British Blog Censured

Article here. I’m still not clear on all the details, but it seems a British journalist’s blog was censured by a watchdog (PCC – Press Complaints Commission) that concluded the offending blog post could not support its conclusion, which was the following:

The overwhelming majority of street crime, knife crime, gun crime, robbery and crimes of sexual violence in London is carried out by young men from the African-Caribbean community.

The journalist works for Spectator magazine, and it was a blog on their website that carried the post. This is being viewed as an indicator blogs are beginning to be held to the same standards as traditional journalism.

The offending post can be found here. The adjudication is here.

Bibliobloggers at SBL

The Official (Unofficial) Biblioblog List is compiling a list of biblibloggers who are presenting at SBL. If you have a proposal that’s been accepted you can add it to the list by filling out this page. The list is still pretty small, and I’m sure there are lots of you who have had papers accepted.

Modern Apocalypticism

This CNN article discusses the arrest of nine members of a Christian militia group that was plotting to kill a police officer and then plant IEDs that would kill more people at the officer’s funeral. The group calls itself the Hutaree, which they say means “Christian Warrior,” and they proclaim  that they are “Preparing for the end time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive.” You can read the indictment here. Like Gamaliel said, if it be of men, it will come to nought.

Second SBL Proposal Accepted

I was very pleased to see this morning that my proposal to the newly approved Early Jewish Monotheisms unit has been accepted. Here is the program as it looks at this point:

Key Terms in the Debate about Monotheism
Joel Burnett (Baylor University): What is an elohim? Reflections on Chronicles’ Use of the Term
Larry Hurtado (Edinburgh University): What comprises ‘Jewish Monotheism’ in the late Hellenistic and early Roman Period?
Daniel O. McClellan (Oxford University): What is Deity in LXX Deuteronomy?
Mike Hundley (Cambridge University): What is divine presence?
Rob Barrett (Göttingen University): What Does it Mean to Follow Other Gods?

Here is my abstract:

What Is Deity in LXX Deuteronomy?

The book of Deuteronomy provides a number of valuable and unique insights into early Israelite perspectives on the nature of God, his relationship to other divine beings, and the diachronic development of both. For example, Deut 32:8–9, as found in 4QDeut^j, attests to a likely early distinction between Yahweh and Elyon and presents the latter as the overseer of the gods of the several nations of the earth. Deut 4:19 represents a later recasting of the relationship of Elyon (now identified with Yahweh) with those deities (now represented astrally). Multiple historical layers and theologies are represented.

The Greek translation of Deuteronomy, however, redefines and harmonizes the nature of God and his relationship to the deities of the surrounding nations. Whether as the result of dynamic equivalence, translator exegesis, or a variant Vorlage, the perspective offered is one of the earliest of developing Hellenistic-Jewish monotheism. The unique nature of Deuteronomy’s references to other deities provides a rich backdrop against which to read the Greek translation. This paper will examine the view of divinity presented in LXX Deuteronomy and evaluate its relationship to that of the Hebrew text as it has been preserved to us.

Sam Harris on Why We Should Ditch Religion

CNN has a video posted in which Sam Harris, one of the founders of Project Reason and author of “Letter to a Christian Nation,” explains why religion needs to go. It seems he’s arguing that religion is a distraction from, and an insufficient response to, the real problems of the world. The video formulates a caricature from the most fundamentalist and extremist manifestations of religion, and it is this caricature which Harris rather deftly confronts. That caricature, however, is only a caricature. That Islam and Christianity are theologically irreconcilable is not really a valid indictment of theism in general. I also take issue with his assertion that much war is waged because of religion, even when nationalism and political motivations may seem to be the proximate cause (his statement is that “it’s political because it’s religious”). This is a reductive and uninformed assessment of the causes of the wars to which he alludes.

UPDATE: Harris replies to common criticisms of his argument here.

Project Reason Video Contest Winner

I just received an email from Project Reason about the winners of their video contest. This was the invitation:

The primary goal of Project Reason is to spread scientific thinking and secular values. We invite you to help us further our work by submitting a short video that conveys the message of the foundation.

This was the winning video. I think it’s a good video, although I think the guy’s voice isn’t quite right for its tone. The issue I take with it is that it promotes equal social footing for all without belittling any segment of the population. This isn’t a bad position, but it is at total odds with the values of Project Reason, which seems committed to ridiculing all aspects of faith and religion.

El Elyon, Begetter of Heaven and Earth

One of my proposals was accepted for presentation in the Hebrew Scriptures and Cognate Literature program unit of this year’s SBL annual meeting:

El Elyon, Begetter of Heaven and Earth

While the procreative nuance of the root qnh/y in contexts related to conception and childbirth is generally recognized, scholarship has been relatively reticent regarding such a reading in Gen 14:19, 22, where Melchizedek blesses Abram by ’ēl ‘elyôn qonēh šāmayim wā’āreṣ. This paper will trace the development of ’ēl ‘elyôn qonēh šāmayim wā’āreṣ from its Syro-Palestinian predecessor, ’l qn ’rṣ, through to its biblical adaptations. Analogous Assyro-Babylonian appellatives, generally marginalized in this discussion, will be incorporated to provide a more comprehensive context within which the semantic range of the phrase may be more fully delineated. A postexilic shift in the understanding of the phrase will be shown to have arisen as a result of the theological sensitivities of later transmitters of the text. This will account for the translation equivalents of the Second Temple Period often appealed to by scholars in an effort to retroject an “orthodox” reading of the phrase into early Israelite theology. Ultimately, a procreative reading of qonēh šāmayim wā’āreṣ (“Begetter of Heaven and Earth”) will be shown to be original and preferable in the case of Gen 14:19, 22.

I think this is a great topic, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for my proposal for the new Early Jewish Monotheisms unit.

Oxford’s Greek Scriptures and the Rabbis Conference

Here’s a picture of participants in Oxford’s Greek Scripture and the Rabbis conference last Friday. We’re standing in front of the fireplace in the Long Gallery at Yarnton Manor, which is original to the late 16th century building and has the original crest from the Spencer family of Princess Diana fame. See who you can spot.

MacLellan Castle

Just got back from a trip up to Scotland to see the ancestral homestead. We took a train to Carlisle, rented a car, and drove into Kirkcudbright (kihr-KU-brie). It was some of the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen.

The castle’s pretty run down and small. It was actually built as just a residence rather than an actual castle. You can read a short history in one of the photos below. MacLellan tartan was available at a nearby kiltmaker shop, but I’ll wait until the summer (when we come back to play St. Andrews’ Old Course) for that.

The statue in front honors locals who died in World War I & II.

The front door of the home. The grounds weren’t open yet, but I could get a good shot of the little sign from the road:

Greek Scripture and the Rabbis Conference

It’s been mentioned over at Evangelical Textual Criticism and I thought I’d echo the plug for the upcoming conference associated with Alison Salvesen’s Greek Scripture and the Rabbis seminar. The conference takes place next Friday from 10 am until around 4 pm. £5 for students and £10 for everyone else, if you want to participate in the lunch. The morning session should be phenomenal.