Blogger seems to have fixed its comments feed issues, and so I’ve put the recent comments box back in the sidebar. I put it under the Google Reader sidebar with links to posts I’ve read on other blogs and thought were worth sharing. If you have a preference as to which sidebar feature is placed higher or lower than the other, as always, you are welcome to share your opinion! Read more

Mark Goodacre and Tim Bulkeley are among those who are continuing the conversation about non-traditional, less “texty” textbooks. As this conversation takes place on and between blogs, it is worth noting that the blog format offers many of the features I mentioned in my earlier post on this subject. A blog can integrate text, links to other sources, embedded video, embedded comments and discussion, and communication. And so even though I think it would be great if devices and platforms... Read more

I am composing this blog entry on an iPad. That is all. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program. Read more

From XKCD via AKMA. Read more

I am grateful to Eerdmans for sending me a review copy of James R. Edwards’ book The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition. Edwards’ book seeks to bring much-deserved attention back to a text that is mentioned often in Patristic sources and was the subject of much interest in earlier scholarship, but which has in our time become relatively neglected, namely the claim (found as early as Papias) that Matthew wrote a Gospel in Hebrew. After an introduction... Read more

I have been delighted to see discussion of online and electronic textbooks spreading through the biblioblogosphere. It seems to have begun with a Tweet from Brooke Lester, and then spread in particular to NT Blog and AKMA. I have been spending a lot of time lately looking into the educational use not only of the usual software and media but also some that are less frequently mentioned in such contexts, as well as some that do not seem to exist... Read more

The “Recent Comments” feature in Blogger was displaying some very non-recent comments, so I removed it. I could make my own using the comments feed, but before doing so I thought I’d ask whether anyone actually visits the blog and looks to see if there are any recent comments. If not, presumably it would be better to have one less thing in the sidebar. Let me know if you have an opinion about this! Read more

I just finished watching the movie Invictus. It is incredibly inspirational, and so let me just share the poem by William Ernest Henley that inspired Nelson Mandela in prison, and which gives its name to the movie. “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under... Read more

Andrew Perriman has an interesting post about how the usual meaning of the term skēnopoios, translated in the English versions of the Acts of the Apostles as “tent-maker” (Acts 18:3), is a stagehand or maker of theatrical scenery. If that were Paul’s profession, how might we think differently about him? How might it change the way we think about his activity of proclamation of the Christian message? I’m particularly intrigued that this might connect with Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:1 that “Christ... Read more

“A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!” — Proverbs 27:14 (New Living Translation) This post is for anyone who has awoken to – or more precisely, has been awoken by – this sound:For such a tiny bird, the Carolina Wren is impressively loud.[Bonus points if they have ever made a nest and laid eggs in one of your pots with artificial flowers. While their cheerful loud greeting in the morning can be... Read more