The Beard of Zeus

Jesus Always Chose What Was Beautiful

2010-07-22T11:26:00.008-04:00

I would like to share my reaction to yesterday's Worship Rally for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. As we gathered in front of the steps of the Ohio Statehouse, we were joined by Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Mainline Protestants, Catholics and Evangelicals. About 150 of us gathered there to show support for comprehensive immigration reform. As expected, a group of about 10 stood by the road holding signs saying, "Honk if you Support Arizona" and "Illegals Go Home!" I must say that it was a very touching experience to be with such a diverse group of people of faith. The most touching speaker of the evening was not a pastor, or a rabbi, or a community leader. She was a 10 year old girl named Jamie Aristigue shared her story of being separated from her father. Jamie cried as she wondered why her father, who only wanted to do what was best for his wife and children was thrown in jail with thieves and murderers. I am glad there was no camera pointed at me at that moment, because Jamie's tears became my tears.

Perhaps the most astute observation of the night came from Rev. Troy Jacskon, the evangelical pastor of University Christian Church in Cincinnati, OH. Rev. Jackson pointed to the countless times in the Bible when Jesus was given the choice between the law and the person, and Jesus always chose the person. Rev. Jackson pointed specifically to the story of the woman with alabaster jar in Matthew 26.7. In the face of his disciples objections, Rev. Jackson explained, "Jesus chose what was beautiful." To further his point Rev. Jackson compared our rally with the protesters on the street. Every once in a while we would hear the ugly, obnoxious honk of a horn (very few horns given the amount of traffic at that time of day). Between speakers at our service, we had the beautiful music of the violin, and ended by singing "We Shall Overcome." To Rev. Jackson, this contrast was a perfect picture of the immigration debate. The protesters filled with hate on the street chose the ugliness of the honking horns, but the people of faith gathered at the rally, we, just as Jesus did, chose what was beautiful.

The above image is of Jamie, her mother, and 5 year old sister. Taken by Fred Squillante of the Columbus Dispatch.

Breaking the Law in the Name of God?

2010-07-21T14:56:00.004-04:00

As I prepare for the Worship Rally for Comprehensive Immigration Reform today at the Ohio Statehouse, I am reminded of a comment on the subject of immigration that I read a while back. The comment went something along the lines of "the Bible tells us that we should follow the laws set up by our government." The commenter then went on to say that "we must follow our laws unless they go against scripture and in the case of Arizona's new immigration law, they do not." This got me thinking. First I disagree with the commenter's point that the Bible tells us to follow the laws of our government. While it is true that there are a few references in the Bible (Romans 13.1-7, 1 Peter 2.13-17, Titus 3.1-2), these verses are often taken out of context, and are in many ways contradictory to the way Jesus lived his life. I also disagree with the commenter's point that we can only break laws that go against scripture. Again, Jesus not only broke laws, he broke laws that were specifically connected to scripture! Jesus healed on the sabbath, touched lepers, hung out with women, ate with sinners and was eventuallyreceived capital punishment for breaking those laws. All of this has been argued before, and most people know the facts of Jesus being a radical and chose to accept of dismiss it, so I don't think I need to say more about that.

What really got me thinking is this: If I believe that as a Christian, I am called to live as Jesus lived, am I responsible to break laws in the name of God? Now, I am not talking about speeding or doing illegal drugs to "stick it to the man." Or more seriously, causing harm to people in the name of God. I am talking about disobedience to a law that is so against the teachings of Jesus (and the teachings of many other religious leaders for that matter) that the church must stand up against such a law. There have been instances of the church doing this in several cases. One such example, several years ago, California passed a law making it illegal to provide any social service to an undocumented person. That means, it is against the law for a church, non-profit or government agency to give shelter, feed, or clothe any undocumented person who comes through their doors for assistance, in which case, upon seeing a person in need, said church, non-profit or government agency is supposed to ask for that person's papers and if they have none, send that person back into the streets to die. In an instance of disobedience the Catholic Arch-diocese of Los Angeles publicly announced that they would not discriminate against any person seeking out one of their churches or charities for assistance and dared the government to do something about it. As far as I know, to this day, the Catholic Church in California, along with other Protestant, Orthodox and Anglican denominations continue to provide non-discriminatory assistance to EVERY person who walks through their doors. In this case, the church saw that the law was against Jesus' teachings of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and loving the stranger, teachings that by the way weren't accompanied by any type of exclusion clause. So to answer my own question, should we break laws in the name of God when necessary? Absolutely yes!

