twisted…

No reckoning of the house of mirrors can take place without reference to the work of NT Wright, because no one can so famously distort both the message of the New Testament and the history of the early Church and its theology as he (unless you count David Friendrich Strauss).

Sadly Mike’s not alone in his Wright-i-olatry.  Here’s a blog literally devoted to the Bishop as though he were god incarnate.  Really it’s all just appalling idolatry.

Another twisted piece in July was Pat’s Carnival.  What the devil is Eve doing writing an Apocalypse when she has several sons and numerous unnamed daughters to tend?  Get back to the kitchen woman!

Michael Helfield points us to what can only be described as the most convoluted book title I’ve seen in a long time.  I don’t mean to sound mean, but, really????  Super twisted.

Portraying Paul as all sweetness and light, as nonviolent, as some sort of peacenik, seems a bit odd to me.  But that, evidently, is what Mike Gorman does in this post.  I’ve not seen his book (though all kidding aside, it really does sound interesting), but I doubt Paul’s Galatian foes (whom he told to hack off their man-bits) would agree that he was a peacemaker.  Piece-maker, on the other hand…

When one hears the name Chris Tilling one expects twistedness and he does not disappoint with his new logo design for the Church of England.

Mike Kok makes mention of Crossley’s Jesus in an Age of Terror and opines that ‘better than he’ have already reviewed it fully.  Alas, however, the very reviews he chose to highlight did anything but review, they simply distorted what Crossley had written.  Indeed, Hobbins finally admitted that he had never even read the book!  Seriously people, giving a book a fair review without even reading it is, well, an impossibility.  Not to mention pure distortion.

In a different mirror, John Anderson asks after the proper term one should use when speaking of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament.  It’s not as complicated (or confused) as he (or Julia for that matter) presumes.  ‘Old Testament’ refers to the collection of books in the LXX and ‘Hebrew Bible’ refers to the collection of books in the Tanak.   But that’s not the most twisted thing the git came up with.  No-sir-e-bob.  This is.

Speaking of the debate about calling the Old Testament the Hebrew Bible and vice versa, here’s a post on Gen 11 on a blog titled New Testament Discourse.  That means that now even Genesis is part of the New Testament. That’s some migration.

When I read NT Wrong’s interview with some Flannery person on James Crossley’s blog, I thought I was seeing ‘through a glass darkly’ because, frankly, I’m not a fan of monsters and don’t see how they can contribute to our understanding of religion.  So the appearance of a new journal devoted to that subject confused me.

We all owe Chris Heard a thank you for reviewing another one of those ‘biblical archaeology’ shows.  This one on the book of Joshua.  He spells out the good, the (mostly) bad, and the ugly of the twisted video in some detail.  And Charles Halton (long time member of the ‘I hate Jim West too’ club) also deserves a word of thanks for offering a quote that busts the distortion loving dilettantes.

I realize that not everyone reads their Bible naked, as Michael Heiser would evidently have us do.  And though I certainly couldn’t disagree with him more on that particular bible reading posture, I do agree with him completely in his wish that Church folk be a bit serious.  You’ll know just what I mean when you visit his  post thanking naked bible readers.  I too would thank them- to put their clothes back on.  Naked reading is just twisted.

Speaking of twisted reading, Rick Brannan tells us 5 books that warped his mind and made him dumber, and a number of other folks joined in the fun too.

I don’t mean to imply that I think Stephen is distorting the facts when it comes to the discovery of the so-called ‘David’s Palace’- but he, and the others entranced by ‘biblical archaeology’ and its never ending quest for ‘proof’, are simply and utterly wrong to equate Mazar’s site with David’s palace barring actual evidence.

Debunking distortion is Bob Cargill’s strong suit.  And he debunks the absurdity of the ex-fireman’s quest for the Copper Scroll in a fine post and accompanying essay in Bible and Interpretation.

I wish Bob would put his magical hand to James McGrath’s distortion filled comment opining, yes, opining, believe it or not, that he’s poised to regain the #1 spot in all biblioblogdom!  As if!!!!!!  Debunk him, Bob!

Aaron Rathburn puts a twist on historiography in his really engaging (though ultimately unpersuasive) post.  It’s not really twisted and his view isn’t too awful distorted.  But his post doesn’t really fit in the ‘bearded lady’ or ‘fat man’ or ‘little dude’ categories.

