if i were a bell, i'd ring.

I'm blogging again

2011-02-25T20:32:00.003-06:00

But not here. Join my work in progress at The Elaborated Tim Ricchuiti. Or, if you're more the RSS type, subscribe.

The End

2010-05-24T23:17:00.004-05:00

This story's gotten quite a bit of play recently. In the original script for LOST's pilot episode, J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof had their main character, their hero, die at the conclusion of the second act. Jack Shepherd was going to be an early sacrifice to "the monster."

When they sent the script to a few friends and executives, the reaction was universally negative. "Kill Jack in the pilot," they were told, "and your audience will never trust you again."

I don't know when in the process of working out the mythology of the show Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse worked back to that original idea. But when they did, you can be sure that they were thinking of that trust, and how to honor it. For LOST's story, for the story of its characters, for Jack's own story, he had to die. He had to sacrifice himself, in the name of what he believed without knowing to be true. He had to give himself fully over to faith, fully embracing what John Locke knew couldn't be easy.

But how could the end of a series that was about redemption, about life, death, and rebirth, about love and community and relationship, how could that end be the singularly depressing event of its central character's demise?

The creators, in complete care of their audience's trust, decided to give us time to process his death. Though we wouldn't know it until the final moments of the final episode, what at first appeared to be a parallel universe spawned by Jack's desire to control was actually the natural consequence of Jack's hard-earned capacity to let go.

In so doing, the creators reinforced their one inviolable rule: whatever happened, happened. There would be no changing the past. Oceanic 815, despite Jack's plan, would have to crash on the island. And the story we watched take place for five years would remain unchanged. Did it work? Juliet thought it did. We, the audience, thought it did, in those first few moments of season six. But instead, the creators let us know right away, in the voice of Rose, that it's ok to let go. We just wouldn't learn how important that was until quite some time later.

As the final episode progressed, the characters, one by one, discovered or "remembered" their connections. They remembered the relationships that mattered most to them, and the growth they had to go through to enter those relationships. I don't claim to have any special insight into the creation of the show, but I have to think that Damon and Carlton were sending us a message. Yes, of course, it's ok for us to let go. But it's ok because even though the show is over, even though the journey we've been on for six years is done, the relationships we developed in those six years don't have to be. And just as our characters relived their journeys in the timeless instants of the flash-sideways, so we to can relive those instants whenever we want to, whenever we need to.

I first watched LOST shortly before Season Two premiered. Like many others, I watched one episode, and couldn't put the DVDs away. I watched the first season in a weekend, working long hours overnight at the DTS library. I introduced the show to my first friend in Dallas, my best friend in Dallas, Garrett Mathis. Not to be too overwrought, but the show's stories of redemption paralleled my own personal story of redemption. The show's great loves paralleled my own great love.

So, with that, I'm saying thank you to LOST. Thank you to all those who've gone on the journey with me these past few years. Thank you to those of you who have stuck it out, and read along with me on this blog. I'm not going far, but this blog is done. It was enjoyable while it lasted, but when a post from a friend couldn't raise me, I realized it was time to end things. So, good-bye.

Returning in a Limited Engagement

2010-03-16T22:24:00.001-05:00

I've switched my blogging almost entirely to Twitter. Apparently, most of what I have to say can be said in 140 characters or less.

If, however, there's something that I feel needs explanation, I've put up a Tumblr account. The RSS feed is here. If you're still reading, check it out.

The Final Season

2010-02-01T11:50:00.000-06:00

Dualism permeates LOST to its core.

Each season is constructed around a binary explored through the characters and their interactions:

Life

Death

Faith

Reason

Love

Hate

Past

Future

Fate

Free Will

Along with those binaries, each season of LOST asks a fundamental question.

"How will we stay alive?"

"Having learned how to survive, in what should we place our trust?"

"What motivates us?"

"How did we get where we are?"

"Do I control my own destiny?"

In the question of Fate vs. Free Will, Season Five's organizing principle was Daniel Faraday's maxim: "Whatever happened, happened." Try as they might, the time travelers could not change their destiny.[1] Sayid's decision to shoot a defenseless 12-year-old boy affected who Sayid is, but it would not result in a Ben-less future.[2] Similarly, Ben and Sun were left in 2007, impotent to affect their goals, reduced to blindly following John Locke.

But somewhere along the way, that organizing principle (as well as Faraday's own attitude) changed.[3] Though Faraday would lose his own life to "whatever happened"

Jack was emboldened to find a "something big enough" to alter history's (and his story's) course.

So, with the explosion of an atomic bomb (Jack has never been one for subtlety), we're left in the same boat as Ms. Hawking: for the first time in a long time, we don't know what's next. In that way, Season Five's finale most resembles the mind-freak of Season Three.

