The Bible and Culture

To some it seems self-evident. America is a secular country. It does not officially or legally endorse any particular religion. This must make it secular----- right? Actually, this is incorrect in almost any way you could analyze the situation. Let’s take the situation de facto first. As any recent Gallup poll will show you, Americans are a profoundly religious bunch. Some polls show us that somewhere close to 85% of all those polls consider themselves religious or very religious, s … [Read more...]

There are many sides to Woody Allen, and most of them are funny. His neurotic New York schtick is always fun to watch, and Woody is right on form in this movie. Here he plays an avant garde music impresario who has never found success---- due to his attempts to mesh opera with the theater of the absurd. Never, that is until he finds a mortician who can sing in the shower, but not much of anywhere else.But this movie is not mainly about Woody himself, 'To Rome with Love' is a pretty … [Read more...]

Here's is a helpful tip from Larry Hurtado. Zuntz’s Classic Study Reprinted by larryhurtadoI confess to having discovered only recently that the classic study by Guenther Zuntz, The Text of the Epistles: A Disquisition Upon the Corpus Paulinum (1946) was reprinted recently (by Wipf & Stock, 2007) in a paperback edition (and so cheaper by far than buying one of the hard-to-get used hardback copies). Zuntz' book remains the most thorough study of the emergence of a Pauline c … [Read more...]

I have gone on record as saying that I would watch anything Pixar ever produced, and I have pretty much done so. Their animation is second to none, or in this case their digital picture drawing. The movie Brave, and its wonderful short subject La Luna further illustrate their mastery of this technique. But at the end of the day, it all comes down to the plot, the characters, and the dialogue. 'Brave' has been out for some time now, and has gotten mixed, but mostly favorable reviews. The … [Read more...]

THE RHETORIC OF LOVEThe rhetoric of love is exorbitant, exuberant, exhausting Hyperbolic, hyperventilating, hyperactive.It trips off the tongue like trills, thrills, until Its subject is unhinged, unglued, unsettled.Challenging the senses, the sensibilities, the syntax Love exclaims, declaims, and claimsThat nothing compares, dares, shares Hopes, helps, or hurts Like love.It says silly things like ‘it’s better to have loved and lost than…’ As if love is the answer, th … [Read more...]

Over the past twenty or so years, there are few authors I've enjoyed reading more than Lindsey Davis, especially her Falco series of novels about ancient Rome. Her most recent release, 'Master and God' (474 pages St. Martins Press) is not a volume in that series, but it is, in a word, excellent, and longer than some of those volumes, but just as much fun, and witty. The scene is the reign of Domitian, basically all of it, hence the title 'Master and God' (or in Latin 'Dominus et Deus') which … [Read more...]

Many years ago Gordon Fee was one of my most dynamic teachers at Gordon Conwell. Larry Hurtado has an important announcement about his classic doctoral dissertation. Here is what he says. Fee’s PhD Thesis Available by larryhurtadoI'm tardy in passing on news (that likely is already known among those most concerned) that Gordon Fee's PhD thesis is now available freely, "The Significance of Papyrus Bodmer II and Papyrus Bodmer XIV-XV for Methodology in New Testament Textual Criticism" ( … [Read more...]

I loved Andy Griffith for many reasons, and whilst I was reading his lengthy obituary in the Carolina Alumni Review there was this testimony to him that gave me one more--- Cindi his wife since 1983 said "Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith and he was prepared for the day when he would be called Home to his Lord. He is the love of my life, my constant companion, my partner, and my best friend. I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in God's grace … [Read more...]

Danny Boyle, perhaps best known for his production of the film Slum Dog Millionaire had the proverbial hard act to follow---- the Bejing opening ceremonies extravaganza. Boyle said, in his press release, that in some ways it was liberating that the 2008 ceremonies were so jaw-droppingly spectacular, as he realized there was no competing with that. And so he did not try---- well, not really.Besides the fun film gag of Bond (Daniel Craig)in Buckingham Palace meeting the real Queen and … [Read more...]