Thursday, December 31, 2009
My gift to me came today! Happy New Year!
Yes, I am warped. I actually bought the new five-volume New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible! :-)
--ER
--ER
A bloody rerun!
Worth repeating, from ER, January 2008. I think these are still my thoughts on these issues and images regarding atonement, blood atonement, and so on.
--ER
--ER
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
If Dick Cheney was in charge of fighting the Ku Klux Klan, the Southern states would still be occupied territories and vassals of the Union -- STFU!
Sorry, what we are fighting, in terrorism, is not a GD war. Treating it like a war is stoopid. Treat it like a disease! Treat it like a disease! And killing everybody who carries a disease is not the way to treat a disease.
Not in a free (more or less) society, anyway!
--ER
Not in a free (more or less) society, anyway!
--ER
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
At the Chair, at the Chair, where I first saw the light ...
Friend of mine, a pastor, has been going off about just driving past the Tallest Cross in Texas, off Interstate 40 in the Panhandle.
He wants to buy land adjacent and erect a huge electric chair.
I'd chip in.
I wonder if anyone of the people whose necks, cars and skin are decked with crosses realizes that it's the equivalent, executionwise, of wearing an electric chair, or a noose, on a chain around the neck, or on a bumpersticker, or on a shoulder.
Before I thought much about it, the bloodiness of the Cross made me squeamish. Now that I think about it, it just makes me wonder: How can anyone find glory in any kind of capital punishment.
Atonement? Amen. Blood atonement? Barbaric.
--ER
He wants to buy land adjacent and erect a huge electric chair.
I'd chip in.
I wonder if anyone of the people whose necks, cars and skin are decked with crosses realizes that it's the equivalent, executionwise, of wearing an electric chair, or a noose, on a chain around the neck, or on a bumpersticker, or on a shoulder.
Before I thought much about it, the bloodiness of the Cross made me squeamish. Now that I think about it, it just makes me wonder: How can anyone find glory in any kind of capital punishment.
Atonement? Amen. Blood atonement? Barbaric.
--ER
Monday, December 28, 2009
Take Oklahoma's 2 U.S. senators ...
Saturday, December 26, 2009
'The Case for Christ,' by Lee Strobel
Not bad, for what it is. But cheesy almost to the point of smarminess.
YB, my son-in-law, agnostic, more or less, had it foisted on him by some young earth creationists of his acquaintance. I told him I'd get him somethin' better. Feel free to make your own recommendations in the comments!
--ER
YB, my son-in-law, agnostic, more or less, had it foisted on him by some young earth creationists of his acquaintance. I told him I'd get him somethin' better. Feel free to make your own recommendations in the comments!
--ER
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas, y'all and all!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Giant Lizard Attacks Oklahoma!
A white Christmas! And I'm in balmy Houston. It figures!
Lizard warning from National Weather Service, Norman, OK
December 24, 2009 at 9:50 am
LIZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST THIS EVENING…
…WINTER SWARM WARNING IS CANCELLED…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A LIZARD
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST THIS EVENING. THIS
REPLACES THE WINTER SWARM WARNING WHICH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* TIMING: ALL OF TODAY AND THIS EVENING
* MAIN IMPACT: HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW…LOW VISIBILITY AND
STRONG WINDS WITH WIND GUSTS OF 45 TO 55 MPH. LIZARD CONDITIONS
AT TIMES. SNOWFALL WILL AVERAGE 4 TO 8 INCHES…BUT SOUTHERN
OKLAHOMA MAY RECEIVE 8 TO 11 INCHES…GENERALLY BETWEEN LAWTON
AND PAULS VALLEY.
* OTHER IMPACTS: A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEEZE WILL BE
POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AS THE
PRECIPITATION TRANSITIONS FROM RAIN TO SNOW.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A LIZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS…MAKING GROVELING EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT GROVEL. IF
YOU MUST…HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL SKIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED…STAY WITH YOUR VEEHICKLE.
