Baby
A relative recently informed me that my baby, now that he is 6 months old, can understand 75% of what I say. This has gotten me thinking. Does that mean that when I say, “Hey, baby!” he starts to lose the thread at about ba-? Or does he just lose interest? Or is it more that he’s about 75% sure of what I mean? Well, I’d be happy to get 75% of what God says to me. I doubt I’m that high.
Two Sides of Legalism
A reporter goes up to smokers in a New York City park and asks them to put out their cigarettes. It’s an experiment, because smoking in such public places could possibly become illegal there. A few smokers approached in parks were courteous, or cowed, enough to put out their cigarettes, or at least to move. “I’m not that militant,” said Nick Whalen, a 22-year-old photojournalist. But several reacted legalistically. “I don’t see any sign saying I can’t smoke,” said Ken Dorazio, who described...
Seductive Etymologies
Etymological studies have long been an alluring seductress to students of the Bible. .... Etymological studies, through no fault of their own, have become a menace to sound interpretation. Those who sometimes maintain only the slightest grasp of the Bible's original languages repeat their clichéd results from pulpits. These expositors desire to offer theological insight, but more often than not the result is exploitation. John H. Walton, "Etymology," Dictionary for Theological Interpretation...
Stanley Fish’s NYTimes.com Columns Are Usually Interesting
There are a few themes that have developed on this blog. Usage Determines Meaning. Technology gives and technology takes away. Think carefully about your Bible software purchases. The standard view of ἀγάπη love out there is suspect. Stanley Fish’s NYTimes.com columns are usually interesting. That last one goes deeper. There’s a reason those columns are interesting. Fish grasps something that I did not until some point (early, I hope!) in grad school. Yet another New York Times offering in the...
Paper-Writing Tech Tip
I’m writing a dissertation in Turabian format, which means double-spaced lines (except in footnotes). That, in turn, means I can’t see very much of my work at once: By Word’s count, I can see 299 words on that screen. But my writing style involves a lot of re-reading, looking back and forth within my argument, and re-arranging. And that means a lot of scrolling and a big chance that I’ll lose my place. So I’ve begun to write almost exclusively in another mode called “Outline” view (View tab...