Antiquitopia

I have been reading some Origen lately, currently his Homilies on Genesis .  In his second homily, which is about Noah, he works through all of the details of the ark's construction in both the biblical account and in traditions handed down to fill in the gaps.  One major gap that Origen notices is that there is nothing to account for all of the excrement the animals would surely expel during their tenure upon the boat.  He explains this absence as follows, Certainly since Scripture related nothing about the places which we said were set apart for the excrement of the animals, but tradition preserves some things, it will appear opportune that silence has been maintained on this about which reason may sufficiently teach of its importance.  And because it could less worthily be fitted to a spiritual meaning, rightly, therefore, Scripture, which rather fits its narratives to allegorical meanings, was silent about this. ( Genesis Homily 2; trans. Ronald E. Heine, p. 75...

Reading through Christian works from the 2nd to 4th century can often be mind-numbingly boring, but every so often, one comes across a gem.  In a much earlier post, I noted Tertullian's surprising call for tolerance of other religions - especially from a person whose own religion (emergent Christianity) was not well tolerated. Today, reading Arnobius's screed against pagan religion, he offers an interesting statement about God's gender: he claims Christians refer to God in the masculine manner out of custom or habit of speech - not as a reflection of God's nature: And yet, that no thoughtless person may raise a false accusation against us, as though we believed God whom we worship to be male - for this reason, that is, that when we speak of Him we use a masculine word, - let him understand that it is not the sex which is expressed, but His name, and its meaning according to custom, and the way in which we are in the habit of using words [alt. with familiarity of sp...

I am pleased to announce that Illinois College has approved the proposal submitted by Emily Adams (in French) and myself to take students to hike the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James) in France in Spain next summer. The travel course - or in Illinois College's parlance, "Breakaway" - is called "Journey to the End of the Earth: Hiking the Way of St. James in France and Spain" I am very excited to have this opportunity to lead this trip.  Here is a description: Hiking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela – the Way of St. James – has recently become the most recognizable and most traveled pilgrimage in modern Christianity.   While recently touted as a symbol for European unity, the Camino has a long history and provides extensive opportunities to see medieval churches, castles, palaces, ancient ruins, as well as stunning views of the countryside.   Hiking the Camino offers a multifaceted experience.   This trip would be ideal for stud...

I just saw this positive review of Seth Schwartz's latest book, The Ancient Jews from Alexander to Muhammad , a condensation of his book, Imperialism and Jewish Society .  Imperialism and Jewish Society should be required reading of any scholar of ancient Judaism, ancient Christianity, and Roman history.

Though not directly discussing the Bible or ancient texts more generally, there was a review article in the Chronicler of Higher education discussing " When Literature was Dangerous ."  The example used there is James Joyce's Ulysses, which used to be banned in the U.S. and England until the 1930s.  In the U.S. today, however, when very little is actually censured, there appears to be very little dangers in reading and writing.  At the same time, when anything goes, does anything matter?  Individual institutions may issue a ban, but there is no force behind it like there used to be.  Whereas writers in other, more totalitarian states, often risk imprisonment and execution for their work.  Where nothing goes, does everything matter? This, ultimately, raises a different issue than usually addressed in our dusty discussions of what something meant in antiquity or even how it has been received later.  It is not even limited to questions of cui bono ? Tha...

In the Marginalia, Adele Reinhartz has a short  article critiquing the recent growing tendency to translate Ioudaioi as "Judeans" rather than "Jews," the end of which she cites the most authoritative of sources to indicate when "Judean" (or "Judaean" for you Brits) should be retained: Let us restore Judean to its primary geographical meaning, as pertaining to the region of Judea and its residents. Political designations such as the Judean People’s Front, the People’s Front of Judea, the Judean Popular People’s Front, or the Popular Front of Judea would also be appropriate, as per one authoritative source (see Monty Python’s Life of Brian). Let us not make the mistake of defining Jews only in religious terms. Let us rather understand the term Jew as a complex identity marker that encompasses ethnic, political, cultural, genealogical, religious and other elements in proportions that vary among eras, regions of the world, and individuals. Let us...

