NT Gateway Weblog

I've just been surfing around the InterVarsity Press web site and came across a large section of it devoted to this series:

Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

The project is described in the following way:

The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture does what very few of today's students of the Bible could do for themselves. With the aid of computer technology, the vast array of writings from the church fathers--including much that is available only in the ancient languages--have been combed for their comment on Scripture. From these results, scholars with a deep knowledge of the fathers and a heart for the church have hand-selected material for each volume, shaping, annotating and introducing it to today's readers. Each portion of commentary has been chosen for its salient insight, its rhetorical power and its faithful representation of the consensual exegesis of the early church.

You can read more about the project on the site; it is now about three-quarters complete and most of the NT volumes are out. It is a very useful site and a good example to other publishers on how to catch an academic's interest. There are not only full details of each of the volumes but also lots of excerpts from them, for example these PDFs:

Christopher A. Hall and Thomas C. Oden, Introduction to Mark

Arthur Just, Introduction to Luke

For the full list of what is available, go to the Volumes and Editors page and then click on individual titles to read the excerpts, which always include the introductions and some sample commentary. Also on the site is a nice list of useful web sites:

Links to Related Web sites

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Tim Bulkeley emails to mention that he is trying to get together a 60-90 minute slot with 15 minite presentations and panel discussion around the theme "e-gesis: the impact of computer mediated communication on biblical interpretation" for the forthcoming Association Internationale Bible et Informatique conference in Leuven, 23-24 July. The call for papers is available here:

Association Internationale Bible et Informatique
AIBI-7 CALL For PAPERS 2004, 23-24 juillet 2004, K.u.Leuven (Belgique)

Tim mentions this in Sansblogue here:

Studying the Bible in an Electronic World

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Two years ago I was lucky to be consultant on an excellent BBC Radio 4 series called In the Footsteps of Saint Paul, produced by Phil Pegum and presented by Edward Stourton. British readers will know Ed Stourton from BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Stourton has now produced his own book based on the series and it is reviewed in this week's Tablet by Karen Armstrong:

Sympathy for a maligned disciple
In the Footsteps of Saint Paul
Edward Stourton
Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99

I myself made this journey some 20 years ago, at the very beginning of my own career as a writer and religious historian. When I was invited to make this television series by Channel 4, I was still sceptical about faith and hostile to religion. This, I thought, was my chance to tell St Paul exactly what I thought of him: it was he who had transformed the loving message of the gospels into a hard, authoritarian dogma, and had in the process bequeathed to the Christian Churches some of their worst failings, such as anti-Semitism, misogyny, and a preoccupation with complex doctrine.

Instead, in the course of my journey, I found that I had to revise these prejudiced opinions and discovered, much to my surprise, that by the end of the trip I felt very close to Paul. Stourton seems to have had a similar experience. This is not a scholarly book. Stourton recoils in mock horror from the crowded bookshelves that are positively groaning under the weight of heavy tomes on New Testament scholarship. It is a pity that he did not take the time to read a few of them. Biblical criticism need not be a dry-as-dust discipline; it can lead to intellectual illumination and new spiritual insight. Stourton, however, has relied on the works of a couple of doughty Victorian clergymen, some travelogues and a few modern scholars. Nevertheless this is a genial, attractive and highly readable introduction to the life and times of Paul and will dispel some of the common misapprehensions about his contribution to Christian history.

It is good to see Armstrong not only endorsing Stourton's refusal to engage in Paul-bashing but also speaking well of the value of reading some New Testament scholarship. Armstrong herself reads widely and so is not to be faulted for herself not being bang up to date on that scholarship when she writes later in the review:

Paul did not see Jesus as a divine figure, and neither did the other New Testament writers, with the possible exception of St John. St Luke, who is the evangelist whose theology is closest to Paul’s, simply calls Jesus a prophet, even after the Resurrection. There is usually a clear distinction in the texts between Jesus, the Kyrios Christos, and God himself.

In the light of Bauckham, Wright and now most prominently Larry Hurtado, this may well need rethinking.

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On Xtalk, Jim West points to this review of Tom Wright's book on the resurrection from Human Events Online:

Gibson's Passion Then Wright's Resurrection
by James C. Roberts

This is essentially a sympathetic summary of Wright's book, and is useful for that.

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John S. Kloppenborg has made available on his homepage PDFs of several of his recent articles:

John S. Kloppenborg Publications:

“Isa 5:1-7 LXX and Mark 12:1, 9, Again.” Novum Testamentum 46/1 (2004): 12-19

“On Dispensing with Q? Goodacre on the Relation of Luke to Matthew,” New Testament Studies 49/2 (2003): 210-236

“Egyptian Viticultural Practices and the Citation of Isa 5:1-7 in Mark 12:1-9.” Novum Testamentum 44/1 (2002): 134-159

-- with Robert A. Derrenbacker, Jr. “Self-Contradiction in the IQP? A Reply to Michael Goulder.” Journal of Biblical Literature 120 (2001): 57-76

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I mentioned the Jesus Box documentary the other day. It was broadcast earlier today and you can now listen it archived on-line:

The Jesus Box

The programme is presented by Jerome Murphy O'Connor and produced by Adele Armstrong. It's about 28 minutes long and well worth a listen, especially if you have been following the James ossuary saga over the last eighteen months or so. Murphy O'Connor patiently takes one through the story and the evidence and does not express an opinion of his own at any stage, and finally leaves the question of authenticity open.

