Clinton confirms she's going to Messiah College
I mentioned the Compassion Forum the other day, when we knew the invitations were being considered, but Hillary Clinton has made it explicit: she’s going to participate in the forum at my alma mater (HT: Beliefnet [the article is kind of a watered down version of the press release]). I don’t think this will be proving which candidate is “Christian enough” as one commenter at Beliefnet suggests, since the Forum will be focused on issues of broader concern (e.g., domestic and international poverty, global AIDS, climate change, abortion, genocide in Darfur, and human rights and torture). Note that the board includes folks like Jim Wallis, Gary Haugen, Richard Cizik, and David Beckmann.
The spin is that these questions are being asked from a faith perspective. I think it does more for challenging people of faith to think about important social issues than it ranks the candidates on their “Christianness.” What Jim Wallis says is that politicians are “wind chasers.” They stick their finger up in the air and see which way the wind is blowing. Wallis says that Christians (and I think all concerned citizens, no matter religion) need to change the direction of the wind–like MLK, Jr. I hope that this Forum is one more step to raise public awareness that the faith-based voters are not only looking for the best Christian (although some unfortunately are) but they are more interested in making real change with difficult social concerns.
I’m envious of the students on campus right now because of the amazing learning opportunity this provides them.
For the record, I’m still a little dumbfounded that presidential candidates are going to an Anabaptist school!
Top 10 List: Scholars I Wish Had Blogs
Nick had a good idea for a list, so I’m going to offer my list of scholars (dead* & alive) that I wish had blogs:
- Scott Bartchy [of course]
- John Howard Yoder*
- Dynamic Dual Blog: Adela Yarbro Collins & John J. Collins
- Thomas Yoder Neufeld [I just had lunch with him today, so I might be biased, but I love how he approaches New Testament studies from a balanced Anabaptist perspective!]
- Carolyn Osiek
- Richard B. Hays
- Willard M. Swartley
- Albert Schweitzer*
- Amy-Jill Levine
- Markus Bockmuehl
Okay, so I’m kind of cheating with two scholars on number three. But the list started much longer, so at least I got it down to 11. I was thinking about scholars that aren’t just my favorites and write about topics I’m interested in (though, that is a factor obviously), but also who I think would write very readable/relatable/entertaining blogs. Bart Ehrman, Tom Wright, Luke Timothy Johnson, and Bultmann were very close! In the end, none on the list are the same as Nick’s, but some were almost there.
Chris Heard is stirring up trouble…
I can’t tell if it’s an exposé of Jim West or Andrew Keen, but it’s a very interesting post nonetheless.
Update (Same Day): The trouble continues. You can find Jim West’s announcement of Chris Heard’s Biblical Studies list removal here (if you’re on the list).
Do students know too much about their profs?
That is, from online sources like blogs, RateMyProfessors.com, and Facebook? Here’s an article of interest in the NY Times: “The Professor as Open Book” by Stephanie Rosenbloom. Here’s the beginning bit:
It is not necessary for a student studying multivariable calculus, medieval literature or Roman archaeology to know that the professor behind the podium shoots pool, has donned a bunny costume or can’t get enough of Chaka Khan.
Yet professors of all ranks and disciplines are revealing such information on public, national platforms: blogs, Web pages, social networking sites, even campus television.
When scholars were recently given the chance to refute student criticism posted on the Web site RateMyProfessors.com, a cult-hit television series, “Professors Strike Back,” was born. The show, which has professors responding on camera to undergraduate gripes such as “boring beyond belief,” made its debut in October on mtvU, a 24-hour network broadcast to more than 7.5 million students on American college campuses.
“It’s our dominant show driving half of the traffic to mtvU now,” said Stephen Friedman, general manager of the network. “It gets more than our music premieres.”
Though it includes a few dissenting views, the article is overwhelmingly positive about professors sharing their lives online as a humanizing networking approach. Being one who blogs and is on Facebook, I think I’d say it’s a positive phenomenon. As long as no naked photos or the like are revealed, I think online chumminess goes a long way towards making connections in the classroom (connections that could lead to further learning!).
