David Ker has been writing in minimalistic prose lately, with twitter tweet creeds and now 50-word mini sagas. In any event, he’s challenged me to write my life story in 50 words or less, evidently because I “love good language.” No pressure there…

Without further ado, here is my life’s “mini-saga”:

Born in the shadow of the mountain.
Northern Mowgli, blind to beauty.
Smart outside, inside fear of failure.
Good school, good job. Not excelling.
Mom. Cancer. Death becomes her.
Seeking comfort against God’s judgment.
Opposites attract and marry.
House, kids, debt. His plan?
Worshiping in the shadow of the mountain.

Technically I’m now supposed to nominate five more people to write their sagas, but given that blogging has been so slow, I’ll open it up to anyone who wants to give it a go.

Without further ado, I present two desktops:

I tend to have artwork that I like on my desktop; the first (left) is what is currently “on exhibit”. I found this painting on a greeting card years ago and was immediately struck by the treatment of light across the geese, country road and water, never mind the perfectly captured inquisitive gaze of the geese toward the artist. It helps that we raised geese and other fowl in my Alaskan youth. After fruitlessly searching several art books, I eventually discovered on the Web that this oil painting is “The Watersplash” (1899) by Henry Herbert La Thangue.

Continuing the theme of my Alaskan youth, the Maine paintings by Winslow Homer have a special attraction for his rough-hewn depictions of the sea and fishermen. The painting here is called “The Fog Warning” (1885) and combines the danger of an encroaching fogbank with the success of the fisherman and the arduous task that he faces, rowing back over choppy seas to his ship in the distance.

• Creeds and Freedom or The Jazz Rhythm Section and the Soloist
• When We Play Wrong Notes

Looking at various blogs’ sidebars recently, I was reminded of the Blog Readability Test that many of us took a year ago. Back then, I’d initially scored as a “Genius”, then later as “High School”…

Well, I’m pleased to say that He is Sufficient now scores on a Junior High School (that’s grades 6-8, ~12-14 years old) reading level — does that mean that I have to give up the REB as my full time Bible?

Ironically, my family blog is now scoring on a College (Undergrad) level… *shrug*

Ironically, the closest book is in a stack that I haven’t given any attention to since I put them down by my monitor. So the top book is the closest, that being “The Canon Debate” by Lee Martin McDonald and James A. Sanders. McDonald is the uncle of a friend of ours from church and he (our friend) lent it to me to take a look…

Anyway, on to page 123:

When he summarizes the laws in A.J.3.223-286; 4.196-302, he even apologizes for digressing from the historical narrative, making it clear that the laws constitute only a small part of what Moses wrote (3.223; 4.196). This agrees with his language in C.Ap.1.39.

Nor can his famous recognition of Daniel as “one of the greatest prophets” (A.J.10.266), in contrast to the rabbinic scheme that left Daniel among the “Writings,” serve as evidence of order within Josephus’s Bible.

Um. Yeah. I doubt that I’ll be hitting that stack real soon…

As of this morning, however, I seem to have been moved into the “Translation and Linguistics” bucket, which seems more appropriate despite my lack of education in said field. Given that correction, I won’t quibble too hard with the “Very Conservative” label, though I’ve certainly been known to dabble in liberalities.

In the meantime, I’ve been playing around with the minimalistic Sandbox theme and creating various CSS designs. Nothing wild or outlandish, but certainly a more extensive process than “just” modifying someone else’s work. I’ve more-or-less completed two designs, one of which you’re looking at (see also), and have two more to do.

We urge you, friends, to rebuke the idle, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, and be patient with everyone.

Damian notes a variety of translations for the Greek ataktos, with his selected comparisons using “idle”, “unruly”, “lazy” and “disruptive”. According to Blue Letter Bible, the Greek means: “1) disorderly, out of ranks (often so of soldiers); 2) irregular, inordinate, immoderate pleasures; 3) deviating from the prescribed order or rule”. The note goes on to comment that “this word was used in Greek society of those who did not show up for work.” Vine’s leans toward the first meaning, especially in a military context.

I’m not sure I like “idle” as it is rather vague. Does it mean that the person is not doing something that they *should* be doing, e.g. work or contributing to the life of the church; or does it mean allowing (negative) things to happen without stepping in (perhaps a twist on “disruptive”); or does it just mean that the person is lazy?

