A friend (you know who you are) sent me this link. Apparently there's a live-action “Fat Albert” movie under production.

I think any attempt to convert any successful funny cartoon (not the super-hero stuff, but comic cartoons) is ill-fated and should not be pursued. I might be wrong here, but my quick mental list of comic cartoons that have been made into live-action movies (Flintsones? Scooby-Doo?) consists of flops.

I'm willing to be proven wrong on my assertion that all such past endeavors have been flops. Drop me a comment if you've got an example of a non-flop comedic-cartoon-as-live-action-movie.

So, after a few posts yesterday on 2 Clement, I realized that I forgot to give some background of the document. So, here goes. Most of this comes from Holmes' edition of the Apostolic Fathers.

While the traditional name is “2 Clement” and traditionally it was understood to be a second epistle (letter) from Clement of Rome to the Corinthians. However, the document itself is fairly clearly a homily (sermon) instead of an epistle.

It is dated variously between 100 and 200 AD. Lightfoot puts it between 120-140 AD. The sermon is anonymous and any effort to confirm an author should be viewed as highly speculative.

I'd recommend reading a modern translation; the older translations (Lake, Lightfoot, and others you'll find online) are stilted and infused with KJV-ish language.

I'm on a committee/team/whatever looking into small group stuff for the church I'm attending. I'm supposed to figure out what other churches in the area are doing, but I'm lazy.

So, if you'd like to zap me an email or drop a comment about the basics of what your church does (if anything) in the realm of small groups or Bible studies, I'd appreciate it.

If you have any documentation or web pages you can point me to, that would be quite groovy.

Thanks!

I blogged on Luke 9.23 the other day. Reading 2 Clement at lunch today, I came across 2 Clement 6, which is essentially a short meditation on Luke 9.25 (but this is part of the homilist's larger task, of course). Again, the edition is that of Ehrman*:

1. But the Lord says, “No household servant can serve as the slave of two masters.” (Lu 16.13; Mt 6.24) If we wish to serve as slaves of both God and wealth, it is of no gain to us.
2. “For what is the advantage of acquiring the whole world while forfeiting your life?” (Mt 16.26; Mk 8.36; Lu 9.25)
3. But this age and the age to come are two enemies.
4. This one preaches adultery, depravity, avarice, and deceit, but that one renounces these things.
5. We cannot, therefore, be friends of both. We must renounce this world to obtain that one.
6. We think it better to despise the things that are here, since they are brief, short-lived, and perishable, and to love those other things, which are good and imperishable.
7. For by doing the will of Christ we will find a place of rest; on the other hand, nothing will deliver us from eternal punishment if we disobey his commandments.
8. And the Scripture also says in Ezekiel, “Even if Noah, Job, and Daniel should arise, they will not deliver their children from captivity.” (Ezk 14.14ff)
9. But if even such upright men as these cannot deliver their children through acts of righteousness, with what confidence can we enter inot the kingdom of God if we do not keep our baptism pure and undefiled? Or who will serve as our advocate, if we are not found doing what is holy and upright?

The above references Luke 9.25, which is right after the section I blogged on earlier. So, after imploring the crowd to take up their crosses daily and follow Jesus, Jesus notes that if you do follow him, you can't follow anyone else. The author of 2 Clement (er, uh ... “A Homily to the Corinthians”) expands on that thought (vv. 5-7 above). Another practical reminder of how we, as Christians, should be living our lives in submission to our only Master, Jesus Christ.

* Ehrman, Bart. The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. I. Loeb Classical Library vol. 24. Harvard University Press: Cambridge. 2003. (2Cl 6.1-9).

I was reading 2 Clement (the traditional title, folks now seem to want to call it “A Homily to the Corinthians” or something like that) during my lunch. I came across Chapter 7, which has nothing to do with the Olympic games and everything to do with “running the race” Paul-style (e.g., 1Ti 4.8-10, 2Ti 4.7), but it still seems worthy of mentioning. The translation below is that of Ehrman*:

1. So then, my brothers, we should compete in the games, knowing that the competition is at hand. Many set sail for earthly competitions but not all receive the crown — only those who labor hard and compete well.
2. We should therefore compete that we all may be crowned.
3. And so we should run the straight course, the eternal competition. Many of us should sail to it and compete, that we may receive the crown. And if all of us cannot receive the crown, we should at least come close to it.
4. We must realize that if someone is caught cheating while competing in an earthly contest, he is flogged and thrown out of the stadium.
5. What do you suppose? What will happen to the one who cheats in th eternal competition?
6. As for those who do not keep the seal of their baptism, he says: “Their worm will not die nor their fire be extinguished; and they will be a spectacle for all to see.” (Isa 66:24; cf. Mark 9:44-48).

The author of 2 Clement (er ... “Homily to the Corinthians”) is encouraging the Corinthian believers to live their faith with the same dedication, focus, and practice as those who prepare for and compete in the games. It's good advice for us, too, and especially timely with the Olympics going on right now.

Oh, and, BTW: go Iraq soccer!

* Ehrman, Bart. The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. I. Loeb Classical Library vol. 24. Harvard University Press: Cambridge. 2003. (2Cl 7.1-6).

How cool is this? Hypotyposes posts a note announcing that the NT MSS owned by the Bibelmuseum Muenster have been photographed and the images are now available online.

The images are of miniscules (cursives) and lectionaries dating from the 10th-14th centuries, and they appear to be complete representations of the MSS, not samples. It took a little for this non-German speaker to figure out the interface, but it's easy to navigate after giving it a little thought.

Check it out. This is so very cool.

BTW, if anyone knows of an online reference detailing ligatures and abbreviations used in miniscule script, I'd appreciate knowing about it, or a link, or something.

The pastor at the church I go to preached on Luke 9.18-24 today. And he mentioned something I'd never quite realized before when talking about Luke 9.23.

The Romans were in the practice of crucifying people in Jerusalem and in other areas of Israel long before the crucifixion of Jesus. Just about anyone listening to Jesus that day as he was discoursing on “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” would immediately understand the reference. They were familiar with the image of criminals and ne'er-do-wells hoofin' it to the crucifixion spot with the cross-beam lashed on their backs.

This discourse of Jesus' was not necessarily a prophecy of his mode of death, but rather an incredibly shocking lesson for his disciples. He was telling them that if they wanted to follow him, they needed to daily pick up that cross-beam and hoof it to the hill. If they truly desired to follow him, they must die daily to their own wants and desires and instead follow Christ Jesus.

While I had implicitly understood the basics of this passage, I had never before realized how familiar and dreadful the image of “take up his cross daily” could be. Think if Jesus said, “ ... latch on your electric chair daily and follow me”. That's about the cultural equivalent, I'd guess. Yikes.

So there I am, doing some writing (working on 1Ti 1.5) and I figure it's time for some tea. I'm prone to make tea in the evenings as I find it relaxing.

It's a chai spice night. I open the sealed foil packet (sorry, Bradley, no loose-leaf ... but my birthday is coming up!) and then it hits me: Chai spice tea smells exactly like Big Red gum when the package is opened.

Honestly. Really. Exactly like it.