10. The Dark Knight-Joker chases Harvey DentThis sequence begins with Dent sacrificing himself to lure out the Joker. It ends with a flipped Semi, a wrecked Batmobile, and the Joker in custody. Dent, Batman, and Gordon left behind them a city devestated by the chaos of the chase. Chaos that the Joker was in control of the whole time.The effects team shut down parts of Chicago and flipped a real semi. Awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81LeooTiKI0
9. Aliens-Ripley vs. the Alien QueenThere is so much subtext going on in this battle of mothers. The technical effect of the Alien queen is masterful and a testement to the greatness of Stan Winston. The queen was essentially a giant puppet. One of the best Sci-Fi movies ever and a top notch action film to boot. This was the first r-rated movie my mom let me see. It kicked off my love of special effects and space marines. It carries on in my love for Halo
8. Return of the Jedi- Assualt of the Second Death StarI really do not like ROTJ. I hate the ewoks, the Jabba scenes are pointless, the whole endor battle is stupid, not to mention the scenes of the heroes among the ewoks. Did I mention I hate the ewoks?The one bright spot in the whole movie is the attack on the Death Star II, all of that is done with models and stop motion. Really amazing and thrilling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGMvadAFqLQ
7. Raiders of the Lost Ark- truck chaseIndy must rescue the Ark from the Nazi's. This scene is a throwback to all the great western and b movie serial chases Spielberg and Lucas grew up on. And it is injected with about 10,000 times more awesomeness. How cool is the whole Indy climbing on, over, under, behind, and in front of the truck? Again all done with practical effects and stuntmen. Awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQW14cbjD6c&feature=related
6. The Empire Strikes Back-Assualt on HothThis attack on th Rebel Base sets the tone for the rest of the movie, our heroes are screwed. From the first scene of the Super Star Destroyer to the first thud of the AT-AT feet, you know how scary the Empire really is. The rebel's do not have a prayer. Seeing this powerful empire be being defaeted by ewoks in ROTJ is blasphemy. The Empire in ROTJ is not the Empire of ESB. The Empire in ESB is a terrifying entity worthy of respect. Powerful and deadly. Good-bye rebel scum. Oh and one more thing, Han should have died as was originally inteneded.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWjj8EKTkWE
5. The Road Warrior-Final ChaseThis movie is the perfect hybrid of Sci-Fi and action. Here Mel is helping a group of Post-Apocolyptic survivors protect their gas. Mel Gibson rocks as a man on a mission tearing up everything in his way. Again all done with practical effects and real bodies in motion. This is why we see action movies, and the twist at the end is classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmf-HCCZYOg&feature=related
4. Saving Private Ryan-D-Day Battle and Guarding the BridgeThe 1st 20 minutes of this movie brought home the reality of D-Day. For years D-Day had been presented as a heroic and glorified triumph to be celebrated. Now we know it was hell. Men, some boys, never made it out of the landing boats. Youknow the rest. Spielberg puts us right there in the action and shows us what real heroes did. Ever wonder why super heroes comics flurished in WWII, casue the real heroes were experiencing something for more horrific, and we needed to be detatched from that reality. The guarding of the Bridge at the end of this movie illustrates what it meant for men to love and honor the man next to him in a battle. Hank's character's final words to the found private Ryan, "earn this" echo to any one that has lived through sacrifice. MOstly practical effects with some digital help, but all masterful stroytelling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDEeO57PpLEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
feature=related&v=zFmDErnW-14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0WBZab8SWE&feature=related
Guarding the Bridge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLsO2ckxqEU&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRhqWtjuiao&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_CS-kedegA&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRPOlZob-hs&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnzzGGqkIpI&feature=related
3. Seven Samurai- the Final BattleIf you have ever seen a movie where one man collects a team of specialists to complete a task, it was becasue of Seven Samurai. Kurusawa's epic is quite possible the greatest film ever made. Hugely influential, Stunning cinematagrophy, great story, and thrilling action combine to make a movie that transcends genres, languages, and streotypes. Ever single frame of this movie could a professional photograph. This story of seven samuari protecting a village from bandits is heart-wrenching in its sense of what it means to be honorable. The final battle in the rain is beautiful, exciting, and sad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uu40a3ANFw
2. King Kong -1933-Kong vs. T-RexKing Kong was the 1st movie that made me love movies. I saw it when I was six and have loved it ever sense. It is a mixture of horror, sex, race, mystery, and fantesy. The hell of Skull Island is only bearable because you know that he is King Kong for a reason. Teh fight with a T-Rex proves just that. Stop motion pioneer Willis o'Brien is the special effects messiah. All work since this has been influenced be him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9im7lRUFQ_Y
1. Ben Hur- The Chariot RaceThe biggest, and best action sequence in any movie. ever. no comupters, no stop motion. Men steering chariots. This sequence took 3 months to film. Rumors persist that men died during it's filming. This scene plays out not just for the action but for the underlying plot of Ben-Hur racing for vengence against his former best friend (and lover?) Messala. It was all done practically with stunt men and real chariots. It still holds up as a thrilling spectacle of mayhem and blood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjxR40S4Tb0&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_O94EwEjfk&feature=related
Agree or Disagree? Have any suggestions?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
King David and the Face of Paul
Post Modern archaeological scholarship has long discounted the King David of the Bible. This week we have two great articles on David's palace being unearthed and possibly the earliest icon of Paul.
follow the links:
Friday, May 22, 2009
Terminator Salvation....