Mark Goodacre has posted about his attendance of the conference on Monty Python's Life of Brian currently being held at King's College, London.  "J esus and Brian: Or, What Have the Pythons Ever Done for Us? " is investigating the intersection of the film and scholarship on the historical Jesus, New Testament, Christian origins, and the history of Judaism.  The first day finished with a Q&A with Terry Jones (who directed the film) and John Cleese.  I'm jealous of everyone there. Here is an update from day 2 of the conference.

In the wake of "what language did Jesus speak?" (Aramaic, Hebrew, with a dash of Greek?) debate, Seth Sanders offers a more complex picture of the linguistic landscape of first-century Palestine (and how searches of monolinguistic purity is a red herring and largely ideologically charged religiously and politically).  Check out his Religion Dispatches here .

I just saw that Larry Hurtado has a good-length initial review of Bart Ehrman's new book, How Jesus Became God , on his blog here .  He says he will have a fuller review in Christian Century.  I haven't read Ehrman's newest, but the review seemed fairly balanced.

I must have passed this passage by before, but today it jumped out at me: according to Hippolytus Ulysses (a.k.a. Odysseus), the trickster par excellence (though Jacob gives him a run for his money) is a model for the Christian resisting the temptation of the siren call of heresy.  He writes (using the most available, ANF translation): The pupils of these men, when they perceive the doctrines of the heretics to be like unto the ocean when tossed into waves by violence of the winds, ought to sail past in quest of the tranquil haven.  For a sea of this description is both infested with wild beasts and difficult of navigation, like, as we may say, the Sicilian (Sea), in which the legend reports were Cyclops, and Charybdis, and Scylla, and the rock of the Sirens.  Now, the poets of the Greeks allege that Ulysses sailed through (this channel), adroitly using (to his own purpose) the terribleness of these strange monsters.  For the savage cruelty (in the aspect) of these...

I have known for a while now that David M. Carr's 2011 book, The Formation of the Hebrew Bible , included most likely the very first citation of anything I wrote - in this case, my dissertation.  Luckily, this past year, someone bought me a copy of the book (it is a bit pricy), and I have been slowly working through it.  I finally got the part where he discusses the implications of my work on the relationship between the Sabbath and the Sanctuary (in the Hebrew Bible, the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, and the Epistle to the Hebrews) specifically for how I characterize the Holiness materials.  He writes: Consider, for example, the strong focus in H materials (as in Ezekiel) on Sabbath that has been outlined with particular clarity in a recent dissertation by Jared Calaway.  Resonating with similar Sabbath foci in Ezekiel, Exod 31:12-17 makes the Sabbath "covenant" a central focus of the P Sinai episode, applying to it concepts of profanation previously reserved f...

So, for Mother's Day, we've watched several musicals in a row.  One of them was Chicago.  In it, Billy Flynn, the unscrupulous lawyer who can get your off on murder (played by Richard Gere in the film version) says: "I don't mean to toot my own horn, but if Jesus Christ lived in Chicago today, and he had come to me and he had five thousand dollars, let's just say things would have turned out differently." Indeed!

In response to my last post, Mike Grondin directed me to his website, where he is keeping a timeline of important events, posts, etc., related to the Jesus Wife Fragment.  You can find this resource here .  Thanks for passing this along!

There has been a lot of recent buzz about the Jesus Wife Fragment again.  So much so that it is difficult to keep track - especially if you are busy teaching and researching other things.  But I think there are two recent thoughtful responses to read.  The first is Caroline Schroeder's interview with Anthony LeDonne ( here ), in which she discusses why she thinks it is a forgery in the aftermath of Christian Askeland's analysis of the companion fragment from the Lycopolitan Gospel of John.  The second post is one by April DeConick, who has - by and large - remained out of the free-for-all fray until now.  Her post , however, is a series of questions that gets at the methodological assumptions we are making in asserting the fragment a forgery or not.  There is so much out there at the moment that a roundup of posts would be ridiculously large, a catalogue of ships for the Jesus Wife Fragment.  I think, however, that if one reads these two posts and foll...