"Through the Looking Glass" was so unsettling precisely because it was the first time that we (the audience) couldn't know what was to be next. Until that point in the show, we were assured that no matter how bad things appeared in the flashbacks, eventually our lostaways would be on the island, walking...

leading...

loving...

growing...

But all that would be set aside when it became manifest destiny that our Losties would escape the island.

Unfortunately, that's where "The Incident" fails to resemble the Season Three closer. We're left with no clue of what's to come next. All we can speculate upon is the paradox created should answer yes to this simple question:

"What if it worked?"

If Jack really did succeed in disrupting the events that lead to the crash of Oceanic Flight 815, then the plane landed in LAX from Sydney as planned on September 22, 2004. However, if the plane landed in LAX, how would Jack have traveled back to 1977 to set off the atomic bomb? Mustn't it be simultaneously true that Flight 815 crashed on the Island and that it did not? This is LOST's Schrodinger's cat, on a much grander, mythological scale.

Certainly, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse built in smaller scale conundrums. John Locke's compass...

is an artifact without provenance. Richard Alpert's investigations into the young John Locke...

function precisely the same way. Richard never would have looked into the young John Locke, had Locke not told him to. But Locke never could have told him to had Richard not looked into him first.

Such puzzles are only the beginning. LOST's final season has its work cut out. But, to the many questions we might ask:

The numbers

The smoke monster

The island itself

We can go on these few things: The writers have pointed out on numerous occasions that their interests reside in the characters. The mythology of the show is just a method of exploring those characters. So, we can expect to continue to learn about Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, and the rest. Perhaps we will even get the opportunity to re-acquaint ourselves with some old friends...

And some friends reborn...

What will be Season Six's question? I'm sure we will revisit Faith vs. Reason.

I'm sure we'll see more about Fate vs. Free Will

Perhaps Season Six will really be about Jacob vs. The Man in Black

But I know in just a few hours, we will know the answer to at least one question.

"What if it worked?"

[1] In this way, the early part of LOST's fifth season followed the Harry Potter school of time travel.

In Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione is given a locket with the ability to turn back or "rewind" time. Its initial purpose is to allow Hermione the extra time necessary to complete her over-loaded course schedule. But, as Dumbledore intimates to Harry and Hermione, it can be used for other reasons. What's interesting about the conclusion of the story is that, as Harry and Hermione travel back in time and help their past selves out, they don't "change" what has already happened. They merely become aware, through their more knowledgeable perspective, of events that were not at first what they appeared. This was most explicit in Harry's bittersweet discovery that it was not his father who sent the Patronus that saved both he and Sirius, but he himself.

[2] This was part of the beauty, at least initially, of the producers' decision to follow the Harry Potter school. Not only was Sayid powerless to prevent Ben from becoming Ben, but any action he did take would only end up being a part of why Ben was the way he was. Even the choice not to act (i.e., Jack's) would prove full of consequence. This was one way I thought the producers' actually dropped the ball when they pulled the whole "if I save Ben, he won't remember any of this" card. I WANTED Ben to remember. I wanted his attitude toward Sayid, which engendered Sayid's attitude toward him, to be dependent on Sayid's choice to shoot Ben as a boy. Alas, they decided not to take it quite that far.

[3] This might be called the "Back to the Future" school of time travel.

Marty McFly can travel forward and backward in time, seeing to it that the universe changes in (to him) necessary ways, even as he does not.

An Open Letter to Ph.D. Admissions Committees

2009-12-03T14:40:00.000-06:00

Dear Intrepid Google-searcher:

Thank you for your interest in my Ph.D. application! I appreciate the time and effort you have put in to find out more about me as a candidate, and as you have arrived at this blog, you are in just the right place. Over the past few years, I have maintained this blog as an outgrowth of my academic scholarship, as well as an outlet for my personal thoughts on politics, Christianity, television, technology, and whatever else might strike my fancy.

To the right, you will notice two sidebars: "The Best" and "The Rest." As should be apparent from their titles, these represent archives of all materials that have appeared on this site since September 2007, when I began maintaining it in earnest. "The Best" highlight posts that I think represent either the most popular or most well-written entries. If you are looking for some of my entries on textual criticism, these posts include my thoughts on the Pericope Adulterae and the original text of the New Testament. If you are looking for my work on feminism, particularly as it relates to biblical studies (and its presence on the internet), I would suggest using the search box in the upper-left-hand corner of your browser window.

As you look through these materials, I would ask only that you keep in mind the medium of a weblog. Few of these posts are meant to be academic; much more often they are reactions and meanderings, meant primarily to entertain myself, and the small number of people I might count as readers. Which is not to say there is nothing upon which you might evaluate my status as an applicant. Only that what is here ought to be taken with a grain of salt.

Thank you again for your consideration. Happy searching!

