Professor Bainbridge links to The Questioning Christian, which links to a longish Paul Graham essay entitled “The Age of the Essay”.

The essay is worth the read. One of the basic ideas is that the process of writing the essay formalizes thought. The essay isn't an argument, with a topic/thesis, support, and conclusion (sorry, Mrs. Adams,** I guess you got it wrong). The essay involves exploring a question or an idea, examining different aspects of it, and arriving at conclusions or clarification of ideas based on the process of writing. The essay isn't the destination, it's the journey.

I've always considered writing to be beneficial in the role of clarifying thought; Mr. Graham puts words on paper mostly reflective of my point of view. This is one of the reasons why I blog. I know most folks out there don't give a whit about the stuff I write; but it helps me immensely when thinking about issues, small or large. Consider this excerpt from Mr. Graham's essay:

If all you want to do is figure things out, why do you need to write anything, though? Why not just sit and think? Well, there precisely is Montaigne's great discovery. Expressing ideas helps to form them. Indeed, helps is far too weak a word. Most of what ends up in my essays I only thought of when I sat down to write them. That's why I write them.

In the things you write in school you are, in theory, merely explaining yourself to the reader. In a real essay you're writing for yourself. You're thinking out loud.

But not quite. Just as inviting people over forces you to clean up your apartment, writing something that other people will read forces you to think well. So it does matter to have an audience. The things I've written just for myself are no good. They tend to peter out. When I run into difficulties, I find I conclude with a few vague questions and then drift off to get a cup of tea.

Wow, he is so right on track here. I do exactly the same thing unless I know I have an audience. This is why I've invited some close friends to help me by commiting to read drafts of what I write for the Pastoral Epistles and then come over to my house to talk about what I've written. It helps the process immensely, and a better product is the result.

** Mrs. Adams was my 10th grade English/composition teacher.

At the recommendation of a friend, I'm reading Donald Hagner's New Testament Exegesis and Research: A Guide for Seminarians. Now, I'm not in seminary, but I figure it's ok for me to read anyway; it may help me in my study on the Pastoral Epistles. I haven't read too much of the book (it's short) beyond the first chapter, though I've skimmed through the whole thing.

In the first chapter, Hagner lays out his five-step exegetical method for the NT. For the most part, this is all sound, solid stuff -- I'm not questioning the method. But I do have some questions regarding implementation. First, the five steps:

1. Grammar; Form/Structure
2. Textual Criticism and Lexical Study
3. Source Criticism; Form Criticism; Redactional Analysis
4. Historical/Cultural Background
5. Theological Synthesis and Implications

Ok, steps 1 & 2 are done; basically synthesized into the jumble that I've called “Lexical Notes”. Sweet. Step 4 is obvious and I've done some reading there, too. And I'm in the process of step 5.

Step 3 confuses me, though. I'm not quite sure what is meant by doing “Source Criticism”, “Form Criticism” or “Redactional Analysis” on Paulines. In the Gospels, sure, I have some conception of these things. But in the Pastorals? I'm lost.

I suppose Harrison's The Problem of the Pastoral Epistles deals with “Source Criticism” in that he posits external fragmentary sources for some parts of the Pastorals, and a “dedicated Paulinist” who composed the balance. I don't agree with Harrison's thesis, but I'm familiar with it. But beyond that, what does it mean to do “source criticism” in the Pastorals?

The same question for “Form Criticism”. There are a few things available on different “forms” of things in the Pastorals. For instance, the “Faithful Sayings” (George Knight & H.B. Swete have that covered); there are also some catalogues of virtue and vice in the Pastorals. I suppose I could also compare them with other similar Pauline catalogues. Does “Form Criticism” as applied to the Pastorals simply mean looking at that stuff? Again, I have a conception of what it means in the Gospels, but I just don't see an easy application outside of the Gospels.

The same goes for “Redaction Analysis”. I suppose Harrison may have some application here again, but that almost seems like a cop-out. And I'm disinterested because I've looked at Harrison's stuff and don't agree with him.

I guess it comes down to this: Unless there's a hypothetical Q-like source posited as the basis of the 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus (don't worry, I'm not going to propose one) and unless these three letters are really just re-hashing that hypothetical source ... I'm not quite sure how step 3 applies.

I want to be somewhat thorough in my approach, however, so I want to know what I'm missing. If you know, please clue me in and erase my ignorance.

Codex Argentus is a sixth-century Gothic MSS. It is unique in that the vellum(?) is purple, and the lettering is silver and gold.

There's a facsimile online. There are a few pages representative of the actual color of the MSS; but the facsimile edition has its contrast such that the letters can actually be read ... well, if you know Gothic.

Kudos to Hypotyposes for the link to the Codex Argentus page at Uppsala University.

While we're on the topic of Gothic, my colleague Eli Evans has designed a Gothic font called Gotisch (bottom of the page). If you're at all interested in Gothic you may be interested in the font.

A few weeks back, I had some comments about 2 Clement and 'double'. These are the passages that say something like “to yourself and your hearers”. 1Ti 4.16 uses language like this.