Ok.  I realize this is a bit old, but I just saw it for the first time and was rolling laughing.  It mocks both Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained via Jesus' resurrection.  Perhaps some will find it a bit blasphemous, but, if you think about it, it is not far away from how John of Patmos viewed Jesus in Revelation: "the Ro-mans will fear us." DJesus Uncrossed (Saturday Night Live) from razorgrind on Vimeo .

I just saw via Brian Small that there is a new review (see here ) of my book, The Sabbath and the Sanctuary , published by Nicholas Moore of Keble College, Oxford in the Journal of Theological Studies.  I, unfortunately, am not a subscriber, so I do not know what is praised and what is criticized, but am happy to see that my book continues to attract attention.

Harvard Theological Review 107 is entirely dedicated to the so-called "Gospel of Jesus' Wife."  While Karen King's article is the lead one, the more important ones would be those dedicated to the testing of papyrus and ink samples to determine whether their composition is ancient or modern.  One can read a press release here , which also contains links to the HTR 107 . The basic gist of the testing is that the papyrus and ink are consistent with 6th to 9th century CE, which removes them from "ancient" into the borderlands between late antique and early medieval.  I have yet to read the actual articles, but hopefully will have a chance in the next few days and be able to weigh in. Larry Hurtado has some helpful initial comments based upon a cursory reading of the HTR 107.  I especially appreciate his comment that we should NOT call this the " Gospel of Jesus' Wife," since there is no evidence that this was part of such a broader work, b...

I was reading through some of Tertullian this morning, and ran across this gem: However, it is a fundamental human right, a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions: one man's religion neither harms nor helps another man. It is assuredly no part of religion to compel religion - to which free will and not force should lead us - the sacrificial victims even being required of a willing mind. (To Scapula 2; ANF translation) Tertullian is speaking here of Christians being forced to offer sacrifice to Roman gods, but, as a member of a minority religion in the Roman Empire, develops this broader principle of religious freedom.  It reminds me a bit of the Quranic passage that "there is no compulsion in religion." 

If anyone who reads this blog has somehow does not also read Larry Hurtado's or April DeConick's blogs, please check into the discussion they're having about Gnostics as Christian Intellectuals. Hurtado's first post ; DeConick's  response ; Hurtado's  response to DeConick's response. Hurtado's posts predominantly raise the question of definition: what is an intellectual (and, by the way, most scholars would not fall under his definition because you have to be public - and therefore counts only those engaged in apologetics or who can draw a Greco-Roman response)?  This definition of intellectual, relying on the old distinction between a scholar and an intellectual, raises some questions for early Christian thinkers (a term I will use to cover both scholars and intellectuals). So was Origen merely a scholar - not an intellectual - until he wrote Contra Celsum ?  How truly "public" are apologetic writings?  Though Justin's apologies are...

Here is a quick question to everyone out in cyberspace.  This past week I was teaching my "Sex, Gender, and the Bible" course and we were reading Ruth (among other things). One of the things that caught a student's eye (but which did not catch mine) was Ruth 4:17, where the women of Bethlehem proclaim that the baby boy that Ruth gives birth to is Naomi's: "A son has been born to Naomi." So, some thoughts that I had that I think are all wrong: 1. This has something to do with the levirate marriage.  The problem is that the point of the levirate is that the child continues the name of the dead husband (Mahlon); not the name of the living mother-in-law.  One might argue that the levirate law has already been stretched a bit in Ruth (since it is being used for a non-Israelite), but this interpretation seems really pushing it to me. 2. This is adoption.  But the text says that Naomi becomes his nurse - and I am unaware of such "adoptions" occurri...