--ER
Lizard warning from National Weather Service, Norman, OK
December 24, 2009 at 9:50 am
LIZARD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST THIS EVENING…
…WINTER SWARM WARNING IS CANCELLED…
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A LIZARD
WARNING…WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST THIS EVENING. THIS
REPLACES THE WINTER SWARM WARNING WHICH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.
* TIMING: ALL OF TODAY AND THIS EVENING
* MAIN IMPACT: HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW…LOW VISIBILITY AND
STRONG WINDS WITH WIND GUSTS OF 45 TO 55 MPH. LIZARD CONDITIONS
AT TIMES. SNOWFALL WILL AVERAGE 4 TO 8 INCHES…BUT SOUTHERN
OKLAHOMA MAY RECEIVE 8 TO 11 INCHES…GENERALLY BETWEEN LAWTON
AND PAULS VALLEY.
* OTHER IMPACTS: A PERIOD OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEEZE WILL BE
POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AS THE
PRECIPITATION TRANSITIONS FROM RAIN TO SNOW.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
A LIZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS
AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT
CONDITIONS…MAKING GROVELING EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT GROVEL. IF
YOU MUST…HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL SKIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET
STRANDED…STAY WITH YOUR VEEHICKLE.
--ER
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
I hate it, but I agree with the Conservative Action Project on the health insurance bill
"Mandating that individuals must obtain health insurance, and imposing any penalty – civil or criminal – on any private citizen for not purchasing health insurance is not authorized by any provision of the U.S. Constitution."
I think the public option might have kept the mandate from being unconstitutional, which is probably why it was fought so hard.
Name another instance where the federal government forces individiduals, under pain of fine or imprisonment, to purchase any other good or service from a private, for-profit provider. I can't think of any.
--ER
I think the public option might have kept the mandate from being unconstitutional, which is probably why it was fought so hard.
Name another instance where the federal government forces individiduals, under pain of fine or imprisonment, to purchase any other good or service from a private, for-profit provider. I can't think of any.
--ER
Monday, December 21, 2009
Let Obama be Bartlet!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
In my next life ...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Kill the bill: The Whole Ass or No Ass Atall
The healthcare reform bill.
Obama, as DrLobo pointed out, is doing what he said he would do: He said he would lead by consensus.
Now, you can't lead by consensus if not everybody concedes. Ergo, with no public option, the libs in the Senate need to vote NO.
The last thing anybody should want is to make things worse, and making things worse is what's going to happen if they don't stand up, and then campaign on how they, again, saved the country -- by saying NO to a half-assed approach.
Campaign slogan: Democrats: A Full Ass or No Ass Atall!
--ER
Obama, as DrLobo pointed out, is doing what he said he would do: He said he would lead by consensus.
Now, you can't lead by consensus if not everybody concedes. Ergo, with no public option, the libs in the Senate need to vote NO.
The last thing anybody should want is to make things worse, and making things worse is what's going to happen if they don't stand up, and then campaign on how they, again, saved the country -- by saying NO to a half-assed approach.
Campaign slogan: Democrats: A Full Ass or No Ass Atall!
--ER
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Restoration movement: Restore what?
So, I'm reading a history of the Restoration movement.
I understand the rebellion against church heirarchies, bishoprics, presbyteries, and so on. But then I grew up in one congregational tradition (Southern Baptist) and sojourn now within another congregational tradition (United Church of Christ.)
I understand the desire to "restore" Christianity to its "New Testament" -- that is, first-century -- habits and ways of thinking.
I understand the need to look to the New Testament scriptures, as received, for clues as to how to do that. I did that very thing in one of the seminary classes I just finished.
What I don't get is this: If the aim is to rely on the New Testament scriptures for hints and clues, that's one thing. But since the first New Testament Christians, that is, first-century Christians, didn't have the New Testament scriptures, how and why and where was the justification for the Restoration leaders -- whether Campbell or Stone of Raccoon John -- to insist that the New Testtment as a whole be relied on in determining what the customs, patterns and habits of the earliest church should be??
Because the whole shootin' match had changed and was splitting in a bunch of different directions before the Five Gospels, and the others, were even written.