Well ... let's add Ignatius to the Ephesians to the list. Here's IgEph 16.1-2:

¹ Be not deceived, my brethren. Corrupters of houses shall not inherit the kingdom of God. ² If then they which do these things after the flesh are put to death, how much more if a man through evil doctrine corrupt the faith of God for which Jesus Christ was crucified. Such a man, having defiled himself, shall go into the unquenchable fire; and in like manner also shall he that hearkeneth unto him. (IEp 16)

The language in Lightfoot is somewhat archaic, it's the last bit of v. 2 I'm concerned with. Here's how Ehrman translates it: 

 ... Such a person is filthy and will depart into the unquenchable fire; so too the one who listens to him.

Of course, the logical explanation for all of this is that the listener has a responsibility to critically evaluate what he is being taught. And this is true, for what it is worth.

But still, teachers have an increased responsibility precisely because those being taught are more likely to rely on the teachings of a few. If a sincere, well-meaning person puts his trust in the snake-oil of an insincere teacher, then the insincere teacher is responsible for them both. Likewise, if a teacher is well-intentioned but misguided, that teacher is still responsbile for the content of his teaching. And if the sincere listener is caught up, then there are consequences.

I'm going to be keeping my eyes open for more of this sort of stuff.

Stories about customer service may well become a running feature on ricoblog. Or not.

Anyway, this is more of the white board story. On my white-board search I also went to Home Depot. Hey, why not check, right? They might have had the super-groovy 4x8 sheets of white board material, which would've been really awesome.

As I was wandering in the lumber section with 'nary an orange apron to be seen, I heard at least two people mutter, “now if I could only find someone to help me”. There was an older lady fighting with some lumber trying to get it into her cart. There was nobody around. As I walked by I asked her if I could help. Unfortunately I was about five minutes too late — she'd just managed to get what she needed in her cart. “Oh, do you work here?!” she said. “No, but you looked like you could use some help. Are you sure I can't help you with that?” “No”, she said, “I just need to get to the place where they cut lumber now, I've got what I need. But thanks for asking!”

What is it about providing good customer service that is so hard? I saw small groups of orange-aproned Home Depot employees milling about other sections, but the lumber section — you know, the one with the really big bulky stuff — was almost totally void of any employees. I did see one employee in that section; he looked frazzled and was in the process of helping an older gentleman with some stuff. Too bad there weren't three more employees in that area to help folks out.

If you're interested, see BobPritchett.com for other customer service stories.

Went to Wal-Mart today to look for a white board. I remembered how much I dislike that place. Too many people, stuffed in a store with too much stuff and aisles that are too narrow. There's no way to get in & out quick; the aisles are so narrow that you can't get around the folks who are simply meandering about. They've got too much junk in the middle of aisles and it clogs the place up. So when the family of four stops to check out something stuffed in the middle of the aisle, the only place they can stop to look at it is to just stop in the middle of everything ... and in-and-out-quick guy (that's me) is stuck.

I hate Wal-Mart.

And their white boards are too small. 3'x2' was the biggest they had. I want 3'x4', at least.

Since I'm studying the Pastoral Epistles, and since I'm interested in the Apostolic Fathers, and since Paul wrote 1 Timothy to Timothy while he was in Ephesus ... it makes sense to at least look at Ignatius to the Ephesians, right?

So, during lunch today, that's exactly what I did. I'm not going to comment in-depth on the material, just point to some interesting passages.

First, IgEph 9.1:

¹ But I have learned that certain persons passed through you from yonder, bringing evil doctrine; whom ye suffered not to sow seed in you, for ye stopped your ears, so that ye might not receive the seed sown by them; forasmuch as ye are stones of a temple, which were prepared beforehand for a building of God the Father, being hoisted up to the heights through the engine of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross, and using for a rope the Holy Spirit; while your faith is your windlass, and love is the way that leadeth up to God.

The italics are mine. I find this interesting in light of 1Ti 1.3-11, where Paul instructs Timothy to deal with those in Ephesus who are teaching false doctrine. Apparently Timothy (and his successors) did the job if Ignatius' testimony has any merit. Considering the date of Ignatius' martyrdom to be anywhere from 98-117 AD (Holmes' range, though he quotes another who offers a range of 118-137 AD), and doing some backwards math ... the traditional date of the Pastorals (63-65 AD) makes sense. After all, if the Ephesians were in the shape that First Timothy leads us to believe (false teachers as prominent and needing to be dealt with), then that leaves some time (30-50 years) to completely turn the church around and establish them on a strong footing ... and establish a reputation as far away as Antioch (Ignatius' episcopate).

Of course, that is a stretch. But it is an interesting thought (to me) nonetheless. 

More on Ignatius to the Ephesians later.

I changed a few things with the Apostolic Fathers Lookup.

It still works exactly as it did before. However, instead of defaulting to English when no language (or an invalid language) is supplied, it now defaults to a two-column presentation, with English on the left and Greek on the right.

There are a few cases where this is problematic (e.g. MPoly 22.1-4, where the English has four verses but the Greek has three), but overall it should not be noticeable.

So, if you use the tool to display readings from the Apostolic Fathers, you shouldn't have to change a thing. If you'd like to display the two-column text, simply remove the “lang” attribute from your jump string. For instance, like this:

http://www.supakoo.com/rick/af.asp?af=MPoly+22.1-4

Enjoy!