UK versus Australia

IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW…

Today I went to my bank to ask them for a ‘bank cheque’/'banker’s draft’ – something that would have been free at my bank in Australia, but, as it turns out, would cost £15 to do here in the UK.  Inspired by this, I have put together a list of contrasting strengths in terms of the UK and Australia:

Firstly, ways in which Australia beats the UK:

• Means of fastening bread bags: In the UK, they seal the plastic bags that have loaves of bread in them with tape… yes, TAPE!!  So silly!!!… Oh how I miss those little plastic reusable things that they use in Australia to seal bread bags… and they also double as ukulele plectrums.
• Temperature of drinks and food: Here in the UK, my local bakery serves sausage rolls COLD – and if you ask for it to be heated up they give you a quizzical look as if you’re a raving just-escaped-from-the-funny-farm loony… and at kids’ parties they often serve cold little sausage rolls.  And they often serve soft drinks WARM!  If you attempted these outrageous atrocities in Australia, you’d be socially ostracised and possibly given a wet willy.
• Charging for shopping trolleys: In the UK you usually have to pay a returnable pound to use a shopping trolley.  The obvious disadvantage of this system is that it seriously lessens the frequency of people leaving shopping trolleys in the surrounding streets, to be used by teenagers in hilarious late-night drunken antics.  This has been a well-respected rite of passage in Australia for generations.

Secondly, ways in which the UK beats Australia:

• A negligible interest in being sensible: I think that in the UK, people are freer to be eccentric and silly and creative, and to do things that just lack common sense, such as study theology or philosophy.  In Australia, I find a much more pragmatic attitude to study and life in general – and I think this is to Australia’s detriment.
• Seriously addictive children’s television: The UK totally beats Australia in terms of kids’ TV – One of my all time favourite activities is to suddenly race into the room in the middle of a hermeneutics lecture at uni and burst into the theme song to the kids’ show Balamory: “What’s the story in Balamory, wouldn’t you like to know?  What’s the story in Balamory, where would you like to go?”  This always gets some applause
• Use of the word ‘poorly’: In the UK, if you feel sick, you say that you feel ‘poorly’… and I kinda like that.  In Australia, if you feel sick, you say, “I feel sick” - which invites a response of suspicion, along the lines of “I hope you’re not planning to give it to ME”, rather than “I feel poorly” – which would invite a response of compassion, along the lines of “Ohh you poor pitiable thing… come here and let me cuddle you better.”

I think that pretty much covers all the differences between the UK and Australia… so where would I rather be?  Well I like both places – both of them are quite endearing really.  So at the moment I’ll put up with bread tape and cold sausage rolls and expensive trolleys… I like it here.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: As though by divine providence, I am now officially poorly; but will be soldiering on with the Greek reading group tomorrow… feel free to tilt your head in a compassionate gesture, quietly utter the words, “Awww poor lil feller… he’s poorly!”, and stretch out your arms for a hug.

There is no resurrection of the dead

I’m working on 1 Corinthians 15 at the moment, and a number of interesting things keep striking me.  Significantly, I’m considering what might have been meant by those who said that there was no resurrection of the dead.

Many commentators seem to think that this can be explained by reasoning that the resurrection-deniers in Corinth preferred the idea of the immortality of the soul to the idea of the raising of bodies: The chief problem, it is said, is a Greek distaste for physicality.  However, I find this problematic for a few reasons:

• Of the six generally agreed upon sections in ch15, only one carries the theme and terminology of bodies – vv35-49… and within this section, it’s only from 35-44 that bodies are central.
• I don’t see why a problem with resurrection based on a general distaste for physicality wouldn’t have been dealt with by Paul in the 18 months that he had spent in Corinth
• The most consistent problem in ch15 seems to be a distaste for death itself – and indeed, a Corinthian distaste for cruciformity has pervaded the whole letter…

Here in the climactic chapter, Paul brings his response to Corinthian cruciphobic pride to a fitting conclusion: Those who are proudly claiming that there is no resurrection of the dead need to learn that, on the contrary, there is no resurrection of the living: They are called to embrace the labour of cruciformity, knowing that human death is the pre-requisite for the divine gift of resurrection.