Saw TS yesterday and while the effects and action were great, the story was only so so. To me the most interesting character in the Terminator universe is Kyle Reese. John Conner is cool, but Reese is the man. Without Reese, there is no John Conner, both biologically and symbolically. In TS Reese is introduced living among the ruins of post judgement day LA. Being followed by this weird silent kid .Anton Yelchin (Chekov in Star Trek) does great channeling Michal Biehn' Reese. I wish the movie had focused on him. I think instead of following Marcus Wright and John Conner, let's follow Reese.
This new movie should be about Kyle Reese not Marcus Wright. Wright is a throwaway character that has no bearing on the Terminator mythos. His story is not remotely interesting regarding the whole Terminator history and he serves no purpose. Why introduce him and have him take story away from Kyle Reese?
Conner needed to remain a symbol, unseen. I love Christian Bale, but he really wasn't given room to breathe ( the directors fault). It would have been cool to have all the machines searching for Reese and the Resistance racing to find him before the machines. He could have been brought to Conner at the end and that would set up a real man vs. machines battle in movie 2 with everything working towards Conner sending Reese to 1984 in movie 3.
All of the blame for this movie lies at the feet of the director McG. He was woefully inept at tackling this movie. He doesn't know how to get actors to emote. He doesn't know how to convey simple messages through film. James Cameron is a master at using action films to convey simple truths. ex:
T2: value human life
Aliens: a mothers love for her offspring as well as being an allegory for Vietnam.
...just to name a few.
McG just wants to blow stuff up and it look awesome. Which worked for his other movies, the Charlie's Angels movies. And his explosion worked here, but I want compelling story. I want to care for the characters. In the last month I have watched T1 and T2 three times because they combine good storytelling with awesome action. I don't know if I want to see TS again. There are no big character moments in TS. I hope they can McG and get some one who can bring emotion to the Terminator Universe again.
I think I will post my alternative Terminator story and see if you guys think it would be better.
(probably not).
This new movie should be about Kyle Reese not Marcus Wright. Wright is a throwaway character that has no bearing on the Terminator mythos. His story is not remotely interesting regarding the whole Terminator history and he serves no purpose. Why introduce him and have him take story away from Kyle Reese?
Conner needed to remain a symbol, unseen. I love Christian Bale, but he really wasn't given room to breathe ( the directors fault). It would have been cool to have all the machines searching for Reese and the Resistance racing to find him before the machines. He could have been brought to Conner at the end and that would set up a real man vs. machines battle in movie 2 with everything working towards Conner sending Reese to 1984 in movie 3.
All of the blame for this movie lies at the feet of the director McG. He was woefully inept at tackling this movie. He doesn't know how to get actors to emote. He doesn't know how to convey simple messages through film. James Cameron is a master at using action films to convey simple truths. ex:
T2: value human life
Aliens: a mothers love for her offspring as well as being an allegory for Vietnam.
...just to name a few.
McG just wants to blow stuff up and it look awesome. Which worked for his other movies, the Charlie's Angels movies. And his explosion worked here, but I want compelling story. I want to care for the characters. In the last month I have watched T1 and T2 three times because they combine good storytelling with awesome action. I don't know if I want to see TS again. There are no big character moments in TS. I hope they can McG and get some one who can bring emotion to the Terminator Universe again.
I think I will post my alternative Terminator story and see if you guys think it would be better.
(probably not).
Thursday, May 21, 2009
I am Blessed...
Yesterday, a friend of mine from the last school I taught at came to see me. He and I really had to rely on each other to get through our school year. Between our students selling drugs at school, holding scissors to other students throats, and attacking teachers, we needed to have each others back. Well I was let go from that awful school and he got a better job in Indiana. He was coming by to see how I was and tell me he was moving.
He was stunned at the behavior of the kids I teach now. He could not believe it. Total night and day.
He and I both have lost faith in Public Education. Government schools just do not do the job. We need to get rid of tenure, hold teachers and parents accountable, and get rid of unions. Unions are the bane of our society. They have ruined Detroit and public education.
My friend says if the public schools in Indiana are anything like the schools here, he will find another profession.
I am so blessed to be able to be where I am. If I can help it, my kids won't go anywhere near a public school.
Just to give an Idea of the quality of the private school i teach at:
2 students offered full scholarships to Pepperdine Univeristy
1 full Princeton scholarship
1 Vanderbilt scholarship
2 University of Alabama scholarships
over 3 million dollars in scholarships awarded to the senior class of 90 students last year. The largest public school, had a graduating class of 600 and under 1 million offered in scholarships to their students.
We offer honors Physics, Calculus, AP English and History.
Why anyone would choose public education over quality education is beyond me. I understand the cost aspect, but this is your kids future. Work for it. You do not want to look like this state.
He was stunned at the behavior of the kids I teach now. He could not believe it. Total night and day.
He and I both have lost faith in Public Education. Government schools just do not do the job. We need to get rid of tenure, hold teachers and parents accountable, and get rid of unions. Unions are the bane of our society. They have ruined Detroit and public education.
My friend says if the public schools in Indiana are anything like the schools here, he will find another profession.
I am so blessed to be able to be where I am. If I can help it, my kids won't go anywhere near a public school.
Just to give an Idea of the quality of the private school i teach at:
2 students offered full scholarships to Pepperdine Univeristy
1 full Princeton scholarship
1 Vanderbilt scholarship
2 University of Alabama scholarships
over 3 million dollars in scholarships awarded to the senior class of 90 students last year. The largest public school, had a graduating class of 600 and under 1 million offered in scholarships to their students.
We offer honors Physics, Calculus, AP English and History.
Why anyone would choose public education over quality education is beyond me. I understand the cost aspect, but this is your kids future. Work for it. You do not want to look like this state.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Terminator Salvation and Two more biblical seals
Looking forward to seeing this movie despite the bad reviews. Maybe it will be a Waterworld kind of film.
