Edward Cook (Ralph the Sacred River) posts a rant about atheists, liberals and "orthodox folks". He catches sentiment that I feel from time to time too. The upshot seems to be about defending orthodoxy and Christian faith, and how some quarters seem to do a lot of defending, and others do a lot of permitting.

I'm reminded of a recent review (h/t: Bob and Eli) of Richard Dawkins' new book, The God Delusion, posted by the London Review of Books. The author of the review is Terry Eagleton. And if you wanted to read someone's literary smack-down of Dawkins' tripe, then you should read the review. Here's the opening sentence — and it gets better from there:

Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology.

As you read, you'll realize Eagleton likely lies on the 'liberal' side of Cook's dichotomy.

Yes, I realize I'm a bit late here (the conferences were a month ago!) but I said I'd do it, so here's the list.

• Jesus and the Eyewitnesses by Richard Bauckham. What a book! Lots to interact with in this one, and I'm thoroughly enjoying reading it. Also note Chris Tilling's series on the book with interaction from the Bauck-meister himself.
• Apologetic Discourse and the Scribal Tradition by Wayne Kannaday. I'm looking forward to this one.
• The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins by Larry Hurtado. I've read the preface and the premise sounds interesting. And, it's Hurtado so it's gotta be good.
• Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: Volume I by Ben Witherington III. The essay on pseudepigrapha has been worth the price of admission.
• The Letters to Timothy and Titus (NICNT) by Philip Towner
• A Textual Guide to the New Testament by Roger L. Omanson

A few others are on order (one on Paul and First Century Letter Writing from IVP, and Chrys Caragounis on the Development of NT Greek from Baker). Look for me to write more about Bauckham's book in the future (though not likely right away ... ).

My old laptop is in the process of giving up the ghost (monitor freakiness) so it was time to take the plunge and buy a new laptop.

It was also time to get some serious hard drive space. With Brannan child #1 on the way in May, Daddy will need some serious drive space to archive every waking moment of the surely-to-be-beautiful child and its antics.

So I purchased a Western Digital 250GB My Book Essential Edition external hard drive. This thing is beautiful and I'm looking forward to setting it up. I plan on reformatting it (it comes formatted for FAT32; I want to make it NTFS) but that shouldn't be an issue. Apart from that (which is completely optional) it's just plugging into the computer's USB port. How cool is that?

If you're interested in more info or reviews, click the below link to hit Amazon's page with descriptions and reviews. It could make an excellent Christmas present for just about anyone who needs some serious drive space relief but doesn't want to mess with swapping out internal drives and all that jazz.

In the home group Bible study I attend, we wrapped up Colossians last week Friday, looking at the bulk of chapter 4. Below is a hastily compiled translation/outline (I'd probably change a few things) but it should suffice to post here.

Translation/Outline

2 Τῇ προσευχῇ προσκαρτερεῖτε,
2 Continue steadfastly in prayer,
   γρηγοροῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ,
   be alert with thanksgiving in this,
   3 προσευχόμενοι ἅμα καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν,
   3 praying at the same time for us,
      ἵνα ὁ θεὸς ἀνοίξῃ ἡμῖν θύραν τοῦ λόγου λαλῆσαι τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ Χριστοῦ,
      that God might open to us a door for the word to speak the mystery of Christ,
         διʼ ὃ καὶ δέδεμαι,
         (because of this I have been imprisoned)
      4 ἵνα φανερώσω αὐτὸ ὡς δεῖ με λαλῆσαι.
      4 and that I might make it plain as is necessary for me to speak.

5 Ἐν σοφίᾳ περιπατεῖτε πρὸς τοὺς ἔξω τὸν καιρὸν ἐξαγοραζόμενοι.
5 Walk in wisdom concerning those who are outside, making the most of the time.

6 ὁ λόγος ὑμῶν πάντοτε ἐν χάριτι,
6 Let your speech always be gracious,
   ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος,
   seasoned with salt,
   εἰδέναι πῶς δεῖ ὑμᾶς ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ ἀποκρίνεσθαι.
   so that you may know how you should answer each one.

