Ancient Hebrew Poetry

Gramsci, Faith and Politics

My friend Paolo has responded to my previous post in which I talked about faith, politics, and reason, the point of departure, a famous phrase of Antonio Gramsci:

In life two things are necessary: the pessimism of the intellect and the optimism of the will.

So did another friend, Rossella, who was moved by the memories. Here is Paolo’s response (translated into English):

What to do with a degree in biblical studies

What good is a degree in biblical studies if you earned it at an institution that did not teach you to think about the questions taken up in biblical literature against the background of the history of ideas of both the ancient and modern worlds?

A degree in biblical studies – or a text-based degree in religious studies - is not much more than a piece of paper if it does not develop your ability to collate and analyze data in cross-disciplinary fashion – at a minimum, linguistic and literary analysis; hermeneutics; political theory; philosophy of religion; comparative law, theology, and eschatology; the history of the text’s reception within Judaism and Christianity and the wider culture.

Gramsci then and now: is reason a basis for a life of action?

In the last ten days, when I might have been blogging, I talked politics deep into the night over and over again with an Italian friend on visit. Paolo stood up for me at my wedding, the day I married Paola, a fellow theological student at the Waldensian Theological Seminary in Rome. That was 24 years ago in Milan, Italy. The last time I saw Paolo was at the wedding feast, near Lake Como: the feast was amazing, with friends from around the world in attendance (a full retinue of Germans, Brazilians, and Japanese followed me down from Germany where I was studying at the time), and a menu to die for: the cook, a friend of my father-in-law, besides having a restaurant of his own, wrote the recipe column for L’Unità, the organ of the Italian Communist Party, which then had a circulation in the millions. That was 24 years ago, and I hadn’t seen Paolo since. Through Facebook he reconnected with us. We invited him to visit us “al centro dell’impero,” at the center of the Empire, which he did.

What will happen when hundreds of people show up for SBL’s business meeting?

That is my first reaction to John Kutsko’s even-handed letter to SBL members, posted online here. Kutsko is well-qualified to write a letter that seeks to unite rather than divide. He comes from a background in the religious book publishing business, at the intersection of worlds that seldom see eye to eye: scholars who write and clergy and laypeople who purchase and sometimes read what they write. Denominational leaderships - special interest groups as it were - who want one thing; the rank-and-file who want another. It’s Kutsko’s job to keep the SBL boat with the wind in its sails, and that is what he does in his letter.

John Kutsko's Letter

It's now up. SBL is happy to see it discussed online. Here is the link: http://www.sbl-site.org/assets/media/2010_KutskoLetter_Aug12.htm. 

A million visits: 3 years of blogging about the Bible and biblical studies

I have blogged with passion about the Bible and biblical studies for a little over three years. When I post on a topic of current or perennial interest, the daily page view count easily tops 1,000. 1,846 posts, 10,394 comments and 1,008,573 page views since inception: the stats of Ancient Hebrew Poetry are a little overwhelming, but speak for themselves. I see pros and cons to blogging as a medium of communication.

John Kutsko responds to Ron Hendel’s BAR editorial

Kutsko is the new executive director of the Society of Biblical Literature. He has written a letter to all SBL members in response to the discussion generated by Ron Hendel’s op-ed in BAR in which Hendel explained his reasons for letting his SBL membership lapse. Go here, here and here for examples of the discussion Hendel’s piece set in motion. Kutsko’s letter clarifies a number of points and offers a way forward.

Genesis 15, Midrash, and Justification by Faith

David Ker wants to discuss Genesis 15. The passage is central to the self-understanding of Jews and Christians. David and I have tangled in the past about the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament. As I understand him, he thinks of the Old Testament as a shadow, and he is afraid of that shadow, unless he can bottle up its darkness by recourse to select passages from the New Testament.

Why God put me on this earth

That’s a phrase from an essay by Clayton Christensen in the latest issue of the Harvard Business Review. Go here. Christensen is the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at HBS. David Brooks of the New York Times discusses implications of Christensen’s essay here. A quote I like, which educators might learn by heart: “Frederick Herzberg . . . asserts that the powerful motivator in our lives isn’t money; it’s the opportunity to learn, grow in responsibilities, contribute to others, and be recognized for achievements.”

Psalms 60 and 108: Claims to Land Determined by Divine Oracle

A British organization that calls itself “Muslims against the Crusade” has a slogan: “The Muslim Ummah is one Ummah. Our LAND [inclusive of all of Israel, not just the “occupied territories”] is one. Our WAR is one.” How does this understanding of territory, God, and war compare to that of the Hebrew Bible? The Qumran sect? The Talmud?