Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

I should qualify the title of this post by noting that I'm referring to "wooden-literalism". Anyways, when I saw her eating the scroll (her Bible), I couldn't help but think that she was taking the biblical writers a bit too literally. Perhaps I should create a bumper sticker that says something like: "Proud Parent Of A Literalist Daughter".

For the newcomer to the field of biblical studies, things can be confusing. Words like “exegesis”, “hermeneutics”, “homiletics”, etc. can even sound intimidating. By the same token, words like “biblical criticism” can sound offensive. (How dare someone criticize the Bible!) Yet, as one becomes more and more familiar with the field, they realize that criticism is not necessarily a “bad word”, instead, it just means to think about things critically. Once the new exegete gets past this hurdle, they realize that there are scores of “criticisms”. If those already in existence aren’t overwhelming enough, soon comes the realization that more and more are budding every day. So, because one of the aims of Pisteuomen is to help my readers stay up-to-date and in-tune with biblical studies, I thought I’d offer some insight and explanation into the 10 newest, up-and-coming forms of biblical criticism. Of course, since there are so many different people in the world with so many different problems, ...

(An off-rhythm, off-the-cuff poem) If you traveled through time and Through many places If you were looking for Jesus You’d see a man of many faces If you asked an ancient Roman They’d say He was a crook If now you asked a little child They’d say a character in their book If you asked a group in Africa They might say that Christ had dreads If you went into a white Church Well, they’d put blonde hair upon His head If you asked someone who’s poor They might tell you Christ was just like them If you asked a well-to-do They’d tell you: “He’s my best friend” If you spoke to someone who’d been attacked They might speak of Christ the judge If you asked Mr. Middleclass He might tell you Christ is love If you spoke to Michelangelo He’d paint a picture of bearded might If you spoke with a conservative They’d say Jesus is on the right If you spoke with a Baptist Then you’d know what Jesus was like If you spoke with the Christian Church Then Jesus was a Campbellite If you spoke with an artist Then...

The notion that Genesis 1 is poetry has been around for a while now. I must say, I'm not totally convinced that it is poetry but there may be a number of reasons to think that it is. Of course, this is much easier to discern in the Hebrew than in any other text; if it is poetry, English definitely does it injustice! Here are a few reasons to think it might be poetry (to listen to me pronounce these words/phrases, click on the button that follows them): 1. Alliteration - Gen. 1.1 begins with two "B" sounds: בראשית (sounds like: bey-ra-sheet) and ברא (sounds like: bah-rah). 2. Repetition - Gen. 1.1 repeats a number of sounds. For instance, it repeats the "ra" (and "b") sounds in the first two words (see above). Of course, the two definite-article markers sound exactly the same: את (sounds like: eight). Towards the end of 1.1 we find the conjunction ו (sounds like: vay), which shows up only a few spaces later at the beginning of verse 2. Then we have th...

In a week or so, the new "Survivor" series will begin. Usually, they have at least one person on the show that claims to be a Christian. In fact, this is not something unique to survivor, many reality (game) shows seek a Christian contestant to throw in the mix. But this raises an interesting question for me: On a reality game show, like Survivor, is it okay for Christians to use lying and deceit as tools that might help them win the game?

As I was reading last night, I came across a "verse" from the 16th century (attributed to Augustine of dacia). It summarizes the fourfold hermeneutic that was employed in those days, here's what it says: "The letter shows what God and our fathers did; The allegory shows us where our faith is hid; The moral meaning gives us rules of daily life; The anagogy shows us where we end our strife." Of course, "letter" refers to the literal-historical meaning, allegorical and moral speak for themselves and "anagogical" represents the heavenly or non-earthly meaning. Interesting stuff!

Thanks to the great folks over at Augsburg Fortress Press for sending me the fresh-off-the-press copy of Mark & Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies . This looks like a great book. Here are the essays in it: * Introduction: The Lives of Mark * Narrative Criticism: How Does the Story Mean? * Reader Response Criticism: Figuring Mark's Reader * Deconstructive Criticism: Turning Mark Inside-Out * Feminist Criticism: The Dancing Daughter * Social Criticism: Crossing Boundaries * Cultural Studies: Making Mark * Post-Colonial Criticism: Echoes of a Subaltern's Contribution and Exclusion As always, I'll get to the review when I can. Thanks again, folks.

