I don’t talk about pastoral theology or the church too much on this blog as it is not the focus, but following a link from my feedreader, I was a little shockedby the “council” page image of the Gospel Coalition, click on it and take a quick look.

Now, as an evangelical I’m supportive of making the message of Jesus relevant for the next generation — but when I see a council that is more than 60% white male with NO women, I start to wonder a bit. If it seeks to be a “gospel coalition” I would think they want to be representative of those who believe the gospel.

Now it is of course their prerogative to believe what they want — their doctrinal statement makes it clear what they think and the makeup of their council reflects that (they just happen to all misunderstand the bible, but I won’t take that up here). But they have as part of their mandate creating literature and reaching out to colleges. That bothers me even more — going out and representing the evangelical view on contemporary issues when they don’t even believe women can hold the same leadership roles in the church!

Okay, back to dissertation work…..

Rodney Decker has created and released a new unicode Greek keyboard for the intelligentsia who use Macs — so if you are looking for a better layout than the built-in polytonic Greek keyboard, check it out.

Rodney doesn’t allow comments on his posts, so hopefully he’ll see this note — zip the keyboard and icon together for the download please. Safari doesn’t recognize those types of files and doesn’t download them when clicked on.

Also Rodney, don’t be so vain by naming the keyboard after yourself

My deinde Colleague pointed out some comments in moderation that I missed on my previous post called “My Beef With Researching”. There were a number of good comments there if anyone is interested in this matter.

One item that came up that I want to mention further is what we call OpenURL. Basically, it is quick way to send information to a “resolver” site from a library or other database. The resolver site will then resolve the information and point you to a relevant source is they have it on catalogue. To my knowledge the biggest and best OpenURL resolver is WorldCat Link Manager. My only beef with it is that for some reason it doesn’t link issn’s with WorldCat — that is the easiest way, in my opinion, to find out if a journal is in your library.
OpenURL is definitely a good thing and it is fantastic that school libraries are tapping in to it. I still find the DOI superior as it takes you directly to the digital object, but OpenURL is a close second. DOI’s are also a little more user friendly, as it is not too difficult to type in dx.doi.org/doi#, but trying to remember the syntax for OpenURL is not so easy.

In the comments of my previous post, Andy Keck mentioned that ATLA supports URL. Those of you who use ATLA know this, though you may not know it by that name. When you search in ATLA and get your results list, there should be a link saying “Find It” or something to that affect with a logo of your institution. This is an OpenURL link, allowing you to quickly see if your library has the item. I would love to see a few more OpenURL links added to ATLA, like WorldCat Link Manager for instance.

For those of you who don’t quite understand what I’m talking about let me just say this: many libraries and databases like ATLA are trying their best to connect you with the information as fast as they can with a protocol called OpenURL, and that is a great thing.

I want to now include one of the comments from my previous post that came directly from ATLA:

Dear Mr. Zacharias:

I am writing to officially respond on behalf of the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) regarding recent postings regarding the ATLA Religion Database and DOI issues on your blog:

http://www.deinde.org/blog/

To the best of our knowledge, we were not contacted by you before you posted these comments and then directly asked the readers to “nag and whine” to us.

In fact, if you would have contacted us in advance, we would have told you that we recently published some information in our Feb. 2008 newsletter that directly addresses your concerns:

Beginning in January 2008, ATLA’s Religion Database (RDB) will include any DOI (Digital Object Identifier) data that some journals are now using. The data will be coded in the MARC 21 024 tag, subfield a, with a subfield 2 code: doi as well. This may prove helpful to users who link to full text versions. This data is expected to appear in the summer 2008 data release. There are no plans at this time to add such data retrospectively. ATLA Newsletter, vol. 55 no. 2 (Feb. 2008), 14

In the future, I encourage you and your colleagues to contact us directly with any product questions in advance of any speculation.

We pride ourselves on both the quality of our products and our responsiveness.

I wasn’t aware I needed to ask permission to blog on a topic, and if you are a regular reader of deinde you know I try and throw some humor in once in awhile, which is what the “nag & whine” comment was about. And considering the fact that I use ATLA regularly and have not seen a DOI, I wasn’t just speculating. But even if people did bombard ATLA with email, that just means more people got informed of ATLA’s efforts, so you’re welcome!

More seriously though, I am very glad to hear that DOI’s will be included now in ATLA’s efforts as well as their OpenURL system which I was aware of— though I don’t like the limitation of it being connected only to my libraries OpenURL. I continue to use ATLA and encourage and teach my students to do so as well. So ATLA if I offended you, my apologies. Live long and prosper dudes!

I have been reading with some interest for the past little while on the the Secret Gospel of Mark. I personally think Stephen Carlson has answered the question for us, but I try to stay open to other thoughts on the matter.

