St. Paul's Bones?

I ran across this story tonight and I admit I am quite skeptical, as I am with many of these stories that seem to hit the media every few months it seems.

Incidentally, the oldest depiction of Paul has been found dating to the 4th century CE, seen below.

Dropping the Ball

Well, folks one of the challenges that I decided to undertake has been on the backburner for some time now. That is memorizing Philippians. Despite my attempts, things have a way of piling up on you in a hurry. I have numerous book reviews (too many to name!), a beginning guitar class that I'm taking, editorial responsibilities for a forthcoming monograph, possibly getting some of my own research together to submit to a journal, a full-time job, plus trying to be the best husband I can be. I AM NOT COMPLAINING (...just wanted to make that clear...)!

I hope to continue with the Philippians project in the near future. There is no way I'm raising the white flag on this personal quest to become intimate with this fascinating text. It has benefitted in more ways than I can express. In the meantime, I will just review what I have worked on so far and take it from there.

Thanks for giving me this platform to express my frustration/resignation at this start and stop process. I truly live a blessed and full life and I never want to take my readers/friends for granted.

Charis kai eirene,

Matthew

A Good Trip to Half-Price

The other day Ben Witherington gave Christopher Bryan's Render to Caesar: Jesus, The Early Church, and The Roman Superpower a stellar review commenting among other things that "I would rate this as one of the ten best books written about the NT in the last ten years." When one considers the source, this is high praise indeed.



I decided after running a few errands to visit the local Half-Price bookstore. Well, guess what I found? You guessed it, Render to Caesar! What's more, the book, which retails at $35.00, was marked down to $9.98 and further marked down to $6.98!

This should be a great read, considering Witherington's strong endorsement, and a couple of blurbs on the back of the dusk jacket from N.T. Wright and Daniel Harrington.

Off the Grid: Mike McCready and the National Anthem

Mike McCready, lead guitarist of Pearl Jam, performed the National Anthem recently (5-19) before a Seattle Mariners home game where they were hosting the Anaheim Angels.

It is not quite Hendrix, but it is still really cool.

Check it out!

Craig Koester Lectures on Revelation

Craig Koester, Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary, has had one of the best websites for New Testament studies for quite some time now.

Koester, who is known for his various contributions to Johannine studies, including the eagerly anticipated Revelation commentary in the Anchor Bible Series (Yale), has 18 lectures available on the aforementioned Apocalypse on his website. Unfortunately, they do not seem to be downloadable in a MP3 or iTunes format (Believe me, I have tried!). If someone figures this out let me know!

Enjoy!