A friend passed these short videos on to me and since they are hilarious, I thought I'd do the same. Enjoy! The Dancing Weather Girl - Watch more free videos

In lieu of my new "praying hands" background, I thought I'd write a short post that I've been thinking a bit about lately: Is it just me or does anyone else out there think that praying over the phone with someone is odd? I mean, I have no real problem with it; I've prayed over the phone with people more times than I can recall (somewhere in the hundreds probably). Yet, even after all those times of praying over the phone, I still find it odd when someone says to me: "So, let's pray together before we hang up." I had this happen to me three times last week. Again, I have no problem with it, in fact, it is probably a good thing. I just don't know why I'm still kind of wierded-out by it. Surely, I'm not the only one though, right?

I've been trying, since I've started Pisteuomen to make the site as easy to navigate as possible. I think I've finally found the format I'm going to stick with. It took a bit of work to set the site up this way but I think it's much more user-friendly and clean-cut. I hope you like it too!

At present, Pisteuomen is under major construction. Please disregard the mess, everything should be nice and tidy tomorrow. Also, for those of you who have page readers, you may get a funky post or two (but probably not).

Here are "MY" top 10 favorite albums of "MY" lifetime (I'm not attempting to speak for everyone). Of course, these are records I grew up on or listened to through high-school and college. I judged them by 1 criterion: I could put them in my stereo and listen to them over and over without ever getting sick of them, that is, I could leave them in the cd player for months on end and never wear them out. I listed them in order: 1. Goo Goo Dolls: Dizzy Up The Girl 2. Dashboard Confessional: MTV Unplugged 2.0 3. Jimmy Eat World: Bleed American 4. Matt Wertz: Somedays 5. John Mellencamp: The Best That I Could Do 6. Third Eye Blind: Success 7. Everclear: So Much For The Afterglow 8. Bob Seger: Greatest Hits 9. Chris Tomlin: Not To Us 10. The Get Up Kids: Four-Minute Mile Runner-Up: 11. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony: E 1999 Eternal

With a little help from C. Clifton Black and some bible dictionaries, I offer here the maximalist’s approach to Mark’s Gospel (not because I agree with all of it!). Of course, there are a number of nuances when it comes to this view but what follows is, in general, the usual approach. It should also be said that there are minimalist methods that shoot down all of what follows (a method, which also has it’s own nuanced viewpoints) but ultimately, one must decide which is approach is the best or they must strive to see if there is yet another way to think about Mark’s work (which, isn’t out of the question)! I want to start by listing all of the New Testament verses that talk about or mention the fellow named “John”, “Mark” or “John Mark”. Usually, maximalists approach texts this way in order to try to reconstruct Mark’s identity and his role within the early Jesus Movement. Here are the verse references, in a specific order, which will help construct the profile that follows: Acts ...

If I had to vote today, I would vote for Ron Paul! Here's why: * He says that he'll lower taxes for working Americans * He's against the Iraq war * He's 100% pro-life * He has a good health care reform plan * He has a commitment to homeschooling * He has a commitment to public education * He's an advocate of environmentalism * He has a great position on prejudices * He's bold * He has a good energy plan * He's not an annoying Christian, though he is a Christian What I'm not sure about or where I tend to disagree: * His stance on border security (He seems more stringent than I am) * His stance on persons rights to bear arms * His stance against free trade Of all of the candidates, his views align with mine more than anyone elses. So, if I had to vote today and he were on the ballot, I think I'd vote for him.

In the last few hundred years there has been a lot of talk among Christians about "inerrancy". In the last few months, this has been particularly true of Christian bloggers. Often, we see polarized views: A) The Bible is inerrant or B) The Bible is errant. Others attempt to take a position somewhere in between these two poles. Some want to hold on to what seems like traditional language; they want to keep the term "inerrant" but they may redefine it or add a nuance here and there. I wonder, though, if the debate about inerrancy is actually more of a debate about inherency? To put it differently, when persons affirm one position or another, is it because theologically, they have inherent beliefs about who God is (or isn't) and what the Bible is, isn't or cannot be? It seems to me that this is always the case. There always seem to be inherent concepts of both what God and this book that contains a narrative of how God interacted with certain ancient peoples mu...

