Semester End

By | December 18, 2008
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I turned in my last paper of the semester today.  That’s a relief.  I have quite a bit I’d like to say here, starting with a brief review of what I did this semester.  But the backlog is too great, and so tonight I ‘ll simply pass on a few links.

A 2.5 minute video about a guy who finds how useful a black hole can be.

If you use Facebook, there are some good suggestions for you here.

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

The ESV and Translation Boo-Boos

By | December 8, 2008
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If you think the ESV is a dream translation and you want to continue in your ignorant bliss, don’t read this.  The rest of you will have some good laughs.  (Part 1 talks about the problems of translating too literally.  Parts 3, 4, 5, and 6 give more examples.  Oops.  There were two parts when I started writing this; now there are 13.  You don’t have to read them all; maybe just start with a scan of part 2.)  Here’s the beginning of the conclusion (Part 13):

As noted earlier, this survey is just the tip of the iceberg. It should be evident, however, that the ESV needs a major revision with reference to its English style. I would recommend that the ESV committee enlist competent English stylists to carefully review the entire text with an eye toward standard English idiom.

There is an unfortunate tendency among biblical scholars—who live in the world of Hebrew and Greek—to think they are getting it “right” if they mimic the form of the original languages. The unfortunate result is a tendency to create “half-idioms” (half-English/half-Greek), transferring a few words of the original, but missing its meaning in standard English. This is what the ESV does when people speak “with a double heart” (Ps. 12:2), have “news in their mouths” (2Sam. 18:25), “go in and out among them” (Acts 1:21; 9:28), or “fill up the measure of their fathers” (Matt. 23:32). These are half-idioms—Biblish rather than English. As noted earlier, idioms work as a whole rather than through their individual parts. In translating the English idiom, “He’s really in a pickle,” it would be a mistake to preserve cucumbers in the translation. It is not the component parts but the statement as a whole that communicates its meaning.

Some critics have claimed that the only way to protect the verbal and plenary inspiration of Scripture is to translate literally. This, of course, is linguistic nonsense. The translation that best preserves the verbal and plenary inspiration of Scripture is one that clearly and accurately communicates the meaning of the text as the original author intended it to be heard. The Greek idioms that Paul or John or Luke used did not sound awkward, obscure or stilted to their original readers. They sounded like normal idiomatic Greek. Verbal and plenary inspiration is most respected when we allow the original meaning of the text to come through.

Happiness

By | December 5, 2008
1 Comment

I read this story today; it’s on a number of websites including this one.

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room …. just wait."

"That doesn’t have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged, it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away, just for this time in my life."

She went on to explain, "Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing."

Hobbies

By | December 1, 2008
6 Comments

If you like books, you ‘ll certainly find something of interest here: 100 Tips and Tools for Managing Your Personal Library.

If the name Zane Hodges means anything to you, it’s probably because he takes the opposing view of John MacArthur in the so-called “Lordship Salvation” debate.  Hodges ‘ view is quite extreme on this issue, which means that even if you reject MacArthur’s position, you still may not agree with Hodges.  If you ‘re still with me, I recommend that you read this notice about Hodges upon his passing into glory last week.  It gives you a little insight into a man who you may otherwise only regard as the “enemy” of MacArthur.  While we ‘re on the subject, I might add a personal comment about another figure in the “Lordship” debate – Charles Ryrie.  He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known.

If you ‘re looking for a new hobby, here’s an idea.

How well can you eyeball it?

If you think our boys remember you, you can send an email to Luke or Mark, their address is their full name (e.g., lukebol__) with a 7 at the end, at gmail. (I’m not writing it out b/c of spam harvesters.)  No guarantees that you ‘ll get a response, but they might enjoy getting an email.

The Great Depression II

By | November 28, 2008
4 Comments

Just what I was thinking, but more eloquently, Peggy Noonan:

I am thankful for something we’re not seeing. One of the weirdest, most perceptually jarring things about the economic crisis is that everything looks the same. We are told every day and in every news venue that we are in Great Depression II, that we are in a crisis, a cataclysm, a meltdown, the credit crunch from hell, that we will lose millions of jobs, and that the great abundance is over and may never return. Three great investment banks have fallen while a fourth totters, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen 31% in six months. And yet when you free yourself from media and go outside for a walk, everything looks . . . the same.

