Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Dearest Friends —

Christmas is upon us.

Advertising circulars are circulating. Christmas trees are available for purchase in grocery store parking lots. Happy music can be heard just about everywhere; some of it even proclaims the truth that lies behind the ages.

For some (including myself) this year has overflowed with blessings. For others, tough times have been the norm. For many, the year has been lived within the happy middle; nothing too exciting and nothing too scary.

Yet we come to this time of the year when many celebrate Christmas with cards, gifts, smiles and parties. Extended families that rarely see each other gather for merry times together. Yet how many who claim our faith actually stop to consider the wonder and blessing of the hopeful event we proclaim?

Hope pervades the event of the birth of the Christ. Have you considered this?

The Apostle Paul points us to this in his letter to the Ephesians (2.1-10). The two words at the start of verse 4—“But God”—are some of the sweetest words I know.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (ESV)

Prior to Christ, we were dead. Upon the advent of Christ, we have hope. Prior to Christ, salvation was inaccessible. We were dead in our trespasses and sins. But with Christ, we have hope of life eternal.

This is the gospel. And this is the truth proclaimed by the incarnation of the Son of God, that day some 2000 years ago. And I praise God for supplying this hope, for providing the faith by which I have hope, and the love by which I love Him.

During this Christmas “season”, I must ask myself: Does the hope get lost in the hustle and bustle of card-sending, gift-buying and party-going? And outside of this season, does the hope get lost amidst the blog-writing, book-reading, paper-writing and busy-ness of each day?

So many times, particularly when interacting in the circles of Biblical Studies, we forget about the forest because we concentrate on the trees (and branches, and bark). I know this happens to me. I read the first chapters of Luke and think about the synoptic problem and Q, not the wonder and glory of my Lord and Saviour.

May the hope of Christ our salvation strike us all anew this year as we remember the accounts of Christ's birth and realize that he arrived to give us hope, to save us from sin.

If you have not yet heard of this hope, if you have not understood the necessity of it, may the Holy Spirit proclaim it to you this Christmas.

Blessings to you and those you love as we celebrate Christ's birth.

— Rick

Post Author: rico
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 10:58:19 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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I live and work in Bellingham. The city owns a parking garage that happens to be across the street from Logos, so that's where I park (thanks again to Logos for footing employee's parking bills!).

The parking garage (called the Parkade) is a five-story concrete structure. Each floor is divided into two parts (north and south, let's say), and the floors spiral (er, sort of) up.

Ever since Logos has been in Bellingham, I've had problems remembering where I park inside the parkade. It led to establishing the practice of always parking on the north side of the building, whether I was on floor 2, 3 or 4. I could generally remember which floor I was on, but not the side of the floor.

Am I getting old? I don't know, but I think intelligence lies in realizing one's limitations and working within them.

In the past month or so, I've realized that I can remember both floor and garage side I park in if I go home for lunch. That is, I can remember floor and side (say, 3 south, where I just parked) for either the time of morning to lunch, or lunch to evening — but I have problems remembering both items all day long. As I go home for lunch on most days to see my sweetie, this means I have effectively been opened up to park in the whole parkade instead of just half of it!

This was driven home (pun intended) to me in the past week when I didn't go home for lunch. At the end of the day, I had forgotten which floor I parked on. I went up one flight of stairs too many and had to backtrack downstairs to the previous floor.

By the time I'm to the office, my mind has usually started on a problem or two so I don't think too much about where I parked, specifically. I guess the marginal utility of parking location decreases because, if I forget, I can always figure out where I parked with a little effort up or down the stairs.

Of course, if I start forgetting that I actually parked in the garage, then we know things have gotten real bad. Hopefully that's a long way off.

Post Author: rico
Tuesday, December 19, 2006 8:57:20 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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 Friday, December 15, 2006

Here's a question someone out there in ye olde biblioblogosphere may be able to give me some direction on.

Has anyone seriously proposed and defended (or eviscerated ... I'm equal opportunity here) Paul as one of Luke's sources for the portion of Acts that deals with Paul? I realize (based on the 'we' passages, right?) that Luke himself could be primary source ... but aren't there portions where Luke wasn't with Paul? And couldn't some of those portions likely be traced back to Paul's own testimony?

After all, if you take the epistles attributed to Paul at their word, Luke and Paul were in contact with each other or actually with each other (cf. Col 4.14; 2Ti 4.11; Phm 24). Most do attribute Philemon to Paul, so even if one thinks Colossians and Second Timothy are non-Pauline, one still has to contend with the reference in Philemon.

If you have any pointers here (articles, books, commentaries with good initial discussions, or NT intro volumes, or anything else) I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!

Update (2006-12-18): Upon re-reading this entry, I think I need to supply a little more context for my request. The long and short of it is that I've been reading Bauckham's Jesus and the Eyewitnesses and thinking about the different ways that Bauckham posits eyewitness testimony in the text, and wondering about eyewitness testimony outside of the gospels. Acts seems the logical place to start poking around for various reasons I won't get into here.

So, I was wondering if anyone knew of any similar sort of work in Acts, but I'm guessing there isn't much (else Bauckham would've footnoted it).

Update II (2006-12-21): After a trip up north to the TWU Library, I am now reading H.J. Cadbury's The Making of Luke-Acts. I know it is a bit dated, but hopefully it'll provide some background. If anyone has similar references or pointers to criticism of Cadbury's work, I'd be obliged. Thanks!

Post Author: rico
Saturday, December 16, 2006 12:13:38 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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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.

Post Author: rico
Friday, December 15, 2006 6:41:13 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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 Wednesday, December 13, 2006

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.

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 ... ).

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Post Author: rico
Thursday, December 14, 2006 3:32:48 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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 Tuesday, December 12, 2006

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.

 

Post Author: rico
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 11:44:56 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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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).

Post Author: rico
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 8:04:15 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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 Monday, December 11, 2006

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.

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Post Author: rico
Monday, December 11, 2006 8:00:26 PM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00) 

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