As usual, it's been far too long since my last update here. There's a lot of excitement going on in my life at this point. Allow me to share it with you.
We arrived in Boston for the SBL conference on Friday afternoon after a drive totaling 19 hours. I don't think I'll ever do that again when it comes to SBL conferences--next year's is in New Orleans and I will be perfectly content to fly.
Among my colleagues are Chad Brooks, Chuck Meeks, Benji Overcash and, of course, Jason Jackson. Yesterday was the first "real" day of the conference, and boy was it busy! I enjoyed listening to several top German scholars present (their names are too long and German for me to type here) as well as some that I knew. This included one Paul Cook, an Asbury graduate now a Ph.D student at Harvard University. I was provided a Hebrew Bible by H.G.M (Hugh) Williamson. I'm never washing these hands again.
Anyway, that's aside from the point. Paul did an excellent job, with a most interesting interpretation of the composiotion of the book of Jeremiah. At the end of the presentation another British scholar (whose name I was not able to catch--I couldn't see his name tag from where I was sitting) picked an argument with him, saying that he could not accept "bad editing" when it comes to Jeremiah. Paul's response was good, simply asserting that "bad editing" was a relative term, and he did not consider the insertion of that particular verse bad editing; rather, in his eyes, it was a purposeful insertion designed to serve as a literary device in preparation for the Egypt oracles.
There were some other presentations, but this was by far the most notable. As I said, I'm not washing my hands again...oh, wait--I already did. Damn.
Jon
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
My take on recent developments in the election race
I understand that I might not be the most qualified person in the world to discuss politics. I understand that there are a lot of females who are qualified to hold a political office. I am in no way writing this post with a bias against McCain's team because of gender. With that out of the way, here goes:
I think McCain seriously hurt his campaign strategy. Prior to this, I thought he ruined his campaign completely, but that may have been an overstatement. What I meant, originally, by that comment was that McCain had been campaigning against Obama, and one of his chief criticisms of his opponent was his lack of experience. This is true: Obama doesn't have a whole lot of experience in politics--he's young. But McCain is now going to have to adjust his campaign attack. While it remains true that McCain has a lot of experience in politics and Obama does not, with his choice of Gov. Palin as his running mate, he may sound to some as somewhat hypocritical.
It was a smart decision to pick a female candidate in order to win over some of Hilary Clinton's supporters. That goes without saying. But certainly, of all the female candidates to pick, was this the BEST candidate? Palin's description of herself as a "soccer mom" may resonate with the common man or woman of society, but plenty would say that such a description of yourself is not one that you would want to utter about yourself when campaigning for the second highest office in the land. Why not pick Rice? If McCain really wanted to shake things up, why not pick Hilary Clinton herself? Certainly that would have been a good way to win over Hilary's voters... and an especially good way to prove oneself bipartisan. Though, there is the fact that many republicans would consider McCain a traitor to his party, but that's not the point I'm trying to make.
On the other hand, there are those that are saying that Gov. Palin is "completely unqualified" to be President. There are two things wrong with this statement. First, these people are assuming that McCain will die while in office. Yes, this is a worthy concern given his age, but it is not very likely to occur. Second, this claim seems to disregard the qualifications to BE the President of the United States. A notable figure that many considered to be unqualified was Abraham Lincoln, at least based on credentials alone.
My view, personally, is that McCain could have made a better choice for his running mate. No, Gov. Palin is not unqualified, but she is certainly less qualified than a lot of his potential choices would have been. She is, as it stands, less qualified than Barak Obama is to be president, but that is not the position that she is running for. Certainly though, compared to Biden, she is less qualified.
Republicans have been drilling home the fact that this is a race between Obama and McCain only, "at the end of the day." If one wishes to make a comparison, comparing the top of the ticket would certainly show McCain to have more experience than Obama. But if one wishes to compare the ticket as a whole, Obama's ticket may squeak by McCain's in terms of experience (n.b. that I do not know how many years of experience Biden has, so this may be wrong on my part).