Everyone is dressed the same. Everyone looks as comfortable as they did three years ago, at the height of prosperity. The mall is still there, and people are still walking into the stores and daydreaming with half-full carts in aisle 3. Everyone’s still overweight. (An evolutionary biologist will someday write a paper positing that the reason for the obesity epidemic of the past decade is that we were storing up food like squirrels and bears, driven by an unconscious anthropomorphic knowledge that a time of great want was coming. Yes, I know it will be idiotic.) But the point is: Nothing looks different.

In the Depression people sold apples on the street. They sold pencils. Angels with dirty faces wore coats too thin and short and shivered in line at the government surplus warehouse. There was the Dust Bowl, and the want of the cities. Captains of industry are said to have jumped from the skyscrapers of Wall Street. (Yes, those were the good old days. Just kidding!) People didn’t have enough food.

They looked like a catastrophe was happening.

We do not. It’s as if the news is full of floods but we haven’t seen it rain.

If you didn’t read the news, would you be afraid?

The rest is here. 

Joy in Philippians

By | November 19, 2008
4 Comments

I know that one doesn’t usually go to Bible dictionaries for faith-strengthening encouragement, but I found this to be a well-stated reminder:

“Finally, the theme of joy that runs throughout Philippians has had a profound influence on Christians through the centuries, drawing them back to this letter again and again. Here one learns that joy is not so much a feeling as it is a settled state of mind characterized by peace, an attitude that views life—including all of its ups and downs—with equanimity. It is a confident way of looking at life that is rooted in faith in the living Lord of the church (1:25; 3:1; 4:4, 10). For Paul joy is an understanding of existence that makes it possible for one to accept both elation and depression, to accept with creative submission events that bring either delight or dismay, because joy allows one to see beyond any particular event to the sovereign Lord who stands above all events.” (Hawthorne, “Philippians,” Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, page 713).

Change I Can Believe In

By | November 14, 2008
6 Comments

I write these one-liners for the blog as I come across them, but it takes a while to collect enough to make a post (or to have time to finalize and post).  That may help you explain a couple of references below to Obama.

There are many reasons why I like living where we do.  This is a minor one, but sure to make my California friends jealous.

Darrell Bock, probably the most well-known professor at DTS these days, voted for Obama. And he’s bragging about it to Newsweek.

An F-15 being flown by in the Israeli air force loses a wing in flight and still lands.

If this is the kind of change we ‘re going to see with Obama as president, I am all for it!  (If you don’t understand, it’s because you aren’t with children at Christmas.)

Here is the five-word antidote to grumbling.

Sovereign Grace has a new album of hymns recorded live at the Together for the Gospel conference coming out next month.  Now you can get three songs not on the CD for free.

Yesterday I finished one paper (perhaps more here related to that later) and began another.  The next two weeks I get to study the “Servant” in Isaiah.  What do you know about the “Servant”?  If I had written everything I knew about this yesterday, I would have filled less than one page.  After one day of reading, I am excited about yet more riches in the Bible that I was ignorant of.  I went back and looked at an old Bible I have and those chapters (42-53) are there.  Just think, all of these years that I have been deprived.

Petition: Freedom of Choice Act

By | November 11, 2008
4 Comments

One of the most damaging things that Obama could do as president is to sign the Freedom of Choice Act.  He has promised that the first thing he ‘ll do in office is to sign it.  This bill would wipe away every restriction on abortion nationwide.  This would eradicate state and federal laws that the majority of Americans support, such as:

  • Bans on Partial Birth Abortion
  • Requirements that women be given information about the risks of getting an abortion
  • Only licensed physicians can perform abortions
  • Parents must be informed and give consent to their minor daughter’s abortion

What can you do?  You can sign this petition.  Perhaps if enough people do, Obama will listen.

The Election

By | November 4, 2008
3 Comments

John Piper gives a prayer for the election.

Here is a 4-minute video summarizing the differences between McCain and Obama on the issue of abortion.  It matters.  Here are some details on exactly what Obama will destroy if he becomes president with a Democratic Congress.

HT: Jonathan Moorhead

UPDATE: I’ve heard that anyone can walk into a Starbucks today and get a free tall cup of brewed coffee (whether you voted or not).  Ben and Jerry’s has something similar today between 5-8 pm.