In other news, two seals were discovered bearing the names Menachem and Shaul (Saul), Both in Jerusalem. All this proves is that those names were common in the 8th century BCE, it does not confirm the existence of Saul or Menachem. However only prominent men with those names would have had seals, so it could be them, but without some kind of declarative statement like, "I Saul, king of Israel..." there is simply no way to know.
here are the stories:
http://www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com/israelnews/christian/54-christian-news/1231-first-temple-period-seal-with-the-name-shaul-found-in-city-of-david-excavations.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1086601.html
In other news, two seals were discovered bearing the names Menachem and Shaul (Saul), Both in Jerusalem. All this proves is that those names were common in the 8th century BCE, it does not confirm the existence of Saul or Menachem. However only prominent men with those names would have had seals, so it could be them, but without some kind of declarative statement like, "I Saul, king of Israel..." there is simply no way to know.
here are the stories:
http://www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com/israelnews/christian/54-christian-news/1231-first-temple-period-seal-with-the-name-shaul-found-in-city-of-david-excavations.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1086601.html
Friday, May 15, 2009
Nothing new under the sun....
This scholar is pretty well known in biblical circles. He is very good at cutting down very deep, complex ideas and expressing them in a probing question. He believes most of the New Testament to be a forgery and claims the Resurrection never took place. His new book Jesus, Interrupted is a current best-seller.
A refutation of some of his claims:
1. NT a forgery- this one has been brought up before, church fathers distorted and excised parts of the Bible they did not like and formed our current canon long after Christs life.
-Simply not true. P52, the famed Ryland's Papyrus, is a fragment of a codex, or ancient book, dated from 90 AD to no later than 150 AD. It was found in Egypt. It contains John 18:31-33 on one side and 37-38 on the back. The 90 AD date seems most likely and if that is the case, that coupled with the fact that it seems that the 4th Gospel was in Egypt by the end of the 1st century, would affirm its very early acceptance as "canon". The Gospel of John is uniformly believed to have been the last Gospel written and then accepted as canon. This would mean that an early acceptance of John, which presents Jesus as divine, was understood among 1st century Christians. It was not the formulation of church fathers hundreds of years later. The second fact of the the fragment being from a Codex shows a clear break from Judaism (Jews used scrolls) just like what we see emerging in Acts and Paul's letters.
2. The Resurrection never happened. This has been floating around since the Resurrection.
- I really do not have enough space or time to really cover this. To really understand this, you need to study the Gospels and Paul's confessions. A few quick notes:
- Paul's letters are the earliest Christian writings. They pre-date the Gospels by a decade or more. Galatians is thought to be the earliest and contains what is the very first written account of the Resurrected Jesus appearing to some one. Simply writing off the resurrection appearances as visions is bad scholarship when viewing the complete context of scripture. The earliest Christians had nothing to gain by believing in Jesus and spreading the word. Paul's writings are certainly not the ramblings of a mad-man or one experiencing "visions" he has a deep understanding of theology and is able to string together complex religious systems into a coherent terms while making comparisons to known Roman and Greek customs (justification, logos, and adoption). Paul is not some back water hick claiming revelation and coming across as crazy, he is a very intelligent and well educated individual who knew he had experienced something profound. His testimony is the most important of all.
- Church tradition as far back as the end of the 1st century (Poycarp) , upholds that the twelve were subjected to torture and death, one does not endure such for doubtful visions or lies.
In the end Dr. Ehrman comes at the information from a bias. He has let his negative influences compromise his objectivity. Luke/Acts has been shown time and again to be one of the best ancient histories in existence, verified by several archaeological discoveries. You need to know that Ehrman is a fringe scholar and his beliefs, especially the conspiracy of Church Fathers to form their own Jesus, is not held by serious scholarship. The Dan Brownaphiles will no doubt embrace his stance but they need to be aware that he himself ignores empirical evidence to the origin of Christian beliefs.
If you want serious scholarship on the subject of NT reliability, evolution of Church thought, etc, any book by F.F. Bruce will suffice.
A refutation of some of his claims:
1. NT a forgery- this one has been brought up before, church fathers distorted and excised parts of the Bible they did not like and formed our current canon long after Christs life.
-Simply not true. P52, the famed Ryland's Papyrus, is a fragment of a codex, or ancient book, dated from 90 AD to no later than 150 AD. It was found in Egypt. It contains John 18:31-33 on one side and 37-38 on the back. The 90 AD date seems most likely and if that is the case, that coupled with the fact that it seems that the 4th Gospel was in Egypt by the end of the 1st century, would affirm its very early acceptance as "canon". The Gospel of John is uniformly believed to have been the last Gospel written and then accepted as canon. This would mean that an early acceptance of John, which presents Jesus as divine, was understood among 1st century Christians. It was not the formulation of church fathers hundreds of years later. The second fact of the the fragment being from a Codex shows a clear break from Judaism (Jews used scrolls) just like what we see emerging in Acts and Paul's letters.
2. The Resurrection never happened. This has been floating around since the Resurrection.
- I really do not have enough space or time to really cover this. To really understand this, you need to study the Gospels and Paul's confessions. A few quick notes:
- Paul's letters are the earliest Christian writings. They pre-date the Gospels by a decade or more. Galatians is thought to be the earliest and contains what is the very first written account of the Resurrected Jesus appearing to some one. Simply writing off the resurrection appearances as visions is bad scholarship when viewing the complete context of scripture. The earliest Christians had nothing to gain by believing in Jesus and spreading the word. Paul's writings are certainly not the ramblings of a mad-man or one experiencing "visions" he has a deep understanding of theology and is able to string together complex religious systems into a coherent terms while making comparisons to known Roman and Greek customs (justification, logos, and adoption). Paul is not some back water hick claiming revelation and coming across as crazy, he is a very intelligent and well educated individual who knew he had experienced something profound. His testimony is the most important of all.
