Idle musings of a bookseller

Vacation

2012-01-18T17:22:00.003-05:00

I bet some of you (all two of you!) are wondering about the lack posting here this week. Well, I'm on vacation! Right now, we're in Grand Marais, Minnesota where it is about 18 degrees F and it's been snowing lightly. We look out the south window of Joel and Renee's place and see Lake Superior! What could be better than that?

Oh, and we are getting to play with 4 of our grand kids. And, great times with Joel and Renee, too :)

I may or may not post again, but regularly scheduled programming will resume on Monday, January 30...

Word play

2012-01-13T13:58:00.002-05:00

“Cain’s name is significant for several other reasons as well. First, while Cain’s name initially refers to the gaining, acquisition, and creation of life (see ,)4:1he ironically is responsible for the losing, taking, and destruction of life. Second, his name is quite similar to both the verb קין [qyn], which in the Polel means ‘sing a funeral song’, and its related noun קינה [qynh], which refers to a ‘dirge’. It is striking that words closely associated with death are quite similar to the name of the individual who brings death into the world. Finally, it may not be accidental that Cain’s name has a homonym used in 2 Sam 21:16 to describe one of the weapons with which Ishbi-benov intends to kill David. Although readers are never told the means by which Cain strikes down his brother (Gen 4:8), the fact that Cain’s name sounds like an instrument of death does not bode well for Abel.”—From Fratricide to Forgiveness, page 132, footnote

<idle musing>
The Hebrew Bible loves word-play—most of which is lost in the English translations.
</idle musing>

Formulas and rules

2012-01-12T14:07:00.002-05:00

“Readers who approach Genesis hoping to gain a formula, rule, or paradigm to help them handle anger will be disappointed. However, it is not apparent that rules are what one should be looking for in the first place. Rules and formulas work very well in science, but they are at best half-truths in a complex and imperfect world containing a plurality of conflicting goods.”—From Fratricide to Forgiveness, page 132

<idle musing>
What? You mean I can't just get out my checklist? You mean I have to actually listen to God? What kind of religion is this, anyway?! Oh, one where God does the leading and I follow! Now I get it—and prefer it. Don't you?
</idle musing>

Around the blogs

2012-01-11T14:32:00.002-05:00

Some good stuff the last few days.

A good post by Roger Olson on hierarchy and submission

Hierarchy is more than an organizational flow chart. Hierarchy exists where a person’s authority over others is independent of truth. A social unit, organization, can have leadership without hierarchy. Hierarchy is when the leadership’s power over those led is independent of accountability to truth. Hierarchy naturally inclines toward abuse because of our fallen nature. Its social structure encourages abuse and subjects truth to power-over.

Christians claim to be concerned with and committed to truth. And yet we betray that concern and commitment when we insist on hierarchy. Hierarchical Christians, like all hierarchical people, show by their organizational theory and behavior a preference for power and control over truth.

Peter Leithart has an interesting post on the bad girl goddesses of the ancient Near East where he draws in interesting correlation to Song of Solomon. Go read it.

Finally, Michael Gorman has a post where he quotes extensively from Stanley Hauerwas:

It is impossible to avoid the fact that American Christianity is far less than it should have been just to the extent that the church has failed to make clear that America’s god is not the God that Christians worship.

Join the conversation

2012-01-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

“Texts provide ethical guidance not only by eliciting conversations with their readers but also by eliciting conversations between their readers. A point made well by both Wayne Booth and Martha Nussbaum is that reading is most conducive to moral formation when it takes place in a community that can reflect together on their textual encounters. Because of the rich imaginative experience provided by narrative, it can be an especially useful forum for dialogue among readers, leading to their moral edification. There is ample evidence to suggest that the Hebrew Bible has been used in communal settings of this sort for almost all of its existence. To some extent in the biblical text itself and certainly in the rabbinic and early Christian commentaries, one sees communities gathered before the text, awaiting ethical instruction while recognizing that instruction frequently comes through conversation and interaction with the text and with one another.

“The Enlightenment taught interpreters to approach Scripture as an object with a single meaning available for extraction. The Hebrew Bible, however, stubbornly refused to elicit a singularity of meaning. Its ambiguities defied resolution. Although individuals who continue to hold onto Enlightenment ideals have contended that these ambiguities are grounds for objecting to the enterprise of Old Testament ethics, there is another way of understanding them. These ambiguities serve the essential function of prompting deep reflection and formational dialogue. Rather than rejecting the ethical value of texts like Genesis 34 that contain their share of ambiguity, one can understand these texts as (1) realistically presenting the ambiguities inherent to the moral life and (2) inviting the audience to draw its own conclusions about how individuals should act in similar situations. Lacking resolution, these texts invite readers both to discussion with the multiple perspectives they present and to ethical conversation with each other.”—From Fratricide to Forgiveness, page 131

Public service announcement

2012-01-10T14:18:00.004-05:00

Well, I've been waiting for winter to post this, but with it being 45ºF today, I've pretty much given up on winter this year...

Winter bicycling: a short guide

1. You will probably overdress.

I've found that all you need until it gets to around 15ºF is a t-shirt under your jacket.
Once it gets below 15º and until it gets to around 0º, all you need is a collared shirt under your windbreaker.
Once it gets below 0º, you will probably need to wear tights/long underwear and a light jacket under your windbreaker. But, don't overdress! It is better to be a bit cool than to overheat and sweat. The sweat condenses and you get cold.
You might feel cold for the first mile, but if I do 40-50 pushups before going outside, I stay warm—I know some of you are saying you will need to go to the hospital if you do that! :)

2. Your hands will get cold—unless you wear mittens. I use leather outers and wool inners. We called them "choppers" when I was a kid. The two piece is nice because it allows you to pull the inners out and let them dry if they get wet.

3. Your head will probably be warm enough, but you should invest in a mask-type stocking cap. I usually end up pulling it back, but the neck part is handy for keeping cold air off your chest.

3a. Keep your chest warm. If you don't, you might end up with bronchitis, which is why I suggest a mask type stocking cap. They usually have a neck portion that goes down over part of the chest.

4. Studded snow tires aren't what they are cracked up to be—an exception might be the $200 ones, but I'm not going to find out! I've run studded snows for 3 years now, and they do grab on snow and somewhat on ice, but they slip on corners pretty badly when there is no ice or snow. And the studs come off over time. I won't be replacing them with studded tires when they wear out. Now, if some bicycle tire manufacturer is looking for somebody to test those nice $200 tires, contact me...I ride 11 miles per day, 5 days per week, year round...

5. It is a blast riding in the cold and snow! The most fun is when it is -20ºF and people's jaw drops as you go blasting through an intersection with your beard all frosty and your hat down because you are too warm.

Enjoy the winter—if it ever decides to arrive!

The first thing after Eden

2012-01-10T14:17:00.000-05:00

“...anger may be too painful a topic to withstand extended reflection as it is encountered in everyday experiences. However, when anger is readers’ first encounter outside Eden, and when they see it leading to nothing less than fratricide, they are called to reflect on this emotion in ways that they cannot consider when they are in the middle of their personal experiences of it.”—From Fratricide to Forgiveness, page 128

Ancient Personhood

2012-01-10T14:16:00.002-05:00

“...the ancient notion of personhood was primarily relational—that one defined oneself through the functions and roles one was given in relation to others rather than by asserting one’s individuality.

“Furthermore, people in the ancient world did not distinguish the person from the body. Contrary to the Platonic and Cartesian tradition, which contrasts the body as anatomical, material, spatial, temporal, and fallible, and the mind as mental, spiritual, eternal, universal, and infallible—a distinction made also by modern cognitivists and evolutionary psychologists—this sort of dualistic view is not expressed in the Sumerian and Babylonian sources. The person was, rather, conceived as a multifaceted assemblage of parts: the organic body, name, roles, and image, even his or her seal, which in specific contexts could operate as an independent center for activities that were normally performed by the individual him/herself. The body was considered a component of rationality and understanding.”—Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism, page 139

What really happens in a bookstore at night

2012-01-10T08:55:00.001-05:00

HT: Shelf Awareness

Experience

2012-01-09T14:22:00.001-05:00

“The modernist infatuation with science has deceived many into thinking that, if one knows all the formulas and rules, one can always arrive at the right solution. However, as workers in most nonscientific fields know well, formulas and rules can only guide novices so far; they also need to gain experience in the field. Narratives help equip readers with the type of field experience required for moral competence.”—From Fratricide to Forgiveness, page 126

Weather

2012-01-09T14:16:00.002-05:00

We've been having some weird weather here lately. Friday was over 50ºF, and Saturday was in the mid-40s. So, what do you do when it's January and it hits 50ºF? Why, you plant your garden, of course!

So, I did. Well, I planted it in my hoop house, but I did plant a good bit of stuff. Let's see if I can remember it all...

Swiss Chard
Kale
Spinach
Radishes
Romaine Lettuce
Beets
Broccoli Raab
Sprouting Broccoli
Carrots

I think that's it. We should be eating the first of them before the end of March. Right now we just finished pulling the last of the carrots and are still eating fresh spinach. The Romaine and Broccoli Raab from last fall are getting there—I planted too late in the season.

Community

2012-01-06T14:01:00.002-05:00

Black, White, and Gray has post about living in community. Here's the finale, but do read the whole thing—it's very thought-provoking.

There’s a tension here with the tenets of Christianity. Today’s ethos is do what you want with the people that you like. In contrast, the Bible has ideas of loving others, even when you don’t like them. Putting others first. Attending to the stranger.

Living in a strong community becomes more of a moral choice than a practical necessity. A commitment to relationships is inherent in Christianity, but we’re finding less and less support/ need for it.

<idle musing>
Ouch. He stopped preaching and done gone to meddling...
</idle musing>

The advantage of knowing Hebrew

2012-01-06T12:43:00.002-05:00

“No reader of Genesis has literally been expelled from the Garden of Eden. No reader has seen firsthand the cherubim and whirling, flaming sword east of the tree of life. And yet, Genesis clearly invites its readers to adopt Adam and Eve as metaphorical representations of themselves. In fact, it is a casualty of translation that the Hebrew אדם ['adam] and חוה [ḥavah] are typically rendered ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’, when in fact their names literally are ‘Humanity’ and ‘Life’. Few readers of the English Bible are aware of this connection, and thus they fail to realize how the text itself invites them to see these characters less as historical figures and more as metaphorical representations of the human race. Once one understands the driving metaphor WE ARE EXPELLED FROM PARADISE [emphasis his], however, suddenly the remainder of Genesis and even our own lives make much more sense.”—From Fratricide to Forgiveness, page 125

The universals are specific

2012-01-05T13:10:00.001-05:00

“The book of Proverbs, when viewed as a collection, is less about offering readers an enormous set of universal ethical principles than the collective wisdom of communities whose members participate in a shared humanity while displaying considerable variation. In some circumstances, a maxim can offer sound guidance—but not in all. A level of practical wisdom, what Aristotle called φρονησις [phronesis], but what the Hebrew Bible calls תבונה [TBWNH], is necessary to know which maxims can best guide one on particular occasions. Their validity depends in no small part on their context.”—From Fratricide to Forgiveness, page 104

Aristotle, move over!