To say that "at the end of the day," this is a race between Obama and McCain is true. But, I suggest that this is not the way Americans think, or at least not the way I do. I tend to look at the entire ticket. And at this point in the race, Obama's ticket appeals much more to me.
Jon
I think McCain seriously hurt his campaign strategy. Prior to this, I thought he ruined his campaign completely, but that may have been an overstatement. What I meant, originally, by that comment was that McCain had been campaigning against Obama, and one of his chief criticisms of his opponent was his lack of experience. This is true: Obama doesn't have a whole lot of experience in politics--he's young. But McCain is now going to have to adjust his campaign attack. While it remains true that McCain has a lot of experience in politics and Obama does not, with his choice of Gov. Palin as his running mate, he may sound to some as somewhat hypocritical.
It was a smart decision to pick a female candidate in order to win over some of Hilary Clinton's supporters. That goes without saying. But certainly, of all the female candidates to pick, was this the BEST candidate? Palin's description of herself as a "soccer mom" may resonate with the common man or woman of society, but plenty would say that such a description of yourself is not one that you would want to utter about yourself when campaigning for the second highest office in the land. Why not pick Rice? If McCain really wanted to shake things up, why not pick Hilary Clinton herself? Certainly that would have been a good way to win over Hilary's voters... and an especially good way to prove oneself bipartisan. Though, there is the fact that many republicans would consider McCain a traitor to his party, but that's not the point I'm trying to make.
On the other hand, there are those that are saying that Gov. Palin is "completely unqualified" to be President. There are two things wrong with this statement. First, these people are assuming that McCain will die while in office. Yes, this is a worthy concern given his age, but it is not very likely to occur. Second, this claim seems to disregard the qualifications to BE the President of the United States. A notable figure that many considered to be unqualified was Abraham Lincoln, at least based on credentials alone.
My view, personally, is that McCain could have made a better choice for his running mate. No, Gov. Palin is not unqualified, but she is certainly less qualified than a lot of his potential choices would have been. She is, as it stands, less qualified than Barak Obama is to be president, but that is not the position that she is running for. Certainly though, compared to Biden, she is less qualified.
Republicans have been drilling home the fact that this is a race between Obama and McCain only, "at the end of the day." If one wishes to make a comparison, comparing the top of the ticket would certainly show McCain to have more experience than Obama. But if one wishes to compare the ticket as a whole, Obama's ticket may squeak by McCain's in terms of experience (n.b. that I do not know how many years of experience Biden has, so this may be wrong on my part).
To say that "at the end of the day," this is a race between Obama and McCain is true. But, I suggest that this is not the way Americans think, or at least not the way I do. I tend to look at the entire ticket. And at this point in the race, Obama's ticket appeals much more to me.
Jon
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Another Look at the Crucifixion
I warned you all that I would be using this corner of the web for various postings, theological musings included. I've been thinking of something that has really struck me as fairly profound, and I thought I'd share it with those few who read.
When we look at the crucifixion story and the Evangelists' accounts of Jesus's final moments, we see Jesus uttering these words: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The standard explanation of this? God didn't REALLY forsake Jesus... Jesus just FELT forsaken, because this was part of his human nature.
I think there is more to this.
In ancient times, and in the case of the Israelites/Jews, one who was hung on a tree was "cursed" (see somewhere in Proverbs, I think--"Cursed is he who hangs on a tree." This was the Hebrew way of bringing shame upon a man, a man that was usually from their own tribe or clan, or at the very least, their heritage. Of course, to bring a curse upon your own kin was a pretty mean thing to do, to say the least--and of course, the "cursor" was God himself.
Jesus was hung on a tree. Moreover, the Jews--his kin--put him there.
By Jewish custom, it would then follow that God himself had cursed Jesus in his final moments on the cross. So, Jesus wasn't just uttering out of extreme despair, but of REALITY. God had abandoned him.