- Church tradition as far back as the end of the 1st century (Poycarp) , upholds that the twelve were subjected to torture and death, one does not endure such for doubtful visions or lies.
In the end Dr. Ehrman comes at the information from a bias. He has let his negative influences compromise his objectivity. Luke/Acts has been shown time and again to be one of the best ancient histories in existence, verified by several archaeological discoveries. You need to know that Ehrman is a fringe scholar and his beliefs, especially the conspiracy of Church Fathers to form their own Jesus, is not held by serious scholarship. The Dan Brownaphiles will no doubt embrace his stance but they need to be aware that he himself ignores empirical evidence to the origin of Christian beliefs.
If you want serious scholarship on the subject of NT reliability, evolution of Church thought, etc, any book by F.F. Bruce will suffice.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
In 1989 I was watching the the Last Crusade....
Mike Cope has a good post about a pivotal year for the Churches of Christ. I have not read the books he mentions but I want to now. I hope that the CoC can become more open and more kingdom centered than it is now. We have made strides since '89, but we have a long way to go. Thankfully God is gracious and patient.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thanks for the Prayers
Thank you for the prayers for the Ingram and Keller family. Both situations are improving. Please continue to pray.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Been a tough weekend...
Be praying for some people I know. Jeff Ingram, the man mentoring me at Boyd Buchanan, had to rush to Alabama. Both his parents had been shot after an altercation with their neighbor. His father was hit in the shoulder and is doing well, but his mother was shot twice and is in the ICU. Another neighbor tried to help and was shot and killed. Please pray for this family.
If that were not enough, a fine young student at Boyd was in a car wreck late Saturday night. His broke his back, punctured a lung, and fractured his skull. He is awake and when asked what day it was he said. "Sunday...I am missing church." I will keep you posted. His name is Nick Keller. Please pray for him and his family. And take some time to hug and tell your family you love them.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Behold the Man.....
The end of the year at school is often a great time to be lazy. Several of my students were on a physics trip to Six Flags today. Basically they get to go "learn" about physics while the rest of us are stuck at school. Maybe I should motion for a trip to Jerusalem so we can better "learn" about the bible. Can you tell I am bitter? Well at least it rained for the first part of the day.
Any who, I came up with a ridiculous excuse to not give a test and showed a video on the search for the historical Jesus. My kids were less than thrilled. I think they would rather have had the test.
I love the historical context of the Bible. From Mesopotamia right through the Roman Empire, the Bible presents such a rich backdrop for its events to unfold before. Well as we (mostly just me) watched the video, one girl asked "why don't we have any pictures of Jesus?"
It was a simple question with a much more complicated meaning than the girl probably ever realized. We have descriptions of Caesar, Alexander the Great, Buddha etc, why no Jesus?
And it was brought home to me that this current generation really relies on tangible connections for their lives. It is not enough to just believe or have faith (which is a dangerous and at the same time intriguing place to be) that belief or faith needs to be real to them. Otherwise it is just something they discard, like Santa Claus.
Now it becoming real can occur in many different forms: life circumstances, historical inquiry, generational teaching, and relationships. But increasingly kids want/need to see Jesus. The girl that asked the question was essentially saying "if we have all this "good history" about Jesus, how come no one took the time to write what he looked like?" That is a very fair and simple question. If Jesus was so important to his followers, why not tell us what he looked like? The answer deals with something most people are not willing to explore. It may not be important to them or the may not want to delve into the culture to find out why some things are the way they are. It may take too much work.
Israel is a unique group in ancient history because the were not artistic. They did not even decorate their pottery. One way archaeologists can determine if a site is Jewish or not is by looking at the pottery. Bichrome pottery is a type common in the ancient world. It was basically decorative pottery. All the cultures around the Israelites used this type (Philistines, Phoenicians, Greeks, Roman, etc.). Israel did not decorate their pottery, nor did they paint, write secular poetry, or write secular themed plays. In fact Israel was almost devoid of any artistic output save for religious writing. Religion was the art of Israel.
Also depictions of kings would have come across as idolatrous. This was true into the 1st century. When the gospels refer to Jesus as a Jew, that is all the imagery they needed back then. Most Jewish men had short hair, beards, brown eyes, and a dark complexion. All that was needed was for the author to bring that image into the minds of gospel readers. By telling the reader Jesus was a Jew, that image would have sprung to mind and really no more description was needed. He was also a carpenter and was probably physically fit.
Now as I began to explain this to her, she became sorry she even asked. The answer was too much for her to care about. She wanted to be able to read a short concise description of Jesus and leave it at that.
This is a product of people becoming less familiar with biblical study. We neglect the details that illuminate scripture. Being ignorant of Israel's history leaves one wanting in their search for Jesus. Why did Jesus need to be a sacrifice? Why was sacrifice important? What is sin and why does God hate it? Why was Jesus Jewish? Why did he claim to be God? To often people want to read scripture and come to their own conclusions so it can fit what they want rather than what the writer intended. Simply cherry-picking scripture so as to "describe" something is very very dangerous and has brought us to our current problem of division. For too long we have neglected the context of scripture to find a quick, easy, and concise description( and thus answer) to some problem.
Any who, I came up with a ridiculous excuse to not give a test and showed a video on the search for the historical Jesus. My kids were less than thrilled. I think they would rather have had the test.
I love the historical context of the Bible. From Mesopotamia right through the Roman Empire, the Bible presents such a rich backdrop for its events to unfold before. Well as we (mostly just me) watched the video, one girl asked "why don't we have any pictures of Jesus?"