2012-01-04T14:39:00.000-05:00

“Many interpreters have observed that the Old Testament contains (1) texts that appear morally problematic (such as the ḥērem texts), (2) texts that are morally ambiguous (for example, is Jacob’s trickery praised or condemned?), and (3) texts that are very diverse, potentially in conflict with one another. Dynamics of this sort make it nearly impossible to formulate a modernist vision of Old Testament ethics—that is, a vision that is unified, consistent, systematic, and focused on moral principles. However, these textual dynamics do not present insurmountable problems for articulating a more postmodern vision of Old Testament ethics. Postmodernity has brought an awareness of the value of diversity and particularity, as well as an awareness that morality is about far more than ethical rules.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 95

Polytheism and the elite

2012-01-03T14:44:00.002-05:00

“...for almost all of Egyptian history, the pantheon was multiple, and people understood the world as being a place of many gods. During the brief episode of Akhenaten, the number of deities celebrated, at least in his new capital of el-Amarna, was reduced to one, but it does not follow that the existence of other gods or of intermediate suprahuman beings was excluded...The elite was clear and explicit in its adherence to polytheism; it found monolatry—not to speak of monotheism—deeply repugnant.”—Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism, page 86

<idle musing>
I would say that not much has changed. The elite still like polytheism—the names of the gods have changed, that's all. Now, they are called money, power, sex, and prestige...and the non-elite want to be like the elite—just like then.
</idle musing>

Anger

2012-01-03T14:39:00.002-05:00

“The prototypical script of anger in the Hebrew Bible needs to be understood not in terms of an American or Japanese model but on its own terms. It arises in response to perceived wrongdoings more than mere frustrations over daily affairs. It is concerned with ethical issues and is communal, directed not toward things but toward people. It almost always results in some form of estrangement and frequently leads to violence. Consequently, it tends to be evaluated negatively but, because of its moral dimensions, it also has positive qualities. The associative networks of biblical anger pertain to the concepts of jealousy, fire, evil, extreme violence, and pouring out—far more than to the Western associations with being mad, inner fluids rising, or explosiveness.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 87

<idle musing>
Interesting, isn't it, that we get mad at things when they don't go our way, but the Israelites would get mad about ethical and communal issues. I wonder who should be considered more "civilized"?
</idle musing>

Why?

2012-01-02T14:35:00.000-05:00

“One can also note that the word למה [LMH] (‘why’) often finds itself in the context of angry speech. There are several reasons. First, angry individuals who perceive a wrongdoing often ask why the wrongdoing occurred...Second, given the fact that people become angry not necessarily because of actual wrongdoing but because of perceived wrongdoing, other individuals sometimes challenge their reasons for anger, asking why they are angry. This is the case with God’s question to Cain (Gen 4:6). Finally, anger can trigger a series of events that others seek to avoid. In a couple of instances, people ask why these sorts of events should take place...In all, the word למה [LMH] appears approximately three times more frequently in verses such as Exod 32:12 that mention anger than in the entire Hebrew Bible. These data provide additional evidence that anger in the Bible does not automatically and immediately result in violence (see ,3§ ,4.3.4§ above) but instead may lead, for example, to verbal confrontation.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , pages 72-73

Feeling the heat

2011-12-30T14:33:00.001-05:00

“The most likely reason for these connections between fire and anger is that both are related to heat. The most common verb for ‘anger’ in Biblical Hebrew is חרה [HRH] (in the Qal, Niphal, and Hithpael stems; see also the nouns חרון ,חרי [hry, hrwn). Both this root and its counterparts in Ugaritic, Akkadian, Arabic, and Aramaic carry the underlying meaning ‘burn’. Another very common word for ‘anger’ is חמה [HMH]. The root from which this word most likely derives (יחם [YHM]; see also חמם [HMM]) and its Semitic counterparts refer to ‘being warm’ or ‘being hot’. Both חרה [HRH] and חמה [HMH] appear to be ways of metonymically referring to anger by mentioning a perceived physiological effect of this emotion, namely, feeling hot.

Another reason for linking anger and fire is that the biblical text portrays both of them as destructive.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 70

Blood lust

2011-12-29T14:11:00.002-05:00

“The Hebrew Bible associates anger with levels of destruction and violence not seen in ordinary American English conversation about anger. Many words referring to extreme forms of violence appear frequently with terms for anger. This correlation is present not only with the word הרג [HRG] ‘kill’. One also finds it with the terms
שמד ,חרם and כלה [HRM, ShMD, KLH] which can refer to utter destruction, the complete extermination of others, and the killing of people that leaves no survivors. These terms have much in common with what today is called genocide...

“Most of the cases linking שמד ,חרם and כלה [HRM, ShMD, KLH] with anger posit a causal relationship, in that extreme violence results from anger. This connection between anger and overwhelming violence has at least some contrasts with American English’s use of words for anger. For example, within official discourse, Pentagon spokespersons rarely, if ever, portray themselves or their troops as angry with a bloodlust that seeks the total annihilation of another group of people. However, battle rage is found with some degree of frequency in both the Hebrew Bible and the inscriptions of the ancient Near East.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , pages 68, 69

<idle musing>
I don't know; I suspect if you read some comments on a few blogs, you would see a good bit of blood lust. Think of the ones where they seem to relish the idea that so-and-so is going to "roast in hell." And some of the political comments can get pretty nasty, as well...
</idle musing>

Discerning minds want to know

2011-12-29T14:09:00.001-05:00

“What the ancient actors saw as literal and what they saw as metaphorical is not easy to establish; this is a problem that confronts much of the research on religious texts...”—Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism, page 55

<idle musing>
Yep. We can infer, but we might be wrong. I suspect we are more often than we are willing to admit...
</idle musing>

Easy access--not!

2011-12-28T13:48:00.003-05:00

“...in contrast to Greek and Roman cults where everybody could easily walk into the temple, in Mesopotamia access to the temple was severely restricted. For the average citizen, cooperation with the temple was limited to economic transactions, because the temples functioned as banks in lending money to individuals. The average citizen, aside from this, did not generally participate in the cult of the deity. The performance of family religion was primarily located within private households. Street sanctuaries, as attested in the topographical list of Babylon, may have served the needs of the individual to address the deities of the local pantheon or even the god of the family. The encounters among the patron deity, the members of the local pantheon, and the individual were thus restricted to the periods of the festivals, during which the gods left their temples to be carried in processions, linking various cultic localities. This complex situation of divine hierarchies and relationships in the life of the individual is reflected in the prayer literature, in which the personal god of the individual served as an intercessor with higher-ranking gods of the pantheon...”—Reconsidering the Concept of Revolutionary Monotheism, pages 28-29

<idle musing>
Yes, the ^dingirLAMMA, the personal guardian deity which morphed into the guardian angel of modern popular culture. I've said it before, but it bears repeating, in the ancient world, you wanted the major deities to ignore you and you did that by propitiating the ^dingirLAMMA who then ran interference for you...

This is a really fascinating book. I'm not quite half-way through, but it contains much good food for thought...
</idle musing>

Jealousy and anger

2011-12-28T13:45:00.002-05:00

“The statistical evidence linking jealousy with anger in the Hebrew Bible is remarkable. Of the 70 verses in which קנא ,קנאה or קנוא [qn'h, qn', qnw'] appears in the Hebrew Bible, 23 contain a word for anger. Thus, in approximately one-third of the appearances of קנא and its cognates in the Hebrew Bible, anger is also explicitly mentioned. As a point of reference, consider צדקה/צדיק/צדק [tsdq, tsdyq, tsdqh] (‘righteous[ness]’) and מׁשפט [mshpt] (‘justice’), which many interpreters have recognized as being closely related to one another. The Hebrew Bible links קנא ,קנאה and קנוא [qn'h, qn', qnw'] with terms for anger with greater frequency (33% of the time) than it links דקה/צדיק/צדק [tsdq, tsdyq, tsdqh] with מׁשפט [mshpat] (twenty-one percent of the time). In fact, words from the root קנא [qn'] are approximately 15 times more likely to appear in a verse that refers to anger than in a verse from the Hebrew Bible as a whole.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 65

Perception is the key word

2011-12-27T14:10:00.001-05:00

“Although the cause of biblical anger is unknown in many cases, the majority of texts do explain the basis for anger. In these cases, nearly every instance bears a point of commonality: anger results from a perceived wrongdoing. Here, the word perceived is crucial. It suggests that one must consider the perspective of the individual who is angry, rather than adopting an exterior perspective. For example, Potiphar becomes angry with Joseph because he perceives that Joseph has done something wrong, even though he is innocent (Gen 39:19).”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 54

<idle musing>
Perception is everything. We need to let the Holy Spirit take us outside ourselves and see the world from a bigger perspective. That, of course, runs totally counter to the materialistic viewpoint that runs rampant in our society this time of the year!
</idle musing>

caveat lector!

2011-12-26T14:09:00.000-05:00

“When interpreters extract emotion concepts from one sociolinguistic context and simplistically transport them to another, then the source text becomes a hollow shell filled by the values and assumptions of the target audience. Words such as irrational enter commentaries, even though they do little more than distract readers from the text itself. Translators may never produce a casualty-free text—wounds and scarring will undoubtedly be present. At the same time, translators have the ethical responsibility of avoiding the destruction of key elements in the text they translate. The Hebrew Bible has much to teach audiences today, but these audiences will learn little if they do not understand the text on its own terms.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , pages 46-47

Various thoughts

2011-12-26T11:54:00.002-05:00

Recently seen around the blog world:
Lonnie worked yesterday, Christmas. Here's his thoughts, with which I can't argue:

I am working this Christmas. I'm looking forward to it. Why would I, a professing Christian, be glad I am working instead of being where I OUGHT to be? First off I have a job! I am very happy and thankful to have a job this year. But of greatest importance: I'm a Christian. Who else, besides a Christian, do you want folks to meet? Do you want a pissy atheist to face the harried, tired, hurting, lonely and stressed Christmas shopper? Who else is going to give folks "Good will toward mankind?" I'm keeping Christmas by allowing the Holy Spirit to show God's good will toward the corner of the world he's put me in.

Meanwhile, Peter Kirk references a BioLogos discussion that has this interesting comment:

Totalizers use their classrooms to preach that if all people are perfectly rational they will all ultimately agree. Usually there is some sort of declaration that the progress of knowledge has one glorious end: light and magnetism will be understood, democracy and capitalism will prove to be the best systems for all situations, and natural selection will answer all questions about life. All rational people ride one train of progress together. Tentative Investigators, in comparison, are wimpy. Ask them a question and they give you at least two answers joined by “on the other hand.” The Totalizers are the more popular teachers, their books are easier to read, and the news media finds them easier to interview. Tentative Investigators are like cats. They can’t be herded and can rest easy in the midst of household chaos.

To which Peter adds, “While it would be too strong to accuse all Totalizers of being fundamentalists – and indeed some Christian Totalizers have quite different doctrines from Christian fundamentalists but similar attitudes – it is this assertion of certainty that one is correct and arrogant dismissal of other opinions that underlies fundamentalisms of all kinds.” What more can one say? He's right on the money there.

And Peter Leithart has this observation from Wendell Berry about modern christianity.