All the best,

Tim Ricchuiti

2010 SBL Regional (SWCRS)

2009-12-03T14:34:00.002-06:00

Like John, a paper I am co-writing with a fellow master's student has been accepted for the 2010 Southwest Commission on Religious Studies. The title and abstract:

Title: From “God” (θεός) to “God” (ⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ): A New Discussion and Proposal

Abstract: The Sahidic Coptic version of the New Testament is among the most important early versions of the New Testament. It is regarded as an excellent representation of the Alexandrian text-form, and in turn serves as a significant resource for textual criticism and the history of interpretation. Because of this significance, this article will explore the Sahidic Coptic's translation of the Greek nominative singular θεός. No current publication examines whether Sahidic Coptic translators uniformly translated the nominative singular θεός, particularly with respect to the issues of definiteness and the Greek article. This article will attempt to answer two distinct but interconnected questions: (1) Did the Sahidic Coptic translators uniformly translate the nominative singular θεός? (2) How can the assessment of the Sahidic Coptic translators inform a discussion of history, transcription, and translation of John 1.1c. We will begin by establishing criteria for the relevant texts in order to form a database of New Testament references. From that database, we will evaluate four possible solutions with respect to the Sahidic Coptic translational patterns and John 1.1c: (1) were the Coptic translators attempting to indicate the presence or absence of the Greek article without making an interpretive distinction; (2) were they trying to make an interpretive distinction regarding the definition of θεός in John 1.1c; (3) were they trying to clarify a syntactical issue; or (4) were they making a stylistic distinction.

The 2010 meeting will be in Dallas, so if you're around, come out and see us!

time to go dark

2009-12-03T14:25:00.002-06:00

in a few minutes, a post will go up for admissions officers who might be searching about me in the coming weeks. i've been applying to phd programs, and the deadlines are finally coming 'round. in a decision as much as for my own sanity as anything else, i won't be posting anything else until i begin to hear back from those programs. hopefully, i'll have good news in a month or so!

if you really must continue to have my wit and irreverence in your rss readers, i suggest following my twitter feed.

hey, mac users

2009-12-02T17:02:00.001-06:00

should i be using quicksilver? i've tried before, and just couldn't get it down.

Biblioblogging Notes

2009-12-02T13:56:00.002-06:00

A few things lighting the biblioblogosphere on fire this cold month of December:

I'm a couple days late with this, but Doug did a fantastic job putting together this month's BSC (48, for those counting at home).
However, based on the amount of work he had to put in for it, Doug's unsure how much longer the current paradigm can hold.
Dan Wallace posts on some of the difficulties evangelicals can have being taken seriously in the academy. 270 comments and counting at Parchment and Pen, in one of the most civil comment threads I've read in a long time, along with a host of reactions (I like James McGrath's, and there's an interesting comment thread on Joel Watts). I've had a couple thoughts since I first read the post and some of the comments:
(1) Everybody's got stories. You'll read about the evangelical student who was dismissed without even a thought to her extensive education and preparation, followed by the rogue professor dismissed from his conservative institution for having the temerity to deviate from the company line. The liberal institution that judges applicants solely on merit, regardless of their beliefs, and the conservative seminary that prevents students from graduating because of theirs. There's no reason that such stories can't ALL be true. The best light to read Dr. Wallace's critique, in my opinion, is that there is a particular irony in the fact that some scholars (SOME) who claim to be so open-minded can nevertheless hold inaccurate prejudices against a certain set of people (in this case, PhD-pursuing evangelical seminary students). Furthermore, it would be better for everyone if this weren't the case.
(2) Similarly to the discussion of women in the biblioblogosphere from a few months ago, if someone were to make me aware of how my prejudices have affected them negatively, I don't want to list for them the ways in which I think they are wrong and ought not to have taken offense. Instead, I want to find a way to understand where they are coming from, what their struggle is, and how I can make that just a little bit easier.
(3) In that line, I am happy to report that my own experiences in the PhD application process have thus far been overwhelmingly positive (in this way, I echo Mike). I've had some great interactions with various professors via email, and I hope to be able to report some positive news in a couple months!
(4) As a bit of a side note, I was surprised by how many people focused on Dr. Wallace's definition of "Christian." Do people not know that Dr. Wallace is an evangelical Christian? 'Cause that's how most evangelicals define "Christian." He wasn't saying that anyone had to accept his definition; he was just describing the state of SBL for the readership of a blog that is quite conservative. Is anyone arguing that he wasn't describing the membership of SBL accurately?
Finally, the word of the day for this blog is vindication. Vin-di-ca-tion. (Reax: Mark Goodacre, Stephen Carlson, Jason Staples, James McGrath, Jim West, Pat McCullough [who I think was the first to notice])

Prepare to have your mind blown

2009-12-02T13:52:00.003-06:00

This is not trick photography:

My other favorite was the one with the dump truck. I really had to look to find him:

I-Phone?