I am a fan of Martin Luther King, Jr. I've read three of his biographies, listened to, read and watched a number his sermons and I've even taken a grad. school course on him. Now, I am no expert on the man but I do have to say, I think he'd be against MLK Day. Afterall, it was King himself who said he didn't want an elaborate funeral or an ornate memorial. I have to wonder if King, who fought so hard for vocational and educational eqauality, would love the fact that on his "day" everyone stops working and learning? I agree with Vernon Harding that, at this point, King's "day" proves nothing more than the fact that America has amnesia. Indeed, on this day we hear sound-bytes and clips, segments of speeches and interviews. We only see and hear the tamed down, memorable stuff. This man's life is reduced to a few good quotes from lectures. We don't see clips of white's torturing and murdering blacks and we don't see footage o...

Last night, Religion & Ethics Newsweekly did an excellent piece on the life of Abraham J. Heschel. Heschel was a Jewish theologian, a social activist and a mystic among other things. If you've never read his stuff, you really should. Heschel spoke out loudly against the Vietnam War and he walked boldly and proudly on the front lines of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s marches. In fact, it was during these marches that he said: "I felt like I was praying with my legs." So, on MLK Day, I speak not so much about King himself (many others have already done that in the blogosphere and rightly so) but rather of one of the lives he touched: Abraham J. Heschel. To learn and see more, check out the following link: Life of Heschel .

It's pretty frequent that my friend Mr. Tilling gives Bultmann a good slap in the face. So, when I found this "look-alike meter", I decided I'd settle the issue once and for all. I asked the look-alike meter: Meter, who looks more like satan (that is, Mel Gibson's satan)? Well, I'm not a Bultmannee, so, I didn't rig the results; nope, the meter spoke for itself. However, I'm not sure that Tilling will take these results as the last word.

Everyone keeps telling me that the baby looks more like me. The meter disagrees!

This morning I received my copy of Thomas Söding’s Der Markus-Evangelium ( Exeges Und Predigt series) in the mail—shipped directly from Belgium. It is my first German commentary on Mark to work through. Because my German is not impeccable, I decided that I’d start off with something a bit more practical and easier to read than some of the other, more in-depth German works. I think that, just for my sake, I’m going to start a short series of some sort on this book. Perhaps it will just be quotes from the book with definitions to follow or grammar tips, etc. We’ll see. I’m excited, though, to finally have a Kommentar to be able to read alongside my German copy of Die Bibel .

A couple of days ago I was having a conversation with a fellow, a not decided on Christianity type of guy, who said something that gave me a little grin and a stomach ache at the same time. I asked him: "Who do you think is going to win the election?" He replied: "Hopefully not him (he called him Obaka, purposefully saying his name wrong--as a slander)." He spoke again and this time his words were exactly (I mean exactly) the same as something Tupac said in a song about 10 or 15 years ago, he replied: "We ain't ready to see a black president." I grinned a bit because I knew this guy had never listed to Pac and it was odd that they said the same exact words. But the grin quickly wore off as my stomach turned to a pit--this guy was harboring prejudices that were totally uncalled for.

I'm not going to say much about it because the interview speaks for itself but you have got to see Nightline's sit-down session with Creflo Dollar. Personally, I think Dollar is full of it. When I first became a Christian, I went to one of his conferences in Cincinnati, OH. For the first full hour, people were dancing, falling down, speaking in tongues, etc. Then he came out and talked about nothing but money. When he gave the call for offering, I kid you not, gallon buckets were filled and the blue-carpeted altar was no longer visible as it was covered with green dollar bills. I heard him talk about his jets and his cars and that's when I left. Ridiculous I tell you, ridiculous. Here's the Nigthline link, please watch it: Dollar On Nightline . Also, while you're at it, check out this video (titled "Money Comin'") that Dollar made with some young rappers from his congregation, the group is named Ziklag. How about that line where the rappers say: ...

I was surprised today when I realized that every Presidential nominee is somehow, affiliated with the Church. While many would debate that Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon, is a Christian or not, I do not wish to deal with here. Anyways, if you haven't yet taken the time to see where the candidates align religiously, here's the analysis (for a more in-depth look, go here ): Huckabee (R): Southern Baptist Obama (D): United Church of Christ Romney (R): Mormon Clinton (D): United Methodist McCain (R): Baptist Edwards (D): United Methodist Thompson (R): Church of Christ Richardson (D): Roman Catholic Giuliani (R): Roman Catholic Hunter (R): Southern Baptist Paul (R): Baptist

Creflo Dollar will be on Nightline Jan. 17th. He will be answering questions about the IRS inquiries into preachers of the Word of Faith/Prosperity movement. On the teaser, Dollar was shown saying, "Everybody says Jesus was poor...Why do we think that the Son of God would come to this earth and be poor?" I may blog on this tomorrow night after the segment, we'll see. Give Nightline a watch, though.

