13 Jan 10

Fox’s Fringe Quotes Isaiah, Or Was That Augustine?

Dr. Bishop quoting Augustine quoting Isaiah on Fox's FringeIn the recent episode of Fox’s Fringe, an apocalyptic fringe-science supernatural sort of show, Dr. Bishop recites a Latin quotation to a devout Christian woman. Here’s the exchange:

Woman: How can we be sure?

Dr. Bishop: Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis.

Woman: I don’t understand.

Dr. Bishop: It is the Latin translation of Isaiah 7:9.

Woman [nodding and remembering the verse, looking very profound]: “Unless you believe, you will not understand.”

Dr. Bishop: Even as a scientist, sometimes I have to rely on faith.

Now, if that quotation feels a bit off to you, here’s why. You will find no modern translation of Isaiah 7:9 that ends the verse with the word “understand.” Instead, they use phrases such as “you will not stand firm” or “remain secure,” etc. That’s because the Hebrew (אמן) means something like endurance or faithfulness. Actually, the Vulgate also has that meaning. Its Latin translation from the Vulgate goes like this: Si non credideritis, non permanebitis (from permaneo, to remain, endure, etc.). So there is basically only a one word difference with Dr. Bishop’s quotation. Is he making it up?

A friend of mine on Facebook actually noticed that the English quote sounded like something she read in Augustine, which is what got me going on this investigation. Indeed, if you google the English phrase “Unless you believe, you will not understand,” you will find a bunch of those cheesy famous quote websites, simply attributing the phrase to Augustine with no real citation. If you go digging in Augustine’s works, however, you find that he is actually quoting Isaiah 7:9. Apparently, this is a favorite biblical quotation for him (see here, here, here, here, here, here, etc.).

The English translations of Augustine seem to attribute this reading to the Septuagint. That doesn’t seem likely. The Septuagint enigmatically uses the Greek word σύνειμι (”to be with”). That may not relate quite so well with the same sort of concept of endurance, but it certainly doesn’t look like “understanding.” Augustine himself seems to offer an answer in chapter 12 of his On Christian Doctrine. He actually notes the Vulgate version of a Latin translation and offers the other Latin statement (used by Dr. Bishop) as an alternate translation (unattributed, perhaps pre-Vulgate). Augustine uses the opportunity to discuss the relationship between translation and interpretation:

Now which of these is the literal translation cannot be ascertained without reference to the text in the original tongue. And yet to those who read with knowledge, a great truth is to be found in each.

Ah, indeed. An intriguing distinction between “Unless you believe, you will not understand” and “If you do not believe, you will not endure”  (translating the two Latin translations). And, sure, both have some profound truth to them. But as far as the Fringe writers were concerned, I’m sure they just wanted to sound all mysterious and deep.

2 Comments Posted in Isaiah, augustine, fringe, popular culture, quotes by Patrick George McCullough
28 Dec 09

Harland on the Uniqueness of Early Christians

As I mentioned earlier, I am working through Philip Harland’s Dynamics of Identity (courtesy of T & T Clark), which looks into early Judean and Christian gatherings as related to other unofficial associations in the Greco-Roman world. One of the themes in the back cover endorsements, and rightly so, is Harland’s challenge to many scholarly assumptions about the uniqueness of early Christian identity. He doesn’t state that early Christian groups are not unique, but argues against the grain of those who emphasize distinction and separation.

This is from his conclusion:

This study has focused on what was common among many groups while also paying attention to certain distinctive features of ethnic groups and cultural minorities. The attention to shared modes of identity construction, negotiation, and communication is not meant to suggest that Christians were not unique. However, Christians were unique or distinctive insofar as every association, minority group, or ethnic group was unique or distinctive, each in its own way. Among the distinctive characteristics of Christians and Judeans that stood out to many insiders and outsiders was their attention to one, Judean God to the exclusion of other deities. This also entailed refraining from involvement in certain social settings where those other gods were honoured. This distinction was a potential source of tensions with many other groups and individuals within their contexts, and it could lead to social harassment and persecution on particular occasions.

When I read this, it hit me as extremely level-headed. This is the kind of balanced and nuanced scholarship that I aspire to in my own research. It also seems to be an excellent concise description of the identity formation of early Christian groups. I just had to pass it along!

2 Comments Posted in Philip Harland, book reviews, identity formation by Patrick George McCullough
27 Dec 09

Best iPod Touch (or iPhone) Apps for Academics?

I am thrilled that one of the items I’m receiving for this holiday season is an iPod Touch. Since I found out, I have been quite distracted imagining how my new toy can be a force for good in my research (productivity enhancing) rather than a pure time waster (productivity killing).

