Jul 27, 2013

Challenges of Translation

Although this article in the Economist is not specifically about Bible translation, it does illustrate issues that also occur in Bible translation.
 

Jul 26, 2013

Journal for the Study of the New Testament 36:1

The latest issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament is out. Here is a list of the articles and links to abstracts.

Suffering in Vain: A Study of the Interpretation of ΠΑΣΧΩ in Galatians 3.4
John Anthony Dunne

Translating the Triumph: Reading Mark’s Crucifixion Narrative against a Roman Ritual of Power
Allan T. Georgia

‘Lord, if you had been here ...’ (John 11.21): The Absence of Jesus and Strategies of Consolation in the Fourth Gospel
Wendy E.S. North

The Uninvited Healer: Houses, Healing and Prophets in Matthew 8.1-22
Walter T. Wilson

No Bridge over Troubled Water? The Gap between 2 Corinthians 1–9 and 10–13 Revisited
Thomas Schmeller

Rethinking the Ethics of John: A Review Article
Craig R. Koester
pp. 85-98
http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/36/1/85

Jul 25, 2013

Loving Leviticus

See Christopher J. H. Wright's article in Christianity Today entitled "Learning to Love Leviticus" here. The CT website also has a brief discussion on the topic of sexual morality and Leviticus which was a sidebar to the article above here.

Jul 24, 2013

Background Information and Understanding the Bible

Check out Andy Naselli's blog post entitled,''Is 'Background Information' Ever Necessary to Understand the Bible?" I appreciate Naselli's cautious and nuanced approach.

Jul 23, 2013

Latest Issue of Review of Biblical Literature

The latest issue of Review of Biblical Literature is out. Reviews can be accessed by clicking the links below.


David J. H. Beldman and Craig G. Bartholomew, eds.
Hearing the Old Testament: Listening for God’s Address
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8545
Reviewed by Jeanette Mathews

Reinhard von Bendemann and Markus Tiwald, eds.
Das frühe Christentum und die Stadt
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9019
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek

Mark E. Biddle
Reading Judges: A Literary and Theological Commentary
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8673
Reviewed by Trent C. Butler

Joachim Conrad
Karl Heinrich Grafs Arbeit am Alten Testament: Studien zu einer wissenschaftlichen Biographie
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8349
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Morrow

Scott S. Elliott and Roland Boer, eds.
Ideology, Culture, and Translation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8693
Reviewed by Lénart J. de Regt

Georg Fischer, Dominik Markl, and Simone Paganini, eds.
Deuteronomium: Tora für eine neue Generation
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8416
Reviewed by Mark Christian

Elizabeth Frood
Biographical Texts from Ramessid Egypt
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=6083
Reviewed by Gerald Moers

Dong-Hyuk Kim
Early Biblical Hebrew, Late Biblical Hebrew, and Linguistic Variability: A Sociolinguistic Evaluation of the Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=9044
Reviewed by Frank H. Polak

Peter Thacher Lanfer
Remembering Eden: The Reception History of Genesis 3:22-24
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8596
Reviewed by L. Michael Morales 


David Penchansky
Understanding Wisdom Literature: Conflict and Dissonance in the Hebrew Text
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=8931
Reviewed by Peter Hatton

Preserving Manuscripts at St. Catherine's Monastery

This Time magazine article reports the efforts of the monks at St. Catherine's monastery, located at the traditional site of Mt. Sinai in Egypt, to preserve their priceless collection of manuscripts.

Jul 22, 2013

The Importance of the Septuagint

See this blog post/interview with Timothy Michael Law entitled "Why Should We Care about the Septuagint?"

Jul 21, 2013

Average Time for Sermon Preparation

Thom Ranier recently conducted an unscientific Twitter poll related to sermon preparation time. According to this article he tabulated the following results.

1 to 3 hours — 1%
4 to 6 hours — 9%
7 to 9 hours — 15%
10 to 12 hours — 22%
13 to 15 hours — 24%
16 to 18 hours — 23%
19 to 21 hours — 2%
22 to 24 hours — 0%
25 to 27 hours — 1%
28 to 30 hours — 2%
31 to 33 hours — 1%


Ranier also offered the following eight observations

1. Most pastors responded with a range of hours. I took the midpoint of each range for my data.

2. Seventy percent of pastors' sermon preparation time is the narrow range of 10 to 18 hours per sermon.

3. Keep in mind that these numbers represent sermon preparation time for just one sermon. Many pastors spend 30 or more hours in preparing messages each week.

4. The median time for sermon preparation in this study is 13 hours. That means that half of the respondents gave a number under 13 hours; the other half gave a number greater than 13 hours.

5. Most of the respondents who gave a response under 12 hours indicated they were bivocational pastors.

6. If the sermon was part of a series, the pastors indicated they spent even more upfront time to develop the theme and preliminary issues for the sermons to be preached.

7. Many of the pastors are frustrated that they don't have more time for sermon preparation.

8. A number of the pastors indicated that finding consistent and uninterrupted sermon preparation time was difficult.