He interviews Oded Golan twice, once at the beginning of the programme and once at the end. He also speaks to André Lemaire and Hershel Shanks and gives a good deal of air time to Yuval Goren of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who makes clear that he thinks that the box itself is 2,000 years old but that the inscription is not. He speaks about the ways in which an individual could scan in to a computer ossuary inscriptions, manipulate the chosen ones using photoshop, produce a transparency and then etch the result into the box. At this point, Murphy O'Connor asks if this is what Goren thinks Oded Golan did. Goren says that he does not know if this is what Golan did, but he knows that it is clear that this is what the forger did. However, later in the programme, Goren explains about the items that were found in Golan's apartment and includes among these computer equipment that could have been used in the way described.

Gabriel Barkay also appears as a critic of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) and there is also an interview with Amos Bein, director of the Geological Survey of Israel. Murphy O' Connor also speaks to a dealer in antiquities (couldn't hear his name) and there is some speculation on whether the IAA have come down heavily on Golan because they are very keen to clamp down on looting, and see going after antiquities dealers as a good way to do this.

Towards the end of the programme, Murphy O'Connor puts the question to Yuval Goren: what is the evidence against Golan? Murphy O'Connor says that he was shown materials but that the IAA subsequently asked him not to use the recorded material in the programme. But they assert that they think they have enough to put Golan behind bars (their phrase).

Murphy O'Connor then returns to Oded Golan, who says that he is restricted in the answers he is allowed to give. When he is asked, "Did you forge the Jesus box?" he replies, "Of course not." Golan says that he wants to go to court to clear his name. Meanwhile the IAA say that they are only "weeks away" from charging him with forging Jesus box but also whole multitude of other artifacts too, including Jehoash tablet. The programme concludes with some discussion of the politicization of the whole antiquities business.

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As I have commented before (e.g. here), Visual Bible International's next planned project has been The Gospel of Mark. VBI are the group who produced Matthew and The Gospel of John. But now it seems that The Gospel of Mark may be running into trouble. This is from the Globe and Mail

Drabinsky sequel a question Mark
By JAMES ADAMS

Cash-flow difficulties at Visual Bible International appear to have halted plans by former theatre impresario Garth Drabinsky to produce a "sequel" to The Gospel of John . . .

. . . . Yesterday, however, a spokesperson for Visual Bible International said that a decision hasn't been made as to what VBI's next production will be. It "may or may not be The Gospel of Mark," she said . . . .

A call earlier this week to the Los Angeles agent of Henry Ian Cusick, the actor who starred as Jesus in The Gospel of John and was touted to play him again in Mark, revealed that its client has "received no offer. " A spokesperson for Toronto Film Studios, where many of the interiors of The Gospel of John were shot, said "we haven't been contacted yet" by VBI about booking space this summer or fall. Moreover, an advisory committee of scholars used to comment on the accuracy and authenticity of VBI scripts has yet to discuss or approve a third draft of the Mark script prepared by John Goldsmith, the British screenwriter of The Gospel of John.

Visual Bible has been rocked in recent months by en masse resignations of its board of directors and poorer-than-anticipated sales of the three-disc DVD and three-tape VHS sets of The Gospel of John that went into retail outlets across North America April 6. In a filing made April 23 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, VBI said that unless sales of its John DVD/video set improve considerably -- as of last month, it had "generated in excess of $5-million in sales"-- and additional capital is raised, it "will certainly be in default [on its debts] and may be forced to cease its operations." . . . .

I'll keep a look out for news on this. As a fan of The Gospel of John, I'd be sorry to see the plans for Mark dropped.

There are more on Visual Bible International's problems in this article, also from the Globe and Mail:

Falling sales, criticism dog Drabinsky venture
Visual Bible left with only one director as company admits it's in trouble
By PAUL WALDIE

As sales stalled, the company's board has been embroiled in controversy. In February, Toronto businessman Steven Small quit as chairman and sent a letter, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, strongly criticizing the company. A few weeks later, four other directors quit -- including former Ontario Premier Mike Harris and Elly Reisman, a Toronto developer whose group is owed about $14-million (U.S.). Only one director remains.

This report also reveals that the chief academic consultant on The Gospel of John, Peter Richardson, has resigned from the board:

Among the many advisers on the project were Peter Richardson, a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto's Department of Religious Studies. At the film's opening, he said the film's producers "caught the atmosphere better than I would ever have dreamed that they could do."

Prof. Richardson resigned from the board in March. He was unavailable for comment yesterday.