2009-11-28T23:36:00.001-06:00

What's an I-Phone?

Makes me wonder if Logos will be coming out with Mackintoodle PC software anytime soon.

It's amazing to me...

2009-11-26T23:53:00.002-06:00

...just how many John Loftus posts boil down to "God isn't how I would expect him to be, therefore, he must not exist" (Most recently, here and here).

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T05:46:00.000-06:00

Pete Sampras and Roger Federer say be thankful!

When the wife's away...

2009-11-22T19:00:00.001-06:00

I was doing dishes tonight, and I discovered that I could do that thing with wine glasses. Needless to say, I wasted the next 45 minutes. Have a look!

Grammar Meme

2009-11-22T14:04:00.000-06:00

With everyone off at SBL, carelessly having fun without me, I thought I would try to start a meme. What's your biggest grammar foible? For me, I always want to write "I wanted to try and start" rather than "I wanted to try to start." Gets me everytime.

How about Nick, Joel, Jim (if he can step away from all the fun), Mike and Rob (they can discuss theirs together), and Doug.

I'd love to make a submission, Doug...

2009-11-22T13:25:00.001-06:00

But the month of November has not been my best. Perhaps someone else can help you out.

The worst thing about missing SBL...

2009-11-20T23:46:00.001-06:00

...is probably experiencing for myself James Crossley's resemblance to eyeliner guy on LOST.

technology!

2009-11-20T23:43:00.002-06:00

i just tweet-taunted my pastor about a win a macbook contest. 2009, everybody!

Depressing

2009-11-20T16:18:00.001-06:00

Not only am I missing out on all the SBL 2009 fun, but I saw this time-lapse of U.S. unemployment. Not looking good.

[Via DF]

Tab Dump

2009-11-15T08:52:00.001-06:00

This has been sitting in my tabs for the last couple days, amazing me every time I look at it. You remember those old Choose Your Own Adventure novels? Yeah, so did this guy, but he did something insanely cool with them.

[Via DF]

Why I Won't Be Going to ETS This Year

2009-11-12T16:09:00.000-06:00

I forgot to buy a bathing suit.

I don't lecture with PowerPoint

2009-11-11T23:42:00.003-06:00

I hate putting it together. I think it looks like crap. I find it undesirable as a teaching aid. This is just one more fantastic reason to skip the whole thing:

I’ve been a computer science professor for many years at a very good university, and in most of my classes I try to *only* use slides for images or diagrams that are so complicated or precise that I would not want to reproduce them by hand. Everything else is either me talking or writing on the whiteboard. Sometimes I have handwritten notes to remind me what topics I wanted to cover.

My students, for the most part, HATE this. It completely turns their expectations of a class upside down. After a few weeks, I start getting a deluge of “when are the slides going to be online” from the students who never attend class and don’t realize that there aren’t slides. Even students who *are* in class complain bitterly that they don’t have “anything to study from”. I’ve had students complain (in groups, sometimes with signed petitions) to my department chair and to my dean, saying that not providing slides creates (and I quote from one recent complaint) an “unreasonable expectation of attendance and/or note-taking”. I have fielded angry phone calls from PARENTS saying that their student isn’t doing well in my course because I’m not providing him/her with the “expected study aids.”

[Via Stephen Carlson's Twitter]

John Hannah

2009-11-11T12:17:00.004-06:00

One of my regrets from my time at DTS is not having taken more classes with John Hannah. To see why, check out Justin Taylor's three questions, as well as some great quotes in the comments. Among them:

The first thing you owe to any person is understanding. After understanding, you owe them your compassion. Then, after understanding and compassion, you owe them criticism. Let your criticism be tempered by understanding and compassion.

[Via JD's twitter]

To the Anonymous Spammer Who's Been Hanging Out Here Lately

2009-11-11T10:38:00.002-06:00

I don't know if you've noticed, but I moderate comments. That means when you submit what are obviously spam comments, they will not actually appear on the site. Therefore, all you're doing is wasting your time and annoying me. I would suggest you give it up.

"Faith exists in the absence of reason."

2009-11-09T10:37:00.002-06:00

It's a shame that such an interesting confession begins with such an insipid sentiment.

I really need to unsubscribe from Debunking Christianity

2009-11-09T10:31:00.002-06:00

'Cause every other day there's some ridiculous post I feel like I have to respond to. Today's follows up on a line John Loftus has been in love with lately: that Christianity reinvents itself for each new generation (and that this somehow discredits it). My favorite part is this: after "debunking" the notion that Christianity has any unity from 2 millenia ago until now, Loftus celebrates:

Let's have done then with this cockamamie notion that the church has survived our attacks.