I get caught up in the fact that it was Jesus's own people--the very people whom Jesus was trying to save--that put him on the cross to be cursed. And as Jews, they were fully aware of the magnitude of this situation. To curse one's enemy is one thing. To curse your own kinsman, however--there is no greater shame in the Jewish culture than this, I daresay.
Yet, Jesus died for his cursors, too. Perhaps, then, we can read with entirely new eyes the statement:
"Father, forgive them--they know not what they do."
Just something to think about.
When we look at the crucifixion story and the Evangelists' accounts of Jesus's final moments, we see Jesus uttering these words: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The standard explanation of this? God didn't REALLY forsake Jesus... Jesus just FELT forsaken, because this was part of his human nature.
I think there is more to this.
In ancient times, and in the case of the Israelites/Jews, one who was hung on a tree was "cursed" (see somewhere in Proverbs, I think--"Cursed is he who hangs on a tree." This was the Hebrew way of bringing shame upon a man, a man that was usually from their own tribe or clan, or at the very least, their heritage. Of course, to bring a curse upon your own kin was a pretty mean thing to do, to say the least--and of course, the "cursor" was God himself.
Jesus was hung on a tree. Moreover, the Jews--his kin--put him there.
By Jewish custom, it would then follow that God himself had cursed Jesus in his final moments on the cross. So, Jesus wasn't just uttering out of extreme despair, but of REALITY. God had abandoned him.
I get caught up in the fact that it was Jesus's own people--the very people whom Jesus was trying to save--that put him on the cross to be cursed. And as Jews, they were fully aware of the magnitude of this situation. To curse one's enemy is one thing. To curse your own kinsman, however--there is no greater shame in the Jewish culture than this, I daresay.
Yet, Jesus died for his cursors, too. Perhaps, then, we can read with entirely new eyes the statement:
"Father, forgive them--they know not what they do."
Just something to think about.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
A Revelation
I was talking with my room mate the other day, and we started talking about Jesus's crucifixion. I talked some about how, if someone redefined my religious tradition (as Jesus did for the Jews iin that day), I'd be just about as pissed off as the Pharisees were. But then I had a revelation.
Dying on a cross did not begin with the Romans. It was a Jewish custom to put shamed criminals to death by hanging them on a tree by their hands and feet until they suffocated to death. In Deuteronomy, there is a verse that says "Cursed is the man who hangs on a tree." This brings an entirely new dimension to the crucifixion accounts.
When Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", I don't believe he was saying this merely because he "felt" forsaken, but he WAS forsaken. In hanging on the cross, Jesus became a curse, not merely because he took on our sin, but because of the manner in which he was killed.
The especially gut-wrenching part is that the people who condemned Jesus were very aware of this. This must have been the worst kind of death that a Jew could die--one who dies, cursed by his own kin, separated from his God.
Just something to think about
-Jon
Dying on a cross did not begin with the Romans. It was a Jewish custom to put shamed criminals to death by hanging them on a tree by their hands and feet until they suffocated to death. In Deuteronomy, there is a verse that says "Cursed is the man who hangs on a tree." This brings an entirely new dimension to the crucifixion accounts.
When Jesus cried, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", I don't believe he was saying this merely because he "felt" forsaken, but he WAS forsaken. In hanging on the cross, Jesus became a curse, not merely because he took on our sin, but because of the manner in which he was killed.
The especially gut-wrenching part is that the people who condemned Jesus were very aware of this. This must have been the worst kind of death that a Jew could die--one who dies, cursed by his own kin, separated from his God.
Just something to think about
-Jon
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Emotions Suck.
Yes, having all these emotional problems suck. Especially when said mood swings are a major contributor to failing a test in one of your most important classes. That sucks even worse.
Had a really rough couple of weeks. Soon after getting back from dinner with two of my favorite people, I crashed for about two weeks. I haven't done that since before I was on medication. Anyway, the other day I went back to the psychiatrist and she put me on some additional medicine, so hopefully, that will work out.
On the bright side, only three more classes before spring break. And then I have to work my ass off in Hebrew and Aramaic for midterms the week that I get back. Yuck. But it'll be OK.