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The Gospel of John has been out for months in the USA and Canada, indeed long before The Passion of the Christ. But the film remains pretty much unheard of in UK and elsewhere. This may now be about to change. According to an article in Variety, Global Cinema Group has now acquired international distribution rights. Full )short) article here (subscription):

Global to preach 'Gospel' to int'l markets
Plummer-narrated pic reunites Cineplex Odeon exex
By CATHY DUNKLEY

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Details on the Housing and Registration for this year's SBL Annual Meeting are now available:

SBL 2004 Annual Meeting

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Latest from SBL Review of Biblical Literature include:

Bailey, Kenneth E.
Jacob & the Prodigal: How Jesus Retold Israel's Story
Reviewed by David Reed

Bevere, Allen R.
Sharing in the Inheritance: Identity and the Moral Life in Colossians
Reviewed by Moyer Hubbard

Grant, Robert M.
Paul in the Roman World: The Conflict at Corinth
Reviewed by Moses Taiwo

Hock, Ronald F. and Edward N. O'Neil, eds.
The Chreia and Ancient Rhetoric: Classroom Exercises
Reviewed by Allen Kerkeslager

Kraftchick, Steven J.
Jude, 2 Peter
Reviewed by Thomas J. Kraus

Painter, John, R. Alan Culpepper and Fernando F. Segovia, eds.
Word, Theology, and Community in John
Reviewed by Steven A. Hunt

Pao, David W.
Acts and the Isaianic New Exodus
Reviewed by James P. Sweeney

Skarsaune, Oskar
In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity
Reviewed by Daniel E. Goodman

Fee, Gordon D.
To What End Exegesis?: Essays Textual, Exegetical, and Theological
Reviewed by Craig D. Bowman

Moore-Jumonville, Robert
The Hermeneutics of Historical Distance: Mapping the Terrain of American Biblical Criticism 1880-1914
Reviewed by Alan J. Hauser

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Also on Bible Software Review Weblog, Rubén Gómez points to a blog I'd not run across before:

SansBlogue

This is Tim Bulkeley's blog. You may know him form his fine Postmodern Bible Commentary on which I heard him give an excellent presentation at last year's SBL Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. And this gives me the opportunity to mention his article on the current SBL Forum:

Hypertext and Publication in Biblical Studies

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It's good when a blog entry generates discussion elsewhere, whether in other blogs, through emails or in the blog comments feature. On this occasion one of the things under discussion is my ignorance alongside Mac users' passion -- and especially passion for Accordance. In discussing the recent Biblical Studies Bulletin 31, which contained a review of Accordance, I made some throw-away comments about Mac users' passion. The post has generated several comments here, but see also Rubén Gómez's remarks on Bible Software Review Weblog and the places he links to there. I've made a strong mental "note to self" for future reference: don't make ignorant remarks about Macs! I stand corrected. I am delighted to hear that one can right-click on a Mac, and I'll be telling my colleagues who do not have the relevant mouse to do this that they can get one. Anywyay, let me also repeat my earlier remark that I appreciate Rubén Gómez's informed and balanced comments.

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It is the tenth anniversary of the ordination of women. Yesterday, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave a sermon in which he gets inside the mind of Mary Magdalene. Ruth Gledhill excerpts the sermon on today's Times:

The lament of the Magdalene, a scorned woman in another time
Ruth Gledhill

But you can read the complete sermon on the Archbishop of Canterbury's web site:

Sermon to mark the 10th anniversary of the ordination of women
Sunday 16 May 2004

But it’s harder with the ones who know me better, the ones who knew him better. They remember who I was, they remember the seven devils. When they listen to me, they think, ‘Yes, she lived in a world of terror and fantasy and pain all those years, she’s had a life that’s been so damaged, you can’t really be surprised if she’s still only half in touch with normality.’

They’ll say that and mean it kindly, of course. It’s true; I lived with devils, I was being eaten alive from the inside for years. Normality? I don’t know what it means really. But which of us does? I think most people are being eaten alive most of the time, but they don’t notice it. I just didn’t have the defences, didn’t have the language or whatever. I just gave in, and let my mind fill up with strangers, with voices accusing me and screaming at me. Perhaps it’s what most people only know when they have nightmares, the feeling of being completely helpless, completely despised and hated. Only I had it all day and every day . . . .

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This is another one sent in by Holger Szesnat:

Excerpts from the "The New Testament,An Orthodox Perspective"
Volume One: Scripture, Tradition, Hermeneutics
Theodore G. Stylianopoulos

Although it says "excerpts", it looks like the whole of Volume One.

This is on the Holy Trinity Orthodox School web site and it features lots more full-text material under "Textbooks", including:

Edgar J. Goodspeed, A History of Early Christian Literature

It is very useful to have this available on-line. The site does not give any indication of the full bibliographical details, unfortunately. It is worth adding that Peter Kirby has available on the Early Christian Writings web site another of Goodspeed's books:

Edgar J. Goodspeed, An Introduction to the New Testament (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1937)

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Thanks to Holger Szesnat for this URL change:

Journal of Theology for Southern Africa

Now adjusted on the Journals page.

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The Tyndale House web site has details of a new post available in Cambridge:

Sir Kirby Laing Senior NT Lectureship (PDF file)

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