the good bishop himself

I saw and spoke with many outstanding scholars during my time at the ETS and SBL annual meetings in Georgia, but the highlight was Sunday afternoon.  Marianne Meye Thompson and I were headed to have lunch together.  (Dr. Thompson is a professor of NT at Fuller Theological Seminary in California.  She is quite well known herself in the 'Biblical Studies' crowd as an expert on John's gospel and has published many books.  We were meeting so that I could learn more about Fuller's PhD program.)  She turned aside for a moment to shake hands with a good friend.  It was none other than N.T. Wright. 

"Tom" Wright is the former Bishop of Durham for the Anglican Church, now a research professor at St. Andrews University in Scotland.  He is the author of 64 books and has spoken innumerable times to large crowds of people, both in person and on T.V.  He was the main speaker for both ETS (where 2500 were gathered) and the Institute of Biblical Research, which met Friday evening between the conferences.  Though IBR only has 400 members, 1000 people filled the room to hear Bishop Wright speak on "The Kingdom and the Cross."  You may remember my trip to Wheaton College back in April where N.T. Wright's work was the focus of discussion for the over 1000 people who had gathered.  In addition to all of these honors, N.T. Wright also has the distinction of being the only non-fiction author whose books appear on both of our bedside tables.  I told him so.

I had rehearsed a few short lines in case I had the pleasure of meeting him (and since I was just 3 feet away I was not going to let the opportunity slip by!).  His work has made a profound impact on my thinking about the Bible and about Jesus.  I've read at sections of Jesus and the Victory of God, Following Jesus: Reflections on Biblical Discipleship, Paul in Fresh Perspective, and Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision. Danny's men's group has also benefitted from his work, reading both Simply Christian and Following Jesus together.  It is a rare author who can significantly impact the world of biblical scholarship and at the same time speak deeply to the hearts of the average Christian.  For his academic audience he is known as "N.T.", while he publishes at a popular level as "Tom."  Bishop Wright, more than any other author, has nurtured both of us in our spiritual journey and enlivened our conversations about God, the Bible, and theology.  It was an honor to be able to thank him personally for the way he has brought fresh insight to our study of God's Word.

mental marathon

I reached the finish line Monday just before midnight, following 6 long days of meetings in Atlanta, Georgia.  The Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) and the Society for Biblical Literature (SBL) had their annual meetings back-to-back at adjacent hotels downtown.  I spent about 12 hours each day listening to scholars present papers reflecting their latest research, meeting with potential PhD supervisors from the five schools to which I've applied, and meeting friends new and old.  My roommates and I stayed up late into the night talking and woke up early each morning to get ready for a new day.  It was mentally intense, but emotionally exhilarating.

Imagine you are visiting the baseball hall of fame and you discover, much to your surprise, that all of the baseball greats who are still alive are gathered there.   As you walk the halls your jaw drops when you see the name tags of all your favorite players, just inches away.  You have complete freedom to mingle with them, and if you're brave enough you can strike up a conversation.  That's what ETS and SBL are like for a young biblical scholar.  I was surrounded by the men and women who had shaped my thinking in so many ways, and had shaped the thinking of my professors, and now I was seeing them face to face.  James Kugel. Karen Jobes. Daniel Block. Richard Hays. Frank Theilman. Alan Culpepper. Joel Green. Patrick Miller. Thomas Schreiner. Marianne Meye Thompson. Seyoon Kim. Peter Martens. John Goldingay. Eugene Merrill. Erhard Gerstenberger. J. Ross Wagner. Andreas Kostenberger. Rikk Watts. Craig Keener. Grant Osborne. Walt Kaiser. Paul House. Jeff Tigay. Sandra Richter. Bernard Levinson. David Pao. John Oswalt. (Eliana is watching me type and she says you get the idea...)  It felt like a living bibliography.