Black in Academe
Since Barack Obama’s refreshingly frank speech yesterday on the complexities of the black experience in America, I have seen some wonderful reflections on its implications–including NPR stories discussing black liberation theology (you know when the mainstream media is talking about James Cone, something interesting is happening) and sharing an interview with a bunch of older white guys in a small town restaurant in Pennsylvania. The On Faith blog has some interesting reflections about the issue, too.
Here’s one more reflection on race to add to the mix that does not explicitly reference the Obama situation (and was probably written before this whole controversy surfaced) but nevertheless offers a relevant application of the complex issue to academe: “Teaching, and Learning, Racial Sensitivity” by Jerald Walker (an article in Chronicle Careers).
Two Different Ways the Bible Looks at the "End"
I have just been reading the Paul Hanson’s section in the ABD article on “Apocalypses and Apocalypticism.” I came across a distinction between two types of biblical eschatology that seems helpful. Eschatology is the study of what will happen at the end of time. The Bible sees the end of time as a dramatic shift brought about by God’s initiative, according to God’s plan. There’s going to be judgment of the righteous and the wicked and a new era of God’s peace will be ushered in. According to scholars, the Bible contains two distinct major forms of eschatology: prophetic and apocalyptic. Prophetic eschatology is the understanding that “God’s new order would unfold within the realities of this world.” Apocalyptic eschatology, which is an outgrowth of prophetic eschatology, is more “dualistic.” In other words, in apocalyptic eschatology, the present era is more distinctly at odds with God’s new order than prophetic eschatology.
I am primarily interested in, as are many scholars, what are the circumstances that give rise to people thinking about the end of the world. In that vein, here’s where I found Hanson’s comment really interesting:
Prophetic eschatology and apocalyptic eschatology are best viewed as two sides of a continuum. The development from the one to the other is not ineluctably chronological, however, but is intertwined with changes in social and political conditions. Periods and conditions permitting members of the protagonist community to sense that human effort would be repaid by improved fortune tended to foster prophetic eschatology, that is, the view that God’s new order would unfold within the realities of the world. Periods of extreme suffering, whether at the hands of opponents within the community or those of foreign adversaries, tended to cast doubts on the effectiveness of human reform and thus to abet apocalyptic eschatology, with its more rigidly dualistic view of divine deliverance, entailing destruction of this world and resurrection of the faithful to a blessed heavenly existence. (Vol. 1, 281; emphasis mine)
In other words, when people had something like what we would call “freedom of speech” (and action, for that matter), prophetic eschatology was more likely. Where dissenting speech and action brought more persecution, apocalyptic eschatology was more likely. The anticipation of the end and the negative feeling towards the present state of the world was more powerful in apocalyptic eschatology. I presume the logic is that when people feel persecuted, they’re going to express their anticipation of the end more dramatically than if they believe they can change things.
It’s an interesting distinction. I think I need to look deeper into this and think about what specific texts are designated one or the other according to scholarly consensus.
Bible Talk: Wall-Pissing and Big Brother
So, a couple people already commented on this video by Pastor Steven Anderson (Faithful Word Baptist Church, Tempe, Arizona). It’s so crazy, it’s hilarious. See posts about it by Tyler Williams, Loren Rosson, Paul Martin, and others.
Here are some of my favorite lines:
And God said a man is someone who pisses against a wall. . . No man in Germany pees standing up. That’s where we’re headed in this country, my friend. We got a bunch of pastors who pee sitting down. . . . We got a bunch of preachers, a bunch of leaders, who don’t stand up and piss against the wall like a man. And I’m gunna tell you something: that’s what’s wrong with America. . . . It’s because the editors of the NIV pee sitting down. . . . I’m gunna tell you something: I’m not gunna pee sitting down.