Makes me nuts, this veneration of the Bible that gets tangled up in the idea of the Word of God and almost always devolves into Bible worship.
If the only God you know is the God you've read about, then all you've done is read about God.
If the only Jesus you know is the Jesus you've read about, then all you've done is read about Jesus.
If the only Holy Spirit you know is the Holy Spirit you've read about, then all you've done is read about the Holy Spirit.
--ER
I understand the rebellion against church heirarchies, bishoprics, presbyteries, and so on. But then I grew up in one congregational tradition (Southern Baptist) and sojourn now within another congregational tradition (United Church of Christ.)
I understand the desire to "restore" Christianity to its "New Testament" -- that is, first-century -- habits and ways of thinking.
I understand the need to look to the New Testament scriptures, as received, for clues as to how to do that. I did that very thing in one of the seminary classes I just finished.
What I don't get is this: If the aim is to rely on the New Testament scriptures for hints and clues, that's one thing. But since the first New Testament Christians, that is, first-century Christians, didn't have the New Testament scriptures, how and why and where was the justification for the Restoration leaders -- whether Campbell or Stone of Raccoon John -- to insist that the New Testtment as a whole be relied on in determining what the customs, patterns and habits of the earliest church should be??
Because the whole shootin' match had changed and was splitting in a bunch of different directions before the Five Gospels, and the others, were even written.
Makes me nuts, this veneration of the Bible that gets tangled up in the idea of the Word of God and almost always devolves into Bible worship.
If the only God you know is the God you've read about, then all you've done is read about God.
If the only Jesus you know is the Jesus you've read about, then all you've done is read about Jesus.
If the only Holy Spirit you know is the Holy Spirit you've read about, then all you've done is read about the Holy Spirit.
--ER
Friday, December 11, 2009
ER could *so* become a Hebrew Bible scholar
I mean, you know, if I learned the language and everything. Getting to use a Hebrew font in my exegesis paper RAWKED, as brother Luke would say.
But, who knew this stuff was so dang interesting? :-)
(At right: Eastern Orthodox icon of Elijah.)
Good vibes, happy-happy thoughts and prayers, please. Intro to Hebrew Bible final in 2 1/2 hours! High noon to 4 p.m. (Oklahoma time).
BTW, Luke has posted one of his sermons here. It's great. Check it out.)
--ER
Monday, December 07, 2009
Thank the gods!
Last homework assignment for Intro to Hebrew Bible!
It's all over but the 4-hour final! Woo hoo!
Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 319-340.
Group: Blue
I. Vital Statistics for Texts (titles, dates, places)
Egyptian love songs, 1290-1224 BCE, in rooms that Ramesses II added to the Karnak Temple, excavated in early 20th century near the present city of Luxor in Egypt.
Stories of Ishtar and Tammuz, 700s-600s BCE, palace of Sennacherib and library of Ashurbanipal, in Nimrud. Assyria, excavated in 1845, near present Mosul, Iraq.
Visions of Neferti, composed 1991-1962 BCE, setting 2500s-2100s and 1900s-1700s, BCE.
II. Summary of Content, with relevant examples
Egyptian love songs: “The songs are full of images of touching, tasting, smelling, hearing, and seeing. … Even though Egypt’s love songs may be a thousand years older than those in the Song of Songs, the parallels are unmistakable (321).” Provocative, sensual language: “My cup is still not full from making love with you … I will not stop drinking your love, even if they beat me with sticks into the marsh … I will not abandon the one I desire.”