But this series by one Timo S. Paananen – who sees Carlson’s book on Secret Mark as most twisted is, in the words of Bishop Wrong (who told me of it) sure to cause tongues to wag.  Ok those aren’t exactly his words but I can’t repeat what he said.  Anywho- the fun starts here and runs for 7 more installments.  You can find them by searching his blog for Carlson.  I’m too lazy to add all those links.  Do something yourself, ya gits!

Now I know you’ve been waiting for the most twisted, most idiotic, most dilettantish post of the month.  So as not to disappoint, here it is.  That little doosie is the most ill-informed bit of nonsensical nincompoopism I’ve seen online in a long time- including Wikipedia articles!  It’s the most twisted of all the twisted.

The Bearded Lady: Something’s Just Not Right Here…

James McGrath kicked off the month with a reposting of an old post about things your Minister won’t tell you and then posted more old used-up stuff as the month went on.  That’s just not right.   We want new things to chew on, not old, predigested, and regurgitated stuff.  Same goes for Scott Bailey.  There’s no excuse for laziness, gentlemen.

And McGrath does another imponderable when he wishes a happy mandean new year to his readers.  What?  Do mandeans actually use the internet?  Isn’t that sort of like wishing the Amish a happy new year (considering they don’t use the internet either.  Or electricity).  James is acting oddly this month.  Even more so than usual.

Something else that struck me in July that’s just not right is a comment made by Claude on the first of the month.  He rightly rejoices at his 1000th post and then opines I hope to see you again when I post my 2,000th post.  Claude, don’t you want to see us back before then?  I know I’ll be back well before that!

Matthew, too, is a bit ‘wrong’ when he confesses to having eavesdropped on a Dilettante in Rome.  But, dear friends, the Dilettante is so much ‘wrong’-er that Matt can be forgiven.  This one time.

Another ‘bearded lady’ entry worth mentioning is the inexplicable  and utterly unexpected departure from biblioblogdom of James Gregory.  Why James?  Why?  Why too is the question to pose to Doug Man-gum who also took leave of his senses and forsook his biblioblogging responsibilities to, for pete’s sake, take tests!?!?  That, my friends, just ain’t right.  Doug and James have both forgotten that when they refuse to share their insights, they rob us all of a blessing.  So has Daniel, by the way.  He gave up altogether, and Kevin Wilson hasn’t bothered blogging since November of last year.   Commitment is a difficult commodity to find these days…  Purge your blogrolls, friends, and expunge them of the uncommitted!

I find myself in agreement with Doug Chaplin’s views on theological training as he expresses them here.  I don’t like to agree with Doug because, well, he’s Anglican and that’s creepy.  And he’s got a somewhat sometimes mean spirit about him.  That makes me uncomfortable.

But what about wanting to learn German just to pass a test?  Why not learn German  for the joy of being able to read the bulk of 20th century biblical studies by the greatest scholars in their own language?  That sort of utilitarianism is just not right.

Or what about writing a commentary on several books of the New Testament and doing it as a series of blog posts?  Twisted, huh?!  Ken should know that commentaries are for print, not for posts.

I’m growing concerned for Mark Goodacre.  He seems awfully, awfully fixated on testicles these days.  It’s not only not right, it’s scary.

Rob Kashow (cashew?) is correct when he opines that he needs to repent for his views as expressed here.  I’m persuaded that Hugh’s point is valid and the wider guild of textual critics and biblical scholars need to give it serious consideration.

Another post which caused me to shake my head in confusion is from this blog.  I just can’t figure out what he’s trying to say.  I sure wish people would write so as to make their point right off…  And heavens, this guy…  he’s a kindred spirit of Duane Smith’s though, so we should at least give him a chance.  But I’m not so sure about this post, which Duane also recommended.  But Duane’s got a beard so we should expect him to suggest bearded-lady things.

Scot McKnight posted this month on something, but for the life of me I couldn’t find the actual content because it was swallowed up in adverts.  Beliefnet apparently sees the blogs they host as money makers.  That may be ok (from a mammon loving worldly perspective) but it’s just more than a little ‘bearded lady’ to me.

Even more ‘bearded lady’-ish is the fact that folk really do apparently believe that they are in possession of the actual blood of Jesus.    As PT Barnum said…  But if that isn’t bizarre enough for you, maybe the blogger trying to use math to delineate New Testament pericopae is more up your alley.  Imagine it, a mathematical formula which tells you where a pericope begins and where it ends…

I’ll have to leave to your imagination what it is that struck me as odd in Roland’s post here.  By way of hint- I think his dad is funny- if not intentionally!  Sure, carper, it has nothing to do with Biblical Studies.  But the subject matter transcends everything else with which we have to do.