Anthony LeDonne has compiled a hilarious stack of honest business cards, one including yours truly.  Check them out here .  Though, I think with mine Anthony was self-projecting a bit. ;)

Perhaps I am finding early Christian writings funnier than they are supposed to be, but they are quite funny.  Anyway, as I was reading some Clement of Alexandria today, he warns against men shaving...anything.  He writes: "It is therefore impious to desecrate the symbol of manhood: hairiness." (Paed. 3.4) He further writes: "'But the very hairs of your head are all numbers,' says the Lord; those on the chin, too, are numbered, and those on the whole body.  There must be therefore no plucking out, contrary to God's appointment, which has counted them in according to His will." Where else are you going to read page after page the importance of hairiness, from facial to body hair?  Never, therefore, shave!

I've been reading a lot of second and third century literature - right now focused predominantly on the second - for my newest project on "The Christian Moses."  I rather enjoyed the following from Athenagoras ( Plea for Christians 9): "...for I think you also...cannot be ignorant of the writings either of Moses or of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the other prophets, who, lifted in ecstasy above the natural operations of their minds by the impulses of the divine spirit, uttered the things with which they were inspired, the spirit making use of them as a flute-player breathes into a flute..." (ANF trans) Irenaeus, too, at one point refers to the prophets as God's instruments (though I think he meant more in terms of general instrumentality rather than musical instruments).  So, there you go: the prophets are flutes into which the divine spirit blows.  

If you are a University of Mississippi student and looking around for some courses to take as classes start up on Wednesday (and happened to stumble onto my blog), check out the following, both of which the first class is Thursday, Jan 23: Rel 395: Sacred Road-Tripping: Pilgrimage from Mecca to Memphis Meets Tuesdays and Thursdays 3-4:15 p.m. Description: As a practice, pilgrimage stands at many intersections, crisscrossing the complex topographies of a multi-religious world.   It ties together sacred place, sacred time, and myths and legends of heroes, saints, and gods.   As one traverses a landscape, one may try to connect to the past, while providing another link for future travelers.   A pilgrimage may be a religious requirement or an individual quest.   It blurs the line between a religious journey and tourism.   Its destination may be a physical place, but also may be within oneself.   In this class we will explore this multi-fa...

On why Bart Ehrman is good for the church - or, at least, evangelical Christians (by Greg Monette, himself an evangelical Christian): here .

Mike Kibbe, a student at Wheaton, has reviewed my monograph here .  I would like to thank him for giving it some attention!

I am re-reading Irenaeus's Against Heresies, and came across one of my favorite passages of the book - his reductio ad absurdum discussion of Valentinus's aeonic realms: But along with it there exists a power which I term a Gourd; and along with this Gourd there exists a power which again I term Utter-Emptiness. This Gourd and Emptiness, since they are one, produced (and yet did not simply produce, so as to be apart from themselves) a fruit, everywhere visible, eatable, and delicious, which fruit-language calls a Cucumber. Along with this Cucumber exists a power of the same essence, which again I call a Melon. These powers, the Gourd, Utter-Emptiness, the Cucumber, and the Melon, brought forth the remaining multitude of the delirious melons of Valentinus. (AH 1.11.4; ANF translation) Say what you want about Irenaeus, he is funny!

Reading ancient Christian materials can, I hate to admit, become monotonous at times.  At other times, between all of the sermonizing and exhortations and apologies, one reads something that catches you off-guard. I was reading through some of the spurious letters of Ignatius, and found this one allegedly addressed to  John the Presbyter, who according to tradition was Mary's (mother of Jesus - not Mary Magdalene) protector.  In any case, "Ignatius" writes to John the following that made me do a double-take: There are also many of our women here, who are desirous to see Mary [the mother] of Jesus, and wish day by day to run off from us to you, that they may meet with her, and touch those breasts of hers which nourished the Lord Jesus, and may inquire of her respecting some rather secret matters. I have never heard of such a desire/request in terms of devotion before.  Perhaps medievalists have?  Of course, paintings of Mary from much later often picture her...