Category: Biblical Studies

  • "The Bible in English and the Heresy of Explanation"

    Earlier today I posted my first impressions of Robert Alter’s the Five Books of Moses.  There is a section in the introduction that I think is well worth the read, even if you don’t completely agree with Alter’s theory of translation.  It is entitled “The Bible in English and the Heresy of Explanation.”  Here’s a…

  • On Reading Alter's The Five Books of Moses

    I have in the past used Alter’s translations not just of the Five Books of Moses, but also of the Psalms and David Story, especially when studying a particular passage.  (Incidentally, I see that there is also a translation of the Wisdom Literature forthcoming).  But, I recently decided to read through his translation of the…

  • Psalm 68:10 – Ahhhh … The Rain

    Here’s a simple screen capture video I made for today’s responsive reading. Video made using BibleWorks 8 and Snapz Pro X

  • I'm going to be on TV

    What can I say? I’m beautiful. Not really. Catholic Life Television, the television station within my diocese, is producing a series on Catholic identity. One of the segments is going to be called “Scripture: Study it.” They are going to be interviewing me. Seems like it’s going to be a really fun experience. I’m looking…

  • The More I Study the Bible the More I …

    Kevin and Jason have started what I think is an interesting conversation.  Kevin started out by discussing his liberalization (I don’t think Kevin is a genuine liberal in terms of theological liberalism) through more study of the Bible while Jason seems to be considerably more conservative. I can’t really answer this question because everyone knows…

  • New Dead Sea Scrolls Audio Course by Gary Rendsburg

    Or at least it is new to me, as I’ve only recently seen it. I keep pretty up to date on their catalogue.  The Teaching Company has released an audio course on the Dead Sea Scrolls by Gary Rendsburg.  It’s currently on sale for $35 dollars for audio download (click “special sale” in the top…

  • This video called "The Nephilim" has almost 2,000,000 views

    How fantastic! Right? …. Not!  I’m hoping they used some kind of artificial means for boosting their numbers.  If not this a very bad sign.  Unfortunately the hoaxsters are dominating the video arena right now.

  • The irony of the explanation for Noah's name

    I never really thought about it before this morning (though I’m sure someone else has), but there is a lot of irony in the reasoning given for Noah’s name in Genesis 5:29.  The verse reads: he named him Noah, saying, “Out of the ground the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from…

  • Daniel McClellan – Psalms 1 and 2

    It appears as though Daniel McClellan is offering translations and notes on some of the Psalms.  He has started with Psalms 1 and 2 and I hope he continues this.  Check out the translations and notes here – Psalm 1 and Psalm 2. As an aside, it is always interesting to see how different translators…

  • Some people on youtube are so lame

    Recently I posted about how Biblical scholars need to be more active using video.  One thing that I proposed was making videos and posting them as video responses to some of the tripe that is out there on video sites like Youtube.  Come to find out people post videos claiming outrageous nonsense and then they…