1 Corinthians 1: Greek wordle

   This wordle represents chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians, and it makes obvious some interesting features of the chapter – such as the number of references to God/Jesus/Christ/Lord – particularly in the genitive…

For anyone who is in the Nottingham area, Peter & I will be starting a Greek NT reading group next week, which will focus on 1 Corinthians, and enable discussion about linguistic, textual, hermeneutical, and theological issues which arise from our reading of the Greek text.  Anthony Thiselton has offered to come towards the end of the group’s time together, to discuss any big questions that have struck us.  Get in touch if you’re interested.

ukulele summer

Well the CD giveaway competition continues – put in your entries below - and in the mean time, for your viewing pleasure, you can watch me rockin out on my brand new ukulele…

[oh and I promise I'll get back to serious posting soon - 1 Cor 15 coming up]

CD Giveaway

I have mentioned in the past how valuable I think it is for Christian worship to involve participating in the singing of psalms.  One of my favourite bands is Sons of Korah, whose work exclusively involves putting the psalms to music.  They have a style that is largely accoustic, draws on ethnically diverse influences, and ranges from reflective to intense… I find their interpretations of the psalms gripping.  So… I am going to give away two brand new Sons of Korah CDs: Both of them are excellent albums – Redemption Songs and Resurrection.  Both albums will go to the one winner of a simple little competition: You just need to tell me what your favourite psalm is… and the person whose fave coincides with my own fave psalm will win the CDs!  If you don’t have a favourite psalm, I’ll slap ya.  Go and choose one… now! 

Oh – and my opinion on which psalm is my fave might be open to persuasion…

I’ll contact the winner via email to find out their postal address.

latest technology hits nottingham

While I was in Australia, the theology department at the University of Nottingham moved out of our previous building and into our very own building: Highfield House.  And on the inside of the front door of our new location, this sign can be seen, apparently placed there by the University ‘Security Control’… I think they doubt the ability of theologians to operate such wacky pieces of engineering:

…and a close up:

a matter of justice

Well I’m back in the UK after 2 and a half weeks away in Australia.  I was interested to receive this “letter to a victim” from the Sydney Department of Public Prosecutions upon my return to fair Nottingham:

Hi Matthew and Detective Sgt Sipos,

Please be advised that the 2nd offender was sentenced on Friday (after being in breach of bail and on the run from police for 16 mths).

He was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months gaol, to serve a non parole period of 15 months.

While in my view the sentence is towards the low end for offences of this kind, I do not think it is appealable.

This offender had less prior criminal convictions than the co-offender XXXX (who had served gaol sentences for similar offences). That is why XXXX was sentenced to a more severe sentence than XXXX.

Of course, I received a version with the names included.  This relates to something that happened almost exactly two years ago, when I was the victim of a violent mugging that stretched out over about an hour and a half, over a few locations, and ended with me having to escape after being threatened with death.  Receiving the letter has made me reflect on ‘justice’: Somehow, describing the situation in the letter as ‘justice’ seems like a let-down to that category… Having two people in prison enduring a dreadful existence doesn’t actually do anything to reverse what happened to me.  Is that justice?…  On the other hand, I think I would feel ripped off if the whole episode was ignored and the pair were free to go on offending.  But I can’t help feeling sorry for those two men, whose lives are basically ruined.  And I can’t help feeling annoyed that I will probably always feel real anxiety about walking alone at night – for the rest of my life.  Is all of this ‘justice’? 

Perhaps the expectation that everything will be completely and fairly sorted out in the present is one symptom of an ‘over-manifest’ theology, demanding in the present that which can only fully come when Christ returns – when he experiences the fullness of his own vindication.  Until then, we can sing with the psalmist:

Psalm 37:7: Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; don’t fret when men succeed in their ways, as they work their wicked schemes.