I'd love to hear what rubric allows for an "our" in the case of Christianity's critics, but not in the case of the Church itself.

This won't mean anything to you...

2009-11-07T13:52:00.002-06:00

But that blank space below the date...to me that means a whole day without anything scheduled. In other words, heaven.

I can't wait to find out what technology my kids use that corrupts their lives, unlike things in my day.

2009-11-06T17:19:00.002-06:00

Albert Mohler, David Brooks, and Jeffrey Zaslow walked 30 miles through snow.

Randall Munroe has another ridiculously good idea

2009-11-03T08:08:00.001-06:00

So annoying.

[Previously, See also Doug]

New BSC

2009-11-03T08:02:00.001-06:00

Up at Paul of Tarsus.

old habits die hard

2009-11-01T18:39:00.000-06:00

John Loftus passes the basket.

Stupid Ancient Greeks!

2009-11-01T08:58:00.002-06:00

THIS is the world the ancient Greeks believed existed. Notice the geo-centrism! And I'm supposed to accept their philosophy? If the authors cannot get this right I have no reason to accept anything else they said just because they said it. Q.E.D. My claim is that there isn't anything in Greek philosophy worth listening to.

[inspiration]

It occurs to me...

2009-11-01T08:54:00.001-06:00

...that without a deep and abiding understanding of mid-20th century show-tunes, most of my blog makes very little sense.

You say to-may-to, i say to-mah-to...

2009-11-01T08:50:00.002-06:00

The ancient Hebrews did not have a modern, scientific understanding of the universe, ergo nothing they said has any validity! I'd love to see this applied across all disciplines.

From the comments

2009-10-28T15:53:00.000-05:00

Jim got me good:

i guess you know more about which drugs work best for tennis players.

The dreaded GRE

2009-10-28T14:44:00.001-05:00

Like Mike, I finished my GRE recently (earlier today) and I feel great about it. I can now look forward to the rest of a long and detailed application process!

I think Jim got his stories confused

2009-10-28T14:43:00.002-05:00

Say what you like about Agassi, but crystal meth is definitely NOT a performance enhancing drug.

Another reason to hate the Winter Olympics

2009-10-27T08:14:00.000-05:00

LOST will take a 2-week break.

Adventures in English

2009-10-22T16:32:00.003-05:00

"I'm not a big sweater." - Hilary Swank

Googlefail

2009-10-20T15:55:00.001-05:00

I hope those aren't important books they're destroying with latex gloves.

Funny how that works

2009-10-20T14:53:00.001-05:00

I finish a project that's been hanging over my head for almost a month, and like magic, blog posts start appearing out of nowhere.

Today in Covetousness

2009-10-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

Apple refresh. I want them all.

Eh, whatever

2009-10-20T14:48:00.002-05:00

Clearly the person putting that sign up had a sense of humor. So I don't see how that really belongs on the failblog.

Who wants a Google Voice invitation?

2009-10-20T14:29:00.002-05:00

I've got three. First come, first served.

All I do is post YouTube videos

2009-10-18T13:24:00.001-05:00

And you eat it up

Coming out of hibernation to remind you

2009-10-16T14:16:00.001-05:00

That Glenn Beck is crazy.

I warned you, Nick

2009-10-13T07:13:00.001-05:00

Heroes will never be good, because Heroes is an awful television show, written by people with no sense of continuity and no vision. It is the exact opposite of LOST.

This is fantastic

2009-10-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

Things Overheard in Burleson

2009-10-10T10:06:00.001-05:00

Kid: Mom, I wanna do this, and read this book, and go here, and...
Mom: (whispering) Shh. Whisper.
Kid: (whispering now) whhhhy?
Mom: (still whispering) 'Cause you're in a library.

I found an antique chair in my attic!

2009-10-10T08:08:00.002-05:00

You won't believe it. I looked it up, and apparently, it's worth $900!! Can you believe that? A chair!

Of course, I'm of two minds on the situation. I suppose it's nice that I'll have an extra $900 for a chair. On the other hand, it's just a chair! It's not REALLY worth $900. The people who value it that much are kinda stupid. In fact, I don't even know if the chair's ever been sat on. I don't think I'm gonna sell it. I'll probably just burn it for firewood.

[Ezra's idea]

Had to turn on my heater today

2009-10-09T09:03:00.000-05:00

It's getting cold in Dallas.

I want to help this guy out

2009-10-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

He has some questions about LOST.

Please let them have fixed the scroll ball

2009-10-02T16:59:00.001-05:00

New bluetooth mouse and keyboard from Apple.

[Via DF]

Fish are messed up, man

2009-10-02T15:05:00.002-05:00

I would NOT want to see any of these fish in person. Ever.

