In which I take students through How to Think about Others' Exegetical Fallacies and then talk through some portions of my dissertation that focused on ἀγάπη (agape) and what it "really" means. No, like, for real this time.
Linguistics
Two Lectures for the Asia Center for Advanced Christian Studies
I recently gave two more lectures (or four, depending on how you count the material in these two two-hour videos) for this interesting project run by respected friends:
Review: John McWhorter’s Words on the Move
I've gone through two of John McWhorter's Great Courses on language; I've read several of his books, and I'm a faithful listener to his podcast. When I picked up this book I suddenly realized, "I know just what he's going to say. I get John McWhorter." I put the book...
Fantastic Deal on My Favorite Theology Books
John Frame is retiring, and now you can have all six of his best and most important books for $120. Hardbacks. This is killer. I paid much more. Do not miss this deal: $20 a book for some of the best theology books you will ever buy. The Doctrine of the Knowledge of...
One of My Favorite Theologians Questions Me on My Decision Not to Capitalize Deity Pronouns
Posted by permission and with slight editing from both parties. Hey Mark, I just noted your upcoming column on deity pronouns. My only beef with it is that it seems to me to set up a straw man and completely ignores a stronger and more pertinent argument. I’m sure...
Two of My Favorite Johns on Grammar
John Frame: In natural languages, there are many variations in grammar, style, and accent. Grammarians tend to elevate one group of variations as a standard. So the predominant speech in Berlin is considered to be “good German.” The predominant speech of Amsterdam is...
Review: Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care
Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care by John McWhorter My rating: 4 of 5 stars I'm a big McWhorter fan. His lecturing style, which is just like his writing style, is so engagingly brilliant. This was such a wonderful...
Something I Am Embarrassed to Say I Just Learned
I knew that English Bible translators have access to a computerized linguistic corpus—an unbelievably massive collection of English texts—to help them do their work. What I didn't know, what I just learned, is that I do, too. What you're about to learn, if you didn't...
I’m with Pinker
I critiqued Steven Pinker several times in Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, Redemption; Pinker is an epistemological extremist, in my unaccredited opinion, someone who places far too much faith in empirical method. But I can't help but like the guy when he talks...
Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, Redemption Promo Video
Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, Redemption now has a promo page on bjupress.com. If you haven't yet purchased a copy, you will want to do so now that there is a promo page. Bryan Smith, the presenter on the video there, is the one whose vision I was trying to live...
Capitalizing LORD
The practice of capitalizing LORD when it translates Yahweh (יהוה) and not capitalizing it (or rather, not all of it) when it translates Adonai (אדני) goes back at least to Luther. This is from Luther's Preface to his (German) translation of the Old Testament: Whoever...
Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, Redemption
I finally got my copy. It's the culmination of my nine years at BJU Press and the one book of mine most likely to actually get read: Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, Redemption, a 12th grade Bible textbook for Christian and home schools. But I can't say the book is...