On the Occasion of Australian Father’s Day

Australia seems to celebrate a different day for Father’s Day than the UK, and happily, I’ve been in each location for the respective celebrations, meaning I get double the amount of presents.  On the occasion of Australian Father’s Day then (today), I present this haiku, based on the experience of my previous post:

Hiding secret shame,

Peering past the table top,

Wond’ring why he smiles.

UPDATE: And one more, in honour of the various conferences I have missed (Rome, Durham, Cambridge), by being in Australia: This one is entitled Star Theologian…

Meteoric rise;

But meteors are famous

for falling quickly

I want to make you happy

My 3yo daughter, more than anything else, desperately wants to make me happy…  When she does something that she knows will disappoint me (eg disgracing herself, pants-wise, in a cafe – as she did today), she looks at me with a panic and asks, “Are you happy?  Are you happy???  I’ll make you happy – I’ll make you happy!!!”  There is a twofold irony here: a) She knows exactly what to do to avoid disappointing me, but she can’t bring herself to act on it – she still refuses her potty, or pushes away her food, or hits her baby brother); b) She does make me happy, simply because I love her: She is her daddy’s joy, and nothing can endanger that.

All of which caused me to reflect today, sitting in a cafe with a panic-stricken stinky daughter, hiding under the table and promising to make me happy…  Is this what I look like to God?

The Uneven Nature of Paul’s Ministry

This week I’ve received a copy of a publication that’s hot off the press: Trinity Working Papers, Volume 1, August 2008.  It is published by Trinity Theological College in Western Australia and contains a few papers that were presented there last year.  This edition focuses on Paul and includes three papers: ‘The Argumentation of the Main Body of 1 Corinthians with Particular Regard for the Placement of Chapter 15′ (by myself); ‘What’s Right With Wright’s Perspective on Paul?’ (by Rolf Van Wollingen) and ‘The Life of Herod Agrippa I and His Significance for the History of Early Christianity’ (by Rory Shiner).

My paper is 37 pages long and goes into my reading of 1 Corinthians in some depth – as at July of last year.  My views have undergone some development since then, but the picture is still (perhaps surprisingly) extremely representative of my current thinking about the letter.

I haven’t yet read Rolf VW’s paper, although I will be interested to go through it, as I’m currently reading Francis Watson’s book Paul, Judaism and the Gentiles: Beyond the New Perspective…  I’m interested in hearing other evaluations of the contributions of the New Perspective on Paul.

But I’ve just finished reading Rory Shiner’s paper, about Agrippa’s significance for early Christian history – and I’ve found it quite fascinating.  Here’s a little taste:

The significance of Agrippa’s rule and death may shed light on one particular puzzle of early Christianity – the uneven nature of Paul’s ministry.  Our sources compel us to put Paul’s period of ministry into two uneven sections: a period of thirteen or fourteen years from his conversion in circa AD 34 to circa AD 47, and a shorter ten year period of aggressive church planting in the west of the Empire….

Into this context, Agrippa’s death, and its effect on Judea in general and Judean Christianity in particular offers itself as an important piece of data.  The post-44 situation, as we have argued, provided the necessary circumstances for the Judaizing mission that was to pursue Paul.  It seems likely, or at least highly plausible, that this changed situation also provides the context for Paul’s activities post-44.  On the one hand, the Judaizing mission seems to have bolstered Paul’s conviction that the coming of Messiah Jesus necessitated the mission to the Gentiles.  And, on the other hand, the frenetic nature of Paul’s post-44 mission may indicate that he himself read the post-44 in apocalyptic terms.  The difference is that for Paul the apocalyptic mood resulted in a radical inclusion of the Gentiles rather than a radical defence of Jewish privilege (Rom 9-11:32, 15:8-12, 15-22).

Interesting stuff… The more I work on my research, the more I think we really need to be attentive to these sorts of questions in trying to understand Paul’s writings.  The publication is available from Trinity Theological College for AUD $15 (about $15 US).