Samantha and her blog, Scholarly Bound, was mentioned on the Biblioblog Top 50 recently, but I missed that post at the time. I just noticed her blog because she reacted to my announcement of the Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture. This is how she describes herself:

I, Samantha, am theorist on Religion in addition to being a scholar of Early Christianity. Currently, I am undertaking Doctoral Studies at McGill University, Canada. I have lectured on: Modes of historical thought; the Apostle Paul; 1st C. Letter writing; Greek Tragedy; and Philosophical discourses of tragedy, suffering, and martyrdom.

She has been working on the topic of memory (topic of one of her comprehensive exams at McGill) and it dawned upon her that this might qualify for biblioblog material. Indeed it does! Here is the definition she gives to her biblioblog:

This Biblioblog focuses on academic issues in the study of religion, more specifically the New Testament and Early Christianity, as well as Philosophy of religion(s). These posts will be related to my research as a doctoral student and the working through of some academic type ideas, which may also include some posts on university issues/politics/student politics.

Samantha has a number of very interesting posts already and I have added her to my blog roll. Welcome, Samantha!

As people started sharing their most influential female biblical scholars, I started noticing that more people may be interested in apocalyptic literature and thought than I had known. Quite a few young scholars, as a matter of fact.

My impression has been that many biblical scholars haven’t cared much for research into apocalyptic writings and thought. One Fuller professor told me she thought it was “tedious.” Indeed! I have found apocalyptic research mind-numbingly difficult, but for some reason that just pushes me to look deeper.

There has, of course, been a steady stream of research coming out regarding apocalyptic literature since the 1970′s or so. Many scholars in this field have married themselves to the topic–it seems to take that level of commitment to come to some sort of understanding of these divine mysteries.

Lately, though, I have noticed apocalyptic themes being exposed in more “mainstream” scholarship–the kind that gets widespread attention from folks in various subfields. Take, for example, Douglas Campbell’s new The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul or C. Kavin Rowe’s recent World Upside Down: Reading Acts in the Graeco-Roman Age (speaks of Luke’s “attempt to form communities that witness to God’s apocalypse”). They must be putting something revelatory in the water over there at Duke.

Aside from this, all these bibliobloggers seem to be interested in apocalyptic literature–including many who are working on their Ph.D.’s right now (like me). That suggests to me that apocalyptic thought is starting to heat up in biblical scholarship.

Here’s a list of bloggers who have research interests in apocalyptic literature and thought. I am basing it off a combination of personal communication, listed interests on about pages, known publications, and frequency of the topic in blog posts (for Steph, her comments). Please let me know if I should remove/add any names from this list:

• Alan Bandy
• Michael Bird
• Greg Carey
• Stephen Cook
• Steph Fisher
• Philip Harland (he even teaches a course on apocalypticism)
• David Larsen
• Pat McCullough
• Brant Pitre
• Rob Reid
• Loren Rosson III
• James Tabor
• “Theophyle”
• Colin Toffelmire
• “Johannes Weiss”
• Michael Whitenton
• Danny Zacharias

Who else?

Jim West has some good fun with the carnival. My own carnival from last month was included in his category “stuff that’s twisted.”

Another twisted piece in July was Pat’s Carnival.  What the devil is Eve doing writing an Apocalypse when she has several sons and numerous unnamed daughters to tend?  Get back to the kitchen woman!

It certainly is revolutionary to have found such an important ancient document highlighting a woman who reveals divine secrets.

Thanks for a good time, Jim!

And no small thanks to that particularly twisted post of mine–now my most popular post ever–did I leap 51 slots in the biblioblog rankings to number 41. I’m just astounded at how much jumping around there is from month to month.

The Biblioblog Top 50 blog points out a new blogger on the scene, Brian Tucker. Here’s what they say:

New Testament Professor Brian Tucker of Michigan Theological Seminary has recently started a blog by the name of Identity Formation in the New Testament. Much of Brian’s work looks at the imperial context of the New Testament, in particular in relation to Paul’s letters. Thanks for getting in touch with us, Brian!

Brian recently earned his Ph.D. at the University of Wales. And check this out, he also holds a M.A.R., M.Div., and D.Min. (in Expository Communications). His faculty profile at Michigan Theological Seminary notes that he has “19 years experience as a youth pastor, worship leader, and senior pastor.” So, though he just recently finished his Ph.D. requirements, Brian’s got some heavy-duty experience to share with the blogging world.

Brian describes his blog as providing “a forum for discussion of the emergence of Christ-movement social identity with an emphasis on Paul’s writings.” Most of Brian’s posts thus far have gotten into the nitty-gritty of interacting with various books from his to-be-published or recently published book reviews. As I am getting into social identity myself–my SBL presentation this fall will be in the program unit “Construction of Christian Identities”–I am excited to learn from Brian’s expertise in this area.

I would love to see some posts on the basics of social identity on Brian’s blog. Such as the best books to get started, summarizing the dominant theories in the field, key biblical texts modeling social identity, what distinguishes social identity from other sorts of identity, etc. I think those sorts of posts are tremendously helpful, particularly when not many folks in the biblioblogging world specifically address social identity.

Welcome, Brian!!

I was inspired by Roland Boer and James McGrath to do my own search for the identity of N.T. Wrong. Unlike James, however, I’m thinking it is a name that we would not recognize so immediately as Goodacre’s.

