I hate Endnotes

Nick has reminded me that I hate endnotes with a passion.  However, this hatred aside, I do believe that endnotes are the standard for publishers trying to bring more scholarly works to the mainstream. Whether this is useful  - I don't know. I am sure publishers would have done some sort of research into the issue. (I lie, Nick, the publishers union has my family hostage and are forcing me to write this.)

That aside, one of the worst cases of endnotes for me was reading Martin Hengel's Four Gospels and the One Gospel of Jesus Christ. The book is 1/3 endnotes -  rather interesting endnotes. Endnotes that had me constantly flipping through. It really did annoy me - I just want to stay on one page, not jump ahead, read the next 10 footnotes to avoid turning back, going back to the main text, forgetting the footnotes I previously attempted to remember, etc. You get the point, not nice!

Another odd case of endnotes was with Ben Witherington's The Gospel Code. There were no numbers or markers that there was going to be a reference, you would just turn to the endnote section hoping to see an exert of the sentence with a note after it. It was really odd and confusing!

Quote of the Day - Ehrman on Q

I know, I may not be fashionable doing such but I seem to share such scepticism towards Q:

Let me repeat: Q is a source that we don't have. To reconstruct what we think was in it is hypothetical enough. But at least in doing so we have some hard evidence...But to go further and insist that we know what was not in the source, for example, a Passion narrative, what its multiple editions were like, and which of these multiple editions was the earliest, and so on, really goes far beyond what we can know - however appealing such "knowledge" might be." (Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millenium. 113.)

If I were to have ever written a monograph on Christology, I am sure it would have come out a lot like Simon J. Gathercole's The Preexistent Son: Recovering the Christologies of Matthew Mark and Luke in many respects. That said, I am grateful yet a bit annoyed (but probably not as annoyed as James Dunn). Maybe no one will notice a work that looks a lot like his?

I think I may owe a bit of an explanatory note as to the fact that my posts haven't touched on anything serious for at least a month. Simply put, I have been busy with other academic things. Namely, things I find not as interesting as biblical studies  - like ancient Egyptian religion, Christian interaction with the neoplatonists and the Hellenistic Period. One must never lose touch with good old historical method!

By December I will hope to send something interesting out. Probably starting with something boring such as the importance of understanding physical manuscripts as early Christian artifacts with the power to help us understand Christian diversity! Or identifying Christian scribal traditions in cosmopolitan ancient Egypt! I don't know, I am sure most people won't find it interesting but having contact with faculty from the Documentary Research Centre really has ruined me.

The Real Dilemma of My Life

Like 10 seconds ago I just called moving to WordPress the dilemma of my life. However, that really isn't the case! My real dilemma is in the realm of  - what to do with my future?

I love biblical, New Testament and historical Jesus studies. It is something I want to pursue and changing unis to do so hasn't been a regret at all. But (oh yes, there's always a but) my secret shame is that I am also a law student. Three years into a law degree, in fact!

I'm already so far in the law degree, yet I do not know if I will ever use it! Should I abandon it or put it on hold and jump into a three/four year PhD in 2010/11? What if I fail big time at academia or simply can't get a job - would I regret not having a law degree? I guess if I were to end up an unemployed academic with a PhD and a law degree  I could be an overly pretentious lawyer: Dr Ari BA MA LLB PhD.

Yes, I want my cake and to eat it too. But what is the chronology that this should occur in?

Any input would be greatly appreciated as it is something I have been struggling with.

Maserati

Anyway, I don't know much about cars - but I took a photo in my mums new car today and uploaded it to facebook. Many people went insane so I decided to share it here. It does look sexy though...

Library Book Annotations

Have you ever stopped to read some of the notes that are written in library books? As in annotation notes. Sometimes they are helpful, however, other times there are people who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. This really makes me wonder what is going through their head as they read the book!

Anyway, this isn't the best example but it did spark this post today. The text of the book states:

What has emerged from this plethora of research? In the main, the scholars make a point of asserting Jesus' Jewishness, as reflected in such titles as Jesus the Jew (Vermes), Jesus and Judaism (Sanders), Jesus' Jewishness (Charlesworth) and A Marginal Jew (Meir), to take a few examples. A minority of scholars, however, emphasise Jesus' Hellenistic environment above Judaic. Here Jesus emerges as a teacher in the Cynic tradition (Downing, Mack, Crossan).. (Paul W. Barnett, Jesus and the Logic of History. 16).

Now, imagine that text furiously underlined with large brackets. Next to those brackers is a note stating "not much solid evidence of him speaking Greek". The fact that this section was singled out probably indicates it is going to be a footnote in an essay somewhere. "As Barnett demonstrates in noting the minority of scholars placing Jesus within the Hellenistic cynic tradition, the evidence is not conclusive as to whether Jesus spoke Greek. The recent scholarship emphasisng Jesus' Jewishness would weigh against such a possibility." (Barnett, Jesus and the Logic of History. 16.)

Ari is the Second Comin: A Creepy Youtube Message

I just checked an email from Youtube relaying a message I received. It didn't say much but:

Subject: Ari Emanuel, Second Coming
Body: Please visit www.Ari-Jesus-Second-Coming.com Thank You.

Now, the account doesn't mention my name anywhere so it seems to be a rather random message. But boy, am I creeped out. How often do you come across something mentioning 'Ari'?!? WHAT IS AN ARI ANYWAY? But it gets worse!

So, I am reading this weird website. Honestly, I am so confused right now. Can someone please explain what on earth this is on about?

The second coming is a Scandinavian, Dutch, German. He is intensely beautiful, he is the most beautiful!, he is the highest, he is an apex [this does sound like me]. He is the real angel that is sent by God to bring Christians home and help sanctify the world and he can and will do this. We are supposed to love the second coming and let him in our heart and let him in our person and this is how we can start to see Gods plan and can actually feel Gods love for us. We are supposed to let Ari the second coming in our body and this is the way God shows his love, It is very, very beautiful! It's perfect, it’s wonderful!
    Ari (the second coming) and Jesus are very close. But unfortunately and I do regret to inform you that at this point in time there is someone called an "ultimate blasphemer," it's a false Christ. It's a person that comes out of the body of the second coming and then pretends to be the messiah...an. We as Christians are supposed to love Jesus and the second coming Ari only, no one else!And this is God's true plan.

  I don't know exactly what to say about Ari, I think he is similar to Jesus, he is a giver, he is very respectful, he is honest, he is a hard worker. Ari is not trying to get over on people. He helps people even when it puts him out. Ari thinks that he is rich in other way's He thinks that he can simply go back into a fairy land where he loves himself and were people love him and he see's great joy. This is what makes him rich. Not really money. He's not trying to get over on people, that's the last thing this person would do.
    Ari is usually trying to help people.

JESUS AND ARI ARE THE ONLY WAY! Jesus and Ari are the bridge to God! The ultimate blasphemer destroys that bridge.

 Wait what?

Ari is the Messiah and this third person is not the Messiah, God did not make this third person the leader! 

Okay, now this is just blasphemy:

Ari is an apex, he is the highest! He is a extraordinarily beautiful person, he lives in ecstasy. Ari has an exquisite heart, it is very, very beautiful, It's hard to describe, It's the best! Ari is Jesus, and Ari is actually the Lord from heaven. Ari frees already saved Christians, that is what his purpose is. It is very, very nice. It is completely beautiful! Ari gives us freedom, Ari gives us something unbridled. Ari gives us something bold and glorious and beautiful!! It is very, very beautiful! I can't really describe how beautiful it is. You’re letting God into your body.