Hope all my peeps out there in the world are doing well.
Cya,
Jon
Had a really rough couple of weeks. Soon after getting back from dinner with two of my favorite people, I crashed for about two weeks. I haven't done that since before I was on medication. Anyway, the other day I went back to the psychiatrist and she put me on some additional medicine, so hopefully, that will work out.
On the bright side, only three more classes before spring break. And then I have to work my ass off in Hebrew and Aramaic for midterms the week that I get back. Yuck. But it'll be OK.
Hope all my peeps out there in the world are doing well.
Cya,
Jon
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Seminary is rough, and a funny story
Boy, this new semester sure is kicking my tail. For those who are curious, I'm taking Intermediate Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Inductive Bible Study on the Minor Prophets, and Vocation of Ministry. Three of the four are tough classes, with Aramaic, by far, being the most challenging.
Also for those curious, Aramaic is basically a later dialect of Hebrew. So, it's similar, but at the same time it is also very different. And it's kicking my tail.
There also has been a lot of stuff going on. I'm still working on getting acclamaited to the environment, namely that I don't know a whole lot of people yet. But, that'll change, I suppose.
Ok, now here's the funny story part...
On the first day of classes, I walked into the Hebrew class (who is taught by a Harvard Ph.D), and she asked all of us to write all the Hebrew background we've had on an index card. Of course, I put down that I had 4 years in college and two years of high school.
She had said that she doesn't give out many As in this class, and that if you get an A in her class, you are Ph.D material. If you don't, you're probably not Ph.D material. So I took that as a personal challenge.
After reading my index card, she sent me an e-mail. "Are you sure you want to be in this class, given your background?" I responded yes, simply because she has a reputation of being somewhat of a driller, and that's what I wanted. She responds:
"It's totally your call, but given your background, as far as getting an "A" in my class, well, you had better."
Yeah, Harvard Ph.D telling me this. No pressure. :\
Jon
Also for those curious, Aramaic is basically a later dialect of Hebrew. So, it's similar, but at the same time it is also very different. And it's kicking my tail.
There also has been a lot of stuff going on. I'm still working on getting acclamaited to the environment, namely that I don't know a whole lot of people yet. But, that'll change, I suppose.
Ok, now here's the funny story part...
On the first day of classes, I walked into the Hebrew class (who is taught by a Harvard Ph.D), and she asked all of us to write all the Hebrew background we've had on an index card. Of course, I put down that I had 4 years in college and two years of high school.
She had said that she doesn't give out many As in this class, and that if you get an A in her class, you are Ph.D material. If you don't, you're probably not Ph.D material. So I took that as a personal challenge.
After reading my index card, she sent me an e-mail. "Are you sure you want to be in this class, given your background?" I responded yes, simply because she has a reputation of being somewhat of a driller, and that's what I wanted. She responds:
"It's totally your call, but given your background, as far as getting an "A" in my class, well, you had better."
Yeah, Harvard Ph.D telling me this. No pressure. :\
Jon
Saturday, February 16, 2008
A hellish day
I hate it when my family gets new computers.
First, they always expect me to set it up. No problem--I love setting up new technology. The killer is getting my dad's Quicken files all backed up. What's worse--we were going from Quicken 2005 XP to Quicken 2008 for Vista. Holy hell. It turned out to be simpler than I was making it, but my dad was saving all his quicken files to the backup folder, and to top it off, the computer was reading them from some other location. So, even though I backed up the "Backup" folder, none of those files were current. So we had to go and sort through three different versions of Quicken before we could find the most current files... it sucked.
On the bright side, the new computer my family got is a workhorse. 3.2 GHz quad-core with 3GB of RAM and a 512 NVidia Geforce 8600 GT. Nice.
Now I'm off to a friend's concert. Later...
