exploring mormon culture, thought and texts
I know I’ve been AWOL on my OT:FTW posts, but the recent tragic shootings over being denied tenure have sparked a variety of interesting reflections on tenure, academia, publishing, stress, and so on. I thought it merited more than a sidebar.
http://chronicle.com/article/Reactions-Is-Tenure-a-Matter/64321/
Thoughts?
Before discussing my 3 Bible suggestions from OTFTW 1, we need to discuss the KJV a bit. Below is a slightly fleshed-out Institute handout I’ve used in my Bible classes. Continue reading “OTFTW 2: Is the King James a Good Translation”
For your post-turkey degustation, I present this list I handed out in Gospel Doctrine recently, with a 5-minute plug for three books in particular (starred below). I wanted to include more commentary on each book, but as is I had to stretch my margins to fit everything onto one front-back piece of paper.
I also trucked in all the paper versions of the books I own on this list, and set up a table near the exit so people could flip through those they were interested in. List below, commentary below that. Continue reading “OTFTW 1: Out of the Best Books”
Around here, we love us some Old Testament. And so, as D&C winds down and some of us start hearing the music build in anticipation, I bring you the first part of a series to run for the next 14 months or so, Old Testament For The Win™, or OTFTW.
Among other things, I’m going to provide an annotated list of recommended Old Testament books and resources; discuss individual books on that list; explain how to use some Hebrew resources without knowing much Hebrew, what that’s good for, as well as caveats therein; talk about some computer resources and how to get started with them; discuss the vulgarity of language, and translational/cultural issues; and of course, plenty o’ posts on actual passages, teaching insights and frustrations, sex, death, and other Old Testament topics.
Stay tuned. FPR is not dead yet.
I spoke in Sacrament meeting a few weeks ago. My assigned topic was anything to do with Institute. I spent a few weeks mind-mapping, and delivered the following. Then recently, Ardis linked to President Uchtdorf’s talk, which showed me I was thinking along the same lines he was.
Here’s my full outline, which I edited a good bit for time on the fly. (WordPress doesn’t import nested outlines very well, so I’ve had to futz with the formatting. After the intro, the major principles are bolded.) Continue reading ““Preparing minds to be faithful”- A Sacrament Mtg Talk”
I’m a big fan of The Teaching Company. They have lots of good stuff on the Bible, world religions, and a bunch of lesser topics as well, like arts, philosophy, etc. It’s particularly interesting to hear Bart Ehrman and Luke T. Johnson lecture on Paul, since they have such contrasting approaches. Continue reading “Who Lectures on the Book of Mormon?”
Edit: This post is in response to the Thomas Marsh discussion here.
I was recently present for the Thomas Marsh lesson in a ward not my own. Being aware of the larger context, that for Marsh, the milk issue was really the straw that broke the camel’s back, I felt compelled to speak up. The problem is always how to do so constructively, especially in a ward where they don’t know you at all. Here’s what I said. Continue reading “My Thomas Marsh Experience”
This is too useful to get lost in the sidebar. A new site is up that offers useful online functionality. It’s essentially a configurable Reader’s Edition, with color-coding morphology (“make all verbs red”) and glosses. These are very useful things for beginners, reviewing, or just not where your resources are.
Check it out here.
Hat tip: MGVH
Thanks to Logos’ RefTagger, all past, present and future FPR posts now have pop-up Bible links 🙂
Currently it’s set for the KJV, but that may change in the future. Check out one of TYD’s scripture-heavy posts for the new functionality. http://www.faithpromotingrumor.com/2009/04/el-shaddai/
Clicking on the “more” button on a pop-up will take you to a full-text page of the Bible, which also lets you change to a variety of translation. Enjoy.
Our series on graduate application and study will continue in the future. In the meantime, this article is a must read for those considering it. (Hat tip: Stephen M.) My undergrad profs at BYU did a good job discouraging us, or at least, making us aware of the harsh realities that almost inevitably awaited. Is it the bravest and smartest or the most clueless and optimistically naive who persevere on to and through a PhD?
Edit: I should point out, the article is specifically about Humanities PhDs, and when I say “you” I mean LDS considering graduate school in ANES/Bible/theology, etc.