(Another Tuesday Time Travel…) When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Backgrounds
A Spectacle to the World (continued)
(Another Tuesday Time Travel…) “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” — 1 Corinthians 4:9 Last week we reviewed an article* by V. Henry T. Nguyen on Paul’s use of the… Continue Reading
A Spectacle to the World
(Another Tuesday Time Travel…) “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” — 1 Corinthians 4:9 Spectacles where quite common in the Roman empire. Essentially, a spectacle provided a citizen the opportunity… Continue Reading
Gird up the loins of your mind!
Tuesday Time Travel to the Roman Empire… “Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind…” 1 Peter 1:13 The phrase translated “gird up the loins” (ἀναζωσάμενοι τὰς ὀσφύας) refers to an action ancients would take to prepare themselves for some activity (hence many modern versions translate this phrase something like “prepare your minds for action.”) Because… Continue Reading
Preserving Archaeological Finds: What to Do?
Haaretz recently reported: One of the country’s leading archaeologists has publicly condemned the Israel Antiquities Authority’s failure to object to a plan to construct a building over a site in the Western Wall plaza where a well-preserved ancient Roman road was recently excavated. Interestingly: Tsafrir argued that the construction is being approved because the findings… Continue Reading
AWOL Blog Compiles List of Open Access Journals
Excerpt: In observance of Open Access Week (October 19-23, 2009), I have assembled here an alphabetical list of all open access journals in Ancient Studies (with some hot pursuit forays into related disciplines) cited here in AWOL since its beginning in January 2009 Excellent! Continue Reading
Ancient Hairstyles and the NT
Another Tuesday Time Travel… Ancient Hairstyles. “Your adornment must not be merely external–braiding of the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dress; but let it be the hidden person of the heart…” – 1 Peter 3:3-4 (cf. 1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Cor. 11:2-16) In New Testament times, women’s hairstyles held a place in… Continue Reading
How to Pray: Two Ancient Views
“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.” — Matthew 6:7 As Jesus teaches on prayer in Matthew 6, he transitions from the example of “the hypocrites in the synagogues” (Matt 6:2, 5) to “the Gentiles” (Matt… Continue Reading
More Reflections on Paul and Palestinian Judaism
Mike Fox furthered the discussion a bit with a comment on a previous post, so I thought I’d continue with another excerpt from my reflection on Sanders which lines up with our interaction: From a biblical perspective, Sanders’ covenantal nomism seems to reconcile with the intention of Israel’s religion from the perspective of the Old… Continue Reading
Reflections on Sanders' Paul and Palestinian Judaism
As part of a project interacting with Sanders pivotal work, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, my thoughts included the following: One also wonders to what extent the Rabbinic sources of the Tannaitic period reflect the religious praxis of the first century AD in general. In other words, though Rabbis seemed to generally emphasize obedience only after… Continue Reading