Neither does Miss Marx’s post about whatever it is he/she is posting about- have anything to do with Bib. Stud. but I’ve gratuitously and capriciously decided to include mention of Miss Marx simple because she/he is entertaining and provocative and not enough people read him/her/it.

Steve Wiggins (a new biblioblogger) offers a bit of a different sort of post when he discusses vampires, mummies, and the Holy Ghost.   Read  it. It’s ‘bearded’.  And Steve has even more bearded, twisted, and big ‘ole fat stuff for you to take a gander at as well.  He’s delightful.

I was disturbed to discover that the old TV commercial for Life Cereal is still true, Mikey will try anything, and like it!  What’s the world come to when an Evangelical enjoys a book by an evolutionist?  Yes, pilgrims, we live in strange times, made even stranger by the fact that Estee, son of Emanuel, hasn’t blogged in well over a month.  I’m erasing him from the Lamb’s book of Life.  He’s officially excommuni-blog-cated.

The most ‘bearded lady’ moment of the month, though, was provided by Matt Burgess’s two part defense of dilettantism.   Doug Chaplin’s remarks along those lines were right on target and someone else says one or two things on the subject as well, as did  Scott ‘The Hockey Puck’ Bailey.

The 12 Inch Tall Man: Those Things Which Do Not Measure Up…

I was more than a little distressed to read Joseph’s list of the Top 10 Blogs folk ought to read.  Well, I mean all except for #7- that one made perfect sense.  But honestly, Nick (who the heck is he) Norelli?  Dave Black?  Scot McKnight?  An appalling list all around.  Where’s Davila, Goodacre, Heard?  The real giants of biblioblogianity.  That list- it just doesn’t measure up…  And, by the way, neither does the fact that Jim Linville didn’t tell anyone that he’s been blogging.  Shame on him, making us all find out by fiat.

Too short is the report of Mark Stevens on day 3 of a biblical studies conference he attended.  He tells us too much about lunch and not enough about Ben Myers’ paper!  We don’t care that you had salmon with sauce, Mark, and drank 75 cups of coffee, we want to hear more about Ben’s obviously delightful presentation.  Oh sure, he tries to make up for it later…  But we still want more!  (We’re insatiable).

Equally distressing because of it’s oppressive brevity is Nijay Gupta’s snippet on the upcoming BNT conference.  We need more information than just that.  We want more!  (And we also want to know if Nijay is related to the more famous Sanjay Gupta of GMA fame).  Fortunately James Crossley does a little better by providing a few ‘exclusive’ abstracts for the Historical Jesus section.  It looks like it will be a fun conference.  Though made less fun by my absence.

And why haven’t we heard even more from the Codex Sinaiticus Conference?  Like the orphan boys in Dickens’ classic, ‘may we have some more, please’?

Charles Halton comes up a bit short when he questions the wisdom of revising the rightly esteemed Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon.  What he fails to apprehend is the fact the BDB is the only native-ly English Hebrew Lexicon.  HALOT is a translation of a German Lexicon and so is Koehler/Baumgartner.  So whilst HALOT is incredibly useful one always has to wonder if the translator has got the nuance of the underlying German just right (and believe me, that’s not as simple a task as you might think).  Same, of course, goes for KB.  So, in contrast to Halton, I welcome a revision of BDB.  I think it a stroke of genius.

James McGrath’s post on God simply doesn’t measure up to the standards of the New Testament or it’s Christology.  He may wonder if God is ‘into you’ – but the core message of the New Testament, the death of Jesus on behalf of sinners, is that God is very much ‘into you’.

Duane Smith measures a duck on a rim and finds it wanting.  And our friend in Pascagoula actually has the temerity to dismiss the massive Critical Edition of Q, finding it wanting as well.  Deriding it!  How can he do such a thing when we all know Q is real or they wouldn’t and couldn’t have produced a Critical Edition of it?

Michael somebody or other (whose blog boasts what has to be the worst aesthetic of them all) observes that all the questing for the historical Jesus and attempts to date the Gospels are tail chasing and don’t really measure up to much of anything (unless I’ve misunderstood him because of the ghastly and eye stabbing pink festooning his page, which is quite possible.  I can barely see to type this).  I think he’s 90% right.  I’m holding on to the possibility a mere 10%, waiting for Maurice Casey to convince me that the Quest really is something more than scholars gazing down the well and seeing their own reflection.