Now, it is not enough to just disobey laws that you disagree with, and it is going too far to try and claim that all laws are subject to disobedience. Not only is the church responsible to break laws that impose on the human rights of any person, but the church is responsible to be a voice for the voiceless. In Arizona, and soon in many other states, laws are being passed that impose on the rights of many undocumented AND documented immigrants. Just as Jesus refused to exclude lepers and tax collectors, we should refuse to accept laws that will tear apart families or block educational opportunities for the brightest of students. So, not only must we, if necessary disobey laws, but we must speak out to change those same laws.

For further reading:

The Interfaith Platform on Humane Immigration Reform

Myths About Immigration

Above image taken from Immigrants and Refugees

Misplaced Passion

2010-07-16T09:08:00.005-04:00

I have been doing a lot of thinking about the Tea Party Movement and their rhetoric over the last few months. Let me start off by saying that I don't think it is a bad thing to be passionate about the things you believe in, whether it be politics, religion, Lebron James or any combination of those. There are things that we are all passionate about, and I am not exempt from this feeling. But, on the other hand, I do think there are times when we misplace our passion and go down a dangerous road of ridiculous rhetoric and actions that we ourselves aren't even sure that we believe. For me, the Tea Party Movement has become the epitome of misplaced passion. For example, the picture to the left of this illustrates a slogan I have heard being pronounced by multiple self-proclaimed Tea Party activists. When I say 'misplaced passion' this is exactly what I am talking about. Do people actually believe that Barack Obama is the anti-christ, or do they in a fit of anger and irrationality proclaim it to be true. Being that Tea Partiers are proclaimed to be more educated than the rest of society, I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt and go with the latter. Obama being the anti-christ is just one of the many other irrational slogans of the Tea Party Movement, such as, "Obama is a secret Muslim," "Obama is not a U.S. citizen," or "Obama is the next Hitler." All of these, I hope, are the Tea Partiers way of expressing their anger, and not what they actually believe.

So what is the point? If I understand the Tea Party Movement correctly, its most basic principles are smaller government and little or no taxation. Now, if Tea Partiers are supposed to be the most educated portion of society, wouldn't they see that Obama being the anti-christ or a Muslim or Hitler have nothing to do with government or taxes? Do they not also realize that by making these claims actually hinders their credibility when actually trying to bring light to their otherwise legitimate (I disagree with them, but they are nonetheless legitimate) principles. This is what I call misplaced passion. Don't get me wrong, I do not think misplaced passion is a characteristic of all Tea Partiers, just the ones who get the most attention. If I were a Tea Partier, I wouldn't want those with misplaced passion distorting the message that I was trying to get across (but alas, I am not a Tea Partier).

I think this has bothered me so much because the idealist in me sees the potential for misplaced passion to be turned into useful passion for the benefit of humanity. What if the people who get so heated that they are moved to make ridiculous claims about the president and others got passionate about feeding people? What if instead of spending their time coming up with provocative slogans for signs for their next rally they used their creativity and artistic ability to paint a mural in a dilapidated neighborhood? What if instead of perpetuating the myth that any person who is homeless or jobless and collecting unemployment is a "freeloader" they actually spent time learning about the root causes of homelessness and poverty? What if instead of spending time claiming that Obama was the anti-christ, they spent time living as instructed by Jesus Christ? I think the answer to these questions is that we would live in a country where we wouldn't have to be so angry at the government for spending, where we wouldn't have to attempt to divide our country with the rhetoric of hate, where we would act out of love instead of out of anger. That is the kind of country I want to live in, and I hope it is the kind of country you want to live in as well, no matter what your political affiliation is.

The above image is taken from The Mo'Kelly Report.

