I forget where I saw mention of this, but I filed a note away to blog about it, so that's what I'm doing.

(Update: Of course, it was Mike Aquilina who blogged about it in the middle of June. Thanks, Mike!)

Looks like Hendrickson is getting ready to release A Patristic Greek Reader (amazon.com) by Rodney Whitacre. This sounds really good. Here's the book description from Amazon:

The heart of this book is a selection of Greek texts from early Christian writers, accompanied by notes so that a person with one year of Greek can read the texts. Basic translations of the texts are also provided so that readers can check their work. A list of words used 50+ times in the New Testament and the principal parts of several verbs is included.

The Greek selections represent a variety of styles and levels of difficulty. The notes also vary, with very extensive notes provided in some cases.

Passages that have played a major role in the history of Christian thought are included, as well as passages that contribute to matters of spirituality and pastoral care. Several passages are of more purely historical interest.

The author includes an introduction to the writings of the early Church to help orient readers to the writings of the Fathers in general and also give the rationale for the particular selections included in the book. Each selection also has a brief introduction discussing its historical setting and content. A brief bibliography is included for patristics in general, for the particular selections included, and for Greek tools a person would need for continued reading in such material.

The primary readership for A Patristic Greek Reader (amazon.com) are those who have studied Greek in order to read the New Testament. However, the book would also be of interest to those studying the Classics and could be used by anyone as a brief introduction to some samples of early Christian thought.

This may be the only book available that provides such translation notes for selections from the Greek fathers.

So, if you want to beef up your Greek and dig into some of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers at the same time, give A Patristic Greek Reader (amazon.com) a try. Though note it has a ship date of Sept. 30, 2007, so you won't be able to read it right away.

I'd been hearing about Facebook for awhile and thinking that maybe I needed to take the plunge.

Then I read that James Tauber got facebook-itized, so I figured I'd better go willingly before being compelled to do so.

If I haven't sent you a friend request and you'd like to connect, then look me up. The address I used is the one I use for the blog: textgeek gmail com; you know what to put where.

On July 22, 2006, I married the love of my life. The past year has been nothing but bliss, sweetie. I wouldn't trade any of it.

I love you more today than yesterday. Happy First Anniversary!

The weekly dose of cute baby pictures for our friends and relatives who read the blog. The second one is my favorite!

This morning the Logos Bible Software blog announced the BibleTech 2008 conference. It'll take place January 25-26 in Seattle, WA.

While Logos is the primary conference sponsor (disclaimer: I work for Logos), the conference is not about Logos Bible Software. It is designed for those who are interested in the intersection of the Bible and technology. So this could be professionals, hobbyists, publishers, bloggers, webmasters, educators or just about anyone else. If you're interested in the Bible and technology, no matter where you are, what you do, or who you work for, we'd love to see you in Seattle.

Several folks have already agreed to present. I'm most interested to hear from James Tauber (general XML/Python stud and co-creator of MorphGNT.org) and Zack Hubert (creator of zhubert.com).

The call for participation is open. Have an itch you'd like to scratch, or a cool side project you'd like to present? Then submit your ideas. I know I've got a few different ideas a-brewin'.

Lyle Lovett, from his song "This Old Porch". I'm listening to his "Anthology Vol. 1: Cowboy Man (amazon.com)", though it was originally on his 1986 self-titled release (amazon.com). Here's the verse:

This old porch is like a steamin', greasy plate of enchiladas
With lots of cheese and onions, and guacamole salad
And you can get 'em down at the La Salle Hotel in old downtown
With iced tea and a waitress, and she will smile every time

I can't tell you why I like this, but I'll try. Each verse of the song uses scenes like this to describe the comfort of sitting on an old porch. In this verse, can't you just taste the stuff he's describing, and picture the setting?

Each verse is great, but for some reason — perhaps because I think I can actually smell the "steamin', greasy plate of enchiladas" every time he sings the line — I like this verse the best.

I just came across this most interesting resource: Treasury of the New Testament.

Though in reality, it is only on John 1-15 (and doesn't look like it will grow fast at all, at least based on the "what's new" page).

If you're familiar with the concept behind IVP's Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Series (ACCS) then this will be interesting to you. It looks like someone has interspersed (and footnoted) patristic commentary — in Greek — inside of the Gospel of John. The gospel text is that of the Orthodox Church, I'm guessing.

This is very cool, at least to me. It means I can feel good about reading the John portions but can stretch myself on the patristic portions.

So check it out. Here's John 3 for starters.

Enjoy!