It was a simple question with a much more complicated meaning than the girl probably ever realized. We have descriptions of Caesar, Alexander the Great, Buddha etc, why no Jesus?
And it was brought home to me that this current generation really relies on tangible connections for their lives. It is not enough to just believe or have faith (which is a dangerous and at the same time intriguing place to be) that belief or faith needs to be real to them. Otherwise it is just something they discard, like Santa Claus.
Now it becoming real can occur in many different forms: life circumstances, historical inquiry, generational teaching, and relationships. But increasingly kids want/need to see Jesus. The girl that asked the question was essentially saying "if we have all this "good history" about Jesus, how come no one took the time to write what he looked like?" That is a very fair and simple question. If Jesus was so important to his followers, why not tell us what he looked like? The answer deals with something most people are not willing to explore. It may not be important to them or the may not want to delve into the culture to find out why some things are the way they are. It may take too much work.
Israel is a unique group in ancient history because the were not artistic. They did not even decorate their pottery. One way archaeologists can determine if a site is Jewish or not is by looking at the pottery. Bichrome pottery is a type common in the ancient world. It was basically decorative pottery. All the cultures around the Israelites used this type (Philistines, Phoenicians, Greeks, Roman, etc.). Israel did not decorate their pottery, nor did they paint, write secular poetry, or write secular themed plays. In fact Israel was almost devoid of any artistic output save for religious writing. Religion was the art of Israel.
Also depictions of kings would have come across as idolatrous. This was true into the 1st century. When the gospels refer to Jesus as a Jew, that is all the imagery they needed back then. Most Jewish men had short hair, beards, brown eyes, and a dark complexion. All that was needed was for the author to bring that image into the minds of gospel readers. By telling the reader Jesus was a Jew, that image would have sprung to mind and really no more description was needed. He was also a carpenter and was probably physically fit.
Now as I began to explain this to her, she became sorry she even asked. The answer was too much for her to care about. She wanted to be able to read a short concise description of Jesus and leave it at that.
This is a product of people becoming less familiar with biblical study. We neglect the details that illuminate scripture. Being ignorant of Israel's history leaves one wanting in their search for Jesus. Why did Jesus need to be a sacrifice? Why was sacrifice important? What is sin and why does God hate it? Why was Jesus Jewish? Why did he claim to be God? To often people want to read scripture and come to their own conclusions so it can fit what they want rather than what the writer intended. Simply cherry-picking scripture so as to "describe" something is very very dangerous and has brought us to our current problem of division. For too long we have neglected the context of scripture to find a quick, easy, and concise description( and thus answer) to some problem.
A more important question we should ask is what should the Church look like? Should it be an institution that tends to neglect circumstance and context in favor of a quick answer? Or should it be an institution willing to take the time to think, love, and act regardless of the conditions. Jesus never regarded the conditions of people that he came into contact with as anything more than a chance to reveal Godly love to them. If we can do the same, with God's help, that will be a good start on making Jesus real in our lives, so he can be seen as real to others.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Official from the time of Hezekiah identified
In Isaiah 22:15, the prophet chastises several officials of Hezekiah for their opulence. One such individual was Shebna (or Shebnayahu with the theophoric yahu attached). Well in 1870 a tomb from preexilic Judah was discovered, but was not translated until 1953. It was a tomb for "Shebna, the servant of the King, who is over the house" and is almost certainly the Shebna from Isaiah 22. More recently some seals from the same period have come to light and Biblical Archaeology Review has a good article on tracking down Shebna.
This is just another instance where the Bible accurately recorded of very minor detail.
If it gets the minor details correct, what about the major ones?
Check out the BAR article here.
This is just another instance where the Bible accurately recorded of very minor detail.
If it gets the minor details correct, what about the major ones?
Check out the BAR article here.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
New Randy Harris Book
Monday, April 27, 2009
This is offensive.....
Follow the link.
http://sev.prnewswire.com/art/20090424/NY0498524042009-1.html
This painting is pretty offensive to me.
http://sev.prnewswire.com/art/20090424/NY0498524042009-1.html
This painting is pretty offensive to me.
Friday, April 24, 2009
If it was a snake.....
I follow several movie sites and one of them has an editor that i frequently read. He is an avowed atheist and comes from a Catholic background. Below are his thoughts on the Last Temptation of Christ.