7 Τὰ κατʼ ἐμὲ πάντα γνωρίσει ὑμῖν Τύχικος
7 Concerning me, Tychicus will make everything known to you.
   ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἀδελφὸς
   He is a beloved brother
   καὶ πιστὸς διάκονος
   and a faithful minister
   καὶ σύνδουλος ἐν κυρίῳ,
   and a fellow-bondservant in the Lord,
      8 ὃν ἔπεμψα πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο,
      8 whom I have sent to you for this very thing,
         ἵνα γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν καὶ παρακαλέσῃ τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν,
         so that you might know about us and encourage your hearts.
   9 σὺν Ὀνησίμῳ
   9 With him, Onesimus,
      τῷ πιστῷ
      faithful
      καὶ ἀγαπητῷ ἀδελφῷ,
      and beloved brother,
      ὅς ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν·
      who is one of you:
         πάντα ὑμῖν γνωρίσουσιν τὰ ὧδε.
         they will make known to you all that has happened here.

10 Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Ἀρίσταρχος ὁ συναιχμάλωτός μου
10 Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner greets you;
   καὶ Μᾶρκος ὁ ἀνεψιὸς Βαρναβᾶ
   along with Mark, the cousin of Barnabas;
      (περὶ οὗ ἐλάβετε ἐντολάς, ἐὰν ἔλθῃ πρὸς ὑμᾶς, δέξασθε αὐτόν)
      (concerning him you have received directions — if he comes to you, welcome him)
   11 καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ λεγόμενος Ἰοῦστος,
   11 and Jesus who is called Justus.
      οἱ ὄντες ἐκ περιτομῆς,
      These men are of the circumcision,
         οὗτοι μόνοι συνεργοὶ εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ,
         they alone are fellow-workers for the Kingdom of God,
         οἵτινες ἐγενήθησάν μοι παρηγορία.
         and have been a comfort to me.

12 ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Ἐπαφρᾶς ὁ ἐξ ὑμῶν,
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, greets you;
   δοῦλος Χριστοῦ [Ἰησοῦ],
   he is a servant of Christ [Jesus],
   πάντοτε ἀγωνιζόμενος ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐν ταῖς προσευχαῖς,
   always agonizing on your behalf in prayers,
      ἵνα σταθῆτε τέλειοι καὶ πεπληροφορημένοι ἐν παντὶ θελήματι τοῦ θεοῦ.
      so that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

13 μαρτυρῶ γὰρ αὐτῷ
13 For I testify of him
   ὅτι ἔχει πολὺν πόνον ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ καὶ τῶν ἐν Ἱεραπόλει.
   that he has done incredible work on your behalf and those in Laodicea and those in Heirapolis.

14 ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς Λουκᾶς ὁ ἰατρὸς ὁ ἀγαπητὸς
14 Luke the beloved physician greets you,
   καὶ Δημᾶς.
   as does Demas.

15 Ἀσπάσασθε τοὺς ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ ἀδελφοὺς
15 Send my greetings to the believers in Laodicea,
   καὶ Νύμφαν
   and to Nympha as well,
   καὶ τὴν κατʼ οἶκον αὐτῆς ἐκκλησίαν.
   and to the gathering that meets in her house.

16 καὶ ὅταν ἀναγνωσθῇ παρʼ ὑμῖν ἡ ἐπιστολή,
16 When this letter has been read among you,
   ποιήσατε ἵνα καὶ ἐν τῇ Λαοδικέων ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀναγνωσθῇ,
   make it so that the ones at the gathering in Laodicea read it,
   καὶ τὴν ἐκ Λαοδικείας
   and that of the Laodiceans,
      ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀναγνῶτε.
      see that you read it.

17 καὶ εἴπατε Ἀρχίππῳ·
17 And say to Archippus:
   βλέπε τὴν διακονίαν ἣν παρέλαβες ἐν κυρίῳ,
   Regarding your ministry, which you recieved in the Lord,
      ἵνα αὐτὴν πληροῖς.
      [see to it] that it is fulfilled.

18 Ὁ ἀσπασμὸς τῇ ἐμῇ χειρὶ Παύλου.
18 This greeting [is written] with the hand of Paul:

   μνημονεύετέ μου τῶν δεσμῶν.
   Remember my chains.

   ἡ χάρις μεθʼ ὑμῶν.
   Grace be with you all.