Despite its protests to the contrary, modern Christianity has become willy-nilly the religion of the state and the economic status quo. Because it has been so exclusively dedicated to incanting anemic souls into Heaven, it has been made the tool of much earthly villainy. It has, for the most part, stood silently by while a predatory economy has ravaged the world, destroyed its natural beauty and health, divided and plundered its human communities and households. It has flown the flag and chanted the slogans of empire. It has assumed with the economists that ‘economic forces’ automatically work for good and has assumed with the industrialists and militarists that technology determines history. It has assumed with almost everybody that ‘progress’ is good, that it is good to be modern and up with the times. It has admired Caesar and comforted him in his depredations and defaults. But in its de facto alliance with Caesar, Christianity connives directly in the murder of Creation.

As always, do take the time to read the entire post on all of these in order to get the context.

Will we ever learn?

2011-12-23T14:29:00.003-05:00

Probably not, as is shown by this post on Out of Ur:

It amazes me that in less than a century Christians have gone from opposing over-consumption at Christmas to demanding it be done in Christ’s name alone. The explanation may be in the numbers. Two-thirds of the U.S. economy is based on consumer spending, and 50-75 percent of most retailers annual profits are generated during December. This means the weeks before Christmas are the high holy days of consumerism. If Christians engaged the Advent season as they did in generations past, by modeling moderation and self-denial or by ignoring the holiday altogether, it would likely destroy (what remains of) the economy.

<idle musing>
Come let us worship the almighty dollar and its son, the profit margin, and the third in the unholy trinity, self-indulgence...

Note: I see that Alan Knox also picked this one up. He has some good comments on it, as well.
</idle musing>

Emotion as a marginalizing factor

2011-12-23T14:06:00.003-05:00

“...the perceived connection between emotionality and irrationality serves to silence groups who are outraged and angered by the injustices committed by people with power. Even when the marginalized are not expressing such anger, the characterization of them as emotional (and therefore irrational) serves to reinforce their marginalized status. Thus, when discourses describe women as more emotional than men, they appeal to a broader set of assumptions within Western society that reinforces the culturally inferior status of women.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 37

<idle musing>
It's the hidden assumption that he is getting at here: emotional = irrational = inferior because rational is what homo sapiens means. I question that we are rational beings! At least, when I look at the world, it doesn't seem like it...
</idle musing>

Where has the emotion gone?

2011-12-22T14:57:00.003-05:00

“With the growth of consumerism, corporate management, and the service-sector, the American middle class adopted an emotional style that places great stress on concealing emotional reactions, especially in the workplace, where they could interfere with generating profits. Marked by an intolerance of emotions, this emotional style deems individuals who display emotional intensity to be vulnerable, childish, and irrational. This emphasis on dispassion has translated into other spheres of life beyond the workplace. However, because emotions could not be completely excised from the human experience, American leisure was reshaped to allow for emotional expression through contrived means such as sporting events, movies, television, rock music, and amusement parks, all of which further contribute to generating profits in a consumer society.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 36

<idle musing>
This time of the year, especially! Come worship the almighty dollar and/or the sports team of your choice—preferably both! And show your worship by spending lots and lots of money...see previous post.
</idle musing>

The ideal ruler

2011-12-22T14:50:00.003-05:00

Is well described in Psalm 72:

May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor...
For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight... Psalm 72 (TNIV)

<idle musing>
Hmmm...I fail to see anywhere in there that (s)he will line their own pockets—or the pockets of the ones who backed him/her!. Obviously an oversight on the part of God, isn't it!

Or, maybe not:

Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?—James 2 (TNIV)

Then why are the rich held up as so blessed by God? I fail to see it in scripture...I must be missing something—for which I can't help but praise God!
</idle musing>

Indeed, we are superior; just ask us

2011-12-21T14:46:00.001-05:00

“By assuming that English terms are somehow universal or the best representations of reality, one can quickly enact violence when translating and interpreting foreign works because the networks of association presupposed by the source language are often missed. This type of interpretive practice subtly embodies neocolonialist discourse, wherein the Western model is assumed to be universal, and foreign conceptions are perceived as mere reflections of Western norms. Such unselfconscious appropriation of Western emotion categories serves only to reinforce Western ideologies about the self, the individual, and the perceived dichotomy between reason and emotion.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 28

<idle musing>
I love his introductory stuff. We're on page 28 and he hasn't even really touched on Genesis—but what he has said is wonderful!
</idle musing>

Thought for the day

2011-12-20T14:13:00.001-05:00

"...early Christianity was not a 'religion of the Book,' but rather 'the religion of the Spirit and the living Christ'"The Biblical Canon, page 33 (compliments of Jim Baad)

Set them aside!

2011-12-20T14:09:00.002-05:00

“...to understand an ancient text on its own terms, interpreters must set aside their modern assumptions about emotions, removing the blinders that obstruct the associated common-places inherent in the text’s original language and culture. As much as possible, interpreters must draw attention to the various associations that particular terms carry with them in the source language.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 25

<idle musing>
I would broaden that to say, as much as possible, interpreters must set aside their modern assumptions—Period! I know it is impossible to be totally objective, but we must allow the Holy Spirit to surface our hidden assumptions...
</idle musing>

traduttore tradittore

2011-12-19T13:31:00.002-05:00

“Individuals who work extensively with foreign languages have stressed the violent nature of translation. They have described translation as both damaging the original work and warping the target language. They explain that the transference between languages is never perfect. There are always losses. Despite great precautions, casualties invariably take place. One of the most well-known individuals to speak of violence in translation is Saint Jerome. He compares the translator to a conqueror who invades the foreign, takes captive thoughts and meaning, and brings them back to Latin soil.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 19

<idle musing>
The title of the post is an Italian proverb that means "the translator is a traitor"—too true, I fear. Not that the modern translations of scripture are wrong; they aren't. But, the overlap between languages is never one-for-one, consequently, caveat lector (let the reader beware).
</idle musing>

Idle musings on a Monday...

2011-12-19T13:27:00.002-05:00

Scot McKnight has been looking at the warning passages in Hebrews lately. In the fourth installment, he says:

Both Calvinists and Arminians agree on this point: each person needs to persevere. The oddest thing has happened in American Evangelicalism: it has taught, whether aloud or not, the idea of “once saved, always saved” as if perseverance were not needed.
In other words, it has taught that if a person has crossed the threshold by “receiving Christ” but then decides to abandon living for Christ, that person is eternally secure. This is rubbish theology. Perseverance is an indicator of what faith is all about: a relationship that continues, that is marked by steady love. No one equates marriage with a wedding day statement of intent, and no one should equate faithfulness with a decision.

<idle musing>
Amen and amen! “Once saved always saved” is used far too often to extract a magical prayer out of someone, or to count scalps in some spiritual contest. “I see that hand, God bless you brother/sister” is a cop out for real discipleship...
</idle musing>

And Alan Knox blogs about Christmas as celebrated versus Christmas as recorded in scripture. He ends with this:

But, we should recognize the difference between nice stories/traditions, and Scripture. From talking with many people, most don’t know the difference when it comes to the story of Jesus’ birth.

I wonder if this reflects people’s general knowledge and understanding of Scripture…

<idle musing>
I wonder, as well...I hope it isn't an accurate reflection, but I fear it is...
</idle musing>

Human anger in Genesis

2011-12-16T14:20:00.003-05:00

"While God is portrayed angrily in many books of the Bible, the book of Genesis contains no explicit, actualized references to divine anger. Although some parts of Genesis may imply that God is angry (for example, chaps. 3, 4, 6, 11, 18– 19), none of them explicitly refers to the divine being in this way. The only time Hebrew terminology for anger is used of God in Genesis is in 18:30 and 32, where Abraham, while requesting that innocent people be spared from impending destruction, asks that the deity not become angry with him for making this request. The text suggests that God obliges Abraham and does not become angry. All of the other explicit references to anger in Genesis pertain to humans.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 12

<idle musing>
An interesting observation. I had never noticed that before. God doesn't even get angry in Genesis 3. Does that have ramifications for the theories of atonement?! Just an
</idle musing>

More about that river in Brazil

2011-12-16T14:13:00.003-05:00

Amazon is getting some (justly!) bad PR this week. Here's a nice sample from Publishers Weekly:

Publishers and distributors have called the latest negotiations with Amazon the most adversarial to date...Many publishers and distributors said they have not, and cannot, cave to this newest set of demands from Amazon. The fear, though, is that the retailer could take punitive action...Although publishers fear seeing their titles disappear from Amazon--for many in the industry the retailer accounts for 20% to 25% of their business--some say the demands the retailer is making are impossible to meet and would nearly wipe out all of their profits there anyway. Furthermore, as some have noted, changing wholesale terms with Amazon, could present a legal issue...publishers are prevented by the Robinson-Patman Act from favoring one account over another with notably different wholesale terms...

More problematically, for many in the industry, the latest talks with Amazon are being described as less of a dialogue than a dictation of terms. As one source explained, the talks have boiled down to "what publishers can do for Amazon, and not what Amazon can do for publishers." Most ironically, the new terms would allow Amazon to continue to gain market share as it always has: driving book prices down. As one source put it: "If Amazon wants to improve its margins, it should cut back on the discounting."

<idle musing>
As long as Americans worship the dollar more than anything else, Amazon will continue to dominate. But, when you no longer have local businesses to employ people and therefore no money for roads and schools and other items in the public infrastructure, whom are you going to blame? You will have to blame yourself!

As I like to say, Genesis 3 happened...
</idle musing>

Anger management?

2011-12-15T15:57:00.002-05:00

“...the emotion of anger appears in Genesis not merely to embellish story lines or add color to characters but to express a multifaceted message about the ethical significance of anger. The text does not give readers simplistic instructions about what to do with anger but instead is quite realistic about the limitations that individuals face and the paradoxes presented by this emotion. Genesis presents anger as an emotion that arises from one’s moral sensitivities in response to the perception of wrongdoing. At the same time, the text presents anger as a great threat to the moral life. Genesis warns readers about the dangers of anger, but it never suggests that one can lead a life free from anger. Instead, it portrays every patriarch and many of the matriarchs as having significant encounters with this emotion, presenting them with dilemmas that defy easy resolution. It depicts anger as an inevitable part of a world marked by profound limitations. It also invites readers to imagine ways of alleviating anger. It suggests that humility and generosity may ameliorate the worst outcomes of anger, and it illustrates the possibility of reconciliation after anger has caused harm. At the same time, it is painfully realistic about how difficult, threatening, and short-lived human attempts at ending anger may be.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 7

<idle musing>
There's an important line in there: "Genesis presents anger as an emotion that arises from one’s moral sensitivities in response to the perception of wrongdoing." Yep, it's the perception that counts. Real or imagined, the hurt is real to the person experiencing it—that's why God has to change our perception of reality before change can occur...
</idle musing>

Amazon advantage?

2011-12-15T15:53:00.003-05:00

I've been meaning to post this for about a week...

