Always exciting to get a new book in the mail. Two I expect this week:

Joseph Groves. Actualization and Interpretation in the Old Testament (SBL Dissertation Series, 86) . Atlanta, Scholars Pr: 1987.

Ed Ball, ed. In Search of True Wisdom: Essays in Old Testament Interpretation in Honour of R E Clements (JSOTSup 300). Sheffield, 1999.

Some of you are no doubt already aware of David Plotz, a writer for Slate Magazine, who is currently Blogging the Bible (perhaps a take-off from the book Walking the Bible?). In his own words, he is "a proud Jew, but never a terribly observant one." And since mid-May, he's been blogging about reading the Bible, a book he's picking up for the first time in his adult life.

The results are occasionally entertaining. Of Joseph's rule in Egypt, which is otherwise inspiring, he writes:

Didn't someone write a book on the biblical roots of capitalism and free enterprise? How did he handle this episode? Our hero Joseph abolishes private property, turns freeholders into serfs, and transforms a decentralized farm economy into a command-economy dictatorship. This is bad economics and worse public policy. This is China, 1949. Joseph is Chairman Mao. (And, to speculate a little bit, perhaps this centralized dictatorship established by Joseph is what ultimately led to the Israelites enslavement in Egypt. Once you create a voracious state apparatus, it must be fed. Is it a surprise that slavery became part of its diet? In a less totalitarian state, perhaps slavery wouldn't have been as necessary or as feasible...)

I'm less engaged when he writes about the 10 Plagues in a post out today. Maybe it's just because I hear all sorts of clichéd answers jumping up meed to his clichéd questions. They're honest questions, and important at some level, but not at this level: they seem out of place on a zine with this kind of stature. Kind of makes me circumspect about the whole blogging enterprise.

Tags: Blogging

Finally, I got around to posting five photos from our recent IWER event.

Some of you may remember my writing about the Rapture Index on RaptureReady.com in February. (If you missed it, see here.) Well, my most faithful reader prompted me to check whether today's date affected the index at all, and sure enough, the index is up one point.

You have to appreciate some of the subtlety here. It isn't the date itself that raises the index. Rather, we have this explanation:

35 Date Settings
The occurrence of the 06/06/06 date has increased interest in numerical date speculation.

Not even the nuances of a textual variant would bring us back down a point. Harm's already been done. Because people out there aren't taking Jesus seriously, who said that not even he knows the day or time, only the Father.

Obviously, as in all matters eschatological, you shouldn't just take my word for it. Read the report on the signs of the times for yourself.

I wish I could say not to worry because we're actually down a point from where we were last time I checked, at 157 instead of 158. However, both numbers are still in the highest range in the "prophetic speedometer." A score up to 145 means "heavy prophetic activity," but a score beyond 145, where I suppose we've been all year, situates us in the dangerous "fasten your seat belts" zone.

I was going to say that you could read their Nearing Midnight blog for more details on 06/06/06. You still can, but actually the first part of yesterday's post (try here if the link won't work), on "The Perils of Multiculturalism," is more interesting to my mind. Here's my favorite paragraph:

Multiculturalism is the opposite of nationalism; it highlights the differences between people while ignoring the similarities. Multiculturalism is not about ethnic, racial, or religious diversity -- that which once made America into a "melting pot" of nations. Under the influence of liberal thinking, America came to consist of many different "pots" of cultures, each separate from the others.

Thus, Todd aphorizes, "There is nothing multicultural about multiculturalism."

Come to think of it, you may also wish to read the signs of the times for yourself, too.

Tags: Humor

The one thing I couldn't wait for with RapidWeaver 3.5 was permalinks. Well, now there here. Now I just need to write more stuff worth linking.

Another cool feature is a count for items in each category. I guess I'm relieved to see that I've written more about research (26 posts) than about the site (15 posts), though lately one might find it hard to believe.

And while were on site news, check out the improved layout for software links, compliments of Isaiah at YourHead.com. Also, I've made the quick link / navigation guides on the Childs bibliographies (select and exhaustive) more useful.

Tags: Mac

Today is my dad's birthday. We both wish he could have been to the IWER event Friday, where I would have raised a glass to him. As a poor substitute, I'll quote some verse by Robert Burns he put me on to recently.

There's nane that's blest of human kind,
But the cheerful and the gay, man,
Fal, la, la, (&c.)

HERE'S a bottle and an honest friend!
What wad ye wish for mair, man?
Wha kens, before his life may end,
What his share may be o' care, man?

Then catch the moments as they fly,
And use them as ye ought, man:
Believe me, happiness is shy,
And comes not aye when sought, man.

Happy Birthday, Fuller.

Tags: Personal

I've written up the results of our research last night. Single malt lovers, please take a look. Participants, be sure to add your comments.