This is What happens when your Students have Far Too Much Time on their Hands
Cut and Paste this mysterious link into your browser….. and prepare to try and identify certain Asbury faculty persons……in disguise…. http://www.jibjab.com/view/3-A59yttRqqIMzrMJyasdw?mt=1 Read more
On the Making of Papyrus
The only ancient description we have of the making of papyrus is that of Pliny the Elder in his Natural History Book XIII. He wrote in the latter half of the first century A.D., and while some scholars have questioned whether he had actually seen the process due to some of his remarks, even if he got it second hand, this is valuable first century information… Pliny, Natural History, 13.74-82 Paper is made from the papyrus plant by separating it… Read more
Chester Beatty Papyrus 45 in Vienna
Some of the most important early papyri of the NT are the Chester Beatty Papyri housed in Dublin Ireland, EXCEPT for one piece which can be found in the papyrus museum in the basement of the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna. The small fragment which is found there is from the Gospel of Matthew containing Matt. 25:41-26:39 (Pap. Vindob. G. 31974). And sparing no expense, here it is….. This papyrus likely dates to the third century A.D. The Gospel of Matthew was… Read more
Scary Papyri II– Self Help Medicinal Cures
Medicine in antiquity was one part home remedy, one part common sense, and one part Hippocratic let the body heal itself. But the desperate also would go to the gods and the healers, and what passed for ancient doctors and medicine. Such treatments as listed above could be of relevance to NT studies, as it seems quite possible Paul had eye troubles (see Galatians 4.12-16 (why the metaphor about tearing out their eyes and giving them to Paul). Since the… Read more
Polling Questions I Wish I’d been Asked!
Joel Pett is our local pundit cum political cartoonist in the Lexington newspaper…… Read more
Scary Papyri I– I want my Mummy
The Kunst Museum in Vienna in fact houses several museums, including the papyrus museum in a small room in the basement, and the Ephesos museum in one of the upstairs great halls. Despite both being rather small, there were some very important items in each, and we will begin, appropriately enough for the end of October, with paintings on top of mummy sarcophagi, and some mummy wrappings from the Greco-Roman period (yes, you are right, those folks don’t look very… Read more
Blomberg’s Can We Still Believe the Bible?–Part Eight
The last main chapter in Craig’s book deals with the subject of miracles, both ancient and modern. Craig relies not only on the various analyses of the Biblical miracles available in scholarly works, but also the recent large compilation of modern testimonies about miracles compiled by my Asbury colleague, Craig Keener. To this Craig adds some personal testimonies about miracles in his own life, or that of his close family. While reading this chapter I remembered a conversation I once… Read more
Sir Paul surpasses All– The Louisville Concert
The concert in Louisville was supposed to happen last June, but then Paul got sick. Pretty seriously sick. Worse still, Louisville was the last concert date on the tour— think no voice left, no energy left, especially when you are 73 years of age! You must kidding. Bear in mind that while Ringo is still out there doing concerts, of course Ringo did not write any of the classic Beatles songs, and sang lead only rarely, so if you really… Read more
Blomberg’s Can We Still Believe the Bible– Part Seven
Chapter Five (pp. 147-78) deals with the issue of multiple genre of literature in the Bible, and walks through some of the usual pitfalls and questions people raise when a more literarily sensitive approach to the Biblical text is taken. Here Craig deals with Genesis 1-3, Jonah, Job, the possibility of multiple Isaiahs, pseudonymity in the NT, and some related issues. The over arching theme of the chapter is that we must recognize the type of literature we are reading,… Read more