My Office

2010-07-01T12:30:00.005-04:00

It can be said that a person's office says a lot about them. I am no exception to this. First of all, I am very unorganized. My desk reflects the fact that I must force myself to put everything in its place. When times are busier, I often forget to do this. But there are other things in my office that are much more important than folders, binders and desktop calendars. In my office I keep many of the gifts I have been given during my travels to Africa. On my desk sits a pair of Giraffes that were given to me by the president of a Rwandan HIV/AIDS co-op in 2008. On my bookshelf, I keep a beautiful basket given to me by the wife of my good friend Jean-Claude Ndagijimana honoring my and my wife's years of support of her husband's college education. The front of my desk adorns a picture of me and Jean-Claude's family: his wife Christine, and two sons Werner and Weber. Behind me hangs a Rwandan flag. Why do I keep all of these things in my office? Besides the fact that it looks cool, these things are constant reminders of why I chose to come to work for Church World Service. It reminds me that every day when I come to work, that what I am doing has the opportunity to positively affect the lives of the people I met in Rwanda and Kenya, and others in many places all over the world. You see, many people dread each day that they have to see their office, but I have been blessed enough to have a job with an organization that is making a real difference, a job where every hour I spend, every phone call I make, and every dollar I raise gives to the amazing work of CWS all over the world. When I get stressed, I don't have to do much more than close my eyes and remember the children in Rwanda, who, because they didn't have something as simple as a pencil or a school bag, could not attend school, or the street children who had been thrown into the streets either as orphans or because their parents chose them as the ones who they couldn't take care of. When I think about these things, my stress goes away, and I am able remember why I am doing what I am doing, and for that, I am truly blessed.

And so it Begins...Again

2010-06-30T08:52:00.003-04:00

Well it has been quite some time since I last updated, and a lot has happened since then. The last time I wrote, I had finished my master's thesis, was working on an article and was applying to PhD programs. In the time since then, I have decided not to pursue my PhD (for now) taken a job with an international humanitarian and development agency called Church World Service and started the ordination process with the United Church of Christ. One might say that things are a bit different for me than they were in April 2009, but all of this is very good. I continue to do my research as much as possible and hope to eventually finish that article. I will continue to write about that progress here, as it happens. I will also write about my work with CWS, my experience with choosing to enter into ordained ministry with the UCC, and my travels over the past few years to Africa. So, this blog has just gotten much more versatile, and I hope this will encourage me to update more often.

How Jesus became God...

2009-04-30T19:45:00.003-04:00

On April Deconick's blog she is in the process writing a series of posts on how Jesus became God, and in light of my recent post on the messianic secret this is some interesting stuff. Wrede's classic argument about the messianic secret in Mark is that Mark used secrecy language in his narrative to reconcile the fact that Jesus was not perceived as the messiah until after his death. Wrede argues that Mark portrayed Jesus and his disciples as being very secretive about Jesus' identity and that it was not to be made known to outsiders until after the resurrection (the key to Wrede's argument is Mk. 9.9 after Peter identifies Jesus as the messiah and Jesus tells his disciples to keep quiet until after the resurrection). I don't necessarily agree with Wrede's entire argument (or that Jesus' identity was the key to the secret in Mark, more on this later), but I think he is right in at least pointing out that there was some motivation to explain why the Historical Jesus wasn't seen as the messiah during his life, thus giving fuel to the inquiry into how Jesus actually became god.

The Messianic Secret

2009-04-24T13:41:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I finished up with translating my passages from Mark. Today I wanted to get a good start on expanding upon my research. My first step was to decide the approach I wanted to take. My task is to extract from about 37 pages an article of about 15 pages. Now anyone that has ever written an article for a scholarly journal knows that just because you have written a longer piece does not mean that your research is complete. In my case I have decided to do a great deal more research beyond what I have already done. My approach is to take the argument I have already made, and turn it into a response to scholarship claiming that the "messianic secret" is the reason for secrecy language in the Gospel of Mark. There have been many scholars to do this already (e.g. Adela Yarbro-Collins, David Aune and Gerd Theissen). My approach is a bit different though. I will be looking at secrecy language in Mark in relation to the requirements of secrecy and concealment within Greco-Roman mystery religions. So, the article will be based on my argument that the "secret" the mystery religions were trying to protect was in fact the experience of initiation. I will tie this in with the Gospel of Mark by focusing on Jesus' interaction with demons, the people he healed, and his inner-circle of disciples as initiations. I will continue to post as the article develops. I will also post in a few days my summary of William Wrede's book "The Messianic Secret." Stay tuned!

