My colleague Sean Boisen reminds us all that BibleTech:2008 is coming.

I have one talk/paper at the conference, the overly-generically-named Locating New Testament Cross-References: Some Strategies. My abstract isn't much help either:

This talk examines the feasibility of locating related passages in the New Testament using various measures. The focus will be on strategy and results, not on the nitty-gritty details of the code.

Well, I've actually written the paper now so I have a better idea of what I'm going to say. I still need to make the powerpoint slides and such. But here's the introduction to give you a better flavor of what's what:

Marginal cross-references have long been a feature of several Bibles in print. Each of the myriad versions has some edition with “marginal cross-references” or “center-column cross-references”. Yet electronic editions, apart from those reproducing data available in printed editions, have not done a good job of complementing the text with relevant cross-references. Most electronic editions of Bibles are centered on the words of the text and not its presentation or on supplying ancillary data to help in the study of the text.

This paper largely restricts itself to discussing New Testament cross-references to the New Testament. Different approaches, from “no-tech” to “low-tech” to (keeping the rhythm) “mo’-tech”, will be examined (each in differing degrees). Discussion of necessary data and even ideas about sources are provided at relevant points.

But first, it is necessary to note that there are several different types of cross-references, and perhaps even several different “levels” of cross-referencing. Cross-referencing can be between key words in a text (perhaps even down to key words in a book/author); it can be between similar phrases; it can be topically oriented. But even tables of Gospel parallels are cross-references of a sort.

This paper takes a sort of “shotgun” approach, mentioning several ideas on different styles or sources of cross-references and even providing worked examples of many. But we will move quickly from idea to idea. In other words, the presentation will be wide, not deep.

Today is my sweet Amy's birthday. It also happens to be our 18-month anniversary! So double reason for celebrating!

I love you, sweetie, and can't imagine life without you. Happy Birthday!

I'm stoked about this! Now, before you say anything, I know that Witherington has published volumes in his series with publishers other than Eerdmans (And yes, I know that deSilva did the Hebrews volume for the Eerdmans). But c'mon, how can you not be excited about it?

The Socio-Rhetorical Commentary Series offers the first sustained attempt to read and study the New Testament as both an ancient biography (as regards the Gospels) and as a from of ancient rhetoric. A socio-rhetorical interpretation considers the methods of rhetorical criticism and social-science criticism. The rhetorical method makes use of ancient or classical writings and strategies of persuasion and the communication of meaning. The social science method notes the issues surrounding the identification of the network of social relations (cultures and customs) in regards to the biblical text. The New Testament, in this series by William B. Eerdman’s Publishing Company, is interpreted within the context of the world in which it was written and read. The commentaries endeavor to give us a glimpse into the methods the gospel writers used in persuading their audience that Jesus was the Savior of the world, and it puts in context the purpose of the Pauline letters. Ben Witherington III contributes to the first six volumes, and David A. deSilva adds his commentary to the last volume in the series.

Don't know about this? Learn more about Ben Witherington III from his website and his blog.

It has been far too long since I've posted pictures of my sweet daughter. So ... here you go!

Ella and Amy in the beginning of December, when we had some snow.
I love this picture!

Ella in the shopping cart at Wal-Mart

Ella in the shopping cart at Fred Meyer

Isn't she a cutie?

A friend just pointed this out to me, sitting on an FTP server at National Geographic.

It's hi-res images of what appear to be all of the pages of Codex Tchacos, which contains the Coptic of the Gospel of Judas. My guess is that these images match the plates in the Critical Edition of the Gospel of Judas, but if anyone is doing serious work with the Coptic of Judas (or any of the other documents in Codex Tchacos) then you probably want these images instead.

And, while we're on manuscript stuff, have y'all seen the online edition of Codex Gigas? (hat tip: Mark @ Biblical Studies and Technological Tools blog) If not, you should. It is way cool! Have fun playing with the "Browse the Manuscript" feature. Also: I didn't know that Gigas had editions of Antiquities of the Jews and Wars of the Jews in Latin, amongst other stuff. How cool is that? Here all along I'd just thought it was a Latin Bible.

Since Chris Brady (Targuman) proposed the idea of International Biblical Studies Writing Month (IBSWM), all the cool kids have been posting their projects.

I have at least one that qualifies. My paper for BibleTech:2008 is on locating cross-references in the New Testament; that is my IBSWM project. It is now mostly done (but mostly written in January!). I'll be sure to post a copy after BibleTech:2008 (so, after Jan 26)

I have another writing (blogging) project bubbling in my head, but hesitate to mention it here for fear that I might not get started on it during IBSWM (if ever).

Back in October, I mentioned a book on WWII in Sicily and Italy, Rick Atkinson's The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (amazon.com). I've been reading it off and on, mainly when I can have large chunks of time to focus on it — books like these aren't books you can spend 15 minutes on at a chunk.

If you have any historical interest in WWII, then you need to read this book. It is focused on the Sicilian and Italian campaigns, primarily from an Allied perspective but Atkinson routinely brings in data from German sources as well. I learned oh-so-much about the war on those fronts; a war that lurks in the shadows of the annals of history due to the prominence of the Normandy landings (which began two days after Rome fell) and the grind through France and Germany.

There were portions that weren't easy to read. It was a bloody, bloody war of attrition. But you don't read books like this because they make you feel chipper; you read books like this to understand the sorts of things that WWII was about, and how nasty it was (for both sides), and how necessary it was. And to hope that it never happens again.

Atkinson is an incredible researcher, and his synthesis of literally thousands of sources into an overarching, flowing, well-written historical narrative is amazing. He won the Pulitzer prize for the first volume in his Liberation Trilogy series, An Army at Dawn (amazon.com), which focused on the beginning of American involvement in the WWII European theater, and thus the war in Northern Africa. That book was amazing. Day of Battle (amazon.com) is better. Atkinson's projected third volume, if I understand it correctly, will focus on D-Day preparations and the liberation of France and war in Germany. How he'll pack that into one volume I have no idea — but I'll be queued up to buy it when it's published.

Bonus: Here's a picture of me with Ike, Monty and other WWII luminaries:

Chris Brady, who writes the blog Targuman, has posted BSC:XXV. Do rush and take a look at it, he's done a fine job stitching together the carnival tent this month. Chris is also the Biblioblogger of the Month for January 2008; so head to Biblioblogs.com to learn more about the "fine Jewish boy" behind Targuman.

Also note that Kevin P. Edgecomb of the blog biblicalia will be doing BSC:XXVI; keep your eyes peeled for carnival-worthy posts to nominate for that carnival. Why? Well, Kevin writes:

Okay, so, get busy writing good stuff and start sending me nominations for the next carnival, or, by the showering stars of the Geminids, I swear I’ll make stuff up. I have a vivid imagination, too.

Looks like the 2008 carnivals are off to a roaring start!