I already have a bunch of classes that I am working through in iTunes U, but the iPod Touch adds new possibilities for technologically-assisted learning: namely, apps. I would like to send out a request to iPod Touch/iPhone academics to send their favorite apps. I’m interested in anything related to biblical studies, Christian origins, classics, Roman history, etc., as well as language learning, especially German and/or French (though anything neat with Hebrew or or Latin or Greek to practice). And with German/French, not just the cheesy learn-how-to-order-pancakes conversational vocab flashcard apps, but something that will go through verb conjugations and more robust vocab building (perhaps even being able to add your own lists of, say, theological terms).

I have noticed that some bibliobloggers have discussed the iPhone/iPod Touch and apps: Chris Brady, Michael Whitenton, Rick Mansfield (his old blog’s location, mostly on OliveTree), Karyn Traphagen. These are a few apps that I gather may be helpful (though I haven’t tested them yet):

If you have comments on how these apps have been for you or other apps that you’d suggest as well, please let us know in the comments! App recommendations that are productivity killing, but still fun, are welcome too. :)

1 Comment Posted in iPod Touch by Patrick George McCullough
22 Dec 09

Philip Harland on Social History and Social Science

I’m reading through Philip Harland’s Dynamics of Identity in the World of the Early Christians: Associations, Judeans, and Cultural Minorities, kindly sent along to me by T & T Clark for review, and I’d like to first highlight his excellent introduction, which provides a very helpful review of scholarship on social-scientific issues, identity theory, and associations in the ancient world.

I thought this paragraph, in particular, was a well-stated and well-balanced approach to the use of social-scientific methods in biblical studies:

Building on contributions from both of these scholarly areas [social history as (1) "from below" scholarship or (2) social scientific research], I approach the social sciences as heuristic devices, as things that help the social historian develop questions and find or notice things that might otherwise remain obscure. I tend to draw on social-scientific insights to develop a research framework for analysis, and I am less focused than some other scholars on testing models specifically. In this respect, I consider myself more a social historian than a social scientist. Throughout this interdisciplinary study, I explain and adapt social-scientific concepts and theories in order to further our understanding of specific historical cases in the ancient context. [5]

Though I am nowhere near as accomplished as Harland in the field social-scientific research, of course, I feel like he took the words right out of my mouth.

6 Comments Posted in Philip Harland, book reviews, identity formation by Patrick George McCullough
22 Dec 09

End of the Fall Quarter

Well, I survived another challenging quarter. This was my first one as a Teaching Assistant at UCLA and it took some getting used to balancing teaching responsibilities, my own research, and family life. Teaching took the bulk of my time this quarter. Though I know this is a life long struggle for academics, I will be trying some tricks as time goes by for better balancing.

Aside from the time management challenge, teaching Western Civ this quarter was a fulfilling experience. I had a great bunch of students who asked interesting questions and offered creative insights when reading ancient texts. And it was, of course, a great learning experience for me to think synthetically about a vast span of history. Puts things in perspective. I’m looking forward to doing the same class with a different professor next quarter, since it will have some continuity but also allow for filling in a few gaps that the other class didn’t cover.

I finished up a paper for the end of the quarter in Bartchy’s Paul of Tarsus seminar. I decided to do Paul and empire, then I narrowed down into First Thessalonians. I did some work with social identity in First Thessalonians, as well as imperialism and eschatology. That, too, was a learning experience. I feel like I’m an archaeologist on a long, tedious dig. Each paper reveals a little tiny bit more that I hadn’t noticed before. I really appreciate the way Douglas Campbell put it in his recent tome: “And as I began to try to write, a frustrating experience began to unfold — repeatedly. I would begin to articulate my concerns as best I could, painfully compose a chapter or two of prose, and then the argument would break down. It was as if a wave would run each time a little further up the beach before it would break — which it always did — and run back to sea” (xxv). Not that I presume to be writing something something of the magnitude of Campbell’s work, but the dissertation I have in mind has to deal with some very nebulous concepts and methods. It’s a very slow process trying to get a handle on them.

Next quarter, I’ll be doing a graduate seminar with Ronald Mellor on Roman Religion. That should be a fun class with all my colleagues in the ancient field at UCLA (many of us are TAing together) and a couple other Bartchy students. I’ve been getting interested in exploring voluntary associations, so I think I might do a paper in that area for Mellor’s seminar. I’m gearing up for it by reading Philip Harland’s new book, kindly sent along to me by T & T Clark for review (Thanks, Abby!!).