Hitting the Ground Running

2009-04-23T08:26:00.003-04:00

So, I woke up this morning at 6AM excited to get started. I reloaded the Accordance Greek fonts back onto my system (they were erased when I did a system restore), and headed to the library. My first order of business is to get started on my research for the article. Yesterday I sent a new copy of my thesis to my former thesis adviser Dr. Steve Ahearne-Kroll. Dr. Ahearne-Kroll continues to help me through this process even though I am no longer a student at his school. He is a very busy person, and I appreciate his willingness to help me out. I sent a second copy of my thesis to Dr. Welborn, who I spoke about in yesterday's post. I also sent a copy to a colleague and friend of mine, Allan Georgia. Allan will be starting his PhD at Fordham in the Fall, and is someone I can truly say I have been glad to know. I appreciate his advice, his intelligence, and most of all his friendship. In a world were I have come to find that many Biblical scholars consider themselves unapproachable, these three men continue to show me that there are scholars that not only care about rigorous research, but they care about people and relationships as well.

Today's plan of attack is simple. I will begin reading through my thesis (which I already condensed to serve as a writing sample) and find areas that can be cut and areas that need to be expanded. I will also take on the task of translating all of my cited Biblical texts myself. This preliminary step will take some time, but I am sure that it will prove to be very productive.

As a side note, I encourage everyone to read my wife's blog. My wife has never stopped supporting me and encouraging me, even in times when things seemed the most unsure. She blogs daily about the positive things that happen in her life. She inspires me, and as far as I can tell, many other people as well.

Back in the Game

2009-04-22T21:23:00.002-04:00

So it's been quite awhile since my last post. I have been busy with a lot of things since my last post. I completed my Master's thesis, my first triathlon, a second year of Ancient Greek, a year of Latin, and I went to Rwanda and Egypt. Before I left for Rwanda I sent in PhD applications to Florida State University, Indiana University, Fordham and The Ohio State University. To make a long story short, this was an extremely bad year to be applying to PhD programs. Most programs significantly cut the amount of applicants due to funding. I was not accepted to any of the four programs I applied to.

That sort of brings me to today. When Professor Larry Welborn (one of my recommenders/2nd reader for my thesis) found out that things didn't go well here, he presented me with an opportunity to continue my research at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. I am currently weighing my options. I have the choice of doing the program from here in the US or moving to Sydney. And of course this all depends on my acceptance and funding considerations. I will be applying to begin in January of 2010. Before Dr. Welborn contacted me, I had nearly given up on getting my PhD. I essentially began making new plans for a new future that did not include academia. To have someone like Dr. Welborn believe in my abilities and my research has been a blessing. Not only is Dr. Welborn an extraordinary scholar, but he is a wonderful human being and a good man to know.

Now I will start on a new adventure, which has lead me to start posting again. Dr. Welborn has encouraged me to extract a portion of my thesis to submit to an academic journal. This will help to secure funding at Macquarie as well as help me get my feet wet in this wild world of Biblical Studies. Also, since the program is a "British style" PhD., I will need to submit a brief dissertation proposal. So as it goes, I have gone from literally no writing, to a lot of work, all needing to be completed in the coming months. Needless to say, it is time to get back to writing, thinking and hoping. I will update the blog as I continue to develop my research into a publishable article and as I organize my dissertation proposal.

From Thesis to Triathlon

2008-08-26T16:35:00.003-04:00

I am glad to report that I finally finished the process of writing my thesis. It has been a great experience, but I'm also glad to be done. So what's next? I am taking a year between my master's and PhD. to do some more language study. I'll do another year of Attic Greek and a year of accelerated Latin. In the meantime I'll be putting together PhD. applications.