I knew there was a reason I didn’t like the NIV. Here’s the bit:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDxcyqeRc-4]
I am grateful that he doesn’t end his sermon by going up to the wall and urinating in front of the congregation. Personally, I’d rather listen to the folks at the Big Brother house talk about the Bible, which they did in their latest episode (the scene happens after 24 minutes and it’s just after the third to last commercial break). Jim West, on the other hand, thinks that “when people on Big Brother discuss the Bible it makes me want to pull my ears off and gouge my eyes out with a sharpened cattle prod. They must find the most ill-informed people on the planet to be on that show.” I thought it could’ve been a lot worse. Namely, it could have been Pastor Steven Anderson. You can find clips from the 24 hour live feed of the show on YouTube and here’s a clip of some more BB Bible Study (contains some offensive language):
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=qa9ehznCPc8]
To me, this shows a guy who is really interested in the Bible and paying attention to it chatting with someone else who thinks it’s worthwhile to read the Bible. They’re taking a note from Stephen Prothero! They may not understand everything or have the best hermeneutic, but at least they’re reading it.
My Anabaptist Alma Mater To Host Presidential Candidates
This is something else. Messiah College, my undergraduate alma mater located near Harrisburg, Pa., is going to be hosting the “Compassion Forum” in the evening of April 13th (nine days before the Pennsylvania primary). Invited are Obama, Clinton, and McCain for a conversation on important moral issues that bridge the partisan divide. Check out this bit from the announcement on Messiah’s news blog:
The Compassion Forum will be a unique event—not another traditional debate. Each candidate will participate in a separate substantive conversation. The Forum will be moderated by Jon Meacham, editor of “Newsweek,” author of “American Gospel,” and a respected scholar on faith and American politics. Conversation topics will focus on compassion and social justice issues such as U.S. and global poverty; AIDS; climate change; Darfur; and human rights.
The compassion, reconciliation, and social justice issues to be discussed at this forum are relevant to the mission and values of Messiah College. As host organization, Messiah will be able to create important educational opportunities for our students related to this event.
It is sponsored, in part, by Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, the ONE Campaign, and Oxfam America.To my knowledge, the campaigns haven’t officially accepted the invitation yet, but it sounds like it’s assumed they will. I hope they do. It is pretty darn interesting. Presidential candidates come to an Anabaptist school to talk about how issues important to people of faith. Anabaptists have come a long way in their interaction with society and politics. Of course, most of the students at the school are not actually Anabaptist and many probably don’t know much about Anabaptism, but the school is intentional about its Anabaptist values (even if its not as explicit about them as, say, Goshen). I wonder what the campaigns will do when they learn that Messiah doesn’t have a flag pole on campus (oh, heresies of heresies).
What I’m not looking forward to are more jokes about the name of the school or references to the whole Monica Goodling fiasco.
I was first tipped off by these two stories (and my alumni email update).
I'm goin' to UCLA!
I am pleased to report that I have been offered admission into the Ph.D. program in UCLA’s Department of History, to work under Scott Bartchy, and I have accepted the offer! The specialty is technically called “History of Religions,” but I will mostly be concentrating on Christian origins (especially the New Testament, but also beyond). I understand there was only one spot and I am tremendously honored to have been chosen.
Why UCLA? Several reasons, let’s go for bullet points (in no particular order):
- I am excited to work with Scott Bartchy, who is a member of the Context Group and has significant experience in social concerns (e.g., slavery, gender roles, community formation) with the New Testament, using sociological and anthropological methods of historical research. I have become more and more drawn to social concerns in Christian origins and Bartchy will help me dive in with both feet. More on Bartchy below.
- I also have a burgeoning interest in apocalypticism and Christian origins (as if anyone could define apocalypticism). I am especially interested in comparing and contrasting Jewish and Christian apocalyptic literature. A fairly recent addition to UCLA’s Departments of History and NELC, Ra’anan Boustan, has worked in Jewish apocalyptic issues and in Jewish-Christian relations, which is a great resource for my interests.