In case you would like to stay abreast of the online discussion on Secret Mark, Peter Jeffery has a great page here.

Just one more thing to say, and then I’ll get to the actual reason I am writing this post. Scot Brown described Peter Jeffery’s book as “a hermeneutics of desperation”. Perhaps it is just me, but a 47-page book review (not that I mind Brown taking advantage of the electronic medium) smacks a bit of a hermeneutic of desperation itself.

I am interested to know what the rest of the world actually thinks about the Secret Gospel of Mark. And since I know the entire academic world reads my substantial blog, I know that the poll below will give us an accurate view of the state of the question.

So without further ado, vote your opinion about the Secret Gospel of Mark! If you don’t like my wording, well then add your own option to the poll.

Recently on the Accordance blog David Lang did a respectful and informed response of a blogger who commented on the alpha release of Logos. If you are a die-hard Mac (and therefore Accordance) user, you will smirk at the Cyberbrethren’s comments. It is typical of what a windows user who only occasionally uses Mac would say, but some of it is just laughable. He says Accordance has a clunky interface! This blogger is spitting out borderline blasphemy for us Accordance users. People poorly underestimate the dogged affection Accordance users have for Roy Brown and his team’s product. Rivaled only by the dogged affection for the Mac in general

Here is my prediction for Logos Mac and its affects:

• Windows users with large logos libraries will now feel better about switching to the superior Mac platform - so Logos is helping the Mac cause.
• For some of the above people, once they sink in to life with Mac and wondered why they waited so long to switch, will try Accordance and like it way better and will start using both—especially if their Logos library isn’t very large.
• Current Accordance users will never leave, but they may well purchase Logos as well for some of the resources that Accordance doesn’t have and may never get (syntactical databases, opentext.org, etc)

All in all, I’m not worried about the demise of Accordance in the least. Logos can bring on the competition, and Accordance will bring on the pain.

This post is to solicit some help from my fellow bloggers and deinde readers. I am trying to make a list of biblical studies journals along with a link to their main page.

First off, does anyone know of such a listing that already exists so I can save some time?

Second, this list is meant for biblical studies. Obviously this means we stray into other disciplines, but I’m trying to stick to the middle. This means I’ve included some journals that do some biblical and theological, but didn’t list periodicals that are totally theological.

So, if you can help me out I’d gratefully appreciate it. And I’ll post the final list somewhere too. If titles below are not linked, it’s because I can’t find its homepage or it is no longer published and doesn’t have a homepage.

Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Anglican Theological Review
Aramaic Studies
Australian Biblical Review
Biblica
Biblical Archaeologist
Biblical Interpretation
Biblical Theology Bulletin
Bibliotheca sacra
Bulletin of Biblical Research
Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Bulletin of the Evangelical Theological Society
Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies
Calvin Theological Journal
Catholic Biblical Quarterly
Criswell Theological Review
Currents in Biblical Research
Dead Sea Discoveries
Didaskalia: The Journal of Providence Theological Seminary
Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses
Expository Times
Filología Neotestamentaria
Hadashot Arkheologiyot
Harvard Theological Review
Hebrew Linguistics
Henoch
Hiphil
Horizons in Biblical Theology
Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology
Israel Exploration Journal
Jewish Bible Quarterly
Jewish Quarterly Review
Journal for the Study of Judaism
Journal for the Study of Rhetorical Criticism of the New Testmant
Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha
Journal of Biblical Literature
Journal of Biblical Studies
Journal of Early Christian Studies
Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism
Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
Journal of Semitic Studies (2002-pres.)
Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Journal of Theological Studies
lectio difficilior
Liber Annuus
Near Eastern Archaeology
Neotestamentica
New Testament Studies
Novum Testamentum
Palestine Exploration Quarterly
Restoration Quarterly
Review of Rabbinic Judaism
Revista Bíblica
Revue biblique
Scandinavian Journal of the 0ld Testament
Scottish Journal of Theology
Semeia: An Experimental Journal for Biblical Criticism
TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism
Themelios
Tyndale Bulletin
Tyndale House Bulletin
Vetus Testamentum
Vigiliae Christianae
Vox Evangelica
Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity
Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der Älteren Kirche
Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und Kunde der Alteren Kirche

Oh to be a student of the hard sciences and be able to use a database like Pubmed.
For those who don’t know what PubMed is, think of combining RAMBI, IXtheo, BIiBIL, BILDI, and ATLA all together into one delightful database complete with abstracts. But not only that — the actual PDF’s of the articles are there too. It is the one-stop shop for your research. But oh well, I’m a biblical studies student. Now I realize that this is a 21st century rant and I should be grateful that actual bibliography collection takes me a fraction of the time that it did for you old timer’s that studied before the 90’s, but I like to have my cake and eat it too. If the technology is there then that’s what I would like to use.
Now I could be wrong, but I think the vast majority of us use ATLA for our research. Let me outline some of the regular scenarios when finding articles on ATLA.