<idle musing>
What a deal! You get 5% back on your price! Another proof that nobody's really home at Amazon; it's just programming. Want real help on a book? Try Eisenbrauns or a local bookstore. We sell books because we know books!
</idle musing>

In the end, forgiveness

2011-12-14T15:31:00.000-05:00

“In the final chapter of the book [of Genesis], readers encounter the opposite extreme, forgiveness. There, Joseph and his brothers forgive one another after a long history of jealousy, anger, deception, and abuse. Jacob is at death’s door, and Joseph’s brothers fear that Joseph is harboring anger against them and plotting to kill them after their father’s death, much as Esau planned to do with Jacob (50:15; see 27:41). So Joseph’s brothers claim that their father has ordered Joseph to forgive them (50:16–17). When Joseph hears their words, he weeps. The brothers offer themselves as Joseph’s servants (50:18; see also 32:19[18], 21[20]), but Joseph instead speaks graciously to them and reassures them that he will provide for both them and their children. It is a moment of reconciliation offered just before the book closes, allowing readers to see Joseph as an anti-Cain—a brother who has all the power and all the reasons to harm his brothers but instead turns away from anger and, despite the inherent difficulties, offers forgiveness. Whereas Cain suggested that he never was and never should have been his brother’s keeper, Joseph shows himself to be in precisely this role, providing protection and provisions for his brothers in a foreign land.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 4

Anger, part one

2011-12-13T14:26:00.003-05:00

“In Gen 4:1–16, readers receive their first glimpse of life outside Eden. There, anger takes center stage as Cain becomes enraged when God ignores his offering but regards his brother’s offering. God intervenes and speaks to Cain about his anger, which is quite remarkable given that the divine word in Genesis is reserved for the most significant of developments, including the creation and salvation of the world. In sharp contrast to divine words elsewhere, God’s speech in chap. 4 falls flat. Cain refuses to heed God’s warning. He kills his brother although Abel has done nothing wrong. Fratricide represents one extreme on the spectrum of what can happen as a result of anger.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , page 4

<idle musing>
Interesting observation about how often God speaks—and under what circumstances—in Genesis...and that it gets ignored in this case. Again, I am drawn to Hebrews, where we are warned not to harden our hearts against God speaking.
</idle musing>

Hang in there!

2011-12-13T14:25:00.000-05:00

Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.—Psalm 37:7-9 TNIV

A new book

2011-12-12T18:58:00.001-05:00

Still on Genesis, though :)

“There are several reasons why emotions were overlooked for much of the 20th century...a hallmark of Western assumptions about emotions is that they are irrational. As such, scholars have not seen them as a particularly important area of exploration. Individuals have set emotions in contrast to reason, seeing the former as private and subjective, with the potential for displaying characteristics that are primitive, immature, animalistic, and even pathological. Third and consequently, as Niko Besnier remarks, academic style calls for muted emotions. When the very medium by which academics express their thoughts tends to minimize the expression of emotions, it is hardly surprising that emotions have not been at the forefront of research. Fourth and closely related, traditional academic research has emphasized the importance of serving as a detached observer. Such an emphasis has led to ignoring and even “tidying up” the emotions. Fifth, modern Western societies place great emphasis on efficiency of labor and advances in technology. Within these cultures, emotions are often seen as an impediment to achievement. They thus do not receive priority in many research agendas.”— From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis , pages 2-3

In the What is Church department...

2011-12-12T18:55:00.000-05:00

Alan Knox asks an interesting question about how we think about what we do:

...what is it about having something sanctioned by the church that makes it seem more important, more holy, more official? Is it simply something that people have been brought up to think? A group of co-workers meeting for prayer during lunch is great, but it’s not quite the same thing as a prayer meeting at church. A few friends gathering to study the Bible is awesome, but wouldn’t it be even better if it was a church sponsored “Bible Fellowship Club Meeting”? You’re taking some food to a family in need? That’s amazing! But, why not take part in the church’s benevolence program? The committee meets every fourth Tuesday.

<idle musing>
Interesting, isn't it? It reflects the importance we place on labels—and how important it is to examine those labels to see if they are accurate!
</idle musing>

And, in a guest post on Alan's blog, Chris muses

We work hard to put together friendly events like Fall Festivals and I hear people say things like “if we can just get them on the campus…” While I think it’s nice to do things for the community, I don’t think that if a non-Christian just steps foot on campus, they’ll suddenly meet God in a way that they can’t off campus. I think there’s also the idea that if people come to our worship event, they’ll be ministered to by “professional” ministers, and that this is more effective.

We continue to inadvertently teach, through our methodology, that 1) God is most present here at the Church building, 2) God is MORE present when our productions are better planned, polished, and executed, 3) You’re being most Christian when you attend an event on a church campus, and 4) “real” ministry is carried out by the full time church employees.

Because we believe that the organization and its few leaders carry out the most effective ministry at the organization’s events, there’s a focus on bringing people in rather than on equipping people and sending them out. Evangelism has come to mean “inviting people to a worship gathering.”

We continue to do all of these things in spite of the fact that we KNOW that what we’re doing isn’t creating many new believers or turning believers into more Christlike people.

<idle musing>
Mind you, I am not “anti-church”—how can I be? It was God's idea! But, I think we need to rethink what church is and why it exists. If we think it is a building, or something we “go to” once or more a week, I suggest that the New Testament should be re-examined; that certainly isn't what is taught there!
</idle musing>

In the end...

2011-12-09T14:29:00.001-05:00

“The basic ancient cosmological environment claims that humanity exists to serve deity. This is what I have referred to as the “Great Symbiosis,” in which people are expected to serve the needs of the gods (housing, clothing, food), and in return the gods protect and provide for the people. But service can conceivably take many forms. The Mesopotamian picture was service as slave labor designed to meet the needs of the gods. Egyptian cosmological literature does not deal with this issue, but the more general Egyptian picture indicates the importance of the priesthood and of the rituals for meeting the needs of the gods. In Genesis, humanity is created to serve God, but human service stems from a relationship in which God first meets individuals’ needs. In this view, God has no needs. Eventually in Israelite thinking, the Great Symbiosis is replaced with a Covenant Symbiosis, in which God meets the Israelites’ needs as the people are faithful to the covenant. A final element of the distinctive picture is the fact that a blessing is pronounced on humanity instead of a burden of service being imposed on them. This blessing, however, deals with familiar topics in the ancient world.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 196-197

<idle musing>
That's the final excerpt from Walton's book. I hope you enjoyed it—I certainly did. Maybe you should consider buying it; it would make a great Christmas present :)
</idle musing>

There is only one word for this

2011-12-09T10:23:00.004-05:00

and that is "evil." I'm talking about Amazon's latest assault on ethics via their "price check" app—and here are two people who do a better job of explaining why it is unethical than I can...

From Time's Entertainment page (do take the time to read the whole thing):

But sometimes a customer will pick up a book, examine it, maybe read the first few pages, and then casually take a photo of it with their smartphone. At first, because I am a naïve and trusting individual, I thought the customers were just particularly taken with the cover art. But after witnessing the practice a number of times, I realized this was not the case, and that the browsers in question were being sneaky. This, according to New York Times reporter Julie Bosman, is called ‘showrooming’ by some booksellers (though I had never heard that phrase). You could also call it something else — “evil.” The general idea is that customers have started to use the bookstore as a place to handle, but not purchase, merchandise, like a Ferrari dealership, where you don’t actually expect to drive one home off the lot. According to a recent Codex Group survey, 39% of those who purchased a book on Amazon looked at said title in a bricks-and-mortar store first before heading online.

And, from the American Booksellers Association, an open letter (again, go read the whole thing):

We could call your $5 bounty to app-users a cheesy marketing move and leave it at that. In fact, it is the latest in a series of steps to expand your market at the expense of cities and towns nationwide, stripping them of their unique character and the financial wherewithal to pay for essential needs like schools, fire and police departments, and libraries.

<idle musing>
Hey, if you live near a bookstore, use it. Of course, if they don't carry what you are looking for, they can order it. Or, if you are looking for obscure ANE or academic biblical studies stuff, use Eisenbrauns. We are family owned, pay taxes, support the community, and even have live human beings who can answer your questions—well, usually we can answer your questions!

Oh, by the way, a recent study in Maine found that 58% of the money from buying locally goes back into the local community. However, if the "local" business is a national chain, that drops to 33%. I just wish I could find that link again...
</idle musing>

Enuma Elish

2011-12-08T16:16:00.001-05:00

“Given the prominence that has historically been given to Enuma Elish in the study of comparative cosmologies, it is striking how little of Israelite cosmology is traceable to Mesopotamian sources or ideas alone. Naming activity in relation to creation may be more prominent in Mesopotamia, but it is not absent from Egypt, and the same observation can be made about temple rest.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 195

The role of humanity

2011-12-07T13:47:00.000-05:00

“...in the realm of divine rule, the monotheism of Genesis inevitably results in a different description of the station of deity. The primordial waters are neither deified nor personified; nor are any other elements of the cosmos. Similarly, the Israelite view of deity results in a different understanding of functions in the cosmos. The God portrayed in Genesis 1 does not set up the cosmos to function for himself but for humanity alone, though his presence in the ordered cosmos is important for maintaining this order. Finally, the role and station of humanity in the cosmos is different. The archetypal presentation in Genesis relates people to God only through his image, thereby delegating to them a ruling role in the cosmos (not just over other people); furthermore, it views them as serving deity not by meeting his needs but by caring for sacred space. Thus, Israel shares with the rest of the ancient Near East the idea that cosmology deals with questions regarding human archetypes, but the archetype that is developed has a different shape entirely.” — Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 194-195

Some book links

2011-12-07T13:35:00.002-05:00

A few that came to my attention today:

About libraries and books, from Inside Higher Ed:

Somehow, books signify a more intentional and contemplative relationship with knowledge. It’s partly because nobody shoves a message about a pizza party or a note about a funny video between the pages as you are reading. And unless you are a skilled reader of endnotes and unusually impatient, it’s less tempting than when online to interrupt your reading of one text to go looking for another in mid-sentence. Books just seem calmer, slower: slower to write, slower to read, more sustained in their narrative style than what fits onto a computer screen. It could well be because they are not really in the business of advertising, as Google and Facebook are, and they don’t fret about dominating the attention economy. They are more patient about discovery and don’t count readers by the eyeball.

Or, how about ignoring ethics to make a buck? Amazon is letting you sell your soul for $5.00. I'm sure they will get a lot of takers :( In fairness, this offer doesn't apply to books, but I'm sure it will soon...

Amazon’s Price Check app, which is available for iPhone and Android, allows shoppers to scan a bar code, take a picture of an item or conduct a text search to find the lowest prices. Amazon is also asking consumers to submit the prices of items with the app, so Amazon knows if it is still offering the best prices.
“We scour online and in-store advertisements from other retailers, every day, year-round,” said Sam Hall, director of Amazon Mobile. “Now, we are enabling customers to use the Price Check app to share in-store prices while they search for the best deals.”
While Amazon’s applications and its $5 incentive can be viewed as friendly to consumers, physical retailers will see it only one way — as an attack.