With all that said, here’s my own take on the verse:

We urge you, brothers and sisters, to discipline the undisciplined, encourage the discouraged, strengthen the weak, and be patient with everyone.

1. kataeuangelion — Stuart is a regular commenter on TC’s blog. I’d tell you what his blog title means, but I don’t read “squiggle”… that said, I recommend his series on the “truncated gospel”.
2. psalterium — a blog dedicated to the Psalms. Richard is another regular on TC’s blog.
3. Castle of Nutshells — I can’t remember if I’ve recommended Damian’s blog before, but if not, let me do so now. Damian has a knack for blending psychology, history and theology in intriguing posts.
4. Inquiring Minds — Robert moved from Weird Thinkers to a new group blog.
5. Catholic Bibles — if you’re at all interested in discussions of the various editions of Catholic Bibles available, check Tim’s blog out. He’s promising a comparison series between Catholic Editions of the RSV and NRSV… once he adds the REB to his repertory, he’ll be set!
6. Beauty of the Bible — I’ve linked to Peter’s blog before, but it’s worth mentioning again. Peter wants to “provide non-traditional insight into the Word of God. It is my firm belief that there is a richness and depth to the scriptures that is inexhaustible. In addition to the text of the Bible, the ancient Hebrew alphabet, numbers and symbolism give keen insight into the mind of God, limited though our understanding of it may be. Any such insight is worth exploring.” I agree - check it out!
7. Do the Next Right Thing — I’d be remiss not to mention that my pastor has started a blog in preparation for writing a book on his summer sermon series on 2 Peter 1:5-8.

All of these links can be found on my public Google Reader list on the Links page and selected articles will appear on the “Recommended Reading” list to the right, as well as the “Voices in the Wilderness” blogroll.

NT Use of the OT — Test Your View!

Fuller Meaning, Single Goal view You seem to be most closely aligned with the Fuller Meaning, Single Goal view, a view defended by Peter Enns in the book “Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament” (edited by Kenneth Berding and Jonathan Lunde, Nov. 2008). Since the NT writers held a single-minded conviction that the Scriptures point to and are fulfilled in Christ, this view suggests that the NT writers perceive this meaning in OT texts, even when their OT authors did not have that meaning in mind when they wrote. It should be noted, however, that advocates of this view are careful not to deny the importance of the grammatical-historical study of the OT text so as to understand the OT authors on their own terms. For more info, see the book, or attend a special session devoted to the topic at the ETS Annual Meeting in Providence, RI (Nov. 2008); Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Darrell L. Bock, and Peter Enns will all present their views.

Fun quizzes, surveys & blog quizzes by

HT: Several, but I came across it first in Jeff’s Scripture Zealot blog.

The folks at Zondervan recently developed a short quiz that tests “your view of the New Testament Use of the Old Testament” and ties the answer to their new book “Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament” (edited by Kenneth Berding and Jonathan Lunde, Nov. 2008). Disclaimer: I don’t know anything about this book and this post should not be read as an endorsement of such.

In any event, I was scored as having the “Fuller Meaning, Single Goal” view. As I noted in TC’s blog a few days ago, I believe that everything in the four gospels was recorded in the context of Jesus’ post-resurrection explanations of his fulfillment of scripture, cf. Luke 24:27, 44-47. We should not read through the gospels as if we were getting “daily dispatches from the front”; instead, these texts were crafted after Jesus’ physical resurrection and reflect careful thought and discernment in light of his entire ministry on earth.

For me, this aligns with the quiz result that “the NT writers held a single-minded conviction that the Scriptures point to and are fulfilled in Christ [...] even when their OT authors did not have that meaning in mind when they wrote.” Their single-minded conviction came from Jesus himself who “opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.” (Lk. 24:45)

I agree completely with the result summary that we should be “careful not to deny the importance of the grammatical-historical study of the OT text so as to understand the OT authors on their own terms.” Since the OT authors were not necessarily writing about Jesus, it’s important to understand their original context, to better see how Christ is the fuller fulfillment, in both word and deed.

Looking at Peter Enns’ published works on Amazon, his book “Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament” looks interesting - anyone want to recommend it?