"When people talk about their favorite Martin Scorsese movie they're probably talking about something along the lines of Goodfellas or Taxi Driver. When it's me talking about that subject, it might very likely be The Last Temptation of Christ that I'm discussing. I've written about this movie a lot in my time at CHUD, simply because I find it one of the most moving motion pictures of all time. It's the kind of movie I could see basing a faith on; Scorsese's depiction of Christ (based, of course, on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis) is a harrowingly human take on the messiah, and one that I can understand. I never understood a Jesus who got nailed to that cross without a serious second thought, a Jesus who was so sure of his own divinity (and so filled with the divine in his day to day life) that this was an irritation instead of a terror. To me the Jesus I learned about in Catechism was Superman while Scorsese's Christ was Peter Parker as a teenaged Spider-Man - filled with doubt, filled with fear, but doing the right thing anyway, no matter how much he'd rather be doing something more comfortable and safer. Of course a lot of other people do not agree with this. They want their Jesus to be Superman - perfect, unknowable, without flaw. And they get pretty worked up about this particular difference of opinion, and when The Last Temptation of Christ came out they made their difference of opinion known loudly, and in at least one case, violently.Thomas R. Lindlof's Hollywood Under Siege: Martin Scorsese, The Religious Right, and the Culture Wars is a must-own book that tracks not only the tortured route Temptation took to the screen (Scorsese tried to get it made for years; at one point he told Paramount he would direct Flashdance 2 if they gave him the money to make Temptation) and its production but the insane backlash the film caused in the Christian community.Lindlof did a ton of research - this was released by an academic press - and he has an incredible insight into the world of the people who started the protests and the voices that tried to shout down Universal and Scorsese. One group raised money in an attempt to equal the film's budget so they could buy the negative and burn it. Thousands marched on Universal Studios, despite the fact that not a single person in the protest movement had seen the movie that upset them so greatly. And all across America theaters that dared to show the movie were targeted with bomb threats. A guy actually drove his truck into a theater playing Last Temptation.Lindlof makes a very convincing case that The Last Temptation of Christ was the Pearl Harbor of the Culture Wars that we're still fighting to this day. It's a terrifying story of massive intolerance, religious ignorance and superstitious idiots as well as an inspiring story of a director's vision and an executive's surprising commitment to that vision. Universal could have just dropped Scorsese and Temptation, but they fought with him to the bitter end. That's the kind of stance it's hard to imagine the Tom Rothmans of the world taking today.Why were these religious lunatics so upset? Because the movie shows Jesus having sex with Mary Magdalene, marrying her and having kids. But it shows this in the context of an illusion, a temptation Satan (in the form of a little girl) throws at Christ as he's on the cross. In the last moments Jesus is forced to see the life he is denying himself - the love, the happiness, the human moments - so that he can fulfill a vague destiny he doesn't fully understand. I'm not religious in any way but this concept, of a man who gives up everything (and who understands what he's giving up; this Christ isn't a complete monk who is afraid of his flesh, he's a man who battles with it) for the benefit of everyone yet to come, is one that I find incredibly emotional and meaningful. A god getting up on that cross is devoid of impact - a man, a real man, who feels like a real man feels, getting up on that cross is almost mind blowing.Scorsese's film is beautiful and inspirational, and it's also a touch weird. The low budget means that there's a seriousness sparseness to everything, but I think that works. And Scorsese's vision of the Twelve Apostles as regular dudes does serve to keep many people from really getting into the movie. Harvey Keitel, playing Judas, and the rest of the guys use colloquialisms and urban accents (lots of Brooklyn here) to make you understand that these guys were the blue collar men of their day. The accents we're used to in Biblical films - hoity toity English - are just as phony, but at least these accents are trying to recreate an aspect of who these men were.The Last Temptation of Christ is long, and it can be difficult, but I think it's completely rewarding. I don't think streaming on Hulu with commercial breaks is the best way to see this movie, but this is a movie you must see, and if not now, when?"
I have not seen this particular movie and don't really see anything wrong with it. I will check it out. But I am sorry that Jesus has been so miss represented to him. When I read the Gospels, it is the human side of Jesus that shines through. He is a man that cares for the outcast and downtrodden. He doesn't want to go to the cross, but he must. What strikes me is that God was willing to become a man. Yes he performed miracles but it was his interaction with people and the compassion he showed them that made him unique. In all others religions, the deities are annoyed by man. Man is an inconvenience to them. YHWH deeply cares for mankind. He was willing to give up his life and everything that would have come with it. It was what had to be done. When I read the Gospels, I see the exact Christ that the author of this selection desires to experience.
I hate that ignorant believers do so much harm to un/post churched.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Temptation Seals and Ancient Collective Memory
One of the oldest archaeological finds that seems to depict an event related to scripture is the so called Adam and Eve seal seen here.
The seal was found at Tepe Gawra in northern Iraq. This settlement was occupied from 5000 -1500 BCE. The seal depicts a man and a woman, bent over in shame, closely followed by a serpent. I am not saying this seal depicts Adam and Eve themselves. I am only saying that the inhabitants of Tepe Gawra remembered something closely resembling what the ancient Hebrews remembered and recorded.
Another artifact from a time long after Tepe Gawra, the Temptation Seal, gives the Assyrian side of the Fall. This seal is actually a cylinder with pictographs on it it. When rolled onto clay or dipped in ink and rolled on paper, it presents the image in the link. This seal is very interesting because seated in the center of the man and woman is a tree. Behind the woman a serpent can be seen whispering in her ear.
Again all this seal shows is that different cultures, Assyrian, Tepe Gawra, and Hebrew have a common remembrance/myth/legend of a man and a woman, a tree, and a serpent. Along with various flood stories in cultures all over the world, we can assume that ancient man in general has a collective memory of some distant past experiences.
The seal was found at Tepe Gawra in northern Iraq. This settlement was occupied from 5000 -1500 BCE. The seal depicts a man and a woman, bent over in shame, closely followed by a serpent. I am not saying this seal depicts Adam and Eve themselves. I am only saying that the inhabitants of Tepe Gawra remembered something closely resembling what the ancient Hebrews remembered and recorded.
Another artifact from a time long after Tepe Gawra, the Temptation Seal, gives the Assyrian side of the Fall. This seal is actually a cylinder with pictographs on it it. When rolled onto clay or dipped in ink and rolled on paper, it presents the image in the link. This seal is very interesting because seated in the center of the man and woman is a tree. Behind the woman a serpent can be seen whispering in her ear.
Again all this seal shows is that different cultures, Assyrian, Tepe Gawra, and Hebrew have a common remembrance/myth/legend of a man and a woman, a tree, and a serpent. Along with various flood stories in cultures all over the world, we can assume that ancient man in general has a collective memory of some distant past experiences.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Pirates.....
This whole piracy thing has me baffled. I actually heard a guy on CNN defending these pirates!! Apparently illegal fishing off of Somalia has turned the country to piracy. It could not possibly be the fact that there is no government, infrastructure, law.... no its the big industrialized countries fault.