<idle musing>
That's right, tell people to walk into a retail store, do their research for them, walk out without buying anything, then purchase it on Amazon, get 5% off. Sounds good, right? Unless you are the local business, which, by the way, employs local people, pays local sales tax and income taxes that pave the streets you drive. To them it is nothing less than an attack...doesn't this seem unethical?!
</idle musing>

More thoughts on the cosmos as temple

2011-12-06T15:20:00.001-05:00

“In reality, it could be claimed that, by reading Genesis 1 in the context of ancient Near Eastern temple building, the canonical flow of the Hebrew Bible or even the entire Christian Bible comes into clearer focus. Levenson, for instance, notes the inclusio that is present in the Hebrew Bible:

Perhaps it is not coincidence that the Hebrew Bible begins with an account of the creation of heaven and earth by the command of God (Gen 1:1) and ends with the command of the God of heaven “to build him a Temple in Jerusalem” (2 Chron. 35.23 [sic 36.23]). It goes from creation (Temple) to Temple (creation) in twenty-four books. [Levenson, “Temple and the World,” 295. For the Christian canon, one could point to a similar inclusio with the end point being the new heavens and new earth in Revelation 21–22.]

The Genesis account is distinguished from the temple theologies of its ancient Near Eastern context by virtue of the application of the temple identity to the entire cosmos; in the Hebrew Bible, the temple is much more than just the hub of the cosmos that sometimes represents the whole; it is the entire cosmos.” — Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 192

Hidden rituals

2011-12-06T14:31:00.004-05:00

Just read a good description of ritual yesterday (yes, I know the book is 10 years old!). It fits in well with my thoughts on a national secular religion and the picture that I'm posting below:

The basic formal properties include: repetition, acting (which involves doing, not just thinking or speaking), special behavior or stylization, order, evocative presentation style or staging, and a collective or social dimension. By virture [sic] of these properties, ritual is a “traditionalizing instrument,” that is, it makes what is expressed thereby acceptable and common. It hides the novelty and even radicalness of new ideas and acts. It also allows those of diverse social groups, even strangers, to participate together and feel commonality and solidarity. In addition to any direct teaching it may include, ritual communicates latently about morality, authority, the legitimacy of the social order, and the nature of social reality. And not only does it reflect these social aspects, it transforms society by its performance. Because they are dealing with secular ritual, the authors [Sally Moore and Barbara Myerhoff] avoid the problematic inclusion of the supernatural in the list of characteristic elements. But they do note how even secular ritual is connected with the notion of the sacred. The sacred may be partly defined as what is unquestionable. Ritual, and what it communicates, is similarly unquestionable, at least when it functions properly.—Ritual in Narrative, pages 10-11 (emphasis mine)

Now, with that in mind, look at the inscription on the wall behind Lincoln...

Civil religion, anyone? Who says we don't deify our heroes! By the way, that picture was taken by me Sunday afternoon, so I can vouch for its authenticity.

Now, stop and think about the national anthem, the pledge of allegiance, the rituals involved in displaying the flag, etc...

The most important line in the quotation above was the last one that I highlighted—"Ritual, and what it communicates, is similarly unquestionable, at least when it functions properly"—if you never thought about any of the things I'm raising in this post, then ritual did its job only too well. As Christians, our loyalty is first and foremost to God, and the pledge of allegiance is an admission that our primary loyalty is to the state...OK, I'm done; go ahead and tell me where I'm wrong, if you can.

The goal of creation

2011-12-05T12:30:00.000-05:00

“In the traditional interpretation of Genesis 1, it often appears to readers that they are left with only vague theological notions when they finally arrive at Day 7. The main work has been done in the preceding six days, the climax has been reached and passed (creation of people), and all that remains is a theological etiology for the Sabbath or for the length of the week. In a purely material ontology, the seventh day is not part of “creation” because nothing is made on that day. It is only an esoteric postscript.

“However, if the text is read in light of a functional ontology that relies on a temple identity, we discover that Day 7 is far from a postscript. The climax of a temple inauguration is when the deity enters his prepared residence and rests there, as he assumes the rule of the cosmos from his temple-throne. The former acts are mere preliminaries to this grand finale.“— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 190

<idle musing>
Read Hebrews with this in mind! Jesus enters the temple and stays, seated! What a climax!
</idle musing>

Hearing God

2011-12-05T12:25:00.000-05:00

Nice follow-up to a good little series of posts on hearing God by Roger Olson:

"I think that, for the most part, evangelicals have taken the easy way and chosen to chase the Holy Spirit into the Bible."

<idle musing>
Yep. That sums it up nicely. The Holy Spirit is too dangerous if you let him loose! Keep him safe by chasing him into the Bible!
</idle musing>

Not borrowed

2011-12-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

“To claim that both the Bible and the ancient Near Eastern texts draw on a similar cognitive environment and describe the processes of “origins” in similar ways in no way suggests that Genesis “borrowed” from Gudea or any other piece of ancient Near Eastern literature. To insist that these similarities could only be the result of borrowing is a gross misunderstanding of appropriate methodology, something that I have attempted to make clear from the beginning of this book. Instead, the Israelites shared with the rest of the cultures of the ancient world certain basic concepts about temples, rest, and cosmos that are naturally reflected in an account such as Genesis 1. The claim is not that Genesis 1 borrows the literary form of temple-inauguration accounts but that it is informed by the same cognitive environment that can be observed in contemporary (in the broad sense of that term) temple-inauguration accounts. The fact that so much in common can be observed is evidence of the broad range of the cognitive environment.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 183-184

Musings on DC from DC

2011-12-02T13:46:00.001-05:00

I had just finished reading Migrations of the Holy on the plane as we were descending into DC. I had mixed emotions. On the one hand, the architecture and view is pretty impressive: the Capitol building, the Washington Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Potomac river. All muster up feelings that are best described as pride. Yet, my citizenship is in heaven—something that Cavanaugh's book is very good about.

How do we as Christians interact with the nation-state that we live in? I'm not sure Cavanaugh has it all right, but he is headed in the same direction I am. But, because of his high church background, I think he places too much emphasis on the Eucharist/Lord's Supper/Communion and baptism. And, I'm sure I don't agree with him about sin in the church! I'm far too Wesleyan/Anabaptist/Believer's Church to say that sin should be expected in the Church. Still, definitely worth the read, although strongly philosophical in content...

As I like to do when I can, I wondered the area a bit after setup. We're in the Woodley Park area, for those of you who know DC (I don't!). It's a nice neighborhood to walk around in. It reminds me of Hyde Park in Chicago, without the fear of being mugged :) I walked about 4 miles, stopping at a Safeway to pick up a few bananas and a micro-greens salad. There are supposed to be some good vegan restaurants in the area, but the one I had decided to eat at was having a reception that closed it to the public. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

I must say, CVS owns this neighborhood; I saw 3 of them, with a fourth one opening in late December. Sorry, Lonnie, not a single Walgreens to be seen...

How are we doing?

2011-12-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

Just read this today:

“Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed.
“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.
“Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.”—Exodus 22:21-25 [Hebrew 20-24]

<idle musing>
Not doing so well, are we?
By the way, I included 22:21 because the Hebrew word order is interesting:
‏ זֹבֵ֥חַ לָאֱלֹהִ֖ים יָֽחֳרָ֑ם בִּלְתִּ֥י לַיהוָ֖ה לְבַדּֽוֹ
translating it in the Hebrew order would give us:
The one sacrificing to the gods must be destroyed, except (the one who is sacrificing) to Yahweh alone. OK you Hebrew linguists, comment on that for me—I'm looking at you, John and Rob : )
</idle musing>

The larder

2011-12-01T23:33:00.005-05:00

I didn't take a picture of our home canned goods at the beginning of the year, but here are some pictures from about 3-4 days ago. All the empties were full earlier this fall.

The smaller bookshelf is for empties. The tall shelf has the "tools of the trade" for canning.

This is a closeup of the sauerkraut fermenting. It is from our own cabbages and should be done in about 2 more weeks.

Without the presence of God...

2011-12-01T16:14:00.000-05:00

“As is the case in temple construction, the mere completion of the material construction phase does not produce a functioning temple. Only when the functions are identified, the functionaries installed, and the deity has entered the temple does it begin to function. This is creation as it was understood in the ancient Near East. Even in the biblical picture of creation in Genesis 1, the manner in which the material stuff of the cosmos came into being and the time involved in this process had little significance. The amount of time is unspecified, and the manner in which the material stuff came to exist is also unspecified. Creation takes place when the cosmos/ temple is made functional for its human inhabitant by means of the presence of God.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 183

Rest in the temple

2011-11-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

“In the Hebrew Bible, Psalm 132 provides a key passage, in which not only is the temple identified as the resting place of Yahweh but we also find rest identified with rule, for in the temple he sits enthroned. In this sense, divine rest is not primarily an act of disengagement but an act of engagement. No other divine rest occurs in the Hebrew Bible than the rest that is associated with his presence in his temple. This, combined with the data that were presented concerning divine rest in temples in the ancient Near East, confirms that the idea of deity resting, as on the seventh day in Genesis 1, is a clear indication to the reader that a temple metaphor underlies the understanding of the deity’s status.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 180

But it sure is pretty

2011-11-30T15:05:00.001-05:00

The view out our front door this morning:

This is what the north side of the house looked like (the wind was from the north):

And the walls come a tumblin' down...

2011-11-30T14:51:00.006-05:00

This is what happens when you have a heavy, wet, 6 inch snowfall and don't have your supports reinforced on your hoop house. As seen from the south:

As seen from the west side:

I will rebuild! The worst of it is that there is a 3 foot gash in the plastic where the broken PVC ripped it. But, if it gets warm enough, I can use vinyl tape to hold it together. Surprisingly, all the plants seem to be in fine shape...

It's snowing here

2011-11-29T14:29:00.002-05:00

and that means it's time for my annual posting of this wonderful snippet from Space for God:

"When rain turns to ice and snow I declare a holiday. I could as easily resist as stay at a desk with a parade going by in the street below. I cannot hide the delight that then possesses my heart. Only God could have surprised rain with such a change of dress as ice and cold...

"Most people love rain, water. Snow charms all young hearts. Only when you get older and bones begin to feel dampnesss, when snow becomes a traffic problem and a burden in the driveway, when wet means dirt--then the poetry takes flight and God's love play is not noted.

But I am still a child and have no desire to take on the ways of death. I shall continue to heed water's invitation, the call of the rain. We are in love and lovers are a little mad."

It's the little differences that matter

2011-11-29T14:16:00.000-05:00

“Days 4 through 6 concern the installation of functionaries and the decreeing of the destiny of these functionaries as they operate in the anthropocentric cosmos. The structure presented by the text reflects a degree of political/bureaucratic concerns without introducing mid-level deities, as is common in the ancient Near East. Though the shape of the cosmos is seen in terms quite similar to the literature of the ancient Near East, the elements of the cosmos have no corresponding deities, and the structure of the cosmos is radically different. By the way in which Genesis 1 uses the shared ancient Near Eastern cognitive environment, it asks the same questions that lie behind all of the other ancient cosmologies and operates from the same metaphysical platform but gives quite different answers that reflect the uniqueness of the Israelite world view and theology.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 178

What a radical idea

2011-11-28T14:32:00.002-05:00

“Genesis 1 completely restructures the the position and role of the participants on the cosmic stage. For instance, in Genesis, humanity is granted a role that is reminiscent of the role of some gods in Mesopotamian literature. In Enki and the World Order, Inanna complains that she has not received any control attributes to administer. In Inanna and Enki, she is given some. Compare this to the Genesis account, in which God transfers some control attributes to Adam and Eve by means of the image of God and the blessing, allowing them to decree destinies within the purview of these control attributes—thus, for instance, naming the animals (= decreeing the destinies?). Humanity is given a subordinate ruling responsibility, similar to the position delegated to the lower gods by the higher gods in Mesopotamia, a role that is eventually also delegated to kings. Thus, Genesis 1 bequeaths to humanity a dignity that is not attested in the rest of the ancient Near East. In Genesis, God is outside the cosmos, not inside or a part of it, and he has no origin. He is responsible for the origin of all the governing principles. Human beings are positioned as rulers in the cosmos, with all of the functions of the cosmos organized on their behalf.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 177-178

<idle musing>
Pretty radical, isn't it? I always liked C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy and the way he expressed these ideas.
</idle musing>

Brussels Sprouts and bicycles

2011-11-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much success over the years with Brussels Sprouts. Last year I got two plants to grow, but they didn't produce anything. This year, I planted 16 seeds, but only ended up with 4 plants. Two of those did weird things that made them look more like kohlrabi than Brussels Sprouts, so I ended up composting them. Of the remaining two, one never got very big and the other one was attacked by cabbage butterflies. I ended up having to use insecticidal soap on them—organically approved, but still, I hate using insecticides of any kind.