Stories of Ishtar and Tammuz: Ishtar, fertility goddess, and Tammuz, god of vegetation, are lovers separated by death but reunited by love. Tammuz descends, by stages, to the land of death to mark the long dry season, and Ishtar faithfully goes to rescue him and “the tears of Ishtar in the land of the dead bring Tammuz back to life (330).” Prophetic language: “When Ishtar reached the gate of the Land of No Return, she challenged the gatekeeper, saying, ‘Open your gate so I may enter! If you fail to do this, I will smash the door. I will shatter the bolt … I will cause the dead to rise and consume the living. The dead will outnumber the living!’ ”
Visions of Neferti: Prophecies of monarchical downfalls and risings: “But a new pharaoh will come from the south, Amenenhet the Triumphant will be his name. A son of southern Egypt will wear the white crown, a son of Nubia will wear the red crown. He will unite the two lands of Egypt …”
III. Significance of Texts for Biblical Studies
Parallels to Song of Solomon, Esther and Ruth; the biblical prophets; and the biblical wisdom books.
--ER
It's all over but the 4-hour final! Woo hoo!
Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels, 319-340.
Group: Blue
I. Vital Statistics for Texts (titles, dates, places)
Egyptian love songs, 1290-1224 BCE, in rooms that Ramesses II added to the Karnak Temple, excavated in early 20th century near the present city of Luxor in Egypt.
Stories of Ishtar and Tammuz, 700s-600s BCE, palace of Sennacherib and library of Ashurbanipal, in Nimrud. Assyria, excavated in 1845, near present Mosul, Iraq.
Visions of Neferti, composed 1991-1962 BCE, setting 2500s-2100s and 1900s-1700s, BCE.
II. Summary of Content, with relevant examples
Egyptian love songs: “The songs are full of images of touching, tasting, smelling, hearing, and seeing. … Even though Egypt’s love songs may be a thousand years older than those in the Song of Songs, the parallels are unmistakable (321).” Provocative, sensual language: “My cup is still not full from making love with you … I will not stop drinking your love, even if they beat me with sticks into the marsh … I will not abandon the one I desire.”
Stories of Ishtar and Tammuz: Ishtar, fertility goddess, and Tammuz, god of vegetation, are lovers separated by death but reunited by love. Tammuz descends, by stages, to the land of death to mark the long dry season, and Ishtar faithfully goes to rescue him and “the tears of Ishtar in the land of the dead bring Tammuz back to life (330).” Prophetic language: “When Ishtar reached the gate of the Land of No Return, she challenged the gatekeeper, saying, ‘Open your gate so I may enter! If you fail to do this, I will smash the door. I will shatter the bolt … I will cause the dead to rise and consume the living. The dead will outnumber the living!’ ”
Visions of Neferti: Prophecies of monarchical downfalls and risings: “But a new pharaoh will come from the south, Amenenhet the Triumphant will be his name. A son of southern Egypt will wear the white crown, a son of Nubia will wear the red crown. He will unite the two lands of Egypt …”
III. Significance of Texts for Biblical Studies
Parallels to Song of Solomon, Esther and Ruth; the biblical prophets; and the biblical wisdom books.
--ER
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Blind and stupid lead the blind and stupid in 'Conservative Bible' project
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Forward, march! Take Seminary Hill No. 1!
One paper due Saturday.
One paper due Tuesday.
One paper due a week from Friday.
A 3 1/2-hour final exam next week.
I'm behind on work-work.
Our tree is not up.
Our house is not Griswolded.
Uphill all the way from today until a week from Friday!
Forward ... march!
--ER
(On a lighter note: We think God might be trying to give us another cat. Poor critter keeps whinin' outside the house, but the WonderWeinieDog of the Short Yellow Doghouse keeps spookin' her away.)
One paper due Tuesday.
One paper due a week from Friday.
A 3 1/2-hour final exam next week.
I'm behind on work-work.
Our tree is not up.
Our house is not Griswolded.
Uphill all the way from today until a week from Friday!
Forward ... march!
--ER
(On a lighter note: We think God might be trying to give us another cat. Poor critter keeps whinin' outside the house, but the WonderWeinieDog of the Short Yellow Doghouse keeps spookin' her away.)
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Ribeyes, lamb chops, cabrito, wine or beer
Hardcore Old Testament Christians would get a lot farther by emphasizing some of the do's instead of so many don'ts.
"Lord, for these cereal grains and hops, may we be truly grateful."
--ER
"Lord, for these cereal grains and hops, may we be truly grateful."
--ER
