Scholars with world wide reputations

Amos Oz, A Tale of Love and Darkness (2003) writes:

"As the years passed I became aware that Jerusalem, under British rule in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s must be a fascinatingly cultured city. It had big businessmen, musicians, scholars, and writers: Martin Buber, Gershom Scholem, S. Y. Agnon, and a host of other eminent academics, and artists. Sometimes as we walked down Ben Yehuda Street or Ben Maimon Avenue, my father would whisper to me: "Look, there is a scholar with a worldwide reputation." I did not know what he meant. I thought that having a worldwide reputation was somehow connected with having weak legs, because the person in question was often an elderly man who felt his way with as stick and stumbled as he walked along, and wore a heavy suit even in summer."

Virtual Tour of Masada

For a virtual tour of the site of Masada, go to:


http://mordagan.com/links/mezada/tourweaver_mezada.html

You will need a high speed link to see it.

HT to Elliott Malki and Peter Feinman.

Noli Me Tangere from the Prayer Book of Charles the Bold

Noli Me Tangere from The Prayer Book of Charles the Bold: A study of a Flemish masterpiece from the Burgundian court by the late Antoine de Schryver, translated by Jessica Berenbeim, and reproducing all the book's miniatures, and some of its calligraphic pages (Getty Publications, 2008).

Seminaries & Sex

PBS, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly has a segment this Sunday March 27th (tomorrow) on Seminaries and Sex. The segment mentions the Religious Institute on Sexual Morality, Justice and Healing which published a report earlier this year charging that seminaries and rabbinical schools are failing to give the next generation of clergy resources to meet the challenges around this topic. Martin Marty helpfully wrote (after reading the report):

Their two-year study finds that more than ninety percent of the thirty-six leading seminaries surveyed do not require full-semester, sexuality-based courses for graduation, and two-thirds do not offer a course in sexuality issues for religious professionals.

I am happy to say that at the seminary where I teach we will be offering a new course on sexuality and social justice in the fall. Details forthcoming.

Who Was Jesus? on the Discovery Channel

Starting on Sunday April 5th at 8pm, the Discovery channel begins a three-part series, Who Was Jesus? Check your local listings.

Part 1: Childhood--The dramatic reality of the Age of Jesus. A journey through the Holy Land with three expert guides who investigate the latest archaeological and historical evidence to put together a portrait of the early years of Jesus and the forces that shaped his life.

Part 2: The Mission--Three experts unearth the reality of Jesus's life and times, and discover a world of starvation, injustice and desperation for salvation. Jesus was one of many miracle makers who sought to make their people free.

Part 3: Last Days--Jesus entered Jerusalem at the start of the final week of his life. Everything he did was a political challenge to the Roman authorities and the High Priest of the Temple. Three experts unearth the reality of his attempt to free his people from oppression.

One of the experts is Prof. Rachel Havrelock, at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Another is Prof. Byron McCane , Chair of the Department of Religion at Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC.

Feast of the Annunciation

Ann Fontaine has some good things to say about the Feast of the Annunciation today at Episcopal Cafe.

Over at America, John Kilgallen notes that Mary said, "Yes" to her God without knowing what her love for God would entail.

But this overlooks a careful reading of Luke. Mary's first reaction to the angel's message is concern followed by "considering in her mind what sort of greeting this might be." This is a verb of cognition connoting to reason, ponder, consider, argue and discuss. Jesus and the disciples do it often in the gospels. But translations and interpretations tend to minimize women's intellectual activities, and particularly this young woman's. When the angel clarifies, she has another query: "How will this be since I do not know a man?" So Mary's assent, when it comes, is on the basis of careful inquiry and consideration.

Reformist Translation of the Qur'an

Irshad Manji blogs a new reformist translation of the Qur'an available without cost. She says:
"this translation exposes just how orthodox the “moderate” and “mainstream” renditions of the Quran actually are."

Holy Women at the Sepulchre on loan at the Frick

The Frick collection is displaying Zurbaran's 1633 "Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose" on loan from the Norton Simon museum in Pasadena, Ca. I'm off to see it this weekend. It's connections to Mary are explored here. Also on loan from the same Museum is Peter Paul Rubens, "The Holy Women at the Sepulchre." On the left we see a Magdalene figure with bare feet.

On Wednesday March 25th from 6-7pm at the Frick, a lecture is being given by Peter C. Sutton, The Susan E. Lynch Executive Director, Bruce Museum, Greenwich, "'Why seek ye the living among the dead?' Peter Paul Rubens's The Holy Women at the Sepulchre from the Norton Simon Museum." The lecture is free with Museum admission.

Meeting Deadlines and New Projects

Although I have managed to meet a deadline of March 20th for a manuscript, its remains to be seen whether the publishers find the manuscript satisfactory. So in the meantime, on to the next project. This is an article on Revelation for a book tentatively titled "The Westminster Handbook to Feminist Biblical Theology." After saying some things about propositional and existential revelation, I will be re-reading Sandra Schneiders' book The Revelatory Text with an eye to her notions of interpretation of text as spiritual transformation. For an example of revelation as spiritual transformation, I will look at Mary Magdalene in John 20.

And with a bit of spare time on my hands, it turns out that GenderAnalyzer is correct! This blog is written by a woman.

March 20-22 Profs Eric and Carol Meyers at Westchester Reform Synagogue

Professors Eric and Carol Meyers will be at the Westchester Reform Synagogue March 20-22.
On Friday, March 20 at 7:45 p.m., Shabbat evening services will include a lecture given by Dr. Carol Meyers entitled, “Meet the First Lady: Eve’s Roles and Relationships.” On Saturday, March 21, Dr. Eric Meyers will first present a lecture at 10:30 a.m., “Exile and Restoration: Crisis and Creativity,” and then at 4 p.m. he will lead a lecture/study session on the topic, “Archaeology is Politics: Excavations in Israel.” The weekend will conclude on Sunday, March 22, with a joint lecture at 11 a.m. entitled “Jews, Romans and Christians: Discoveries at Ancient Sepphoris.”

This weekend-long lecture series is free and open to the public at Westchester Reform Temple, which is located at 255 Mamaroneck Road in Scarsdale, NY.

Reconciliation: How One Denomination Has Come to Terms with its Anti-Judaic Heritage
7:30 pm Wednesday, March 18, 2009 In Seabury Auditorium at General Theological Seminary.

In 1994, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America issued a "Declaration to the Jewish Community" in which it repudiated Martin Luther's anti-Jewish writings, expressed its sorrow for their baleful effects in subsequent generations, and affirmed its "urgent desire to live out our faith in Jesus Christ with love and respect for the Jewish people." Dr. Sherman,who chaired the committee that prepared the Declaration, will discuss how it emerged, how it was received,
and how it has been followed up in the years since.

Presented by the General Seminary’s Center for Jewish-Christian Studies & Relations