- I have the freedom to piece together my own program, taking a combination of graduate seminars, directed readings, and even upper division undergrad courses not only in the History Department, but also in world-class departments like NELC and Classics.
- Even though, I’m interested primarily in the New Testament and Christian origins, I can’t shake my interest in the history of Israel, subsequently of Judaism, and their literature. NELC faculty members such as Bill Schniedewind, especially with his interest in sociolinguistics of Hebrew and the social/cultural history of ancient Palestine, will provide deep wells of knowledge for my research.
- In this program, I will get a well-rounded education, with some training in the history of western civilization generally and world religions.
- The opportunity to do adjunct teaching in New Testament studies during my dissertation at several excellent Christian schools in the area. I think this will help prepare me by exposing me to various types of settings engaging students in biblical studies.
- UCLA’s Department of History, according to US News and World Report, is one of the top ten history programs in the country. We all know that such rankings are tenuous, but it’s still nice. Check out the response to the rankings several years back by the American Historical Association.
- I’ve met some of the graduate students who are studying in the history department and become friends with one of Bartchy’s grad students, Kevin Scull. They are happy and seem like tons of fun. That makes a world of difference!
- Also, it doesn’t hurt that Fuller has plans to finish construction of their new snazzy library, which will apparently be the largest theological library on the Pacific Rim, in early 2009. I will certainly be frequenting Fuller’s campus while I’m in the program at UCLA.
Some more on Bartchy: He’s down to earth and has a balanced perspective. He’s a jazz pianist and marathon runner. Professor Bartchy is pretty progressive (see a couple articles on his earth-friendly home; and an online interview on his views of Christianity). He cares about his students, even the undergrads! (At a big research university like UCLA, that’s saying a lot.) Bartchy is involved in campus life, participating in panel discussions on religion. He founded and directs the Center for the Study of Religion at UCLA, which brings together disciplines that work on religion from various angles and which also offers an undergraduate major in religion. As I understand it, UCLA has been slow to consider religion as a valid field at a state sponsored university (with perhaps understandable skepticism), but Bartchy has been leading the way to establish the study of religion on campus. His dream would be the creation of a department of religious studies, where “we would have a budget, and we could call in scholars and very distinguished people who might not fit into the agenda of any particular department” except for a religion department. Bartchy is sensitive to various religious experiences in his teaching. In fact, he offers a helpful metaphor for dealing with difficult research issues: the moving around and adjustment of ideological buckets (maybe I’ll say more about that some other time). All of this to say that Scott Bartchy not only offers academic expertise that is quite relevant to my research interests, but he also models a kind of actively involved educator and mentor to students that I would like to become.
In one sense, my decision to study the New Testament within a history department is a statement about my modern sensibilities. While many are declaring the death of the historical method of interpreting the Bible, here I am signing up for historical scholarship on the Bible and the foundational period of Christianity and Judaism. I believe that postmodern-ish methods of interpreting the Bible from various minority perspectives and social locations are enormously helpful in both keeping the practice of the historical-critical method in check, while also offering unique points of view on how to apply our historical findings to the contemporary global situation. But, for myself, I would like to be firmly planted in the historical foundation of research before jumping too deeply into postmodern or postcritical approaches. What better way to do that than study the Bible and its historical context at one of the best history departments in the country?
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Elsewhere . . .- Blog titles beginning with "A" to "Z" on your reader Mark Goodacre
- Of making many books there is no end Chris Brady
- Free Online: The Liddell-Scott Jones Lexicon S and C
- Does Higher Criticism Attempt to “Destroy the Bible”? II agathos
- Steven J. Friesen and the Identity of Satan’s Throne in Pergamum alan
- Does Higher Criticism Attempt to “Destroy the Bible”? agathos
- Bloomsbury buys Continuum Mark Goodacre
- Imperial America Peter J. Leithart
- C.F.D. Moule on the Birth of the New Testament d. miller
- Responding to Kostenberger (with comparisons to Marshall) Jeremiah
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