But the teeniest, most insufficient, and littlest post is this midget of a thought, while the teeniest post in content is Timmy’s.   That’s small.  Very small.

The 900 Pound Man: Big Stuff!

The biggest news of the month came on the second of July when we learned the sad news that Martin Hengel had died, that very day.  So while the world continued to mourn a singer and an actress, we mourn the loss of one of the greatest NT scholars to ever live.  Passing from this life to the next as well during the month of July was Graham Stanton, a well known expert on the Gospels and the life of Jesus.  True sadness prevailed at the news when these two giants died.

Other big doings in July were the SBL International Meeting held in Rome and thoroughly covered by Tommy Wasserman and Mark Goodacre.  Antonio Lombatti has a thing or two to say as well and  Tommy also offered a brief bit on what he liked and didn’t like about it.  Matt Malcolm tells us, from his perspective, a bit about the International meeting as well.  And John Hobbins didn’t like a lot of what went on.  He’s so cranky.  I thought Anabaptists were supposed to be all sunny and happy-shiny people.

The European Association of Biblical Studies met in July in conjunction with SOTS at the University of Lincoln.  EABS set up a blog for attendees which had loads of very practical, very useful information.  And our good Greek biblioblogger took time to blog the experience too.  Oddly, though, she seems to be the only biblioblogger in attendance.

Another meeting held in July was the Bible and Critical Theory festival covered by, among others, Judy Redman here, and here. Paper abstracts are available here.  I don’t know why people want to be critical about the Bible, but you know how those Aussies are…

A.K.M. Adam offered the biblioblogging (and wider) world an essay from earlier in his career titled Interpreting the Bible in a Sea of Signs.  I commend it to your attention.

Another ‘big’ (in the sense of – boy it sure looks interesting to me!) volume was noticed by the dreaming grasshopper which consists of a study of the concept of Herem in Luke/Acts.  Intriguing.

This would be big, if Chris Heard would do it.  I sincerely hope he will.   We don’t always (or ever) see eye to eye, but you’ve got to respect his intellect and skill at communication.

James McGrath offers what I deem a ‘big’ idea in this post.   He made me go ‘hmmmm’ and that’s always a good thing.  I’m glad he decided to stop serving warmed over stuff.   His fresh stuff is always intriguing (except for all that Lost talk).

Though not really ‘big’ -they’re semi-big: the Mt. Zion excavation discoveries this month, that is.  Fairly big as well is the scorching Matt Burgess gives BAR for publishing stories about the Ark of the Covenant in Ethiopia.  To summarize- BAR should know better than to offer such dilettantish silliness.

But really big, maybe even bigger than anything else save the sad passing of Martin Hengel, is word that the eminently gifted Peter Machinist has been honored by the University of Zurich with an Honorary Doctorate.  We all congratulate Professor Machinist for this well deserved recognition.

Similarly, pretty darned big is the big ‘ole spanking Doug deals Duane.

Mike interviews the big Brandon Wason (sorry Brandon- you aren’t really bearded and you aren’t a distorting mirror or a tiny lad- so there you have it- stuffed in the only category that fits) and he really does a fine, fine job of it.  I commend him!

The biggest post of the month has to be Ken’s over on Unilateral Thinkings.  That’s what we called a pamphlet when we were kids.  Man- he’s one wordy unilateralist.

But, you’re doubtless by now wondering, what’s the biggest news of the month?  What is it in biblioblogdom that really made an impact and should be known by one and all and widely shared so as the whole world can rejoice?  This.  Or if that doesn’t satisfy your thirst for righteousness, this will, because it really is Big and comes at the juncture of Tim’s 40th Podcast!   What?  You’re still not satisfied?  Then if this doesn’t do it for you, nothing will.

[In closing, just in case you missed it, July 10th was the 500th Anniversary of John Calvin's birth.  Calvin was a fantastic biblical scholar whose name should be spoken with quiet gratitude by all of us.  I took the opportunity to post a few bits and pieces which you can find here.]

Exit

Well, thanks for playing in the Funhouse.  [And I'm sorry if you or your sensibilities or your gerbil were offended.  Almost].

Next month’s Carnival is supposed to be hosted by Mike Kok so I’m sure it will be way more serious than this little foray into the darkness of blogdom.  How could it not be?  He follows the Golden Rule! But if he doesn’t make a big deal about the 125th anniversary of the birth of Rudolf Karl Bultmann on the 20th of August I’ll be profoundly disappointed.