Notes/Etc

A few things jumped out at me when I read this. First was the language that Paul used to describe his faithful associates. In particular, that Onesimus was not described as a fellow bond-servant as Tychicus was. Paul's letter to Philemon provides the reason for that, I'd posit.

Verses 7-9 stand out to me as excellent. There is an inclusio with repeated phraseology (πάντα γνωρίσει ὑμῖν / πάντα ὑμῖν γνωρίσουσιν) along with similar phrasing in the middle (last line of v. 8, γνῶτε τὰ περὶ ἡμῶν). The descriptions of Tychicus and Onesimus use similar language — each are beloved brothers — though Onesimus, as mentioned above, is not called a σύνδουλος.

Also, the information we can glean about churches and letters is interesting. We see here that there was a gathering that met in Nympha's house. The idea of a house-church, at least in some communities, seems affirmed. And note the reference to another letter, to the church of Laodicea. This means that letters from Paul (and perhaps other apostles) were being exchanged between churches, providing a glimpse that perhaps the bit in 2 Peter about letters of Paul has foundation.

Lastly, the section of greetings was interesting as I've recently looked into the so-called "Greeting Form" (occurring in concentrations here and in Romans 16).

It's that time of year.

The Economist released their list of "Books of the year 2006". Not much sounds interesting to me, save the de Tocqueville biography, and that won't even be published in the US until March 2007 ... though you can buy it from Amazon today. If you're really interested, get it from Amazon.co.uk and have it shipped to the states.

But hey, I've got an armload of books (and then some) that I bought at ETS and SBL. I'll probably blog that list later since I've yet to do that.

No, I'm not starting some "Quote of the Day" feature. But here's a good excerpt from Robertson's Grammar (did you know it is available from Logos?) that I had to post:

It is not necessary to give in detail many examples of the articular inf. in the N. T. I merely wish to repeat that, when the article does occur with the inf., it should have its real force. Often this will make extremely awkward English, as in Lu. 2:27, ἐν τῷ εἰσαγαγεῖν τοὺς γονεῖς τὸ παιδίον. But the Greek has no concern about the English or German. It is simply slovenliness not to try to see the thing from the Greek standpoint. But we are not to make a slavish rendering. Translation should be idiomatic. It is hardly worth while to warn the inept that there is no connection between the article τό and the English to in a sentence like Ph. 1:21, ἑμοὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῆν Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν κέρδος. Here the article τό has just the effect that the Greek article has with any abstract substantive, that of distinction or contrast. Life and death (living and dying) are set over against each other. See further Mt. 24:45; Lu. 24:29; Ac. 3:12; 10:25; 14:9; 21:12; 25:11; Ro. 4:11, 13, 16, 18; 13:8; 14:21; 2 Cor. 8:10 f.; 9:1; Ph. 1:23, 29; 2:6; 4:10; 1 Th. 3:2 f.
Robertson, A. (1919; 2006). A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research (1065). Logos.

Update (2006-12-08): Really, this isn't going to be a daily feature. I just read another good one and need to blog it. This is from Donald Guthrie's essay, "The Development of the Idea of Canonical Pseudepigraphy in New Testament Criticism" (available online at BiblicalStudies.org.uk):

... The fact is that Baur's literary criticism was dominated by his dogmatic presuppositions and since these had to be maintained at all costs, it was no embarassment that pseudepigraphic writings became more normal in the extant Pauline Canon than genuine works. (Guthrie, p. 46)

Jim West did it, so did Stephen Carlson. Loren Rosson did it too. I figured I had to do it as well. So I took the quiz.

Turns out that I'm an "Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm". I'm described as:

You're probably in the final stages of a Ph.D. or otherwise finding a way to make your living out of reading. You are one of the literati. Other people's grammatical mistakes make you insane.

Fairly accurate, apart from the bit about being in the final stages of a Ph.D., though I suppose I have found a way to make a living from my tastes in reading.

The blog hyperekperisou has published the first Patristics Carnival. It is patterned after the Biblical Studies Carnival (on which see Dr. Jim West's installment for December ... excellent job, Jim; apologies for not mentioning it sooner).

I was actually mentioned on the Patristics Carnival, for my current look at the Didache. This was a mixed blessing, however, because it painfully reminded me about the languishing of that particular series. Yes, I do need pick that one up again. December is always a busy month, but I'll see what I can do.