Analogies

2009-10-01T16:09:00.002-05:00

Envy : Envious : : Jelly : Jealous

BSC

2009-09-30T22:25:00.001-05:00

Up at Hebrew and Greek Reader

Pizza toward a superior dating nomenclature

2009-09-30T22:20:00.002-05:00

Doug makes a great point about Cargill's proposal for utilizing BCE and CE in place of BC and AD:

Furthermore, it ignores the reality that other dating systems are also currently in use. Pretending the dating system with historical (and theological) Christian origins is religiously and culturally neutral in fact devalues, say, the Jewish or Islamic systems as inferior or unimportant. They’re religious and particular systems. The Christian one has become general, common and universal. How, exactly, is that a neutral position to take?

It's as if Doug, Bob, and I go out for some pizza. I want pepperoni, Doug wants sausage, and Bob wants vegetarian. Being the generous bloke I am, I suggest we get the pepperoni, but rename it "universal" pizza, so that everyone's happy.

I want to be a polymath

2009-09-30T08:45:00.001-05:00

This article about both the lack of and the systemic pressures working against polymaths brought to mind Michael Bird's case for the 'generalist' biblical scholar.

David vs. Goliath

2009-09-29T16:51:00.000-05:00

I got there, but apparently not first.

Weird Narcissistic Observation

2009-09-29T16:45:00.002-05:00

For the entirety of 2009 leading up to September, I had posted 145 times. Basically, a couple posts every three days. Not a bad pace. Not a Jim pace either. In September, though, I've posted 130 times (including this post). Weird.

Satan

2009-09-29T16:43:00.000-05:00

Just trying to gin up traffic. Nothing to see here.

I bet that would seem a bit odd...

2009-09-29T14:33:00.001-05:00

The President:

"One of the [G20] leaders, I won't mention who it was, he comes up to me and ... he says, 'Barack, explain to me this health care debate.' He says, 'We don't understand it. You're trying to make sure everyone has health care and they're putting a Hitler moustache on you. That doesn't make sense to me, explain that to me,'" Obama said. "He didn't understand."

Discourse and Backgrounding

2009-09-29T12:56:00.001-05:00

Steve Runge has a post up on backgrounding, illustrating with C.S. Lewis.

Today's Theologian #4

2009-09-28T14:56:00.003-05:00

In honor of Joel, Rudolf Bultmann:

That's a man who loved the pipe.

I'm a sucker for clever Venn diagrams

2009-09-28T14:52:00.002-05:00

Honestly, they don't even have to be all that clever. Baseball team names:

[Via Kottke]

Wikipedia's Gender Gap

2009-09-27T08:56:00.001-05:00

Thought this was interesting in light of the recent biblioblogosphere conversation:

What stunted Wikipedia's growth? And what does the slump tell us about the long-term viability of such strange and invaluable online experiments? Perhaps that the Web has limits after all, particularly when it comes to the phenomenon known as crowdsourcing. Wikipedians — the volunteers who run the site, especially the approximately 1,000 editors who wield the most power over what you see — have been in a self-reflective mood. Not only is Wikipedia slowing, but also new stats suggest that hard-core participants are a pretty homogeneous set — the opposite of the ecumenical wiki ideal. Women, for instance, make up only 13% of contributors. The project's annual conference in Buenos Aires this summer bustled with discussions about the numbers and how the movement can attract a wider class of participants.

Emphasis mine. Wikipedia shares a similar percentage of women to the biblioblogosphere (at least as reflected in the various blogger lists floating around out there), and an apparently similar core:

But as for the larger issue of trying to attract a more diverse constituency, it has no specific plan — only a goal. "The average Wikipedian is a young man in a wealthy country who's probably a grad student — somebody who's smart, literate, engaged in the world of ideas, thinking, learning, writing all the time," Gardner says. Those people are invaluable, she notes, but the encyclopedia is missing the voices of people in developing countries, women and experts in various specialties that have traditionally been divorced from tech.

[Via Feministing]

Enjoyable interview with Ricky Gervais

2009-09-25T14:36:00.001-05:00

I want to see his new movie.

Another 'Worst of' List

2009-09-25T14:29:00.002-05:00

It's probably more a testament to how seldomly I get out to the movies anymore than my good taste, but I've only seen three and a half of these stinkers.*

[See earlier]

* Yes, it hurts to use a variation of my least favorite word. But that's how bad these movies are. The half is for one I fell asleep during most of.

Dirty Dozens

2009-09-25T14:27:00.001-05:00

So's your mom:

Igor Volsky reports today that Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has been pushing an amendment to "prohibit the government from defining which benefits should be included in a standard benefit package." Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) noted that basic maternity care ought to be required.

"I don't need maternity care," Kyl replied. "So requiring that on my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive."

Interrupting him, Stabenow added, "I think your mom probably did."