This weekend, I decided we should harvest some of the sprouts. So, I went out and cut off about 2 servings worth, which ended up being about 1/2-2/3 of the sprouts. I didn't have very high hopes, as some of them were loosely formed. But, I washed them, picked off the dead leaves, and put them on the stove to steam. About 8-10 minutes later, I plucked one out with a fork and tried it. Wow! It sure didn't taste like the things from the store! It tasted like it had a butter sauce on it, which I can assure you it didn't! They were delectable. I was going to try a different variety next year, thinking that might be the problem, but now I think I'm just going to plant the same, but more and cover them with row cover.

It was warm over Thanksgiving weekend—55ºF on Friday and 60º F on Saturday. On Friday, we decided to go for a bit longer walk than normal. We normally walk about 2 miles each day, but we have a longer route that we do occasionally that is about 4 miles. Well, we got to the point where we normally turn back and Debbie went the other way, west instead of east. Sure, why not. So, we ended up walking eleven miles...

Saturday, it was also extremely windy—over 20 MPH. But, how can I pass up a nice, warm day? I decided to ride, despite the wind. So, around noon, I embarked on a short 19 mile ride. The wind was from the south-southwest. I was going south and uphill for the first mile. I managed to climb the hill (a relatively shallow incline) in my lowest gear on the middle front ring at a super-fast(!) 10 MPH and a great deal of huffing and puffing. I felt exhausted, but kept going.

At about the 8 mile mark, there was a train stopped on the tracks, blocking the crossing. I took a detour around it...About this time I'm wondering about the wisdom of my deciding to ride against the wind. I got to the next crossroad and turned south again to cross the tracks; the train wasn't crossing these tracks, but only barely. I headed back to my chosen route, wondering how long this train was. It ended up being about 1.5 miles long.

I got to the end of my southward journey and turned north. I was looking forward to this! Only someone who has fought the wind for about 10 miles or more can understand. I was running way behind, and we were going somewhere in the afternoon; I'd have to hurry...I kicked it into a higher gear and took off...what fun. I was going about 27-28 MPH on the flat, over 32 MPH on the downhills and never dropped below 17 MPH on the climbs. Sure beats 10 MPH on the way! I'm sure there's a moral in there somewhere...

What role the Bible?

2011-11-28T14:26:00.002-05:00

Roger Olson has a nice post about how people view the role of the Bible:

It seems to me that this is a fundamental watershed between evangelicals. Those of us in the Pietist tradition claim unmediated experience of God that authenticates scripture to us but makes it impossible to see scripture as proving that God is evil or the author of sin and evil or loves his own glory more than he loves people created in his own image and likeness. Those evangelicals in the Protestant scholastic tradition at least claim to experience God only through scripture and at least say they would believe the Bible even if it said God is a monster, the author of sin and evil, who loves his own glory to the extent that it causes him to hate some of the creatures created in his own image and likeness.

<idle musing>
I hope that whets your appetite for the whole post, which I think is very good. Far too many Christians view the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Bible. That is what Roger is pushing back against—rightly so.
</idle musing>

The role of humanity in creation

2011-11-23T17:16:00.001-05:00

“Differences that are even more remarkable can be observed in the centrality of humankind, both in the Genesis account and in the cosmos as portrayed in Genesis. This centrality is apparent in that, in the seven-day structure of Genesis 1, all of the functions are established in relation to people—not to provide an environment for a god or the gods. This is in stark contrast to Mesopotamia, where the cosmos functions as a world that exists for the sake of the gods, and the role of people vis-à-vis the world is secondary: they are to serve the gods in their world.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 176

and

“The station of humanity in the cosmos as portrayed in Genesis 1 is, therefore, almost precisely opposite of the picture in Mesopotamian literature, where people are slaves of the gods and thus involved in helping the gods do their work. In Genesis, humanity is a partner in the work of ruling. Furthermore, people are given a role as partners because the functional nature of humanity is identified with its maleness and femaleness, both in the image of God. This is a radical departure, to view women as partners with men, but is essential to the first aspect of the blessing: being fruitful and multiplying.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 177

<idle musing>
I always have found the difference from ANE myths most encouraging...
</idle musing>

Post-SBL

2011-11-23T17:08:00.003-05:00

OK, I didn't post much during AAR/SBL, and even less about the conference. I didn't even post any pictures of set-up or tear down. In fact, I didn't take many pictures at all—none at all of take down.

There is at least one reason for that, which was remedied this afternoon in the dentist's chair. I had a tooth that needed a root canal. I was praying that I would be able to make it until I got home—and I did. I was only in pain about 20% of the time, but as the conference went on, that amount of time increased. It was especially acute whenever I had something either warm or cold; that pain would last about 1/2 hour or so. As the dentist was digging around, she said that I should have been experiencing pain based on what she saw. So, I am now numb for who knows how much longer, but the pain is gone. I'm sure I'll be sore after it wears off, but at least it isn't air on a tooth nerve...

On other notes: we got home without any unusual problems—at about 4:00 AM. I actually fell asleep in the dentist's chair while they were waiting for the Novocaine to kick in...

The image of God

2011-11-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

“...the image of God is rarely applied to humanity as a whole in the rest of the ancient world (the major exception being in The Instruction of Merikare). When the image of deity was attached to specific individuals—invariably kings—in either Assyria or Egypt, it endowed the king with divine sonship and enabled the king to function on behalf of the deity. That is, the 'image of god' operated within the political/ bureaucratic model in which the ruling function of deity was carried out on earth by the king.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 175-176

For the sake of humanity

2011-11-22T02:10:00.001-05:00

“But there is one more important contribution made by Gen 2:18. This text makes it clear that the focus of the designed functions is not on God but on humanity. The biblical text is not interested in the scientifically investigatable functions of the various parts of the cosmos. That is to say, the function of time established by the alternating periods of light and darkness has no meaning or significance apart from people. This function serves neither the divine realm nor the “natural” realm. Not only is the sun not a manifestation of deity in Genesis, but it neither functions for deity’s sake nor is it simply a burning ball of gas. As v. 14 reports, the function of the lights is to mark signs, festivals, days, and years—precisely the uses that humans have for these functionaries.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 170

What's with the heart rate?

2011-11-21T10:26:00.005-05:00

This is interesting. At home I rarely check my heart rate, so when I'm on conferences it is always fun to watch the heart rate monitor. As I mentioned last year, when the intervals on the machines are 10 seconds instead of 30, your heart rate doesn't get as elevated. But, even aside from that, I'm wondering if maybe my diet change has affected my heart rate. Last year I noticed a 25-30 BPM drop, but this year I had a hard time getting my heart rate above 120, which is more like 30-35 BPM lower than normal...

OK, that's not what is interesting...Those of you who follow this blog much know that I don't watch or follow professional sports—haven't for over 35 years. But, today, the big screen TV was right next to me on the right, showing game highlights from yesterday's football games. I ignored it, as usual, until the guy next to me broke out laughing. I looked to see what he was laughing at; a referee was being creamed in a fumble recovery. I didn't find it humorous; my comment was, "Ouch!" But, it made me aware of it and I glanced at it every now and again. Until the Packer highlights came on. Now, if I'm going to pay any attention to football, it would be Green Bay—what can I say, I was raised in Wisconsin.

So, I started watching the highlights of the game. I watched the whole 5 minutes or so, and then looked back at my stats on the machine. Heart rate: 147! Wow! But, even more interestingly, within 45 seconds it was back down to 122-125! The workout hadn't gotten easier, nor had my cadence decreased. In fact, I increased the cadence once I started watching it. Granted, anecdotal, but interesting, none the less.

The fates

2011-11-18T19:14:00.002-05:00

“When the destinies of the gods were determined in the ancient Near East, powers and responsibilities were delegated to them. As a result, other gods became “working Enlils” when the MEs were given to them. This process bears a resemblance to the biblical idea that human beings were created in the image of God and became beings who functioned as Elohim at some level.

In distinct contrast to Mesopotamian beliefs, however, Genesis 1, if it in fact is paralleling the idea of the MEs, positions them differently. Rather than positing deity as guardian of the cosmic MEs (which are not created by the gods, in Mesopotamian thought), Genesis portrays God as the one who initiates the cosmic MEs. This view coincides with the observations made on pp. 62–63 that in Genesis Yahweh is outside the cosmic system, although in the ancient Near East the gods are viewed as inside the system. Thus, the Mesopotamian gods are subject to the MEs, while Yahweh controls them. This is similar to the idea that in Israel Yahweh is considered the source of law, whereas in Mesopotamia Shamash is the guardian of law. .”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 167

<idle musing>
The same in the Greek cosmology. The Fates are bigger than the gods and over rule them.
</idle musing>

The solid sky

2011-11-17T12:39:00.000-05:00

“For the Israelites, as with everyone else in the ancient world, the solid sky is a material piece of the cosmos, though the Egyptian portrayal of it as a god (Nut) and the Babylonian portrayal of it as part of the divided body of Tiamat warn us against a view that is too material. Instead of objectifying this water barrier, we should focus on the important, twofold cosmic function that it played. The first role of the rāqīʿa was to create the space in which people could live; the second, and more relevant function for the context of Genesis 1, was to be a mechanism by which precipitation was controlled—the means by which rain and precipitation operated. Order in the cosmos (for people especially) depended on the right amount of precipitation. Too little, and starvation resulted; too much, and damaging flooding occurred. The cosmic waters posed a continual threat, and the rāqīʿa was created to establish cosmic order.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 160-161

<idle musing>
While you are reading this, I am likely flying through that solid sky on my way to San Francisco and AAR/SBL. Hopefully, we won't hit anything solid :)
</idle musing>

Eisenbrauns SBL order form

2011-11-16T15:42:00.003-05:00

For those of you who are searching for the Eisenbrauns SBL order forms, they are here. The stats show that you are ending up here on that search term, so that is my public service announcement for the day :)

By the way, Eisenbrauns titles are cheaper on site than through the order form—another public service announcement for you...

