Statehood Dependent on Archaeological Finds?

Julia — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:51:48 +0100

I've read several articles in the past few weeks relating the presence of archaeological finds to the question of statehood.

This one from Ha'aretz explains that the Dutch government hopes to support the cause of Palestinian statehood by financing archaeology at Tell Balata, an ancient site within the city of Nablus:

"The creation of institutions can only be sustainable if it goes hand in hand with the strengthening of the cultural identity of t...

Who Cares about Prophets?

Julia — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:56:33 +0100

I've just published a piece over at the Bible and Interpretation site entitled "Who Cares about the Prophets?"

Reading Amos in Modern Tekoa

Julia — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:01:22 +0100

With the start of a new semester, I’ve had to shift my direct attention away the West Bank/ Israel trip to courses, writing assignments, and speaking engagements. But the realities I encountered in January aren’t fading away; instead, they are finding their way into all the work I’m doing.

A good example is the way I’m approaching the book of Amos in my Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament class. Today, as in other years, I used Amos as an introduction to how a classical p...

Joshua in Ancient and Contemporary Perspectives

Julia — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:44:06 +0100

I've just encountered powerful curriculum on Joshua. It's entitled Joshua: A Journey of Faith and is the 2009-2010 Horizons Bible Study for Presbyterian women.

The primary author is Mary Mikhael, President of Near East School of Theology in Beirut (NEST). The editor is W. Eugene March, professor emeritus from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary.

Its ni...

West Bank and Israel Travel Log #2: Walls

Julia — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:56:10 +0100

The first of many unsettling experiences during the LTS West Bank/Israel trip was my introduction to the Wall. While I had read much about the "separation wall" between Israel and the Occupied Territories and even seen photos from friends, I wasn't prepared for the reality.

On the bus ride from Ben Gurion airport to our hotel in Bethlehem, the wall seemed everywhere--zigzagging across the landscape, chopping up fields, and bl...

West Bank and Israel Travel Log: Purposes

Julia — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:14:56 +0100

From January 6 to January 25, I joined my colleague Anabel Proffitt in leading a group of 21 students from our institution through the West Bank and Israel. I've recently returned, my camera full of pictures and my head full of realities to process and responses to formulate. In the next few weeks, I'll be reporting on my evolving experience of the trip.

group-at_sepulchre

Returning from the West Bank and Israel

Julia — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:41:23 +0100

I've recently returned from co-leading a group of seminarians on a 17-day trip to the West Bank and Israel. It was an intense experience, and I'll soon start blogging and uploading photos.

For now, you might want to read my first written response, published over at Bible and Interpretation: "Biblical Scholarship and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict."

Preparing for Upcoming Journeys

Julia — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:00:26 +0100

A lot will happen in the next six weeks.

Our institution still has one and half weeks of class yet, which means that in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament class we need to get from Solomon (1 Kings 1) to Jehoiachin (2 Kings 25): the monarchy has to be divided and two empires need to wreak havoc on the ancient Near East before we can call it a day. In the Psalms seminar, students and I need to integrate a wide range of study with our own beliefs, interests, and voca...

Fighting over Manuscripts in the Digital Age: The Blockbuster

Julia — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:19:57 +0100

It's a common plot of novels and movies: while the superstitious public clings to outdated religious beliefs, people in power compete for access to ancient manuscripts which reveal the powerful, if shocking, truth about the past. Think The DaVinci Code. Indiana Jones movies. Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus. Irving Wallace's The Word.

In these examples, the fight is over old, dusty manuscripts found in monasteries, under floors, or in the desert. In the future, however,...

Reading the Bible with Reading Lolita in Tehran

Julia — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:58:35 +0100

Between attending sessions and meetings at the Society of Biblical Literature meeting, I’m living in Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. I say “living in” because that’s how I interact with books. I live in them and they live in me—some for a few days, some for decades.

In Reading Lolita, Azar Nafisi describe...

2012 and the Noah Narrative

Julia — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:37:14 +0100

In a recent New York Times review of the new movie 2012, Manohla Dargis twice links the destruction-of-the-world movie with the Bible.

She describes the unlikely pairing off of survivors as the "Noah’s ark theory of onscreen hookups (two of every kind)," and her final tag claims that the movie depicts "Old Testament style destruction served with a smile."

I don't deny that the Bible is violent. In fact, I regularly call attention to examples of bib...

Ancient Literature for Modern Healing

Julia — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:24:30 +0100

A recent New York Times article reports that the U.S. military has turned to a new resource to help soldiers name and heal from the trauma of war: the very old literature of Sophocles.

The Pentagon has provided $3.7 million for an independent production company, Theater of War, to visit 50 military sites through at least next summer and stage readings from two plays by Sophocles, “Ajax” and “Philoctetes,” for service membe...

Psalms and Def Jam Poetry

Julia — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:40:20 +0100

It's one thing to acknowledge that the book of Psalms is written as poetry. It's quite another to consider what difference the poetic style makes to interpretation of the Psalms. What if we encountered Psalm 139's claim that "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" not in private devotion or from the mouth of a lector in church but in a context more like that of def jam? This great piece is Marty McConnell's "Instructions for a Body."

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PodV7uiQQrs 4...

Can a Theological Textbook be Too Theological?

Julia — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:41:57 +0100

This semester, my students in the Introduction to Hebrew Bible/Old Testament class at LTS are working with new textbooks: John Collins, A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Fortress, 2007) and Johanna van Wijk-Bos, Making Wise the Simple: The Torah in Christian Faith and Practice (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005). We also read from other sources (the Global Bible Commentary, the Women's Bible Commentary, the Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible, and some internet pieces), but Colli...

In Psalms, is the Whole Greater than the Parts?

Julia — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:02:56 +0100

Does it matter what order you read psalms? Would it matter if Psalm 22 were really Psalm 122 instead?

Most folks would answer "no" to those questions. The book of Psalms is usually treated as a semi-random anthology of poetry and prayer. Individual psalms may differ from one another (some are laments, some are praise, some praise the king, etc) but those genres run throughout the Psalter.

Read it front to back →

Feiler's argument is about the relative influence of these two great figures on the North American psyche. But there's another way to evaluate the powers of these men: by comparing their action figures.

First, there's Moses.

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