Jon
First, they always expect me to set it up. No problem--I love setting up new technology. The killer is getting my dad's Quicken files all backed up. What's worse--we were going from Quicken 2005 XP to Quicken 2008 for Vista. Holy hell. It turned out to be simpler than I was making it, but my dad was saving all his quicken files to the backup folder, and to top it off, the computer was reading them from some other location. So, even though I backed up the "Backup" folder, none of those files were current. So we had to go and sort through three different versions of Quicken before we could find the most current files... it sucked.
On the bright side, the new computer my family got is a workhorse. 3.2 GHz quad-core with 3GB of RAM and a 512 NVidia Geforce 8600 GT. Nice.
Now I'm off to a friend's concert. Later...
Jon
Monday, February 4, 2008
Wicked! was a wiked show
Got to see Wicked! last night w/ Phillip. Not only was it good to see my friend again (if he's reading this, he probably doesn't appreciate that somewhat "mushy" comment), but orchestra-level seating topped it off. Although I couldn't see the pit orchestra (I was too short to see over everyone's heads) the show was great. I could've stood to be sitting a little bit closer to the stage, but that's nit-picking...it was a fantastic show. I'm still not sure if I like it better than Les Miserables, but it's at least a close #2, if not tied with my favorite.
School starts in exactly one week. I'm looking forward to seeing people again, and meeting new people, too. I really began to question my relationship options and current situation (I hope she's not reading this, or else it could be bad news for me...). In any case, I want to make sure that I meet the right person if I'm going to spend the rest of my life yet, and I'm not certain that God (as yet) has provided said person.
I'm also looking forward to getting plugged into Hebrew next semester. I've already either taken or tested out of the general classes, and will now be starting on more challenging (albeit familliar) material. I've already looked at the syllabus, and it seems that I have already translated everything on it, but I'll be looking forward to going more in-depth. This course is supposed to be one of the more challenging at Asbury. I'm looking forward to being challenged. In addition to the classes, I'll also be continuing EBR (Eta Beta Rho), the Hebrew honor society, which is a national chapter. Hopefully it will look good on a graduate school application for Ph.D work.
In the mean time, I'm still enjoying games and doing some relaxing reading.
That's all for now,
Jon
School starts in exactly one week. I'm looking forward to seeing people again, and meeting new people, too. I really began to question my relationship options and current situation (I hope she's not reading this, or else it could be bad news for me...). In any case, I want to make sure that I meet the right person if I'm going to spend the rest of my life yet, and I'm not certain that God (as yet) has provided said person.
I'm also looking forward to getting plugged into Hebrew next semester. I've already either taken or tested out of the general classes, and will now be starting on more challenging (albeit familliar) material. I've already looked at the syllabus, and it seems that I have already translated everything on it, but I'll be looking forward to going more in-depth. This course is supposed to be one of the more challenging at Asbury. I'm looking forward to being challenged. In addition to the classes, I'll also be continuing EBR (Eta Beta Rho), the Hebrew honor society, which is a national chapter. Hopefully it will look good on a graduate school application for Ph.D work.
In the mean time, I'm still enjoying games and doing some relaxing reading.
That's all for now,
Jon
Friday, February 1, 2008
Some things that bother me
The more I think about it, the more I realize that the color scheme on this blog is hideous. I'll have to do something about that. I just hope that this thing will give me customization options, cause right now, it really sucks...
Enough of that. I have a little over a week left of vacation now, for anyone that cares, and I'm enjoying it. Aside from going on new medication that threw me into a loop, I'm doing well. I'm certainly glad that I didn't take a J-Term, though, cause then I wouldn't have had the time to sort this whole mess out.
In the spare time, there's been a lot of television and video games. The MMO of Jon's month is Lord of the Rings Online. Some people call it a WoW clone. Granted, it has some things that are similar to WoW, but what interests me is the environment in which it's set. I love Tolkien's books--putting Middle Earth in an MMO is something that I, personally, have been waiting for ever since I was introduced to online gaming. So, I'm a happy camper.