Besides the thesis, one other activity that has taken up my summer is triathlon training. I've spent my "free" time training for the three events of the triathlon (swim, bike, run). This will be my first Tri and because of that I am doing the shortest one possible as not to kill myself on my first try. It is a .6 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. I hope to someday do an IronMan. Perhaps the same year I finish my PhD?

The Joy of Finishing a Draft!

2008-08-10T21:42:00.002-04:00

I finished a draft today and turned it in to my advisor and second reader for comment. I am very excited about the prospect of being done! I have loved researching, but I love being done more! Thank you to my wonderful wife for putting up with me through all of this!

Thesis should be mandatory!

2008-07-30T12:46:00.003-04:00

Wow, it has been way too long since my last update. I have been doing a lot of reading this summer, and I admit, not enough writing. But, I've learned a lot! One of the things I'm most excited it about is how I'm increasing my knowledge in the literary field. Dealing with the topic of a motif took me into the realm of literary criticism. I've read definition after definition of the motif, swam through criteria for motifs, read about implied readers and implied authors...you get the point I had to step outside of my comfort zone (biblical studies) and read stuff that I would never have picked up if it weren't for this thesis. That just goes to show the importance of this process. Not only does it increase a one's knowledge in his or her field, but it also creates a well-rounded scholar.

After looking at how far I've come as a scholar, I realized the importance of this journey. Then I realized something else. I am the first student from my school in I don't know how many years to do the thesis option. Yes, that's right, option. I don't know how the majority of theological schools do it, but mine does not require MTS students to do a thesis. I chose to do one because of my own educational goals, which required a thesis to be done. I know I will, in my final evaluation, suggest that all MTS students be required to do a thesis. This is not because I had to do it and no one else did, but because I have seen how much one can learn from working on a project like this, both in the field and well outside the field!

EGLBS Presentation

2008-04-10T20:29:00.002-04:00

I had the privilege of presenting a brief version of my thesis at the Eastern Great Lakes Biblical Society regional conference. I have to say that my presentation went very well. I was a bit nervous, this being my first presentation, but everything went smoothly, I read at a normal pace (I think), and I was able to field all of the questions with confidence. Here are a few of the issues raised:

-How could Mark support secrecy given the nature of the gospels?
-How do I reconcile the revelation of the secret beginning in Mark 8?
-Is Jesus' messiahship really the secret?

Most of these questions I've been thinking about for a while now and I found myself able to answer most of them. That was a very good feeling! I also had the opportunity to have conversations with David Barr and Timothy Dwyer. Professor Dwyer invited me to lunch and we discussed his research on Mark's secrecy motif which has influenced my own research greatly. Among many things he encouraged me to take a look at Mark's use of παραδιδωμι in light of my argument that Mark's use of secrecy is a pragmatic warning to revealers. I hope to develop something on this in time to add it to my thesis before it is due.

Thesis Considerations

2008-01-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

I have decided to use this space to write about my thesis research. Hopefully this will help me hash some things out and to receive some constructive criticism as well. In this post I would like to give a summary of my thesis. I hope to expand on this summary in further posts. The title of my thesis is "Mark’s Secrecy Motif: Hellenistic Mystery Cults and the Warning Against Revealers in Mark’s Gospel." I hope to address the following questions:

• What was the function of secrecy in Hellenistic mystery cults and in Mark’s gospel?
• Were there advantages to being initiated into the mysteries, including soteriological and eschatological advantages?
• What was the secret in Mark?
• Did Mark’s Gospel function to reveal the secret or to show the consequences of revelation?

The thesis will address the influence of Hellenistic mystery cults on early Christianity, especially the Markan Community. I hope to clearly identify the advantages of initiation into a few specific mystery cults and to compare those advantages to those described in Mark's Gospel. I will ultimately move to argue that the Markan Community in fact functioned as a mystery cult, and Mark's Gospel was warning to those who might reveal the secret. I will also move to argue that the action of the women in Mark 16.8 is Mark's ideal reaction to the secret.

Is Q Enough?

2007-09-11T14:37:00.000-04:00

Upon reflecting on my previous post, and after reading Steven's comments I think it is necessary to consider my question about Q a little further. Steven's opinion is that there has to be some written element to Q, which he sites good evidence for. I previously suggested that Q is an oral source. Considering Steven's opinion and my own suggestion, I am led to wonder if the concept of Q is flexible enough to answer the question of textual origination. Let me explain.