Tehom as a boundary

2011-11-16T15:35:00.001-05:00

“Tĕhôm is neither an enemy to be battled nor an adversary to be defeated. It is simply a term for the cosmic waters, applying either to the precreation context or to the waters at the boundaries of the ordered cosmos. That is, tĕhôm is one of the elements of cosmic geography that parallels what is found in the cognitive environment throughout the ancient Near East. In the precreation period, the tĕhôm covered everything. In the process of creation, it was pushed out to the edges of the cosmos, where it was restrained by the power of God.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 145

<idle musing>
Walton is quite adamant about the lack of theomachy (gods fighting each other) in Genesis 1—rightfully so, in my opinion.
</idle musing>

Did matter matter to the ancients?

2011-11-15T14:07:00.002-05:00

“...it is typical in English to draw a distinction between the verb ‘to do’, which takes as its direct object activities performed by the subject, while the verb ‘to make’ usually takes material things as its grammatical direct objects. As a result, when we encounter a Hebrew text in which ʿāśâ has cosmic direct objects, and given that our basic modern ontology is material, we assume that material things being made are the objects of ʿāśâ rather than activities being done, and thus we translate ‘make’ rather than ‘do’. But if the creation of the cosmos is an activity of organizing or ordering, the work identified with the word ʿāśâ must have to do with establishing its functions.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 136

and

“If we do not arrive at the text of Genesis 1 with the preconception that the focus is on the bringing into existence of the material world, the context itself would not lead us to think in predominantly material terms. In the initial period, God brought the cosmos into existence (by setting up an ordered system and giving everything its role within that system). In this proposal, the text is making no comment on material origins. It is more interested in indicating how God set up the cosmos to function for human beings in his image. These functions define the idea of existence; the ancients had little interest in the material.” — Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 139

<idle musing>
In answer to the question in today's post title: Apparently not. What do you think?
</idle musing>

Making or doing

2011-11-14T16:29:00.000-05:00

“It may be that the very reason that the verb ʿāśâ extends across the range of English ‘to do’ and ‘to make’ is because these two activities are much more closely interconnected in ancient thinking.” [footnote: Note the observation of H. Te Velde concerning Egypt: “The creation theology that was practiced or performed in the cult did not simply commemorate the great mythological deeds of the gods or express the coherence and process of the created world; it was, in effect, creation itself. An Egyptian term for performing rituals is ‘doing things.’ The priest had to ‘do things’ to make sure that the order of the cosmos would be maintained and that the universe, the state and the individual would continue their ordered existence” (CANE 1744)]— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 134

Broccoli and stuff

2011-11-14T16:20:00.004-05:00

This is a strange fall; yesterday was 60ºF and today was in the mid-50s until a thunderstorm lowered it to a still warm 45ºF. Normally, nothing would be growing—or at least growing very slowly. Not this year. Good thing, too, because I was late in planting some of my stuff in the hoop house.

The peas are getting big enough to eat and the spinach is almost there, too. The sprouting broccoli and the broccoli raab are coming up nicely, as is the Winter Density Romaine (I was really late on this!). But, the fall broccoli is looking really nice; I plan on cutting a head or two tonight. The picture doesn't really do it justice—the heads are larger than they look here—but you get the idea.

Still on Genesis 1:1

2011-11-11T14:35:00.002-05:00

“Thus, the nuanced meaning of bārāʾ that best suits the data is that it means ‘to bring something into (functional) existence’. It suggests the establishment of order often accomplished by making distinctions as roles, status, and identity are distinguished. In contexts where it may retain some of its latent etymology, it may even concern giving something a distinct (functional) existence. Nothing suggests that it should be considered an act of manufacturing something material. Thus, Gen 1:1 becomes, 'In the initial period, God brought cosmic functions into existence.'

“It is not on the basis of the semantic sense of bārāʾ that we draw the conclusion that Israel’s ontology was functional. The main evidence for this conclusion will be brought out in subsequent chapters. However, it is clear that the synchronic analysis of the verb bārāʾ becomes much simpler when the factor of Israelite ontology is brought into the investigation.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 133

<idle musing>
Undoubtedly, I'm doing John a disservice here by posting the conclusions without the corresponding pages of backup. But, you'll just have to buy the book to find out how he backs it up!

A clever marketing ploy? Not really, I just didn't want to take up all the space necessary (besides, I might run into copyright issues for too much text). If you really are interested, I figured you'd buy the book anyway...
</idle musing>

Wow, what a hornet's nest

2011-11-11T14:21:00.003-05:00

I certainly didn't expect to stir up a hornet's nest with my post on Wednesday, but I certainly seem to have. Peter Kirk posted a link to my post and some additional observations. Rob Holmstedt has been active in commenting both on my blog and Peter's, with the result that today, he posted his own response—without actually linking to Peter's blog.

So, Genesis One continues to be a war zone. Only this time, it is a war zone not over creatio ex nihilo or how long it took or didn't take, or how it happened, but a war zone over the best linguistic explanation. Me, I'm just putting on my fireproof underwear and posting this!

Beginnings-again

2011-11-10T16:12:00.002-05:00

“In Genesis, the ‘beginning’ (rēʾšît) refers to a preliminary period of time rather than a first point in time. This is comparable with the Akkadian term reštu, which means ‘the first part’ or ‘the first installment’; as well as with the Egyptian phrase introduced (above, p. 126), a term that plays a significant role in cosmological texts. In these texts, the Egyptian phrase refers to “when the pattern of existence was established and first enacted.”[Allen, Genesis in Egypt, 57] In English, we might refer to an initial period such as this as the primordial period. All of this information leads us to conclude that the ‘beginning’ is a way of labeling the seven-day period of creation described in the remainder of Genesis 1 rather than a point in time prior to the seven days. As an independent clause, it offers no description of creative acts but provides a literary introduction to the period of creative activity that then flows into the tôlĕdôt sections that characterize the remainder of the book.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 127

<idle musing>
Rob Holmstedt posted a comment yesterday where he mentioned an article he had written with an alternative explanation.

Which do you prefer?
</idle musing>

In the beginning...

2011-11-09T14:09:00.001-05:00

“...bĕrēʾšît is a strikingly appropriate term to introduce a sequence that will be carried on by the tôlĕdôt transitions. It marks the very first period, with the tôlĕdôt phrases introducing each of the successive periods. If this be the case, the book would now have 12 formally marked sections (a number that is much more logical than 11). If the bĕrēʾšît clause is a marker comparable to the tôlĕdôt clauses, it could easily be seen as functioning in an independent clause, just like the tôlĕdôt clauses. The conclusion then is that it is an independent clause that functions as a literary marker to introduce the seven-day account, just as the tôlĕdôt phrase is a literary marker that introduces the passage that follows.”— Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 125

<idle musing>
Now that makes sense to me. All the other explanations of the construct form in Genesis 1:1 have struck me as contrived.
</idle musing>

What is rest?

2011-11-08T14:52:00.002-05:00

“Divine rest is portrayed as occurring in a number of different contexts in ancient Near Eastern cosmogonies. Aside from the occasional text in which rest refers to an inactive stupor, divine rest generally represents a state that has been achieved through a particular action that was undertaken as a response to a condition or situation that prior to the divine action was usually viewed as unacceptable. The condition in each case represents something that prevents rest. The action indicates how rest is achieved, and the state describes the type of rest anticipated or enjoyed. The common denominator in most of these cases is that divine rest provides a sense of security. When the situation among the gods or in the larger cosmos is secure, deity may rest—regardless of whether the rest means that he/she is thereby free to do nothing, to socialize, to enjoy life, or to do the work of running the cosmos unimpeded. The location where this rest will be experienced is, of course, the temple, the palace home of the god, where the deity may enjoy leisure, social activity, and rule.”—Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 110-111

<idle musing>
I like this (think Hebrews): "The common denominator in most of these cases is that divine rest provides a sense of security."

Good summary of what Jesus sitting down at the right hand of the Father means for us, isn't it?
</idle musing>

A tale of inventiveness

2011-11-07T14:43:00.003-05:00

This weekend I discovered that there is an alternative to duct tape and WD-40™—zip ties!

It's November, the time to rake the lawn. Well, in our case, we use an Agri-fab™ that the previous owners left behind. It sure is nice with 2 acres and lots of trees. But, it is getting old. I know I said the previous owners left it, but actually, the owners before them left it, and so on, going back about 18 years. So, it has a few idiosyncrasies about it. For example, the connection to the lawnmower is hand-made, and the place where the chute connects to the trailer is held together with bungy cords.

Well, Saturday, the hose from the lawnmower to the lawn vac decided to come apart. I looked back and the leaves were shooting straight back into the air; the hose was at a 90º angle. I figured I could buy a new hose. I went to 2 different stores, one of which sells the same lawn vac. Nope. I could order it and wait a few weeks—right. Or, I could get creative.

It was obvious that duct tape wouldn't work. The angle was too sharp and there was too much force on the hose. So, I sealed the hole with duct tape and grabbed my handy zip ties. I circled the hose twice, once on each side of the break, and then put a few zip ties between them and pulled them tight. It worked!

So, my toolbox is now a triad: duct tape, WD-40™, and zip ties...

The center of the universe

2011-11-07T14:40:00.001-05:00

“Throughout the ancient world, the temple was a significant part of the cosmic landscape. It was considered to be at the center of the cosmos, the place from which the cosmos was controlled, and a small model of the cosmos—a microcosm...In cosmic space, the temple is at the center. In cosmic time, it precedes everything else.“—Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 100, 102

<idle musing>
The Greeks thought that Delphi was the center of the world, so that agrees. Of course, we know that the U.S. is the center of the world, right? After all, every map has it in the center...
</idle musing>

Putting it to sleep for the winter

2011-11-04T14:26:00.003-04:00

We had a serious freeze last weekend; it got down to 26ºF. That was the end of the green peppers. I picked them right away in the afternoon, cut them up, and froze them. I ended up getting about 12 more that were of sufficient maturity.

I also decided it was time to harvest my cabbages. If you recall, the cabbage butterflies got a good meal out them. But, even so, I was able to get 8 decent sized heads out of the 15 plants that survived. I put them in the refrigerator to make into sauerkraut later. Later ended up being Tuesday night.

We bought a new hand shredder for the kraut; the old one was Debbie's from before we got married (33 years ago!). This new one is stainless steel and sharp. Very sharp. Extremely sharp. Painfully sharp. Ouch! The cabbage heads I got from the garden are much denser than the ones in the store. That translates into 5 1/2 quarts of sauerkraut from relatively small heads of cabbage. It also translates into more effort to shred them. It also translates into some serious cuts as I adjusted to the shredder being sharper.

It must be November, that's the only way I can think of to explain it. Last November, I tried to cut off my fingers. This year, I tried to cut off my thumb with the new shredder. As I said, it was extremely, painfully sharp. I have a nice flap of skin on the end of my thumb under a bandage. The next day at work, Marti noticed and asked if I had been playing with my lawnmower again. Nope, but the kraut might have a little extra iron in it :)

The garden—except for the hoop house—is pretty much done for the year. I dug the rest of the straw potatoes Wednesday night. We ended up with about a wheelbarrow full. Now, I just need to find a way to store them that is cool enough. Right now, they are in the garage, which stays cool. But, once the nights get colder, they will freeze. By then the basement will probably be cool enough I can move them there. But, I suspect I will get some growth on them come February...