1. I find an article from CBQ or something else that is actually stored in ATLA(S). So I can download the PDF immediately. SWEEET!
2. I find an article that ATLA does not store. So I then go to my school’s library database, search the periodical list for the journal. A few things will happen:
   1. my library will have electronic access to the journal, like to JSTOR, and I go to that database, search for the article title, and download it.
   2. my library has electronic access to the journal. I go to the database, but they only started digitizing them 3 years ago so my article isn’t online.
   3. My library has access to an electronic database for the journal, but the older volumes of the journal require a further level of access that my university doesn’t have.
   4. My library only has the journal hard bound and I have to go down and photocopy it. How 1990’s is that!!

Now I realize that not every article will always be online now, I’ll have to wait another decade or so for that. But here is what I would like to have happen: I go to ATLA and search for stuff. I find an article and either:

1. ATLA has it stored as a PDF and is available for immediate download or,
2. ATLA provides the DOI to the article online

That’s it! How great would that be!

The DOI (Digital Object Identifier), it is the key that few in biblical studies have latched on to yet. It is a permanent and stable URL for an article — not a website but the actual article. Imagine how nice it would be to find the article you want in ATLA, open the DOI and BAM! you are taken directly to where the article is. The database would recognize your university proxy and the article is there for you to use. Most major article databases and publishers have begun or are already finished assigning DOI’s to their article databases, yet I do not know of any biblical studies bibliographic database (RAMBI, IXtheo, BIiBIL, BILDI, ATLA, etc) that have begun to make these a regular part of the citation information. It is such a great idea that I told Ebsco they need to start updating their records to add the DOI’s. Unfortunately, ATLA doesn’t work that way. They only add the content that the publishers give to them. dang it! So it is up to you publishers (and I know every self-respecting biblical studies publisher reads my o so important blog posts) to provide the DOI’s to ATLA, AND make sure that you tell them you want it as part of the citation. And you also have to provide the DOI’s for your archive - or ask ATLA to do it. That is not as hard as it sounds, because crossref.org has a DOI resolver that will do the work for you. Lastly, biblical studies publishers need to get on the DOI bandwagon if they haven’t already. Every article that is available online from a publisher should have a DOI — this includes those housed by ATLA or those hosted on a publisher site (like the new BBR archive online for instance). I thought of starting a petition to get ATLA to add DOI’s to their database, then realized how lame a petition like that would be. I’ll settle for whining and nagging, and hope that others will whine and nag too. Nagging and whining is what gets things done, trust me!

Cheers!

I received an email from Paterson Brown today and wanted to pass it along

I have just completed the hypertext interlinear of the Thomas Gospel.
which is also linked direct from the website index page. There were numerous minor clarifications to the text plus a few major ones–thanks primarily to having Plumley’s grammar electronically searchable, but also to a careful review of the vocabulary via Crum and Liddell & Scott (also electronically searchable). I do hope you find it useful!
With best regards,
+Paterson Brown
Ecumenical Coptic Project

I received a new book from IVP that I am very happy to blurb today:

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels
Kenneth E. Bailey
IVP, 2008
443 pages
Purchase from Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA

Here is the TOC:
Part 1: The Birth of Jesus
1. The Story of Jesus’ Birth: Luke 2:1-20
2. The Genealogy and Joseph the Just: Matthew 1:1-21
3. The Savior, the Wise Men and the Vision of Isaiah: Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-7
4. Herod’s Atrocities, Simeon and Anna: Matthew 2:13-18; Luke 2:22-36

Part 2: The Beatitudes
5. The Beatitudes 1: Matthew 5:1-5
6. The Beatitudes 2: Matthew 5:6-12

Part 3: The Lord’s Prayer
7. The Lord’s Prayer: God Our Father: Matthew 6:5-9
8. The Lord’s Prayer: God’s Holiness: Matthew 6:9
9. The Lord’s Prayer: God’s Kingdom and Our Bread: Matthew 6:10-11
10. The Lord’s Prayer: Our Sins and Evil: Matthew 6:12-13

Part 4: Dramatic Actions of Jesus
11. The Call of Peter: Luke 5:1-11
12. The Inauguration of Jesus’ Ministry: Luke 4:16-31
13. The Blind Man and Zacchaeus: Luke 18:35-19:11

Part 5: Jesus and Women
14. Jesus and Women: An Introduction
15. The Woman at the Well: John 4:1-42
16. The Syro-Phoenician Woman: Matthew 15:21-28
17. The Lady Is Not for Stoning: John 7:53-8:11
18. The Woman in the House of Simeon the Pharisee: Luke 7:36-50
19. The Parable of the Widow and the Judge: Luke 18:1-8
20. The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Young Women: Matthew 25:1-13