First, when looking at the Synoptics, we see 3 different gospels with some similarities, and as Steven pointed out, some more obvious than others. If I am correct about Q, it serves as an explanation of how these similarities got into 3 different gospels. Hypothetically, Q is a collection of recorded sayings that originated before any of the 3 Synoptics. It seems for many scholars that this is an easy enough explanation.

I will now turn to Mark to explain why this is much more complex than it seems. First of all, Mark seems to be a fantastic storyteller who is able to embrace a number of audiences. At this point I am forced to look at Mark's gospel as something flowing from a storyteller's mouth into the listener's ears rather than from an author's pen into a reader's eyes. Bear with me. It is widely accepted that Mark is the earliest gospel, and in most theories used only Q as its source as well as being a source along with Q for Matthew and Luke. Again, my problem, we are talking about a storyteller rather than an author. If Mark is a storyteller it is plausible that his story woud originate from oral tradition. This is what led me to suggest an oral version of Q. When Luke and Matthew are brought into the picture, it is harder for an oral Q theory to hold up as Steven has pointed out. However, it does not cause oral Q to concede to written Q, and thus my original question returns. Is Q enough?

Most scholars want a written Q or an oral Q. One or the other. Along with this, most scholars want one source and they want to call it Q (although some scholars see no reason for any original source). I don't think Q is enough. To me, there has to be more. For example, Greco-Roman literature and culture should be considered a source used at least by Mark. I think Q has created a road block for further consideration. For most Q stands as a good explanation and the academy has spent years trying to figure out what is in Q and what Q really is when we have a considerable amount of other concrete, plausible sources that deserve our attention.

Oral Q?

2007-08-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

Throughout my academic career I have always wondered about Q. To most scholars, Q is a hypothetical gospel used by Synoptic authors. Depending on what source hypothesis you might adhere to Q will hold different weight. I have always believed in the plausibility of the existence of Q, yet have always struggled with the capacity in which it functioned.

I recently read an article by Holly E. Hearon titled, "The Implications of Orality for Studies of Biblical Text. In the article Hearon identifies the problems caused by scholarship that has continued to focus primarily on the "written dimension of rhetorical culture." In a few instances she does this concerning Q and the Synoptic authors' use of Q and of each other. At this point Hearon recognizes the work of James Dunn. Dunn in looking at the differences in certain stories in the Synoptics feels that the oral nature of the culture allowed for different versions of the same story to be produced completely seperate from each other. The point Hearon is trying to make is that source hypotheses like the two-source hypothesis causes us to look at the as a written culture with authors borrowing pieces from other written sources, not as an oral culture where storytellers add their own twist on a version of the story already in their possesion.

So what does this mean for Q? In a primarily written culture Q stands as a hypothetical source full of random sayings. In an oral culture Q becomes more. Q becomes an outline used by performers, by storytellers. Textual scholarship should complete its shift towards orality by recognizing Q as such an outline. Instead of being known as "the sayings gospel," it should be known as "the story gospel."

The SBL/AAR Split

2007-02-07T12:23:00.000-05:00

I'd just like to point anyone who is interested to the great conversation going on at April Deconick's (Forbidden Gospels) about the SBL/AAR split. Many people are bringing up many great issues. Among them is the the question of whether or not biblical scholars have lost (or ever had) the respect of other religious scholars. I would say that we aren't much different, and at many points our studies converge, but I'm interested to know what others think.

Note: I have no idea how to link within posts. I know....I know. Please find the Link to Professor Deconick's blog in my links section.

Hello

2007-02-04T02:20:00.000-05:00

Well as you will all know from never hearing the name Nick Kiger before, I'm new to all of this. I've been reading many blogs about religious studies, and have found them all quite wonderful, so I thought I'd give this a shot myself. So I'm asking for advice from you experienced bloggers in the world of religious studies. How do I make this a worthwhile hobby? I'd like very much to add to these conversations that I so much love to read. I'd like to thank blogs such as Deinde and NT Gateway for all of the good reading. That's all for now. Bring on the advice!