My Guess: Dr. Steve Young, a tenured Instructor in Philosophy at McHenry County College

Starting Clue: The IP address of N.T. Wrong apparently comes from Woodstock, IL.

Next Step: McHenry County College is one of the closest institutions of higher education (about 5 miles). It has a Philosophy Department. Within this department, I find Steve Young, who is a member of both SBL and AAR. He teaches courses on the Bible as literature, World Religions, The Quran, Religion and Violence, and Women’s Studies.

More on Steve Young: He holds a Ph.D. from Drew University (1998), an M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary (1981), and even had a stint at Moody Bible Institute dealing with Sacred Music before getting his bachelor’s in ethnomusicology at the University of Michigan. The spectrum from Moody to Drew may suggest that Young is a former fundamentalist, which could account for a great deal of the postings of N.T. Wrong. He has a background in music which is reflected in many posts on music on Wrong’s blog. The book reviews listed for Steve Young on his CV reflects a strong interest in Islam, which is reflected in the several references to Islam on Wrong’s blog.

Still more on Young: His profile on RateMyProfessors.com indicates that he has a strong sense of humor, which we would expect for Wrong. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive, seeming to indicate that he is a good communicator, which we would also expect. Described as giving “a lot of work” and “not the easiest grader.” I would expect high standards from Wrong as an educator. They describe him as “knowing his stuff” and being “very educated.” One student says, “He makes you feel inferior by asking questions that make you rethink the answers you give him in class.” Apparently, Young actually makes his students think in class. Again, to be expected.

Young’s dissertation and abstract: “My thoughts are not your thoughts”: Pierre Bayle on the Inscrutability of God and the Legitimacy of Difference

The Huguenot skeptic Pierre Bayle (1647-1706), as an early modern road-not-taken for Reformed theology, can inform a deconstructive postmodern theology. Bayle’s understanding of power, knowledge and God and his spirituality developed in response to the constraints placed upon his thought not only by Catholic persecutors, but by Calvinist opponents as well. I draw upon the work Michel Foucault, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze, to show how Bayle employed a set of “strategies of resistance” to the power of the church of his day. In particular he resisted the limits placed on the forms of thought permitted within his religious community while continuing to claim allegiance to that community. Chapter 1 recounts the exiled Bayle’s conflict with the Walloon Consistory in Rotterdam and his enmity with the theologian Pierre Jurieu. Chapter 2 addresses the first of a set of strategies of resistance to coercive ecclesial power: to point out and critique the role power plays in the formation of theological truth, and thereby delegitimate it. The next strategy is to relativize theological truth claims. The third chapter examines the way in which Bayle does this: he notes that theological truth is not static, but is an expression of a human community that is itself diverse, made up of many different people, no two of whom think alike. The fourth chapter examines another strategy: Bayle’s preference for using metaphorical, and thus inherently contestable, language to express theological commitments. The next chapter highlights Bayle’s extreme emphasis on the notion of God’s inscrutability, and therefore the inappropriateness of imposing theological consensus on the church. Finally, chapter six looks at the impact of power on Bayle’s spiritual life. A deep bifurcation between his Christian and philosophical identities resulted in a “technology of the self,” a spirituality, that was itself a strategy of resistence to the coercive character of ecclesial power. In every case, we see Bayle’s resistance to any attempts to create theological uniformity by any means other than reasoned persuasion. At each step along the way, Bayle sought to protect the diversity of the church from the dangers of a coercive uniformity.

His comprehensive exams included: Enlightenment and Modern Period; Dissent and Religious Authority; Plato; and Foucault. Young also has an article in The Journal of Early Christian Studies on manliness in the Shepherd of Hermas. He has given presentations on “Technologies of the Spiritual Self” and “Why (to) Not Believe in God(?): A Religious Case for Atheism.”

In sum, Steve Young has the kind of wide-ranging education, interests, and sense of humor that we would expect from the identity of N.T. Wrong. If my information on N.T. Wrong’s IP address is correct, then the geographical location would make sense. The only thing that is confusing me is that Young does not list Hebrew in his research languages. Also, Wrong seems to have good knowledge of the UK (even if he may not be British himself) and I don’t see any info on whether Young has a connection with the UK.

Those two points aside, I think I’ve got a pretty good link. If not, I just introduced Steve Young to one corner of the internet in a very unorthodox manner.

With a whopping five posts in the month of November, I have somehow jumped 20 spots on NT Wrong’s top 50 list of bibliobloggers (based on number of unique visitors), which brings me just barely onto the list. Between preparation for Baby’s arrival and a mountain of midterms to grade, November was a slow month. December should be more productive, even if it does include the arrival of my firstborn child (within the next few days??), with several projects awaiting me before the month ends. Also, I don’t do much by way of “devotional” sorts of posts on here, but one or two might show up this month as I reflect on the birth of my son in the season of Advent.

I am happy to have all my visitors and thank NT Wrong’s reminder that they are there–increasingly so, apparently. Thanks for coming!

So, WordPress has this new feature where you can insert a poll into your blog posts. So, to make use of this new tool and to have a little fun, let me ask: Who within the biblioblogging world is the most intelligent? I do not qualify because, well, I’m creating this poll. And, clearly, that is not an intelligent thing to do.

Cast your vote! And feel free to leave your reasoning in the comments.

[polldaddy poll=1001464]