0 Comments Posted in Rome, academic life, social identity, teaching, ucla by Patrick George McCullough
12 Dec 09

“Seems” Like Scholarship, But It “Surely” Isn’t

How is it that I can find in a top flight journal of biblical studies an article that does not offer hardly any evidence, but rather uses rhetorical devices that would give my own students poor grades? The current article I am reading is very interesting and I appreciate the scholar’s perspective quite a bit. The problem is that this is the author’s perspective and little else. It would make for a good lecture, perhaps.

But the article is pure speculation, even when the author contradicts other scholars. The author uses phrases such as “I would expect that” or “I imagine” or “I am inclined to see” or notes that something “seems to me to be unlikely.” Rather than citing evidence, the author merely states that something “certainly” or “surely” was the way he imagines. At every turn, I think I am finally going to find a single piece of solid evidence (even though the entire basis of the argument to this point is built upon a big “perhaps” cloud). But it never arrives. I might forgive one or two cases of “let us assume,” but not 20-plus pages of it.

Otherwise, the article is well written and the author’s insights are helpful and interesting. For those facts alone, I would probably give one of my undergraduate students at least a B+. But I’m afraid this scholar wouldn’t find a much higher grade without the use of evidence.

14 Comments Posted in scholarship, writing by Patrick George McCullough
9 Dec 09

You Have 50 Minutes to Teach about Hebrew Civilization and the Origins of Judaism. Go.

Coming this January, at a UCLA campus near you (or not so near, as the case may be), I will be presenting a lecture on Hebrew Civilization and Second Temple Judaism within the context of the course “Introduction to Western Civilization: Ancient Civilizations, Prehistory to Circa A.D. 843.” I will be TAing for two sections of twenty each for this course, but this lecture will be for the entire 300-something student class.

So, what would you like the bright and impressionable young minds of UCLA to know about the rise of Hebrew civilization, the history of Israel, the exile, the origins of Judaism, and the Hebrew Bible based upon a 50 minute presentation?

Remember that this is in the context of the broad sweep of ancient history, serving as the foundations for something nebulous called “Western civilization.” The course is unofficially known as “From Caveman to Charlemagne.” The lecture in the class meeting prior to mine is on “Egypt in the New Kingdom; The Mesopotamian Kingdoms,” while the one after is “Minoans, Phoenicians; The End of International Bronze Age (Troy).” We will have already read Hammurabi, Gilgamesh, and The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant. They will be responsible for reading the Book of Exodus the week of my lecture. The only other biblical document they will be reading is the Gospel of Matthew several weeks later.

I have some of my own ideas, of course, but I’d like to hear what others would choose to highlight with such a brief opportunity to cover such an important topic.

5 Comments Posted in Western Civilization, hebrew bible, history of Israel, judaism, lectures, pedagogy, teaching by Patrick George McCullough
8 Dec 09

Picking up the Tab for Your Boss, and Jesus’ Dying Prayer

I was told a story recently of a group of coworkers that went out to lunch as a work function, a training. At the end of the meal, this one very sweet and well-meaning employee (someone quite low on the totem pole in this office) turned to the department manager and told her that she would cover the boss’s meal. The group of workers had already pitched in about ten bucks each for the boss, but this coworker just felt like getting a little something extra for her. But . . . the boss got irate at this gesture. She thought it was totally inappropriate and the well-meaning employee was left crushed by the experience.

There are two primary reasons for the inappropriateness of this gift. First, this is a work function and one employee (out of about a dozen others who were there) should not be paying for the boss (looks like brown-nosing). Second, and at a deeper level of social code, there is perhaps an embedded power expectation. This employee is several ranks below her boss. I’m willing to guess that the boss had such a strong reaction to the gift because the employee had no business offering such a gift (bruising her pride). It’s as if one of a lower social and economic status must never take the initiative of picking up the tab for one of higher social status (I know there are many exceptions, but go with me here . . .).

When I heard this story recounted, it reminded me of a provocative article I read over the summer for the book I indexed (Amazon link). The article is called, “Clemency as Cruelty: Forgiveness and Force in the Dying Prayers of Jesus and Stephen,” by Shelly Matthews. Matthews’ basic point is that the dying forgiveness prayers of Jesus and Stephen in Luke-Acts (Lk 23:34; Acts 7:60) should be understood as demonstrating the “heroic clemency” of the speaker. She relates it to the Roman discourse on clemency, “in which imperial domination is figured as beneficence toward the conquered.” She offers this point of reflection upon the comparison:

First, the power dynamics of clemency make clear that the prayers for mercy need not signal passivity, humility, submission or deference on the part of the one who so prays. Instead, the prayers for forgiveness can be understood as an assertion of power over those inscribed as persecutors. (143)

It strikes me that forgiveness as such an assertion of power by the persecuted is a bit like a low level employee picking up the tab for the department manager. Not that this particular employee was intentionally asserting her power or even trying to brown-nose, but it highlights the social code nonetheless. I suppose that raises the intentionality of Luke in his use of forgiveness prayers (an intentional assertion of power?). A topic for another post, perhaps.