There's no way to capture even just an overview of what I learned in my blog, but I'm hoping to tell you about a few of the things that stood out to me during my six days.  So stay tuned...!

profoundly grateful

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of them all. Not because of the event it commemorates, but because it's the least commercialized and the one most conducive to reflecting on God's goodness to us. Every year we sit together as a family and read Deuteronomy 8 and Psalm 100. Then we make a list of all the things for which we are thankful. It's always easy to fill a page. This year as the candlelight flickered, I wrote these blessings at the top of my list:

• three precious children who are learning so quickly and growing up so nicely
• a whole team of professors, mentors, parents, and friends who have encouraged me on my journey
• a wonderful husband who has given me wings to fly and supported me all the way

I never imagined that I would have the blessing of being a mom and a student at the same time.  It's been such a gift!

peace in the storm

The pace of life is rather dizzying these days. Between school schedules for 3 kids, housework, schoolwork, PhD applications, and preparations to attend the annual conferences of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society for Biblical Literature in a couple weeks, I hardly know whether I'm coming or going. Your plate may be full of other things, but I'm guessing you know the feeling.

It hit me this morning that finding peace in the midst of a crazy schedule is a lot like childbirth. During labor the goal is to breathe deeply, relax completely, and stay focused ... precisely when the pain and pressure are so great that you know you can't keep going for another minute and you think you might die. It's a very real challenge to keep our eyes on Jesus when life is hectic, but it's the most important battle we fight. Allowing stress to build and panic to set in only adds to the burden.

We serve a God who is fully in control, even when we feel out of control. He is never overwhelmed, never stressed, and never worried.

"Happy is the one who fears Yahweh,
who finds great delight in His commands...
Surely he (or she!) will never be shaken ...
He will have no fear of bad news;
his heart is steadfast, trusting in Yahweh...
His heart is secure, he will have no fear." - Psalm 112

Take a deep breath. Relax. God is on the throne.

Psalm 24

The Psalms are beautiful in English; they are stunning in Hebrew.

Hebrew poetry is laid out in exquisitely balanced lines where several components work together to give the sense that the second line belongs somehow with the first and enhances its meaning.  Biblical poetry doesn't have rhyme, rhythm, or meter (the way we think of it), but it is artistically captivating.  If you have studied Hebrew (or if you haven't but are highly motivated), I highly recommend two books on the subject: The Idea of Biblical Poetry by James Kugel, and The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism by Adele Berlin.  Both were very, very helpful to me.

I've immersed myself in Psalm 24 this week, writing an exegesis paper on it.  Here is my translation, with a few notes on what has stood out to me.

Psalm 24
1 Of David, A song.

The earth and its fullness (are) Yahweh’s,
the world and those dwelling in it.
2 Because he himself laid its foundation upon the seas,
and established it upon the rivers.

Yahweh is the God of the whole earth.  This is remarkable, because other nations of that day claimed to have their own deity, specific to their region.  Israel declares that her God is the Lord of the whole earth.
Why does the whole world belong to Yahweh?  Simple.  He made it!
He subdued the chaos of nothingness and made a place we can inhabit.

3 Who may go up on the mountain of Yahweh?

And who may stand in his holy place?
(One who has) clean hands and a pure heart
who does not lift up my soul to vanity
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will carry a blessing from Yahweh
and righteousness from his saving God.
6 This (is the) generation seeking him,
the seekers of your face. Jacob. Selah.

How, then, can those who are citizens of this world made by Yahweh please Him? We must have clean actions and pure motives.  What we say we will do, we must do. That is the kind of person Yahweh blesses.  The descendents of Jacob, the deceiver, are unlikely candidates, but God delights in new beginnings!  Take note that the one who ascends is not bowing in worship but standing, perhaps making a request.  Those who want their prayers to be heard need to be this kind of person.

7 Lift up your heads, O gates

and be lifted up, O ancient doors,
so the glorious king may come in.
8 Who is this glorious king?
Yahweh, strong and mighty;
Yahweh, mighty (in) battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates,
and lift up, O ancient doors,
so the glorious king may come in.
10 Who is he then – this glorious king?
Yahweh of armies;
He (is) the glorious king. Selah.

