Codexmania

Last week, I went to the British Library with Peter, another PhD student at Nottingham Uni.  We went there to view Codex Sinaiticus – an amazingly well kept Greek language Bible from the mid-300s C.E.  It was incredible to see something in such good condition, from such an early date.  At the time I commented to Peter that I wanted a copy of it… and I wanted it NOW.  Quick as a flash (or “Schnell wie der Blitz” for the benefit of all my German readership) we went to the British Library shop to see if they sold facsimile copies of it.  We were bitterly disappointed – but it appears someone was eavesdropping, because today, Peter got a newspaper and it mentioned that a new Codex Sinaiticus website was about to go online, showing the manuscripts with transcriptions and translations.  Schnell wie der Blitz, I got onto the website, but again there was bitter disappointment: It was not yet up.  I bravely brushed away a tear and decided to get back to work… but then, a teensy tiny spark of hope somehow generated itself deep within me… I decided to press refresh… and… IT WAS UP!!!  I was the first to see it in the whole wide universe!!  Well apart from the people who put it together I suppose… and the people who had previews.  Anyway, here it is – check it out: http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/

Memes and Competition

Well I’m back in Nottingham but returning to London again tomorrow for more intensive German study… Schade!!  Anyway, while I’m here, I’ll reply to two memes for which I’ve been tagged, and introduce an impressive competition!

Firstly, I was tagged here to do the Colossians 3 translation.  I’m purposefully not looking at anyone else’s attempt until I’ve done my own, so that I’m not tempted to copy – it’s just me and the GNT:

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek that which is above – where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your thinking on that which is above, not that which is on earth.  For you died and, together, your life is hidden with Christ in God.

My use of the word ‘together’ is an attempt to deal with the fact that we have no plural second person in English.  Besides that, my translation is fairly simple.  Of course, the meaning is not transparent, and would require more engagement with the rest of Colossians.  I won’t tag anyone else, as I haven’t yet checked who has already had a go – I’ll be curious to see what other people have come up with.  It’s kinda annoying being away so much at the moment – I’m missing other people’s blogs!

Secondly, I’ve been tagged with a kinda humourous meme here - I like the idea of this meme, in which you parody other bloggers!  Unfortunately, due to being away, I feel like I’ve missed out on it somewhat… so I’m going to try something a little different, and parody my all-time favourite blog, Cryptotheology:

I’m going travelling again – cool, huh?  I must be a pretty important theology-type, huh?  I’ve just talked to Thiselton – cool, huh?  I’m kinda a big deal, huh?  I believe I’ve sorted out ALL of the details of 1 Corinthians that everyone else couldn’t work out – cool, huh?  I rock, huh?… pleeease like me – PLEEEEAAAASE – didn’t you notice I’m a totally rockin’ important academic theologian???

And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: The new competition: While I was in London, I encountered a couple of men who have been influential in Christian history… if you can name who they are, then I will devote an entire post to the topic of your choice, no matter how sublime or ridiculous – and I won’t qualify it by saying, “So-and-so said I had to do a post about…”

From Wales to London…

Well I got back from Wales just over an hour ago, and in a matter of hours I’ll be heading to London, where I’ll be sprucing up the German with an intensive 2-week course at the Goethe Institut.  For your edification I present a picture of me doing a Martyn Lloyd-Jones impression (i.e. looking sombre) at a castle in Aberystwyth, Wales.  In the background, through the cross, the building visible is the Aberystwyth campus of the university of Wales…

Hopefully I’ll be able to get online in London, but in the mean time, I thought I’d mention a book that I read while in Wales: Paul and First-Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition and Collection, by E. Randolph Richards.  Wow – what an interesting, thought-provoking book.  I think it would have to be the most interesting book I’ve read this year – and I mean that in a positive way.  Richards points out that when we speak of Paul as the ‘author’ of his letters, we generally carry a mental image at odds with the practices of first century letter writers – and in particular, we practically ignore many of the letters’ own introductions – eg. “Paul, called as an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes the brother…”  Richards gives intriguing information about the ways in which first century letter writers – and Paul in particular – wrote in community, utilised the expertise of secretaries, made drafts, used their own and others’ preformed materials, prepared and dispatched letters.  I think it is really worthwhile trying to be better informed about these issues if we want to comment on issues such as authorship, pseudonymity, interpolations, and the formation of the canon.  Richards comments on all of these issues, drawing some very thoughtful conclusions.  He is a conservative scholar, and is particularly interested in how his findings influence the way we talk about things such as canon and inspiration.

I didn’t find myself in agreement with all of his suggestions (including some stuff related to 1 Corinthians); and I have a question that I’d like to email him about: He has an intriguing suggestion that the formation of the Pauline Corpus arose from Paul’s own ‘notebooks’ that contained personal copies of his most important letters.  However, I am not sure how this fits with the problems that Harry Gamble raised in a 1975 article regarding such an early date for a Pauline Corpus.  Hopefully I’ll get in touch with him – I’m quite interested in this issue.

Anyway, overall, I highly recommend this book to those who are interested in Paul…

I haven’t forgotten about doing some more stuff about 1 Corinthians – hopefully I’ll have time to get onto that soon.  Incidentally, Richards has an interesting section about the possible interpolation in 1 Cor 14 which featured in the comments of my last post.