Solutions:
1. allow merchant vessels to be armed. Then when one of these little skiffs come puttering up alongside the ship, you blow it up, pirates and all.
2. stop paying the ransoms, it only encourages more piracy.
3. Any navy vessel that sights a pirate ship may fire on and sink said pirate ship.
I am glad the President ordered the rescue of the American Captain. I guess there is a war on piracy now?
do you guys have any solutions to piracy?
Solutions:
1. allow merchant vessels to be armed. Then when one of these little skiffs come puttering up alongside the ship, you blow it up, pirates and all.
2. stop paying the ransoms, it only encourages more piracy.
3. Any navy vessel that sights a pirate ship may fire on and sink said pirate ship.
I am glad the President ordered the rescue of the American Captain. I guess there is a war on piracy now?
do you guys have any solutions to piracy?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Climate Change I can Believe In......
Mike Cope has a post on how climate change affected the Christian make-up of eastern and African societies.
It really is a good read with some modern parallels. I am somewhat familiar with the effects of the climate change that occurred in 1300, it led to the disappearance of the Greenland colony of Norse settlers. The post goes on to attribute the change to widespread famine which then led to revolts and persecution of minorities. A very good read.
It really is a good read with some modern parallels. I am somewhat familiar with the effects of the climate change that occurred in 1300, it led to the disappearance of the Greenland colony of Norse settlers. The post goes on to attribute the change to widespread famine which then led to revolts and persecution of minorities. A very good read.
Maximilist or Minamilist, Where do you stand?
Can everything in the Bible be accurate? I have spent the better part of the last 10 years studying biblical archaeology as a hobby. There is so much about ancient Biblical cultures that fascinates me. I love to keep up with excavations and new scholarship.
However in the early nineties a new school of scholarship began to emerge called Biblical Minimalism. Basically the adherents to this school , guys like Israel Finkelstien, believe the Bible to have been assembled by post exilic scribes, around 400 BCE. They came out in the early nineties declaring many aspects of the OT to be merely myths and not accurate history. These include:
1. Creation and flood as myth
2. Exodus and conquest as an allegory created to unify several displaced peasants in the highlands of Israel. These "peasants" would emerge as Israel under King Omri in the 8th century BCE.
3. They claim David and Solomon as myths or at the very least, small tribal leaders
*It is interesting to note that when these views were published, a few months later, they found this:This.
This view came to be labeled as the Low Chronology, basically saying that all of Israel history before the Omride Period is of little historical value and can not be accurate.
The opposing view, the High Chronology, or Maximalist, is defined as follows:
1. the Patriarchal accounts can be trusted as they present an accurate representation of 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE near eastern culture, even if literal Abram, Issac, and Jacob did not exist.
2. Exodus could have occurred, although in far less numbers than the Bible portrays.
3. Conquest could have occurred in much the same way as the exodus, on a smaller scale.
4. The United Monarchy was powerful and large. This find has been revolutionary in studying the Davidic period and seems to validate the Bible's claim of David being powerful.
There is a lot of study surrounding the Davidic period, known archaeologically as Iron Age II, and it should be exciting to see the forthcoming discoveries.
The whole point of this post is to get a feel for how you approach Biblical Scholarship. Being a Christian, I guess I would be considered a high Maximalist. This is based on Christ affirming the Hebrew cannon (which was set in Christ's time and is the same cannon we have today) in Luke 24:44. Here Christ affirms everything written in the OT, so if he validates it, I must also.
So are you a Maximalist, Minimalist, or somewhere in between? Or does it matter?
However in the early nineties a new school of scholarship began to emerge called Biblical Minimalism. Basically the adherents to this school , guys like Israel Finkelstien, believe the Bible to have been assembled by post exilic scribes, around 400 BCE. They came out in the early nineties declaring many aspects of the OT to be merely myths and not accurate history. These include:
1. Creation and flood as myth
2. Exodus and conquest as an allegory created to unify several displaced peasants in the highlands of Israel. These "peasants" would emerge as Israel under King Omri in the 8th century BCE.
3. They claim David and Solomon as myths or at the very least, small tribal leaders
*It is interesting to note that when these views were published, a few months later, they found this:This.
This view came to be labeled as the Low Chronology, basically saying that all of Israel history before the Omride Period is of little historical value and can not be accurate.
The opposing view, the High Chronology, or Maximalist, is defined as follows:
1. the Patriarchal accounts can be trusted as they present an accurate representation of 2nd and 3rd millennium BCE near eastern culture, even if literal Abram, Issac, and Jacob did not exist.
2. Exodus could have occurred, although in far less numbers than the Bible portrays.
3. Conquest could have occurred in much the same way as the exodus, on a smaller scale.
4. The United Monarchy was powerful and large. This find has been revolutionary in studying the Davidic period and seems to validate the Bible's claim of David being powerful.
There is a lot of study surrounding the Davidic period, known archaeologically as Iron Age II, and it should be exciting to see the forthcoming discoveries.
The whole point of this post is to get a feel for how you approach Biblical Scholarship. Being a Christian, I guess I would be considered a high Maximalist. This is based on Christ affirming the Hebrew cannon (which was set in Christ's time and is the same cannon we have today) in Luke 24:44. Here Christ affirms everything written in the OT, so if he validates it, I must also.
So are you a Maximalist, Minimalist, or somewhere in between? Or does it matter?
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Bone Box
The James Ossuary forgery trial has been going on for years. In 2002, Oded Golan, an Israeli antiques dealer revealed the James Ossuary to the public. It is an important discovery because, if legitimized, would be the earliest extra biblical reference to Jesus from the middle of the 1st century, if we place James' death in the early 60's AD, as Josephus does.The Israeli Antiquities Authority labeled it a forgery (without ever examining it) and charged Oded with fraud. Well in the years since, the trial has fallen apart as well as the case against Golan.