Fortunate

2009-09-25T12:39:00.002-05:00

I'm glad I've only had to sit through one of these atrocities, thanks in part to my refusal to go to torture porn movies. (Freddy Got Fingered, for the curious.)

[Via Claude Mariottini]

That is some really old tennis

2009-09-25T12:22:00.002-05:00

It's funny how it can both look so similar to today's game, and so different. Also, is it just me or does the court look smaller?

The Ultimate Productivity Blog

2009-09-25T12:18:00.002-05:00

Finally, a system that's really gonna help me out. Try it yourself!

[Via DF]

We're doing it wrong.

2009-09-25T12:15:00.001-05:00

Melissa McEwan:

Where once I had judgment, I now have compassion. Where once I was creating distance from other people, I now create connection. Where once "being good" meant following rules for personal reward, now it means something very different: I value life, and the humans living it, much more strongly because I view it as finite. I've only got this life to get it right.

She's not writing about going into the church. She's writing about leaving it.

a screenshot from that awful windows 7 video

2009-09-25T12:12:00.001-05:00

It's not just biblical studies

2009-09-25T12:11:00.002-05:00

Other ~~disciples~~ disciplines that struggle with the professional/personal integration.

Dirty Windows 7 Parties

2009-09-23T18:26:00.000-05:00

If you use Google Reader...

2009-09-23T07:57:00.000-05:00

I would highly recommend checking out Helvetireader.

that's just dumb

2009-09-23T00:10:00.001-05:00

i love macs, but not including a button for updating apps in the app management of itunes 9 is just stupid.

it's not often that something makes ABSOLUTELY no sense to me whatsoever

2009-09-23T00:04:00.001-05:00

but this does it.

Asked and answered

2009-09-22T23:02:00.002-05:00

James McGrath and Mark Goodacre edition.

If Mark's taking requests, I'd love a comment or an NT Pod, particularly in light of the two most recent NT Pods, on his interpretation of various Pauline passages regarding women and ministry (1 Tim 2.12-14 comes to mind because of other comments today, but there are a number of directions one could go).

I'm in a testy mood today

2009-09-22T15:41:00.001-05:00

Probably 'cause it's nice outside and I'm inside.

I'm going to start another new blog.

2009-09-22T15:32:00.002-05:00

Right after this one, I'm starting 'The Autophagic Evangelical." Subhead: "I'm going to eat you for breakfast...literally."

I'm starting a new blog

2009-09-22T15:31:00.003-05:00

I'm going to call it "Bad Arguments for Inerrancy." I don't think I'll be left wanting for source material.

Today's Translation Exercise

2009-09-22T15:20:00.006-05:00

2 Tim 3.16

Text:

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος

Translation:

all Scripture is inspired

Wait a second... (reading)

Something seems wrong here... (red pen)

Ah, here we go:

vvvvvvvvvvvvverbally
"all Scripture is ^ inspired"

That's better.

Mark Driscoll is a misogynist

2009-09-22T13:43:00.002-05:00

There's no other way I can see to read this quote. This is not course language. This is not blunt truth. This is disgusting misogyny. He paints a fallacious picture of women in order to slander them out of ministry. The only generosity I can muster up is, being that this post is two years old, perhaps he has since publicly apologized for and repented from such a retrograde, vile smear:

Without blushing, Paul is simply stating that when it comes to leading in the church, women are unfit because they are more gullible and easier to deceive than men. While many irate women have disagreed with his assessment through the years, it does appear from this that such women who fail to trust his instruction and follow his teaching are much like their mother Eve and are well-intended but ill-informed. . . Before you get all emotional like a woman in hearing this, please consider the content of the women’s magazines at your local grocery store that encourages liberated women in our day to watch porno with their boyfriends, master oral sex for men who have no intention of marrying them, pay for their own dates in the name of equality, spend an average of three-fourths of their childbearing years having sex but trying not to get pregnant, and abort 1/3 of all babies – and ask yourself if it doesn’t look like the Serpent is still trolling the garden and that the daughters of Eve aren’t gullible in pronouncing progress, liberation, and equality.

Yesterday's Comment Thread That Made Me Sad

2009-09-22T08:42:00.003-05:00

Some great comments this morning leave me slightly less sad. Also, I couldn't resist one of my own (though, perhaps I ought to have been more careful with the M-word).

Autophagic Evangelicals

2009-09-21T21:14:00.002-05:00

Following up earlier, as I've continued reading the comments, I've only grown more discouraged. A number of them vary on the theme: "He's probably believed this/taught this in his seminary classes for years. He's only finally got the courage to say it out loud." There are at least two levels on which this is depressing. First of all, whence evangelical self-awareness? For what would anyone need courage to state a belief except for the apparently well-founded fear that their conservative brethren would eat them alive. Second of all, yeah, he's probably developed this belief over years of, what's that, STUDYING the text in a way most people commenting disapprovingly never ever will.

