Not much time to blog, but I did want to make a few notes:

First, Biblioblogs.com interviews Stephen C. Carlson. Read the interview. It's quick and good — good questions, good answers. Especially the one about which biblioblogs Stephen finds most interesting.*

Second, if you're into Greek and syntax, you've got to see this. If you're wondering why I'm not blogging much, that's one of the things taking up my time.

Third, worry not Hebrew syntax dudes (and dudettes). Check this out.

Fourth, if you've read ricoblog for awhile, you may recall some of my episodes in the realm of plumbing. Well ... more plumbing. Had a leak in a pipe in my front yard. Well beyond my skill, so I had to call in the plumbing ninja. I went with Favinger Plumbing in Bellingham, though Sullivan Plumbing seemed nice/capable, they were too busy (a not altogether bad sign). But kudos to Sullivan's for great customer service -- they directed me to Favinger knowing that I probably couldn't wait for them to get a plumbing ninja available. Plumber dude from Favinger did the trick quickly, professionally and with a smile on his face. All systems are go!

* And thanks for the mention, Stephen! Looks like I'll have to get busy and start back in with more interesting questions. I'm brewin' a few, hopefully I'll get one of 'em posted in the next week or so.

Well, not likely — I trust J.B. Lightfoot on this one.

Still, I just noted the following text that was recently uploaded to Project Gutenberg:

The Ignatian Epistles Entirely Spurious: A Reply to The Right Rev. Dr. Lightfoot, Bishop of Durham, by W.D. Killen

Here's an excerpt from the Preface:

This little volume is respectfully submitted to the candid consideration of all who take an interest in theological inquiries, under the impression that it will throw some additional light on a subject which has long created much discussion.  ... I [Killen] freely acknowledge the eminent services which Dr. Lightfoot has rendered to the Christian Church by his labours as a Commentator on Scripture, and it is therefore all the more important that the serious errors of a writer so distinguished should not be permitted to pass unchallenged.  All who love the faith once delivered to the saints, may be expected to regard with deference the letters of a martyr who lived on the borders of the apostolic age; but these Ignatian Epistles betray indications of a very different original, for they reveal a spirit of which no enlightened Christian can approve, and promulgate principles which would sanction the boldest assumptions of ecclesiastical despotism.  In a work published by me many years ago, I have pointed out the marks of their imposture; and I have since seen no cause to change my views.  Regarding all these letters as forgeries from beginning to end, I have endeavoured, in the following pages, to expose the fallacy of the arguments by which Dr. Lightfoot has attempted their vindication.

Sounds like Mr. Killen had a problem with Ignatian ecclesiology to me. Haven't read this, don't know if I will — but it will be interesting to see how convincing Killen's argument really is. From the preface, I'd guess he's going to argue that the state of church structure/order indicated by Ignatius' stuff is a later tyranny imposed by the Catholic church in order to justify a highly ordered (read: Pope & Bishops & Cardinals, oh my!) church structure from an early date. Again, I don't know that, but that's what I'd guess at this point.

Lightfoot was a big-time stud (and his arguments make sense); I think I'll go with him over this other guy.

Cruising the Logos Bible Software newsgroups this morning (news://news.logos.com) I noticed that a user posted a link to a review of a museum exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibit (reviewed by the New York Times) is called Prague: The Crown of Bohemia: 1347-1437.

Diarmaid MacCullough's book The Reformation: A History (listed at Amazon for only $13.98, which is an incredible price for a hardcover book of this nature. I'd highly recommend purchasing if you have any interest in the history of the Reformation!) traces some of the history of Bohemia, so historical names, places and events mentioned in the review are familar to me.

The NYT review is great (though some portions are a bit much) and makes me wish I was there so I could go. Please check it out, and make sure to hit the slideshow for a few images — the badge from the Order of the Dragon is really cool!

Update (2005-09-27): Bob Pritchett, spending some time on holiday on the east coast, just called me to rub it in. He was in New York, wondering what to do for the day, so he decided to take the family to see the exhibit. He said it was pretty cool. But he didn't even get me any gift shop swag as thanks for pointing him there ...

Hi Folks.

You've no doubt noticed that I haven't been blogging much lately. The blogging dearth will continue, I think, until the ETS and AAR/SBL conferences.

That's not to say I won't blog, but I won't be blogging as frequently as I have in the past few months.

I've got a lot of stuff on my plate for the conferences (both for Logos [check it out!] and for myself) so I'll be keeping busy.

By the way, if you read ricoblog, and you'll be at either (or both) of the conferences, feel free to drop by the Logos booth and look for me. Or if you'd like to schedule a meeting, let me know. I'd love talking with you further about any common interests we may have.

Aye, lads & lassies, today be the day ye be talkin' like pirates!

If'n ye don't speak the pirate talk, hearken yer browsers smartly to the starboard and be viewin' the Pirate-speak How-to.

Just checked the referrer logs and noticed that I've been linked to from daveblackonline. Dave has written a lot of cool stuff (check his book list), so I'm happy to find that he's linked here. I'd link back to the exact article, but it has no link anchor. So find the section for September 17, 2005, then find the paragraph that was entered at 7:53 AM. 

Thanks, Dave!

He linked to this entry I wrote about Erasmus' edition of the NT. If you're visiting from Dave's blog (or elsewhere!) and dig that sort of stuff, check out what I've written on Textual Criticism and Greek stuff in general. And be sure to pop ricoblog into your feed reader (use the RSS/ATOM links on the right).

Mark Goodacre (NT Gateway Weblog) posts a press release from Fortress Press about George Nickelsburg's updated book, Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah.

The press release briefly mentions that the book comes with a CDRom containing the material in the book and more stuff.

I'd like to note that the CDRom uses the Libronix Digital Library System and is thus fully Logos Bible Software compatible. You can pick up this product from Fortress Press, in bookstores, or from Logos Bible Software — where we like to think the electronic version comes with a free paperback edition of the book!

For a list of more electronic titles published by Fortress Press that come with a free paperback edition of the book (19 of 'em!) check out this list (they're available in this collected group, or individually).

Some of this stuff is pretty cool: Brueggemann's Theology of the Old Testament? Danker's Multipurpose Tools for Bible Study? Check out the full list for more gems.

Update (2005-09-22): In the comments, Ben asks about linking within the Logos version of Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Mishnah. I don't know if I'm really supposed to do this, but since I have access to a version internally, I took a screen capture. Hopefully this will answer Ben's question:

Through a post on B-Greek, I've become aware of SIL's Journal of Translation. Articles for 2005 (two issues, four articles per issue) are online as PDF files. The Editor's Forward to Issue 1 Notes:

Welcome to the long-awaited launching of SIL’s Journal of Translation. In one sense, this is a replacement for Notes on Translation, as it provides an outlet for academic writing and research in this field. But JOT is truly different. It is a peer-reviewed, academic e-journal which incorporates recent investigations and discoveries not only in translation but also in related areas of study. We initially plan to e-publish the Journal three times a year, April, August, and December.

The site is set up with excellent indexes so that all articles are indexed by title, author and subject. And the content looks pretty good too.

Now, if they just had an RSS feed or email announcements when new issues come out ...