5 Comments Posted in Luke-Acts, Power Dynamics, clemency, forgiveness, imperialism by Patrick George McCullough
7 Dec 09

New Look and New Host

Last night and this morning, my blog made the transition from WordPress.com to WordPress.org (self-hosted) with no small thanks to Brandon who guided me through the process. Along the way, I have selected a new theme/look for the blog, updated some of my links, and started considering what to do with my newly earned freedom.

WordPress.com accounts are heavily restricted in what they can accomplish, but WordPress.org accounts have the freedom to adjust coding and add all kinds of plugins. For example, I have added RefTagger, the plugin created by Logos Bible Software. So, now, you can simply hover over something like Matt 9:17 and see the Bible verse pop up. They don’t have NRSV, so I chose TNIV as my default.

So, what are your favorite WordPress.org plugins? Anything I should add to enjoy the benefits of my new location?

5 Comments Posted in Uncategorized by Patrick George McCullough
5 Dec 09

Dallas Seminary students speak out: "It's not so bad."

On my last post, I responded to Dan Wallace’s provocative entry on the Parchment and Pen blog. I admitted that I do indeed have this impression of Dallas Seminary that they are prohibited from engaging fully in honest academic inquiry because they are not allowed to “offend” the school’s doctrinal base with their research. I was pleased with the response from some students and alumni from Dallas Seminary.

One commenter remained anonymous as “JBR” because, he said, “It’s probably unwise of me posting this in the first place.” About the DTS prof who I heard describe Dallas in such a rigid way, JBR explained: “Regarding Bingham, I’m sure he made it sound more rigid than what it is. He thinks he’s the theological police anyways (I call him “the dictator of all things ‘orthodox’”).” His impression is that such rigidity was characteristic of the school 20-30 years ago (which I believe was Wallace’s original point), but not any more. What I gather from his comment, though, is that there still exist some stalwarts of the old uber-fundy guard, while there are also others who are a bit looser with their understanding of inerrancy and dispensationalism. They still feel like they need to use those words to remain in their conservative evangelical community, but they have vastly reinterpreted them. As Rob Kashow notes, “this loose definition is why many profs and students are able to remain at DTS.”

At the same time, though, just because the institution uses those words doesn’t necessarily mean that the students are accurately represented by them. This is Rob Reid’s point: “I think what should be kept in mind is that a student’s ability and/or ideological framework should not be equated with their institution.” That is a huge favor to ask of the guild, because that’s pretty much a foundational principle of our profession. Conventional wisdom tells us that a Harvard grad is more intelligent and skillful than a Fuller Seminary grad, for example (picking on my own seminary alma mater). Or for that matter, the Harvard Div School grad is more “liberal” than the Fuller Seminary grad. But these things are not necessarily true.

Another issue for me is the role of women in ministry. For some reason, I had this impression of Dallas Seminary that it was one of the places that wouldn’t allow women to take ministry courses, or if so, they wouldn’t allow them degrees for ministry. Turns out, they starting allowing women in courses in 1980 and several degrees within the following decade or so. From my googling around the DTS website, it appears they emphasize the “complementary” roles of men and women in ministry and have a concentration for “Women’s Ministry.” But I think they probably allow women to do other sorts of ministries too (after all, their first woman Ph.D. student studied the Old Testament and then taught OT at DTS). Apparently, according to a D.Min. dissertation by Joye Baker, the more recent women graduates (1991-2003) reported that during their time at DTS, they felt more accepted and respected by the DTS faculty and male students than those women who graduated before 1991.

Okay, so maybe DTS isn’t as rigid as I thought it might be, particularly in practice, even if the “party line” is still quite conservative in writing. Students are supposed to affirm inerrancy, among six other “essentials.” And the professors have to agree with a rather elaborate 21 article doctrinal statement, which includes articles on “ANGELS, FALLEN AND UNFALLEN” (article 2) and “THE DISPENSATIONS” (article 5). Check out Doug Chaplin’s take on these.

I’m not crazy that they still have these doctrinal remnants of a more rigid era, and a few folks trying to uphold them, but it sounds like there’s a little more academic freedom at DTS than I had previously thought. Even if people feel they have to discuss that freedom via anonymous blog comments.

13 Comments Posted in academic freedom, dallas seminary, dispensationalism, inerrancy by Patrick George McCullough

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