The Brian Williams Debacle and Using Personal Illustrations in Preaching and Teaching

Tim Gombis has a good reminder here for preachers and teachers to avoid Brian Williams-like errors in their use of personal illustrations. I still remember a professor in Bible college who admonished us to never use the phrase "ministerially speaking" as an excuse for fudging the truth. The end does not justify the means. 

Identifying Humor in the Bible

Tim Bulkeley has a nice post here on identifying humor in the Bible.

Getting the Most from Seminary

David Murray has a helpful list of over 150 links on getting the most from seminary here.

What Is Your Book Nerd Score?

Check this out. Yup, most of these fit me!

Where Was Herod’s Augusteum?

Ferrell Jenkins has a very nice post here related to the location of Herod’s Augusteum. Many would hold that it was located in Caesarea Philippi/Banias/Panias but as Ferrell notes a good case can be made for Omrit. John Francis Wilson has a good discussion in Caesarea Philippi: Banias, the Lost City of Pan (London: I. B. Tauris, 2004), 11-16. Also,  some numismatists suggest that Herod’s Augusteum can be seen on the coins of Herod Philip. See David Hendin's Guide to Biblical Coins (New York: Amphora, 2010), 255-62, and Ya’akov Meshorer, A Treasury of Jewish Coins (Nyack, NY: Amphora, 2001), 85-90.

As many Bible students know, Caesarea Philippi is associated with Peter's famous confession concerning Jesus' identity (Matt 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30).

Parallels between the Joseph and Esther Narratives?

William Varner has noted seven parallels between the Joseph and Esther stories here. The parallels are interesting but some seem to oversimplify the details a bit (See #1. Is the setting really the court for both narratives? Or is the court part one of the settings in both stories?) and others might be a bit of a stretch (See #3. Is Joseph's rejection of the advances of Potiphar's wife really an attempt to save his people?). On the other hand, some parallels are more persuasive (2, 4, 6, 7). I might add that both stories involve the transfer of a signet ring (to Joseph in Gen 41:42; to Mordecai in Esth 8:2).