Biblical Archaeology Review
http://www.bib-arch.org/news/forgery-trial-news.asp
It seems some 30 scholars have examined the inscription and its authenticity.
Here is the translation of the inscription found on the box:
This is important because it was not customary to mention brothers on these inscriptions, unless they were very well known.
This could effectively put an end to the Jesus Myth movement.
NEW THEOLOGICAL BREAKTHROUGH!!!!!!
You can be a Christian and deny the Resurecction Happened!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Huzzah!!!!!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-tarico/ancient-mythic-origins-of_b_185455.html
This is really stunning. This is why pluralism and divergence from some essential sound doctrines can be very harmful. Yes the bodily Resurrection is a essential sound doctrine. it's not like music, or women leading, or clapping.
"If the resurrection of Christ didn't literally happen, that shouldn't have any bearing on whether life now is worth living or how we live."
There is no point in living like a Christ devoted life, if the Resurrection did not happen.
Paul was adamant he had seen the risen Christ. The Gospel of John, 1,2,3 John all deal with the fact of the fleshly Lord being risen and to be aware of teachers that deny such. John especially refers to himself as an eyewitness. The Resurrection was not some hijacked ancient myth. Nor did the NT writers intend for ancient parallels.
What do you guys think?
Although I do agree that Christians should not torture.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/valerie-tarico/ancient-mythic-origins-of_b_185455.html
This is really stunning. This is why pluralism and divergence from some essential sound doctrines can be very harmful. Yes the bodily Resurrection is a essential sound doctrine. it's not like music, or women leading, or clapping.
"If the resurrection of Christ didn't literally happen, that shouldn't have any bearing on whether life now is worth living or how we live."
There is no point in living like a Christ devoted life, if the Resurrection did not happen.
Paul was adamant he had seen the risen Christ. The Gospel of John, 1,2,3 John all deal with the fact of the fleshly Lord being risen and to be aware of teachers that deny such. John especially refers to himself as an eyewitness. The Resurrection was not some hijacked ancient myth. Nor did the NT writers intend for ancient parallels.
What do you guys think?
Although I do agree that Christians should not torture.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Jesus or Paul? Where do you stand?
This sounds like a good idea. http://sibboleth.blogspot.com/2009/04/jesus-great-but-paul.html has an interesting idea for a book on Paul.
It seems a tenant of the emergent/ing church is to get away from the perceived "bluntness" of Paul in favor of a more tolerant "in touch with his feelings" Jesus. Can the two be reconciled?
Here is my take. You can't believe in Jesus and reject Paul. I know that might strike some of you as strange, maybe even heretical. but stay with me....
Jesus was great. No argument there. Big influence on me. However, it can be argued that it is only because of Paul, that we in the West understand Jesus as we do. Remember, Paul went west:
"Paul's Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6.Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
7.When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
8.So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9.During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
10.After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
With this action Paul transforms the Way from an eastern religion to a western one. As the Way is accepted by gentiles (Greeks and Romans) it begins to radically transform. Thus we get Paul's letters reforming the Way to be more appealing to no-Jews. Various ideas like appropriate sexual practices, food laws, worship, giving, faith, justification, etc. are disscussed at length. All really weighty stuff that today (and back then) rubs people the wrong way today.
A good example brought up in the comments from the linked blog is that Paul was willing to radically change his life practices so as to not hinder the gospel ( IE eating laws, vows etc.). For those of us comfortable with the the way our lives go, that can be a difficult pill to swallow.
The rejection of Paul, is to reject the very man Christ chose to share the Gospel and bring it westward. Since I believe Christ chose Paul for an obvious reason, we should not ignore him or write off what he has to say. Does everything he say apply to us? No. But a lot of it does.
What do you guys think of Paul? Why does there seem to be a breaking away from Pauline inspiration among the emergent/emerging? Thanks and hope you enjoy the blog!
P.S. a free meal to anyone that can name where the title of this blog comes from.
(meal includes soup and a sandwich.)
It seems a tenant of the emergent/ing church is to get away from the perceived "bluntness" of Paul in favor of a more tolerant "in touch with his feelings" Jesus. Can the two be reconciled?
Here is my take. You can't believe in Jesus and reject Paul. I know that might strike some of you as strange, maybe even heretical. but stay with me....
Jesus was great. No argument there. Big influence on me. However, it can be argued that it is only because of Paul, that we in the West understand Jesus as we do. Remember, Paul went west:
"Paul's Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6.Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.
7.When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.
8.So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9.During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
10.After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."
With this action Paul transforms the Way from an eastern religion to a western one. As the Way is accepted by gentiles (Greeks and Romans) it begins to radically transform. Thus we get Paul's letters reforming the Way to be more appealing to no-Jews. Various ideas like appropriate sexual practices, food laws, worship, giving, faith, justification, etc. are disscussed at length. All really weighty stuff that today (and back then) rubs people the wrong way today.
A good example brought up in the comments from the linked blog is that Paul was willing to radically change his life practices so as to not hinder the gospel ( IE eating laws, vows etc.). For those of us comfortable with the the way our lives go, that can be a difficult pill to swallow.
The rejection of Paul, is to reject the very man Christ chose to share the Gospel and bring it westward. Since I believe Christ chose Paul for an obvious reason, we should not ignore him or write off what he has to say. Does everything he say apply to us? No. But a lot of it does.
What do you guys think of Paul? Why does there seem to be a breaking away from Pauline inspiration among the emergent/emerging? Thanks and hope you enjoy the blog!
P.S. a free meal to anyone that can name where the title of this blog comes from.
(meal includes soup and a sandwich.)
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