Most commentators suppose that this section of the Psalm is a liturgy celebrating the bringing of the ark of God into Jerusalem.  If they are right, Yahweh would have been seated above it with his feet resting on the cherubim.  The gates would certainly have needed to 'lift their heads' for God to fit through! 

But here's my nagging question, and none of the commentaries are asking it.  David asks who may ascend the hill of the Lord (i.e. Jerusalem), and describes the kind of righteous person who is allowed to stand in the presence of God.  Next we see Yahweh Himself making the ascent and entering the city.  Is this to suggest that He alone is righteous?  Does this hint that He will have to be the answer to the quest for a righteous person who can intercede for the people?  If so, David's song points forward to the New Testament (see John 12:12-16).

N. T. Wright says this: "Jesus' prophetic vocation thus included within it the vocation to enact, symbolically, the return of YHWH to Zion." (Jesus and the Victory of God, 653)

Lift up your heads, O Gates,
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
That the glorious king - JESUS - may come in!

lessons from little house

We're transitioning to a new form of family entertainment.  After watching 9 full seasons of Little House on the Prairie, we're moving on to Christy.  No show is perfect, but there are a lot of things I liked, and will miss, about Little House:

• Pa.  He reminds me of my Dad.  Strong.  Wise.  Caring.  Courageous.  A good, hard worker who can do just about anything. And lots of dark, curly hair.
• Real life issues.  If it's been awhile since you've seen Little House you may remember it as a squeaky clean show.  Not so.  Little House deals with all sorts of gnarly issues like alcoholism, drug addiction, adoption, revenge, child abuse, physical and mental illness, gambling, natural disasters, and deep-seated unforgiveness.  Through it all the Ingalls' kids learn honesty, forgiveness, perseverance, and the importance of faith.
• Laura.  There was something special about watching her grow from a toothy little "half pint of cider all drunk up" to a young woman with grace, dignity, spunk, courage, and a whole lot of her pa's wisdom.  Incidentally, Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura all those years, now plays Ma on Broadway.  I like that.
• Mr. Edwards.  I'm so glad they brought him back for the last season.  He's so rough around the edges, not at all refined, but knows just what to say when it needs sayin'.  And he's not afraid to love.
• A close-knit family.  The Ingalls family had their challenges, but they were committed to each other.  How unusual to have such healthy family dynamics onscreen for all to see.  They faced a lot of real life, but they did it side-by-side.
• No commercials. 

It's been a fun tradition to pop a huge batch of popcorn on Sunday evenings and watch Little House together.  It took us about four years to get through all nine seasons.  Now that's a lot of popcorn!

theological interpretation

Joel Green, a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in California, wrote an article back in 2004 that I just discovered this afternoon.  It's called "Practicing the Gospel in a Post-Critical World: The Promise of Theological Exegesis" (Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 47 no 3 S 2004, p 387-397).  Since I'm in the biblical studies orbit, the terms "theological exegesis" or "theological interpretation" are not new to me, but I found Green's explanation of it very helpful and I thought you might, too.

Green says that the main hurdle to overcome in understanding the Bible is not the historical distance between me and the text (i.e. the 2000-year gap), but the theological distance between belief and unbelief.  Because the Scriptures are written for the benefit of the people of God, in order to truly understand them we must be part of the believing community.

This is huge!  Do you have any idea how many schools offer a doctorate in biblical studies but ask students to leave their faith at home?  There is a sense in most university settings that faith clouds our ability to read the Bible objectively.  To be scholarly, faith must be put aside.  This has been a sobering part of the search for PhD programs, but an important issue to think through.  I agree that faith is a biased perspective from which to read the Bible, but un-faith is no less biased!  And those who bar faith from the classroom end up with skewed interpretations of the Bible because the Bible was intended for the faith community!  So ... three cheers for schools where faith is integral to the learning process and professors who are brave enough to say it publically!