It’s certainly been a while since I’ve been able to update Withering Fig. “What could have possibly brought me out of my Salinger-like public coma?” you ask. Well, images of papyri, of course!

Goodacre, over at the NT Gateway, has called my attention (via his excellent blog) to some new images of papyri that Harvard is making available. Here’s is Goodacre’s post:

Harvard Papyri Online

I must say that the quality of these scans is quite good. During my 18 months on Harvard’s LDI (Library Digital Initiative) Project (via.harvard.edu), I was always pleased with the images that we were putting out. It looks like the folks in charge of this project have done superior work.

1. Lately, you may have noticed that I’ve been blogging lightly. This is just due to an increase in productivity in other areas! At any rate, I hope to be back in the swing soon, but I’m not sure exactly when. All of this is complicated by a recent death in the family. Thanks for continuing to subscribe and read, even though I’m not putting a lot out there at the moment.
2. You may have noticed that the Round-Up has changed. I’m now using a Wordpress plugin (postalicious) to acheive these fine lookin’ Round-Ups via a clever combination of Wordpress and del.icio.us. Sweet.

A fresh batch of Round-Up linkiness:

• NT Gateway Weblog - Simon Gathercole on New Perspective on Paul - Goodacre links to the Christianity Today article which has been making a bit of a buzz. I’ve put the article in my “to be read” folder.
• Why Faith » God is [not?] Great - This picture is hilarious…give it a click!
• Archaeology - Major Find at Sagalassos - More on the Hadrian statue.
• Thoughts on Antiquity » 15? statue of Hadrian found in SE Turkey - Cool archaeology news! Chris links to the BBC news article as well as some pics.
• Dr. Platypus » Blog Archive » Bible Reading Plan - The good doctor is fiddling with a Bible reading plan. This may be worth your time if you are wanting to get into a daily routine that covers the Bible exhaustively.
• Faith and Theology: Exegesis with a five-year-old - A cute little dialog!
• Jesus Creed » New Perspective 5 - This post discusses the role that “Augustinian Anthropology” plays in criticism of the New Perspective. Scot briefly mentions Krister Stendahl here. I find it interesting that some of what Scot is mentioning is found in an article by Stendahl — “Paul and
• Chrisendom: Harry Potter ?gets saved?? - I haven’t read this article yet, as I am still working my way through the final book (no time to read lately!). But, I thought I’d post it up here anyway.
• Old in the New: New Testament Reading List? - Watch the comments here. There is only one comment at the moment, but I hope others will respond to this question.
• Jesus Creed » New Perspective 4 - A continuation of the New Perspective series. This one clears the air.

Enjoy!

A fresh batch of Round-Up linkiness:

• Chrisendom: Book Review: Fee?s Pauline Christology Part 4 - Chris continues his review of Fee. Thanks, Chris!
• Thoughts on Antiquity » Eusebius, History of the Church - Thoughts on Antiquity adds a Eusebius page. Hopefully, these pages will become more and more fleshed out with time.
• Accordance Blog: Amplifying Outside of Accordance - David Lang brings another fine Accordance tip. In terms of amplification, “these go to 11.”
• Jesus Creed » New Perspective 3 - Having briefly discussed Sanders and Dunn, McKnight turns to N. T. Wright. I am so grateful for these posts, as they are helping me sharpen my understanding of “the New Perspective.”
• Jesus Creed » New Perspective 2 - Now, McKnight turns his eye to focus on Dunn himself. Again, sharp and too the point?very much worth the quick read.
• Jesus Creed » New Perspective 1 - Scot McKnight begins a series on the New Perspective on Paul. This article is a nice, bite-sized chunk about E.P. Sanders and his influence on James Dunn. Scot boils down Sanders’ “covenantal nomism” into something we can understand. Thanks, Scot!

Enjoy!

