Keep the faith, friends. I'll be back when time permits, which won't be until late this summer, I reckon.
Update, 2/25/09: I continue to hope to find the time to pick up where I left off. There are just too many other things on the front burners for me to do a proper job of bible studyin' right now. May the good Lord and my readers forgive me! And you never know when a resurrection might occur....
23 comments:
Hello,
sorry I've been away a while - there have been technical problems. Ill start catching up over the weekend.
Hey, are you our awesome Bible-scholar anonymous poster?
Great to see you around!
This weekend, I'm hoping to post my first new chapter in a good long while.
Things will continue to be slow, but we'll get 'em flowing again a little bit now that my schedule has lightened up a tad for the time-being.
Yes, that's me.
I'm just sorting out my comments for 21, its a bit of a hash. May be a few days before I can post them though.
even god rested, and since the majority of posts seem to indicate that day <> 24 hours in biblese, take enough time not to "burn out" so the vast majority of us silent readers can keep skulking and reading even if we dont leave comments.........
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oh crap!
meme-fatal,
Welcome to the Bible Study!
I'm still finding available posting time even harder than I'd thought.
The road to bible-study posting is paved with good intentions, and I do hope to have a new chapter up soon....
When?
When will you be back?
Its been 4 months now.
Give us a fixed date and return by it, or give it up completely; but absolutely do not keep us hanging by a thread for so long.
I am sorry to leave your spiritual journey up in the air, but I continue to be overcommitted, and this labor of love (?) continues to labor on the back burner.
My earnest intention is to get back to it when my lifestyle affords the time, but right now other duties and whimisies call, so I can't promise a date when this project will go all Lazarusy, and I have no intention of closing the door on it, as it's not a lack of interest, just a lack of time.
I've been continuing my "study" by reading the slate blog which has been complete for a while. of course, it lacks the snark of this great endeavor.
what i miss even more: the concise and elucidating commentary of our anonymous bible scholar friend (no, I am not THE anonymous).
so, do you have any recommendations as to where I can get the bible scholarly info in the meantime?
Thanks (other) Anonymous!
Real life doesn't show any signs of letting up anytime soon, but I still do seek to pick up this endeavor again when the planets and deities align.
I haven't used this site much at all myself (trying to keep my Bible readings "cold," i.e. not influenced by others), but you might want to give it a spin.
You might be interested to know about this:
http://www.atheistcampaign.org/
summer seems to be lasting forever this year.
hamilcar,
Well, it was about 65 degrees here in Boston on Dec. 1st!
My slate is liable to be over-full for quite some time, but my good intentions of continuing to study the good book remain intact, though heaven knows when exactly that will be.
I'm patiently waiting, but at this point it's starting to look as though another well-intentioned attempt to read the Bible from cover to cover is dying in the deserts of the Mosaic Law.
It's perhaps best when taking on the Bible to start with the New Testament, then go back to the OT. That way you start with the main tenets of Christianity. Although starting with the OT is good for understanding the historical context that Jesus arose from before proceeding to the Christology. Except as you've figured out, modern Christianity has little to do with its historical context; indeed, I would go as far to say that each generation creates the Christianity that best suits its needs.
VL, I hope you resume this project at some point; I appreciate the point of view you bring to the Scriptures. I also hope that when you resume that the Anonymous Exegete returns, as I have learned much from his/her commentary.
Dr. S.,
I do hope to resume this at some point, but my plate is full and getting fuller, so I don't know when that endless summer hiatus will end.
I actually found the next chapter quite interesting, so it's not that I'm bored of the wilderness shtick, just too busy to post just now with proper quality-control.
A number of people have suggested switching to the New Testament. When I have time to return, I'll search my soul about that. I am glad to have at least gotten a flavor of the OT and familiarity with some of its most famous stories (and passages that are often used by Christianists to beat back progress), so I might not feel terribly cheated if I made such a leap.
Unless you actively make the space for it, it will never happen.
If you are going to take a look at the New Testament, read the Gospel of Thomas FIRST (there are two very different books by the same name - this is the one to read); then read the Gospel of Mark, BEFORE reading Matthew. You'll see why I've given these suggestions, when you then read the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke.
A.,
It's hard for me to predict. I just know that:
a) I haven't lost my interest in Bible reading/critiquing
b) It takes too much time and concentration relative to other demands and interests that are currently on the front burners.
I'm intrigued by your tips about Thomas, but in addition to my cheating and jumping to "the good parts" (heh), it would mean switching from the "play it as it lays" approach by reading the book not as it comes, but getting educated outside the normal flow. So, that's something I'd have to wring my hands about when the time comes.
My approach, as you know, is to take the pages as they come (possibly with one big elision, if I play the "Go directly to the N.T." card), to see what the pages are literally and figurately saying to the lay person. If I bone up on Thomas, wouldn't that give me an experience different from that of someone who, say, fell back in his room and found Gideon's Bible and started reading the "Christian half"?
Do most or many people who get indoctrinated into the New Testament (first) check out Thomas?
If not, maybe I should skip it but also hope you or some other knowledgeable and kind soul will supplement my writing with the missing context? I'm not sure....
If you check out thomas first, and read mark before matthew (think of it as a preview - you can always read it again in the biblical order), you'll realise something about matthew and luke.
If you read matthew first, you won't work the secret out. I'll have to tell you, and it will be harder to explain.
A.,
Intriguing. You can see the quandary, yes? Taking the NT books in order wouldn't ordinarily support such a revelation, so that -- along with the huge jump-cut -- would be a change of methodology. Anyway, I look forward to confronting that question but don't want to make any more unfilled promises about when that might be.
Hi there how are you? I was looking through your blog and found it interesting and wanted to leave you a comment.
I have an invitation for you to come and visit my art blog here in San Diego, and comment if you will.
I think that you may enjoy the various labels and music videos I design for my art blog, hope to see you here soon and take care :)
This blog is dead.
A.,
It's pining for the fjords!
All I can tell you is that I continue to like the idea of doing this, but I can't make it enough of a priority at present. So... please don't write off the possibility that we'll be back in commission one of these days.
Look, stop lying. It would serve you better to be honest.
We've waited nearly a year and you haven't returned in the least. That's more than enough time. People won't wait forever, life moves on.
As for us, we're leaving. That's it. We're not watching any more and we won't be back.
Now, now. Lying?
I'm just stating my desire to continue this study at such at time as I can prioritize it. Since my predictions about such an occurrence have proven over-optimistic, I'm not making any new predictions, just stating my intent and wish.
Actually, I have a plan for a major new post in the next couple of weeks (depending on some external factors), though it will not be a resumption of my chapter-by-chapter walkthrough.
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