Want to see the ancient world? Well, in addition to my "Images of Antiquity" series, you can visit Yale's "Eikon" page. This site contains thousands of pictures of the ancient world and is by far, the best photographic site of the ancient land that I've seen yet and it is incredibly easy to search. Check it out by clicking the following link: Eikon

The time has come to add another free bible study resource that I have created to my site. The resource is called "Aramaic AlapBeth 1.0". This is an incredibly easy-to-use module that allows you to learn the Aramaic alphabet through repetition and interaction. The module can act like a flashcard program, it is written in Aramaic script, it contains audio of the complete Aramaic alphabet, it has English transliterations and at various points, offers a number of helpful tips. The resource is tellware, which means that it is completely free of cost. However, if you download it, all I ask is that you tell at least two other people about it. You can find a couple of links to the study tool at the bottom of this post. Also, a permanent link/banner has been added to the right hand column of this site, which will remain there. Please, if you download this resource, let me know what you think. Enjoy!!! Alt. Link (.exe file)

To the general populace or perhaps the common layperson, "Secret Mark" may not ring a bell. To serious Markan scholars, however, we know this title all too well. I do not have time to give an in-depth assessment of "Secret Mark" here, although I may sometime in the future. That said, here's a short, one paragraph, introduction to the subject (taken from the back cover of Morton Smith's work): "In 1958, Morton Smith traveled to Jerusalem to do research in the monastery library of Mar Saba, in the Judean desert. What he found was no routine corroboration of New Testament history, but a precious fragment of a second-century document that would change our understanding of the work and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth." Smith's theory suggests that after the completion of his first Gospel, Mark went to Alexandria and composed another, adding stories to it. It was in this place that Clement of Alexandria in his day became familiar with this "secret...

A few of questions: 1) Has anyone out there had experience with the adoption process, and if so, would you be willing to offer some tips? and 2) Does anyone out there gone through a Christian adoption agency and if so, would you reccomend them? 3) Has anyone out there indirectly gone through the adoption process (as in, you had a relative do it or something like that) and you know of an organization (Christian or not) that you would reccomend? My wife and I are looking into adoption and the whole process that comes with it and we want to be prepared. Any insights and leads would be great. Thanks.

USA Today Columnist Brent Jones wrote an interesting piece last week titled "Non-attendees Find Faith Outside Church". His article is basically the interpretation of a recent survey given to 1,042 un-Churched people. Here are some of his findings: * %72 of un-Churched Americans believe in a higher power * %72 also say they believe Churchgoers (aka Christians) are hypocrites * %61 say the believe the God of the Bibe is no different than other gods * %79 said Christianity is more about organized Church than loving God and people * %100 agreed that to some degree, Churchgoers get on their nerves Check out the stats here (it's a quick read!): USA Today On The Un-Churched . HT:Scott Bailey

Well, today marks the day on which I have been blogging for 7-months. I started on June 14th, 2007. Today also marks the day that Pisteuomen passed the 10,000 hits mark. I am amazed at the number of people all over the world I've met, interacted with and talked to because of my blog. If you're reading this then thank you very much for helping Pisteuomen be a success. I only hope that in the future it will do even better.

It used to be my belief that (and I know many persons who still hold to this view), as far as inerrancy goes, the original autographs of biblical documents were inerrant. The argument kind of runs along these lines: At present, all we have are copies of copies of copies and all of the M/mss are not in agreement. Thus, our present versions of the Bible, especially those translated from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to another language, are not perfect. What is/was perfect, however, were the original autographs. Personally, I am no longer an advocate of this position and I am not convinced that it is even an argument worth having. It makes no difference whether or not the first manuscript was errant. Of course, I am referring to things like incorrectly spelled words, left out words, extra words, etc. It seems more likely to me that documents like the Gospels were composed over time, not in one sitting. In short, the production of the Gospels happened in a process. The authors were at liberty...

If you click on the icon below, a popout screen will appear which will take you to a larger version of a crossword puzzle. The puzzle deals with the first eight chapters of Mark's Gospel account. I don't know if it will return any response but if there are some of you out there who want to make it a challenge, time yourself and leave your results in the comment section. At the end of the week, if anyone has done this, just for kicks, I'll announce the winner. Enjoy. *Note: The clue "synagogue officials" should not be plural but singular, as "synagogue official".