Why?

2011-11-04T14:25:00.001-04:00

“...it is important to realize that the cosmic geography of ancient peoples was predominantly metaphysical and only secondarily physical and material: the roles and manifestations of the gods in the cosmic geography were primary. So, for example, in Mesopotamian thinking, cables held by the gods connected the heaven and earth and held the sun in the sky. In Egypt, the sun-god sailed in his barque across the heavens during the day and through the netherworld at night. The stars of the Egyptian sky were portrayed as emblazoned across the arched body of the sky goddess, who was held up by the god of the air. In another Egyptian depiction, the Cow of Heaven was supported by four gods who each held one of her legs. She gave birth to the sun every day, and the sun traveled across her belly and was swallowed by her at night...

“The apparent neglect of curiosity about the physical structure of the cosmos is therefore not simply a consequence of the ancients’ inability to investigate their physical world. In their thinking, the physical aspects of the cosmos did not define its existence or its importance; physical realities were merely the tools that the gods used for carrying out their own purposes. The purposes of the gods were of prime interest to the ancients.”—Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 89-90

But where do humans fit in all this?

2011-11-03T15:03:00.000-04:00

“The role of humanity is not an independent topic; in the ancient Near Eastern cognitive environment, it can only be understood in relationship to the role of deity. All of the ideology concerning the role of humanity in the cosmos—whether it addresses the circumstances under which people were created, the materials of which they were made (i.e., their composition), their functions, or their propagation—associates them with deity.
The conception of humanity focuses on two roles:
1.Humanity’s role with regard to its place or station in the cosmos
2.Humanity’s role with regard to its functions in the cosmos .”—Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 84

Serving the gods

2011-11-02T14:57:00.002-04:00

“The foundation of religion in Mesopotamia is that humanity has been created to serve the gods by meeting their needs for food (sacrifices), housing (temples), clothing, and in general giving them worship and privacy so that these gods can do the work of running the cosmos. The other side of the symbiosis is that the gods will protect their investment by protecting their worshipers and providing for them. Humans thus find dignity in the role that they have in this symbiosis to aid the gods (through their rituals) in running the cosmos.”—Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 78

<idle musing>
A bit different from the biblical God, eh? Of course, to hear some people talk, maybe not...name it; claim it; stomp on it and frame it! They want a tame god, but the only way to get a tame god is to have an incompetent one that you need to take care of. I'll stick with the biblical God!
</idle musing>

AAR/SBL prep

2011-11-02T14:53:00.005-04:00

Andy, our webmaster and graphic designer, has a nice post on our AAR/SBL prep this year. He even includes photos of the procedure. Do check it out—and check out the real thing at AAR/SBL :)

Oh, by the way, all the books left yesterday for the conference. It is costing us about $1600 to ship them out to a warehouse in South San Francisco—and $2600 for them to be moved about a mile to the conference center. Can you say greedy? We're in the wrong business! We should start hosting conferences and charging ridiculous prices of the vendors...OK, I'm done for now.

<UPDATE:> I fixed the link; sorry about that.

Enuma Elish

2011-11-01T14:34:00.000-04:00

“Neither the literature of Canaan nor the literature of Egypt testifies to a revolt of the gods; all we encounter is one god challenging another god. In neither literature, however, is there any reason to conclude that the conflict is related to cosmogony. Enuma Elish, as we have seen, provides examples of three categories of theomachy: dissatisfied class struggle is resolved by creating humankind; macrocosmic chaos, represented in Tiamat’s rebellion, is resolved in cosmogony; and struggle for rule (represented in Kingu’s possession of the Tablet of Destinies) is resolved by Marduk’s ascension to the throne. In this respect, Enuma Elish should be viewed as idiosyncratic rather than paradigmatic. We have no reason to expect that an ancient Near Eastern cosmogony would feature theomachy. “—Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 74

Running the Cosmos

2011-10-31T14:38:00.000-04:00

“The cosmic deities do not govern the cosmos from an independent existence outside the cosmos. The cosmos functions as a result of the gods’ being who they are. The daily function of the cosmos is the story of the lives of the cosmic deities. They are not only manifest in the components of the cosmos; the cosmos is their very identity. Though mythology developed personalities for these deities in narrative contexts, the foundation of these personalities is grounded in their cosmic identity. Running the cosmos is not something they do; it is a result of who and what they are. It is from this cosmic identity that their portfolio of competencies is derived. Cosmic deities are those who are associated with the static aspects of the cosmos.”Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 65

Study Bibles

2011-10-31T14:20:00.003-04:00

David Lamb has a wonderful post on study Bible here. Here's an excerpt:

I want to invoke the curse at the end of Revelation (21:18-19), which states that if anyone adds to the words of the prophecy, all the nasty things that Revelation describes will come upon them. Seems appropriate, don’t you think?

Why? A valid question.

The comments in Study Bibles appear to have the same authority as Scripture because they are printed right there on the same page. That’s scary. Hence the Revelation curse. In fact, since the comments often attempt to clarify an unclear text, they seem to have more authority than God’s word. Obviously, discerning readers will view the comments critically and take them with a grain of salt, but most people don’t do that.

I can’t count the number of times during a Bible discussion someone says, “Well, my Bible says…”. I ask, “Is that your Bible, or a note in the margin?” It’s usually a Study Bible comment...

<idle musing>
A man after my own heart! I have had people say the same thing about a note in their study Bible. In their mind, if it is on the same page as the text, it is equal to the text in authority. I have but one answer, "NO!"
</idle musing>

Thomas got a bum rap

2011-10-28T15:20:00.004-04:00

The apostle Thomas, that is. A co-worker forwarded a link to me that was primarily about the arts and Christianity (it's quite good, although relatively old, 2005). Anyway, buried in there was this wonderful paragraph:

Thomas has said he won't believe unless he can actually put his finger into the mark of the nails, thrust his hand into the place where the spear went into Jesus' side. And it would have been better if Thomas had believed without needing that, but Jesus meets him where he is. "OK, Thomas, here are my hands, here's my side, don't be faithless. But believe." And Thomas takes the flying leap of faith and doesn't just say, "OK, all right, I believe." He says what none of the others have said to this point, "My Lord and my God."

<idle musing>
See what I mean? Thomas is called "doubting" Thomas—but he is the first one to make the connection. He got a bum rap in history; he should be celebrated as the first one who truly comprehended (after the resurrection) who Jesus was.
</idle musing>

Cosmos as people

2011-10-28T15:19:00.000-04:00

“In our modern, material ontology, we are inclined to think of the cosmos as a machine—often with no one running it (that is, the modern perspective is dysteleological). When we moderns think about the ancient world (including the Bible), it is most natural for us to imagine that ancient peoples simply thought of the world as a machine with Someone running it, rather than seeing that they did not in any respect conceive of the world as a machine. In the ancient functional ontology, the cosmos is more like a business. In this metaphor, it is clear that a business only functions in relationship to people, both the company’s employees and its customers.”Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 45

But it's not that simple

2011-10-27T15:44:00.002-04:00

“The idea that the ancients did not have a material ontology of course does not mean that they had no interest in or awareness of the physical world around them. That is, it is not as if they had a mystical view of the world rather than paying attention to the real world they experienced every day. The point is, however, that to them the 'real' world was a world of divine presence and activity. Their cosmological ontology reflects that it is the functioning of that ordered, real world that is of importance, not its physical makeup or the physical origins of the material objects.”Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 44

and

“In a material ontology, the world is full of objects. To us moderns, a cow or a tree can be nothing more than an object to be exploited for its material value (milk and meat in the case of the cow, wood or maybe shade or even beauty in the case of the tree). But in some cultures, where cows or trees have religious significance, they do not serve as objects that function only in terms of their material components or offer only material for exploitation. Although giving milk or shade are functions, the cow and tree are considered to have sacred functions that at times preclude the exploitation of their material functions. They have been personified (imbued with the divine) or at least sacralized. The personification or sacralization of material things was common in the ancient Near East. Israel’s theology moved away from the sacralization of the surrounding world. Isaiah the prophet argues that the wood used to make an idol is nothing more than wood and cannot attain the sacralized status that was attributed to the wood through the image-making process. But though the world around them was desacralized by Israel, this does not mean that the material of the world was objectified. The function performed by anything in the world is a result of its having been assigned this function by deity. The physical properties of the thing are designed to facilitate this function rather than to determine it. Israel’s movement toward desacralization may have been the first step toward a material ontology, but the functional perspective continued to dominate its understanding of the world.”Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, pages 44-45

<idle musing>
Take away sentence: "But though the world around them was desacralized by Israel, this does not mean that the material of the world was objectified." In a lot of ways, I wish that were still true. We see nature as something to be conquered and overcome instead of something to live in communion with. Look at the pesticides and herbicides that we use; look at the earth that we move to create subdivisions—to say nothing of all the trees that get chopped down in the process...
</idle musing>

Baseball

2011-10-26T16:27:00.003-04:00

I don't follow sports at all anymore. I used to follow professional cycling, but that got too drug infested, so I gave up following it. Anyway, that disclaimer aside, Michael Gorman has an interesting observation about baseball and God and nationalism:

The God revealed in Jesus Christ is not interested in blessing America or Americans any more than any other nation or individuals. Even more importantly, the God revealed in Jesus Christ has absolutely no interest in blessing the American military machine or furthering American military interests around the world. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Sports have their place in any culture. But they can become, and in the U.S. have become, another arm of nationalistic and even militaristic propaganda. The book of Revelation might counsel us to be wary, and even to “come out.”

<idle musing>
Amen! Good preaching! Read the whole post, it is very short.
</idle musing>

Give it a function

2011-10-26T16:24:00.002-04:00

“The acts of creation involved naming, separating, and temple building. This coincides with what Eliade observed [Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return (New York: Harper, 1954)] concerning the perspective prevalent in the ancient world: the 'ontological thirst' of the ancients was the pursuit of a view of reality that could give meaning to life. Modern material ontology offers no secure understanding of the meaning of life, but the functional ontology of ancient Near Eastern peoples gave meaning to the reality that they experienced in the way the world worked.

“In the ancient cognitive environment, it was more important to determine who controlled functions than who or what gave something its physical form. We could therefore conclude that in the ancient world something was created when it was given a function.”Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 43

<idle musing>
I could try to be funny and make a snide remark about some people not really existing...but I won't :)
</idle musing>

What's the matter?

2011-10-25T16:14:00.001-04:00

“In Mesopotamian sources, as in Egypt, when the texts report on the components of the cosmos, the building blocks overwhelmingly involve functional aspects of these components rather than treating them primarily as material objects. Even when material objects are mentioned, it is their functions, not the structures or substance of these material objects that are the focus of attention. Causation, likewise, was not thought of as involving material natural processes; instead, causation is always the prerogative of deity.”Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 42

<idle musing>
Simply put, matter doesn't matter :)
</idle musing>

Creation as separation

2011-10-24T12:35:00.001-04:00

“The principal acts of creation [in the Enuma Elish] are naming, separating, and temple building. While separating holds a prominent position in Egyptian and Sumerian texts, the significance of naming can be seen in its role in Enuma Elish...”—Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, page 34

<idle musing>
Pay attention. This is the beginning of his argument for the importance of the temple...
</idle musing>