I recently came across a post by Roger Olson called “The Absurdity of “Higher Criticism” of the Gospels.” I think I am as bothered about his characterisation of higher criticism (hereafter HC)–indeed, even the use of the term–as he is about HC itself. Olson implies that HC is basically a kind of biblical criticism* that is “…negative or destructive… Continue Reading
The Washington Post has a piece entitled, “When ‘Jesus’ was ‘Judas’ and other pretty stupendous Bible typos.” The most interesting thing about the article to me was that much of its material was taken from a journal article written by the foremost scholar of New Testament textual criticism at the time, Bruce Metzger. Good for the Post. How… Continue Reading
Can a scholarly book be (semi-)self-published, peer-reviewed, available near cost in print editions and free in pdf? Yes. Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies: An Introduction Edited by: Alessandro Bausi (General editor), Pier Giorgio Borbone, Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Paola Buzi, Jost Gippert, Caroline Macé, Marilena Maniaci, Zisis Melissakis, Laura E. Parodi, Witold Witakowski Project editor: Eugenia Sokolinski Printed… Continue Reading
The analogy is crude but apt, and I think other institutions are guilty, too: The Online Oxford Dictionary (2013) defines “twerk” as an informal verb that means to “dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance.” The journalistic field, threatened by its shrinking economic capital,… Continue Reading
I am nearing the halfway point of Watson on a close read (i.e., every word, every footnote), and I found Markus Bockmuehl’s recent JTS review to be a nice summary overall. I also agreed with many of the his critiques. One small point I wish Bockmuehl would have expanded (even with just an extra sentence): In particular,… Continue Reading
As part of my current research, I am reading through stacks of ancient literature, so I thought as I go I would share what I find interesting, strange, humorous, etc. According to the ancient Jewish book of 1 Enoch, one among the leaders of the fallen angels (cf. Gen 6:1-6), Azaz’el, taught the people various… Continue Reading
Arthur Schopenhauer’s “On Authorship and Style” is an essay full of nuggets on writing (and much more). Let me share a few (at the risk of contradicting the spirit of the essay by ‘sound biting’ another author!). On accommodating a foolish audience: A great number of bad authors eke out their existence entirely by the… Continue Reading
Larry Hurtado has posted a critique of the business model of many academic publishers that seems to result in high priced books. He also shares his own experience in choosing between an academic publisher and ‘trade’ publisher. An excerpt: So, I want to register a complaint about the ridiculous prices on these volumes in the… Continue Reading
It seems I find the word ubiquitous, derived from Latin, showing up more and more in my reading. A quick Google Ngram search confirms that the word has gained steam more broadly, especially in the last 30 years. Compare its usage to two similar words, prevalent and omnipresent (1800–2008): This is one of many “academic”… Continue Reading
At Marginalia: François was a scholar’s scholar. Those of us who were privileged to work beside him on his publications were always amazed at his ability to sight-read any ancient text in Greek or Latin as well as modern scholarly works in French, German, Spanish, Italian, and English. And François read ancient scholarship as well… Continue Reading