Phil Harland, who runs the site Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean has written a couple of posts on Mark lately. The first one " Who is this guy? " deals with the genre and authorship of Mark. Yet, the main thrust of the post focuses on Jesus' identity per Mark. The second post compares Mark's Gospel to the Bourne film series. Harland discusses "suspense" in Mark's account. Of course, I am interested in all things Mark, so, I found these posts worth passing on (though I might not agree with every last thing in them). Anyways, check them out when you get a chance. And if you know of any others out there who are blogging on Mark's Gospel, please, let me know. Thanks.

Several posts back I mentioned my friend Daren's endeavor to walk across the world, a walk which will raise funds and awareness for the Blood:Water Mission . I've decided to add his blog to my list. He will be leaving in less than two months and will keep the world informed of his travels, experiences and whereabouts via his blog. I would encourage you to add his blog to your list as well. Here's the link: Earth Expedition Blog .

I accidentally found this link yesterday which takes you to a modern day attempt at the formation of a Diatessaron. Of course, there are some obvious issues with it but it is nicely laid out. Take a minute or two and give it a look--and try not to squirm too much! Here's the link: Chronology of the Life of Jesus .

My wife loves her job; she is a nurse who works with cancer patients. Given the location of the hospital at which she is employed (near a regional prison facility), her job entails treating many inmates with various health issues. She usually isn’t bothered by this but she was telling me this morning that recently, while changing the bed in one of the prisoner’s rooms, out of nowhere the two officers in there guarding the man, at one moment, just jumped quickly out of their seats—though, probably just for precautionary measures. This kind of freaked her out. (She says that security is poor. The majority of the time the convicts are left un-cuffed and at night, the officers fall asleep.) She wanted to know what this guy was in for and if it might be in her best interest to be aware of his crimes and tendencies. So, this sent her looking for information on the Internet about the convict, unfortunately, the details concerning his detainment were not listed. Well, after searching for info...

Exactly one year ago today, I set out for a study trip to Turkey and Greece. At present, I am finishing up a video commentary of that trip (I've been sifting through about 8 hours of very raw footage) which I will post soon. For now, though, I am just going to share a few more pictures for my Images of Antiquity series. In the first photo of the slideshow, we see a statue of the famed Amphipolis lion. There isn't much significance to this photo other than the fact that it marks the ancient territory of Amphipolis ("around the city"). Of course, Amphipolis is one the cities that Paul traveled through after leaving Philippi. It is mentioned in brief at Acts 17.1. Amphipolis was a fortified city located about 3 miles from the Aegean, a body of water which Paul was no stranger to. The second photo is a picture I took while walking through the Jewish Quarter in Berea (pronounced with a "V" as in: very-uh). The building seen here is the present-day synagogue locat...

After a number of tries to become part of the EU, Turkey is putting in their bid again. Today, President Bush actually pushed for Turkey's inclusion. Honestly, having been to Turkey, having read it's political history and having talked to Turkish folk, I think it is about time that they be included. While it may add a more secular tint to the country--which, in fact, may prove better for Christians living there, often amongst persecution, which many Turks don't want to acknowledge still exists--being part of the EU will be a good thing!!! Inclusion in the EU may also bring some calm to what is or at least is often made to seem like extremism on behalf of Turkey's Muslim leaders. Without a doubt, it will bring some more hope and structure to the country's financial situation. Anyways, we'll see what happens and despite the fact that my opinion means nothing to anyone, I think it's about time that they be "let in".

From a textual (and contextual) standpoint, Mark’s account of the transfiguration is one of the most enigmatic in his Gospel account. In the main, Mk. 9.10-3 is the source of all of the confusion. After having just seen Jesus transfigured, the arrival and disappearance of Elijah and Moses and after being told to keep quiet about it all until the Son of Man is raised from the dead, a conversation between Jesus and the three (Peter, James and John) ensues. Here are the verses as rendered in the NIV: They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. And they asked Him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him.” As you can see, this is quite a confusing passage. Here ar...

A few years ago while working at a youth summer camp in Indiana (the same place I met my wife), I also met a fellow by the name of Robby Moeller. I didn't take him to be a "politicker" at the time but now, it seems that he is. Lately, Mr. Moeller has been debating a former clasmmate of his (Brent Maher) from Taylor University (Indiana). The context of the argument is as follows: Last fall when the Yale Document (an open letter from Christians extending a hand of peace to Muslims) came out, Maher signed his name and his school's name to the letter, which upset Robby. Well, time has passed, Robby wanted to take him to task for it and now they're engaged in a convo concerning the matter. Robby thinks it is an irresponsible letter and Brent thinks it is much needed. Moeller thinks it's ridiculous, Maher thinks it's a good start. If you want to keep up with the conversation, which is quite interesting, click on the two following links and follow the other lin...