A fresh batch of Round-Up linkiness:

• The Busybody: Does Theology Bring Death to Biblical Studies? - Loren Rosson discusses some thoughts he’s having as he finishes up Hector Avalos’ most recent work. I must say, Loren is making some sense (even if it’s at the expense of folks I respect, like Levenson and Stendahl). However, I am always skeptical of peop
• NT Gateway Weblog - Mark Goodacre weighs in on the ongoing Jesus Project saga.
• Singing In The Reign: Some Interesting Facts about Historical Jesus Research - Brant offers up a great little list of interesting facts about the history of Historical Jesus Research. I haven’t checked all these out, but a few of them I know to be true…I’ll trust Brant!
• The Assembling of the Church: Pliny, Trajan, and the Christians - Alan brings to light a key text in the study of early Christianity: the correspondence between Pliny and Trajan. I would dare say that most Christians in the U.S. are unfamiliar with this fascinating little snippet. I have always wondered, however, whethe

Enjoy!

A fresh batch of Round-Up linkiness:

• Old in the New: My Thesis: Pray for Reign: The Eschatological Elijah in James 5:17-18 - Pick up your steamin’ hot-off-the-presses PDF of James Darlack’s thesis right here!
• The Assembling of the Church: Seven Chosen to Serve - I always like a good close reading of a text that reveals our assumptions and makes them look a little silly. Thanks Alan!
• Ancient Hebrew Poetry: Authorship as a Hermeneutical Construct - Some might shy away from the phrase “hemeneutical construct.” But some may dare to read on!
• metalepsis: The Concept of Exile during the Second Temple Period: Part 2 Yesha en Sira - Metalepsis cites a couple of spots in Sirach that point to the concept of exile.
• Better Bibles Blog: 1 Cor.: the angels - Suzanne McCarthy continues her exploration of 1 Corinthians with the help of Gordon Fee. Interesting little reads.

Enjoy!

TGIF.

• Old in the New has posted some PDFs of Cowley & Neubauer’s Hebrew Sirach (1897). A nice little addition to my digital library. Thank!
• Chris Tilling continues his Book Review of Fee’s Pauline Christology (which I have mentioned previously). You can begin view each piece on one page by going to this table of contents. It appears that there will be 11 parts to this review. Sheesh!
• Mark Goodacre has posted the contents (with links) of the latest Harvard Theological Review. I am most interested in the articles by Epp (mentioned yesterday), and MacLean: “Barabbas, the Scapegoat Ritual, and the Development of the Passion Narrative”…though the article by Snyder also looks interesting: “‘Above the Bath of Myrtinus’: Justin Martyr’s ‘School’ in the City of Rome.” [Links are to abstracts.]
• More on this Jesus Project fiasco from Christopher Heard.
• Tim at SansBlogue has responded to my post “Of Texts and Hypertexts.” Check it out: “Mouth-feel and the Bible.” Tim makes an excellent point (whether he wants to own up to it or not): many folks read newspapers, magazines, and (I will say it) academic articles with the same care that they read websites (which is to say: “not much”). I’ve actually witnessed this.
• Lingamish gets calm. Friends find me odd because I’m excited about footnotes and the history of punctuation and other “oddities.” It is sad to consider the plight of dying grammatical units. I remember reading an article once about the dying adverb. How sad. Truly sad.
• Wow: “The Talmud According to Bart Simpson.” Wow.
• Off-Topic: Old in the New drew my attention to indexed. Quite a funny blog!

Have an excellent weekend!

Linkiness for you to enjoy:

• Taking a page from Donald Miller, Darren at Why Faith admits: “Christians do bad things.” Darren, a Christian himself, apologizes for these, but raises the interesting point (also raised by Miller): “What has that got to do with the truthfulness of Christianity?”
• Suzanne McCarthy over at the Better Bibles Blog has been rolling through 1 Corinthians with her teacher, Gordon Fee (a good guy to roll with). Here’s her latest installment: “1 Cor 7.8.” 1 Corinthians 7 is particularly perplexing for me. I hope to follow along and learn a thing or two!
• Tim of SansBlogue has an interesting little post about the state of academic publishing: “Now Why is This News?”
• Ben Myers of Faith and Theology is asking folks to comment on what he is calling “theological allegory” in the most recent Harry Potter book: “Theology with J. K. Rowling.” I’m not done reading it yet…so I won’t read the comments. You can let me know if they’re worthwhile!
• Peter Head draws my attention to a new article by one of my favorite professors: “Epp on ‘A Variant-Conscious Approach to New Testament Textual Criticism.’”

