On Cruises, Cash, and BYU Religious Education
Guest post from a friend of the blog. I should also point out that the behavior criticized by the author is not illegal nor even necessarily disingenuous:It is no secret that a remunerative relationship exists between BYU Religious Education faculty and various LDS publishing houses, most notably Deseret Book. This is categorically different than your average professor writing a textbook and trade book. The physics prof doesn't make the rounds speaking at EFY, Women's Conference, Education We … [Read More...]
4 Puds With a Prooftext
Down below is a YouTube presentation of Revelation 12 done by a couple of BYU professors who style themselves as "Four Guys With Ties." Before you have a look, however, read this:In context, Revelation 12 explains the source of the evil and suffering experienced by John’s seven churches. The characterization of the participants, a pregnant woman, a dragon and eventually a baby, is drawn from the world of the ANE combat myth and so resists simplistic decoding. Its use, however, is fortuitous … [Read More...]
The Gaskill Hoax, Three Years Later
Hey, remember the Gaskill hoax of 2014?In short, he published a book called The Lost Teachings of Jesus on the Sacred Place of Women. The basis of the book was a nineteenth-century forgery called the Unknown Life of Jesus. The fact of forgery was glossed over in the book, to say nothing of the sensational and entirely misleading title.The publisher, Cedar Fort, promoted it for Mother's Day that year. Here's part of the ad: "This extra-biblical text, thought to be the words of Christ, is … [Read More...]
Some More on the BYUNTC and Snuffer’s Version of the Gospel of John
This is a follow-up on my last post where I showed that a bit of translation originally done by John Hall for the BYU New Testament Commentary project was published in Denver Snuffer’s revelation of the Fourth Gospel. Before getting to some further details, perhaps I should say something about my view of the big picture. I think it’s interesting, not to mention troubling, to see how info about the Bible that is wrong and misleading – whatever the motives of the people producing and perpetuating t … [Read More...]
Mormons and Easter
Thoughts from a friend who wishes to remain anonymous:I'm kind of tired of Mormons trying to take Easter all serious like. It comes off as cultural appropriation because, let's face it, we aren't Christians like that kind of Christian. Easter is never going to stick because a) we have no connection to Christendom's liturgical calendar b) our very few rituals are derived not from Christianity but from masonry c) we have zero aesthetic for public religious performance (cathedrals, pilgrimages, … [Read More...]
Review of Jeremy D. Smoak, The Priestly Blessing in Inscription & Scripture: The Early History of Numbers 6:24-26 (Oxford, 2016)
Review of Jeremy Smoak, The Priestly Blessing in Inscription and Scripture … [Read More...]
From the BYU New Testament Commentary to Denver Snuffer’s revelation
As you may know, the BYU New Testament Commentary project started in the early 2000s and has published volumes on the book of Revelation, Gospel of Luke, and 1 Corinthians. Another bit of translation originally done for the project was just published, though not by the BYUNTC; it was announced and published as part of a revelation of Denver Snuffer, who, as you also may know, was excommunicated by the mainstream LDS church in 2013 and is now leader in a restoration/remnant movement that … [Read More...]
Some methodological guidelines for the dating of biblical texts
New post on the dating of biblical texts … [Read More...]
Why study the Bible as a topic of humanistic inquiry?
I have a new post up on humanistic study of the Bible … [Read More...]
