Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

The ATS postgraduate assistant just mentioned in an email that my PhD advisor, Dr. Ben Witherington, III, will be offering a course this summer titled "Socio-Rhetorical Criticism of the New Testament". I could finish my coursework in the spring but it looks like I'm going to go ahead and wait and take this class in the summer! Here's the description: NT903 offers a post-graduate/doctoral level course studying the use of rhetoric, social history, and social scientific critical methods to interpret and apply the New Testament. Reviews the various methodologies that fall under the headings mentioned above, with a focus on the main currents of thought and main contributors to these various disciplines. Students develop competencies in both the rhetorical side and the social historical or social scientific investigation of the New Testament. The course is taught in seminar format, with lectures by the professor, student paper presentations, and detailed critiquing by the...

Today, I am incredibly pleased to announce the first ever, that's right, The FIRST EVER, Help Korah book! The title is Help Korah: Sketches & Stories, Poems & Prayers . Here's what the back cover of the book says: "In this awe-inspiring book, founder of HelpKorah, Michael Halcomb, joins with his wife Kristi and friend Chris Van Allsburg, in helping transport you into the world of Ethiopia. From the eye-catching sketches to the words of every story, poem and prayer, readers will be inspired, challenged and moved. If you have ever been to Ethiopia, this book will surely bring back memories. If you have yet to travel to this historic African land, this work will not only give you a glimpse into one of the earth’s most fascinating places, but also help prepare you to go experience it for yourself. If you enjoy this book, you will be eager to know that more projects are underway! Stay tuned for other great literary works from HelpKorah in the near future." Thi...

On the one hand, I rejoice today because as far as child sponsorship goes, 56 children have been sponsored, meaning we only have 6 profiles left posted right now over at HelpKorah.com. (We're working on getting more posted!) So, this is GREAT news! If you can sponsor 1 of the 6, click HERE . On the other hand, my spirit is grieved by an email I just received from one of our contacts at our partner church in Addis Abeba. It is a gut-wrenching story and just eats away at me. Yet, it is the REALITY of life there for so many women! Please, read the story of Almaz and if you can do anything to help, especially in the way of sponsorship, please, use the Help Korah contact page to get in touch with me. Here's the testimony she gave to our contact, Nebiyu: "The street life is very challenging and miserable especially for a woman who has young daughters. Formerly, I used to live on the street because I had no other options to survive," explained Almaz. "I am from ...

In my last few posts I have made mention of the construction of the mosque hoping to be built a couple of blocks from Ground Zero in New York. By now, most all of us in America have caught wind of this story in some form or another. I have not had the opportunity to read other bloggers' thoughts on it--though, I wish that I'd have had the time--but I do know that some have been posting their two cents. As one whose interest is first and foremost exegesis of the Bible, I thought I'd put my thoughts out there with the hopes of focusing the discussion a bit more. I want to keep this post brief, so, I will simply state my case and be done. Basically, within the Scriptures themselves, "place" and "space" are central issues. In the Old Testament, especially in texts like Deuteronomy, "the land" is very significant. Further, I have noticed that the phrase "the land" is actually ciphered by the phrase "the place" all throughout...

In my previous post , I dealt with the whole " rallying of the troops " (see the comments, too!) mentality being espoused by many, to co-opt Sunday morning worship and devotion and Christ in our churches and to replace it with Allah, Muhammad & the Quran and called it, fairly, I think, "A Reactionary Absurdity." As I was driving home from class this afternoon, I had a thought cross my mind that went something like: "Had their not been a plan to burn the Quran, none of this would have ever happened in the first place. Now that the Fla minister has called off the burning, which has incited rage and rioting as well as the push for more than several church goers to sacrifice Sunday morning worship and devotion of/to Christ to speak about Islam and their book, has his plan actually backfired?" Then, I had another thought: "If we can give up one gathering devoted to Christ in the name of tolerance, novelty and education, what is to stop us from givin...

You may have heard by now that in reaction to the Quran burning, another church in Flordia has decided to do the opposite, to read the Quran. That's right, as a part of Sunday morning worship, a UCC congregation led by pastor Larry Reimer will read the Quran. Reimer says that this idea was born out of a reaction to the burning festivities. His congregants approached him wondering what they should do about the burning and how they should react, immediately after catching wind of the burning plot. Reading the Quran was their idea. The pastor wrongly says, "Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all part of the Abrahamic tree of faith. We all believe in the same God, and in many aspects we are all trying to accomplish the same goals." Well, this just depends on what Jew, Christian or Muslim you ask; it is a terrible over-generalization with only some less than half-truths. Reimer goes on to say, "And in Islam, there are things that I think any follower of any other...

Well, I've been at this blogging thing for about 3 years now and today, Pisteuomen has reached a milestone: 100,000 visits. To be honest, I've gotten way more mileage out of this site than I ever imagined I would have. I've made lots of friends through this site, many of whom I've been able to meet in person. I've had numerous people recognize me at churches or conferences or various places from this site, which has been kind of fun. I've enjoyed all of the good dialogue and debate, as well as encouragement from everyone. Though 100,000 is not much compared to some sites, I consider it a pretty good achievement for being an actual biblical studies blog (that is, a blog that actually does biblical studies related stuff). Anyway, here's to another 100,000 and even 1,000,000!