I am still trying to get back in the swing of things after returning from my most recent backpacking exploits in Colorado (I’ll probably post a few pics that the wife took in coming days). But, my catch-up duties have not prevented me from working on the Daily Round-Up. Here’s Wednesday’s links:

• Alan over at The Assembling of the Church has an interesting “synchroblog” (whatever that is) post about corporate worship: “Here I am to worship.”
• The Jesus Project is just now making it’s way on to my radar screen. How do you feel about it? Feel free to comment. Even though their site tries to differentiate them from the Jesus Seminar in a rather stark way, it still smells pretty similar to me. April DeConick, a “fellow,” has an interesting little blurb on her blog here. Frankly, this organization is starting to sound a bit creepy. Check out Christopher Heard’s post, and Chris Zeichman’s post. Why is this project associating people with it who have not been asked? Gives me the willies…
• Michael Bird of Euangelion has a nice little list: “Top Five Books on Studying Revelation.” Throughout the years I have found Revelation to be quite a sticky topic. Lately, however, I must admit that I’ve enjoyed teaching from it. I wonder if Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza will ever write her Hermeneia commentary on this one…
• Novum Testamentum Blog has an interview with April DeConick. Topics include blogging and how she got into blogging, a day in the life, thougths on “Gnosticism” and various noncanonical texts. Nothing earth-shattering, but if you’re a fan of The Forbidden Gospels Blog, or you just have some weird interest in the daily lives of professors, or, better yet, you are confused as to what an academic does on a daily basis in a city like Houston (my hometown)…check it out!
• Chris Tilling is working on a nice little review of Gordon Fee’s Pauline Christology: Part 1, Part 2. Thanks a bundle for doing that, Chris. I love a good book review. As I say that, I realize that I’ve depended on book reviews a lot in my research. Too much?
• Biblical Studies Carnival XX is up at Claue Mariottini’s blog. Too much to comment on…check it out, you’re bound to find something of interest.

I have been inspired to think about this topic by those who have come before me. Most notably, Loren Rosson thought about this a while back in a pair of posts called “Back to Oral Culture.”

As I’ve been blogging over the last few months, I’ve come to notice that the world of the web is indeed a world not defined by literacy. As a web designer I know that people who come to my sites are not “literate” people. I don’t mean this in a pejorative sense. Rather, people do not take the time to read a web site in the same way that they do a book. They do not work through it sequentially. Rather they scan for content. Sometimes, they don’t even do that…they just search for it. I know all of this not from my careful study of Google Analytics and other web phenomena/theory—I know this because I’m guilty.

Who examines a page carefully, word-for-word?

If I put myself into the audience of a Pauline house church, and I listen to the reading of a fresh letter that has just arrived, do I examine it word-for-word? No. First of all, it might not be likely that I can read. Second, I’m listening to the letter read aloud. This gives me pause. Why is it that I study this corpus in such a different way than its original audience did?

We scan web pages with the eyes. Perhaps we should scan ancient texts with the ears.

I am guilty of sitting down in a corner of a library and reading aloud in Greek, Hebrew, or Latin. This was primarily to build my pronunciation skills (which, by the way, are so useful outside of class). Perhaps I was missing something. Perhaps there is something mystical and enchanting that I was missing as I recited Genesis 22 for Prof. Hackett (who was, is, and shall remain one of my “faves”). Honestly, as I did it, I could not get my mind off of the fact that it was silly. What practical purpose would reciting the akedah serve? I felt like a high school student in Calculus: when am I gonna need integrals and derivatives? Not in line at McDonald’s…

As I’m going through the Epistles of John in a very thorough manner, chunk-by-chunk, word-for-word, I wonder if it might be better for me to read the words aloud. Let them wrap around me. What does the scansion tell me? Where does the stress fall naturally? Perhaps rhythm is more important than word order.

So, a few questions to you:

• Do you employ oral and aural techniques in your study of a text? If so, how?
• Do you think that reading and listening can serve any practical function as we delve deeper into these texts? Or, am I just ruminating on a bunch of rubbish?
• How do you think hypertexts relate to ancient texts in terms of orality and literacy? (Rosson’s post and the links he provide might be helpful for your thoughts on this topic…)