Not so happy about next semester, mainly because I'm kind of nervous. I'm taking almost entirely upper-level classes, four of them, which is probably the equivalent of an 18-hour workload at Asbury. The bright spot is that I am taking Hebrew (which I've had plenty of), Aramaic (which I have gotten my feet wet in), Minor Prophets (which I have studied before), and Vocation of Ministry (which should be easy. So, I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get everything done.
I miss people... looking forward to being back in Wilmore soon!
Peace for now,
-Jon
Enough of that. I have a little over a week left of vacation now, for anyone that cares, and I'm enjoying it. Aside from going on new medication that threw me into a loop, I'm doing well. I'm certainly glad that I didn't take a J-Term, though, cause then I wouldn't have had the time to sort this whole mess out.
In the spare time, there's been a lot of television and video games. The MMO of Jon's month is Lord of the Rings Online. Some people call it a WoW clone. Granted, it has some things that are similar to WoW, but what interests me is the environment in which it's set. I love Tolkien's books--putting Middle Earth in an MMO is something that I, personally, have been waiting for ever since I was introduced to online gaming. So, I'm a happy camper.
Not so happy about next semester, mainly because I'm kind of nervous. I'm taking almost entirely upper-level classes, four of them, which is probably the equivalent of an 18-hour workload at Asbury. The bright spot is that I am taking Hebrew (which I've had plenty of), Aramaic (which I have gotten my feet wet in), Minor Prophets (which I have studied before), and Vocation of Ministry (which should be easy. So, I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to get everything done.
I miss people... looking forward to being back in Wilmore soon!
Peace for now,
-Jon
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Modfying careers
Today will be highlighted by lunch with my pastor. It's time that I started asking about ordination and candidacy exams. I still don't know if I ever want to pastor a church, but it seems that I should at least keep my options open.
Break is still long, and I still have a way to go yet. I'm occupying myself by working through the Wrestlemania Anthology (currently on 4) and getting a lot of gaming in. Soon, I will start studying for the Bible Competency exam, an exam that all bible-based students have to take, or else they're shoved into a remedial class. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine.
On another note, a couple of friends of mine finally got me hooked on this voice chat thing. Ventrilo is pretty cool, and I finally got a headset to use with it. It's amazing how technology has progressed--one of them is from England, the other from Australia.
More later!
-Jon
Break is still long, and I still have a way to go yet. I'm occupying myself by working through the Wrestlemania Anthology (currently on 4) and getting a lot of gaming in. Soon, I will start studying for the Bible Competency exam, an exam that all bible-based students have to take, or else they're shoved into a remedial class. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine.
On another note, a couple of friends of mine finally got me hooked on this voice chat thing. Ventrilo is pretty cool, and I finally got a headset to use with it. It's amazing how technology has progressed--one of them is from England, the other from Australia.
More later!
-Jon
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Dreaming of a Long Christmas
As the Asbury kids are back at school now, I'm sitting here enjoying another month of break. I know, it's a crime. Next semester I'll take a J-Term. I would've taken one this year except there was nothing offered that I was interested in. That probably shouldn't be a requirement for taking classes, but oh well, that's what I felt like doing. One can only write so many church history papers before he gets burned out--ONE paper being the operative amount.
More later.
-Jon
More later.
-Jon
Saturday, January 5, 2008
a change of scenery
So, I just canceled my web site at DreamHost, because I figured that I could basically do everything I'm doing there for free. There's an archival system and everything. Maybe Blogger isn't quite as versitile as WordPress (please don't sue me, Google!), but I think it will serve my purposes effectively.
So, this web site is going to contain columns. What about, you ask? Anything from theology games, to music, to professional wrestling, and anything in between those areas. As it was on jonscorner.net, Jon's Corner @ Blogger will be quite the spread.
More later! Take care, faithful readers.
-Jon
So, this web site is going to contain columns. What about, you ask? Anything from theology games, to music, to professional wrestling, and anything in between those areas. As it was on jonscorner.net, Jon's Corner @ Blogger will be quite the spread.
More later! Take care, faithful readers.
-Jon
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