In the last few weeks, talks about the relationship between Islam and Christianity as well as Islam within America have stirred much controversy. On the one hand, the Quran burning festivities have sparked outrage worldwide. On the other hand, the building of a Muslim museum and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero have created much controversy. News analysts, columnists, bloggers and many others have come out of the woodworks to voice their opinions on either or both of these hot topic issues. At the level of which side(s) to support and which to reject, there seems to be inconsistency. The call to have patience with Muslims worldwide and to refrain from burning the Quran originates from various viewpoints depending on the person. For example, some desire patience so as not to harm American troops around the world. Others desire patience because in a land with freedom of religion, this is simply what one should do; they should tolerate the "other." Still, others think t...

In the field of biblical studies and in particular biblical interpretation, one of the most well-known and formative essays on the topic was penned by Benjamin Jowett. His article, "On the Interpretation of Scripture" sparked decades of controversy in Europe and to this day, has had lasting affects on interpreters of the Bible (from the average layperson to the top-ranking professors). If you want to engage a fundamental article in this area, check out this nice, clean-cut, interactive, magazine-style copy of Jowett's article by clicking on the "Open Article" button below. Enjoy. Jowett Article Snapshot

That's right, College Press has decided to post their entire commentary series free, online . Together, this is over 25,000 pages of research, exegesis and theology. While this certainly isn't the best commentary series on the market, it also isn't something to be totally looked over. Some of my former professors have written in this series and honestly, several of the volumes contain good work. Regardless, they're all free now! The only bad part about downloading these over at the College Press site is that it takes FOREVER; the download time (even with DSL, broadband, etc.) is quite slow. It took me over an hour and a half to download all of these works, plus, clicking one download link for each                                                 ...

Hebrew Helps 30-33 are now posted. Here, I look more at gutturals, segholates and geminates. Once you've checked out this resource, give my new Hebrew website " Getting Hebrew " a look! (To see the earlier installations of this series, click the links at the foot of this post.) + Helps 1-3 + Helps 6-8 + Helps 11-12 + Helps 15-17 + Helps 22-25 + Helps 4-5 + Helps 9-10 + Helps 13-14 + Helps 18-21 + Helps 26-29

Hebrew Helps 26-29 are now posted. Here, I look more at gutturals (and resh) and how they interact with the definite article, also how they work with the dagesh, and additionally I look at the Dagesh Lene and Dagesh Forte and its various types . Once you've checked out this resource, give my new Hebrew website " Getting Hebrew " a look! (To see the earlier installations of this series, click the links at the foot of this post.) + Helps 1-3 + Helps 6-8 + Helps 11-12 + Helps 15-17 + Helps 22-25 + Helps 4-5 + Helps 9-10 + Helps 13-14 + Helps 18-21

Hebrew Helps 22-25 are now posted. Here, I look at gutturals (and resh) and how they interact with the definite article. Once you've checked out this resource, give my new Hebrew website " Getting Hebrew " a look! (To see the earlier installations of this series, click the links at the foot of this post.) + Helps 1-3 + Helps 6-8 + Helps 11-12 + Helps 15-17 + Helps 4-5 + Helps 9-10 + Helps 13-14 + Helps 18-21

In the previous parts of this series, I have laid out some of my views on power, force and violence. In exploring the issue of pacifism from a theological & ethical standpoint, namely that of Christian theology & ethics, the time has come to engage those portions of scripture that persons "use" to advance not only the idea of submission to modern government agendas of power, force, violence and war but also the promotion of it, especially when it comes to the Apostle Paul. Such readings treat Paul as if he were writing a systematic theology on state-run or government-led politics and militarism. This is seen, perhaps, nowhere more clearly than with Romans 13.1-7. As Ernst Bammel has pointed, however, "As an account of the Pauline view of the State this passage must be given its place in the side aisle rather than the nave." To begin, we shall cite this section below and follow it up with some exegetical and interpretive thoughts: Romans 13:1 Everyone mus...

To some, Tupac Shakur was no more than a filthy rapper and an ex-con thug. Indeed, he had some lyrics that make me a little more than uncomfortable and his lifestyle was certainly not the type that I myself live. But the truth is, Tupac was an incredible poet and a master of the pen. A wordsmith who died way too young--age 25--I have always been drawn to his passionate lyrics and literary creativity. Some might ask, why an aspiring biblical scholar like myself would spend time on such un-Christian things or even waste my time on something they see as less than scholarly? To that, all I can say is that within Pac's songs, there is great theological wrestling and depth. There is also, as I have already intimated, great poeticism and cultural savvy. In many ways--I have noted this before here on Pisteuomen--Tupac was like the prophets of the Old Testament. His challenges to the powers that be, his calls to change our ways of living (yes, even his own), his dealings with the di...

Go sign-up now because it is a limited-time offer! You can have about 6 weeks of free access (up to the 15th of October, the b-day of yours truly) to thousands upon thousands of journals, including those that deal with biblical and theological studies. To register, click the image-link to the left or HERE .

Hebrew Helps 18-21 are now posted. Here, I look at preposition and the formation, function and uses of articles. Also, once you've checked out this resource, give my new Hebrew website " Getting Hebrew " a look! (To see the earlier installations of this series, click the links at the foot of this post.) + Helps 1-3 + Helps 6-8 + Helps 11-12 + Helps 15-17 + Helps 4-5 + Helps 9-10 + Helps 13-14

Hebrew Helps 15-17 are now posted. Here, I look at Honorifics (Plural of Majesty), Duality and share a table that I've created that reviews the suffix endings of Hebrew nouns. Also, once you've checked out this resource, give my new Hebrew website " Getting Hebrew " a look! (To see the earlier installations of this series, click the links at the foot of this post.) + Helps 1-3 + Helps 6-8 + Helps 11-12 + Helps 4-5 + Helps 9-10 + Helps 9-10 "> Helps 13-14