In my undergrad days I was not nearly as concerned with academics as I was with being a college student. I loved being the class clown and I loved hanging out, writing and singing music. I hated work but I loved playing soccer. During one of my college soccer seasons I actually made the all-region team, which was a pretty good accomplishment, I think. Anyways, one of my team and classmates was a fellow by the name of Daren Wendell. If you listen to K-Love, perhaps you've heard his name recently--he just did an interview with them. A couple of years ago, Daren rode across the United States on a bicycle. While this was an odd goal of his, he also used it as a time to do ministry. Well, now, Daren has more than one-upped himself, he has fifty-upped himself. I say this because Daren is planning The Earth Expedition . His plan is that in less than 60 days from now, he will embark an a 7-year walk around the globe. But he's not just doing it for kicks. His goal is to raise both worl...

As you can see, this site has been completely overhauled. I apologize for the rearrangement but I am attempting to make the site more user-friendly and polished. So, please pardon the construction, keep reading and keep interacting with me. Be blessed.

Over in the right-hand column of this site, I have added a couple of new features. The first is simply a click-and-subscribe link. By clicking on this link, you can add Pisteuomen to your page or site readers. It's that easy. I have also added a Pisteuomen banner that links back to my site. So, you can copy the code that is under the icon and paste it into your site, then the button (with link included) will appear on your page, just like it is here. Fun stuff! All subscriptions and banner additions are highly appreciated. To all who read and interact with me on this site: Thank you so much.

Anyone who has ever pastored knows just how tough it can be. Some days it feels like you're down in the trenches and some days it feels like you're running the gauntlet. To coin a phrase (I've said this since the beginning of my ministry days): "The best thing about ministry is people and the worst thing about ministry is people." Sometimes you feel like you've given all you've got but some don't think it's enough. Sometimes you feel spent. Sometimes you feel burnt out. Other days you question your calling or even your faith. Still, at other times you're wondering if it's all worth it. Ministry and pastoring is hard, but...there are those sacred moments; there are those moments that give you hope and seem to say: "it's all worth it". I had a few of those moments this week. One of them was while making a hospital visit to an ailing congregant. The patient, who has been through a traumatic 3+ years of innumerable surgeries, hos...

*I should note that this post is going to lead into a small series on why I think (most but not all) Christians should blog. So, I will just consider this part 1. A few months ago while visiting family in Michigan, I had the opportunity to worship with the congregants of Mars Hill Bible Church. If you don’t know, this is lead by the ever-so-creative, trendy and polished Rob Bell. I must say, I think Rob Bell is an excellent teacher-preacher. We need more Rob Bell type of preachers and for anyone who stands in the pulpit, well, they can stand to learn a bit about homiletics from him. I was glad I had the opportunity to attend Mars Hill. That said, I think Rob Bell could stand to learn a bit from others too—like bloggers. In a recent interview with Relevant magazine (HT: L&H ), Bell said this about blogging: "When the followers of Jesus can think of nothing better to do with their time than to pick apart and shred to pieces the work of other followers of Jesus who are trying to...

"[Early Christian History] did not get lost in an anonymous, unbounded and imaginary setting." Martin Hengel, Acts and the History of Earliest Christianity (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress, 1980), 27.

At present, I am fully persuaded that the author of Mark’s Gospel account was at the least, bilingual with some additional knowledge of Latin and perhaps Hebrew. However, Mark’s first language was the same as that of Jesus: Aramaic. Mark’s second language, which scholars have noted is incredibly rough and quite elementary was Greek. As Moulton has noted, as a translator, Mark’s Greek was always “translation Greek”. Indeed, when Mark wrote his account, he was translating from Aramaic into Greek. This accounts, I believe and so do other text-critics and biblical linguists, for a number of grammatical issues that often crop up in a close reading of Mark’s text. As of late, I’ve written a few posts on Mark 2.26 (the Abiathar passage) and I have continued studying that verse in both it’s immediate and broader literary context. In fact, I went through, found, analyzed and compared every occurrence of the terms “ rb ” and “ khna ” (Aramaic) and their Greek counterparts. If nothing else, the r...