Part 6: Parables of Jesus
21. Introduction to the Parables
22. The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:25-37
23. The Parable of the Rich Fool: Luke 12:13-21
24. The Parable of the Great Banquet: Luke 14:15-24
25. The Parable of the Two Builders: Luke 6:46-49
26. The Parable of the Unjust Steward: Luke 16:1-8
27. The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Luke 18:9-14
28. The Parable of the Compassionate Employer: Matthew 20:1-16
29. The Parable of the Serving Master: Luke 12:35-38
30. The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man: Luke 16:19-30
31. The Parable of the Pounds: Luke 19:11-27
32. The Parable of the Noble Vineyard Owner and His Son: Luke 20:9-18

The book includes a bibliography, a persons index, and scripture index.

Here are a few of the many jacket endorsements:
“Among the many New Testament scholars interpreting the Gospels today, few offer new and dramatic insights like Kenneth E. Bailey. From a childhood in Egypt to a career working within the Middle East, Bailey has established himself as the premier cultural interpreter of the life of Jesus. Using insights from cultural anthropology and skilled exegesis, suddenly the Gospels come alive as the Middle Eastern stories that they are. Long after other scholars’ books are forgotten, Bailey’s work on the Gospels will continue to be a timeless resource into the world of Jesus. This newest volume, written for the nonspecialist, is a splendid place to begin. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is guaranteed to become a favorite on many Christians’ bookshelves.” —Gary M. Burge, professor of New Testament, Wheaton College & Graduate School
“I have long been an admirer of Kenneth Bailey’s helpful insights. As in his earlier works, his breadth of knowledge of Middle Eastern culture sheds rich light on numerous points in the Gospels, providing fresh perspectives and often illumining details we have rarely considered. He provokes those of us who depend mostly on ancient written sources to consider new approaches, often cohering with but often supplementing such research.” —Craig Keener, professor of New Testament, Palmer Theological Seminary

“Kenneth Bailey’s Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is rich with interpretive and cultural insight. He sheds light on what is so often missed in most commentaries and books about Jesus written from a Western perspective. Indeed, Bailey’s book provides the much-needed corrective to the dubious results of the Jesus Seminar, whose distorted Jesus is a product of Greco-Roman culture and literature, instead of the Judaic culture and literature of Palestine. Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes is easy to read–students and pastors will benefit from it tremendously–but there is also much for scholars.”— Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College

As is IVP’s practice, you can read an excerpt, in this case chapter one of the book — The Story of Jesus’ Birth: Luke 2:1-20.

The Resurrection: History and Myth
Geza Vermes
Doubleday, 2008
171 Pages
Purchase from Amazon.COM or Amazon.CA

Here is the TOC:
Prologue: The Christian Notion of Resurrection and Its Historical Antecedents
Part 1: Afterlife in teh Jewish World Before Jesus

1. A Bird’s-Eye View of Human Destiny in the Bible: From Lost Immortality to Resurrection
2. Death and Its Sequels in Ancient Judaism: Paving the Way for Resurrection
3. Biblical and Postbiblical Antecedents of the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus
4. Martyrdom and Resurrection in Late Second Temple Judaism
5. Jewish Attitudes to Afterlife in the Age of Jesus

Part 2: Resurrection and Eternal Life in the New Testament

6. Introductory Note
7. The Teaching of Jesus on Resurrection and Eternal Life
8. Predictions of the Resurrection of Jesus
9. Resurrection Accounts in the New Testament Regarding Persons Other Than Jesus
10. The Gospel Accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus
11. Initial Evaluation of the Accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus
12. The Resurrection of Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles
13. The Resurrection of Jesus in Saint Paul
14. The Resurrection of Jesus in the Rest of the New Testament
15. The Meaning of the Concept of Resurrection in the New Testament

Epilogue: Resurrection in the Hearts of Men

Here is the dust jacket description:
World-famous biblical scholar Geza Vermes has studies all the evidence that still remains, over two thousand years after Jesus Christ was reported to have risen from the dead. Examining the Jewish Bible, the New Testament, and other accounts left to us, as well as contemporary attitudes toward the afterlife, he takes us through each episode with a historian’s focus: the crucifixion, the treatment of the body, the statements of the women who found the empty tomb, and the visions of Christ by his disciples. Unraveling the true meaning conveyed in the Gospels, the Acts, and Saint Paul, Vermes shines new light on the developing faith in the risen Christ among the first followers of Jesus.

This book is clearly meant to be an accessible introduction to this topic — evidenced by its size and its sparse reference and dialogue with studies on the topic.