I shouldn't blog late at night.

the word i hate more than any other

2009-09-21T17:32:00.000-05:00

stinky

Today's Theologian #3

2009-09-21T17:14:00.004-05:00

John Calvin

Today's Comment Thread That Makes Me Sad

2009-09-21T17:07:00.001-05:00

Tremper Longman makes a benign remark about the ANE context for Genesis 1-2. The villagers go insane.

[Via]

that was an underwhelming 1000th post

2009-09-21T16:57:00.001-05:00

but it was, nonetheless, the one-thousandth.

I don't think this is a conference April DeConick would love

2009-09-21T16:55:00.000-05:00

April 7-9, 2010 : International Conference : Resurrection of the Dead. Biblical Traditions in Dialogue

[Via]

It's happening

2009-09-19T07:46:00.001-05:00

I'm upgrading to snow leopard this morning. Wish me luck.

Hmm...

2009-09-18T17:14:00.002-05:00

Easter Egg shout-out to what will likely be a very similar fanbase, or deeper inter-show connection?

Happy Blogiversary

2009-09-18T16:18:00.001-05:00

Imagine my shock when I just realized that I, along with everyone, was completely unaware that I very recently had my two-year blogiversary. Sept 14, 2007, a day that blah blah blah. September appears to be a very good month for me, blogging-wise.

Theology or History

2009-09-18T15:15:00.006-05:00

What's a biblical scholar to do? April DeConick has posted a couple thoughts over the last few days on proper historical scholarship, and what that looks like in opposition to "confessional" scholarship:

There is a big difference between confessional scholarship and its working assumptions and historical-critical scholarship and its working assumptions, and we must never confuse the two. Confessional scholarship is willing to compromise and apologize in order to keep 'history' aligned with the faith tradition. It is willing to understand theology as history and write about knowledge in these terms. Historical-critical scholarship is built on the presuppositions of the scientific search for knowledge. It is unwilling to allow theology to be history.

DeConick followed up today with some more exploration of the label "confessional."

This is not the first time DeConick has posted such thoughts. That post focused more on the applicability of miracles in the biblical accounts of Christ. In a post with a slightly different title than this one, I responded:

There's something about this that rubs me the wrong way. On one level, I understand the objection. It does seem a bit odd (or perhaps unfair) on an intellectual level to have a huge gaping exception for Jesus particularly, and the Bible in general, when it comes to supernatural events. The fact is, I would most likely dismiss any other claims to supernaturalism in history (though I suspect I would still consider them longer than these unbiased historians DeConick speaks of). On another level, however, as a Christian, it seems irresponsible not to argue that miracles are possible, and that they themselves and the evidence of their occurences are important factors in reconstructing biblical history. On yet another level entirely, I don't know if the only worthwhile scholarly pursuit is the reconstruction of history, nor do I see why a biblical scholar ought to be motivated by what classicists, archaeologists, or ancient historians think.

I'm not sure how much I really stand by those thoughts now. And not just because I'm applying to PhD programs and would like to be taken seriously. But it still rankles me that "biblical scholar" or even "scholarship" more generally ought to default to "historian."

Doug and Mark have both posted their own qualifications or objections. Mike takes his thoughts in a different direction to speak of the double-edged sword of fundamentalism. Its an argument I've similarly made before, and I suspect we've both made it due to our proximity to Dan Wallace. However, I'm not really so sure anymore we need to be fanatical about having presuppositions declared up front, and labels being properly applied, and all that. If a theologian wants also to be a historian, they ought to do good history. If on the other hand, they just want to do theology, what's wrong with that? The continued viability of theology as a discipline stems from the fact that there remain questions science and history can't answer, that their methods are insufficient for. Either way, it's their work and scholarship itself that ought to be weighed, not whether or what difference their presuppositions made.

how was that

2009-09-18T14:58:00.000-05:00

my first sufjan stevens post?

how did i not know

2009-09-18T14:56:00.001-05:00

that sufjan stevens had a cover on the i'm not there soundtrack?

Actually, that's not an improvement

2009-09-18T08:17:00.001-05:00

Finer Things in Mac:

Apple made dozens of tiny wordings and grammatical fixes in Snow Leopard, including this one from engaging screen sharing via iChat. In Leopard, the message read “their”; now, “his or her.”

As we've discussed before, "their" is a perfectly fine gender neutral singular pronoun.

Online Texts Resource

2009-09-18T08:13:00.002-05:00

I was really excited that there might be a Unicode Thomas text on this site, but alas, still just random gobbledygook when you cut and paste. Still a cool site with lots of resources, though.

[Via Dunelm Road, Roger Pearse, and ETC]