I am eager to begin work. Having worked the last 4 years non-stop, these last few weeks of not working have been boring. I do not like having a lot of free time, so I have been reading mainly a biography on F.F. Bruce. I am looking forward to getting into a new routine of work and living, but it will not be complete until I have my amazing wife with me here.

Well, I am off for now, but look I will be back more regularly in the coming days.

Post Tenebras Lux

Cliff

I did not know I held a professorship at a university? Maybe Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Tübingen?

This is a very exciting time in my life, and one which I have struggled to attain for quite sometime. The last ten or so years have been filled with many ups and downs, sadly more downs than ups. But the Lord has been faithful and has never left me to pick up the pieces on my own. Every heartbreak and dissappointment has led me to this place and to Washington. I have seen the way the Lord has orchestrated his plan and seen his hand move in powerful ways. I am so very humbled by his grace and faithfulness! He has provided me with more than I can every ask for or think of. May he continue to bless the path that he has set before me and my wife.

It will be hard to leave the town I have known since birth. I have lived here in southern California all of my life; it is all that I have ever known. I have moved a few times, but only in a radius of a few miles at most. One thing that I have found out is that I do not take change well, so I ask for prayer for a fast adjustment. Sadly my wife will not be able to join me right away, but she will soon. This will be hard for us both, so I ask for prayer for her as she adjusts to life apart for a season. Pray that she can secure a job fast and move up and join me in Washington. Until she arrives I will have the company of one of my best friends and his family. It will be so good to be able to go on a milkshake run like we use to in college. He is a good friend and a dear brother in the Lord.

Well, that is all for now. I will begin posting more regularly once I a settled into my new job and home in Washington.

I leave you with  what has become my motto and the promise I have clung to in the Lord: Post Tenebras Lux (After Darkness Light)

CBK

PS – If you are ever in Bellingham look me up; coffee is on me!

Any man to-day can learn to read the Greek New Testament if he wants to do it. There are schools in plenty within easy reach of all. But if circumstances close one’s path to the school, there are books in plenty and cheap enough for all. No one to-day has to make his own grammar and lexicon of the Greek New Testament or go without a teacher.

From: A. T. Robertson. The Minister and His Greek New Testament. New York: George H. Doran, 1923. (See ch. 9.)

(HT: Rod Decker).

(HT: Matt Montonini)

5 τοῦτο φρονεῖτε ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, 6 ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ, 7 ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος· καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος 8 ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ. 9 διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα, 10 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων 11 καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός (Phil 2:5-11).

Paul frames his hymn with a command in v.5: τοῦτο φρονεῖτε ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ (Have this way of thinking among yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus). The demonstrative τοῦτο functions in both a backward as well as forward pointing manner, reminding the reader of what was previously said and also preparing the reader for what follows. Already Paul has exhorted the Philippians to act in a way which cares more for the concerns of others rather than themselves. But in case the Philippians do not know how this looks, Paul gives them the ultimate example of humility, Christ Jesus.

While much has been said in regards to Phil 2.6-11 and the deity of Christ, I tend to think that this is not the main focus of Paul’s argument. While he does in fact make mention of Christ’s deity, ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων (Although he existed in the form of God…), it is in passing and assumed. It is hard to believe that in light of the command in v.5 Paul would focus on Christ’s deity as their motivation to think in a particular manner. The reader may ask himself, How can anyone attempt to even try to have the mindset of Christ since he is God? Rather, Paul focuses on the humanity of Christ.

What exactly was the attitude(s) that Paul says was characteristic of Jesus?

1. He did not grasp for what was rightfully his (οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ). Although he was God, he did not concern himself with the privileges, honor, or status that came with the title God. In an honor and shame culture like the one we find in Phillipi, the pursuit of glory and honor meant everything. But Jesus did not climb that latter.
2. Instead, he emptied himself of this pursuit by taking the form of a slave (ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν μορφὴν δούλου λαβών, ἐν ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων γενόμενος·). Right here we see the irony of this in full effect. Christ, who is God, refuses to cling to his title, and instead goes the other way and takes on the status of a slave. The Master becomes the slave.
3. The climb down the latter of success ends with three nails and a cross (ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτὸν γενόμενος ὑπήκοος μέχρι θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ). The Lord of glory willing submits to the most shameful death imaginable. In first-century Palestine there was no more shameful way of dying. Not only is the physical pain unbearable, but while you are hanging there in pain you are also suffering the pain of shame, mockery, and rejection.

Thankfully the hymn does not end there. God does not leave Christ with the shame of the cross to bear. Instead, he exalts him higher than he previously was and gives him a name more glorious than any name (διὸ καὶ ὁ θεὸς αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν καὶ ἐχαρίσατο αὐτῷ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα). And it is at this name, Jesus, that every knee will bow and tongue confess Jesus is Lord (ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται ὅτι κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ πατρός).

In a culture saturated in honor and the drive for success, Paul turns the whole thing upside down and gives us a picture of what true humility looks like. Instead of seeking honor and praise from man, seek rather how you can serve others in a manner that may lead to your death. But do not worry, God will reward you in heaven.

In closing I am reminded of the words of the Master: “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

The Israel Museum welcomes you to the Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Project, allowing users to examine and explore these most ancient manuscripts from Second Temple times at a level of detail never before possible. Developed in partnership with Google, the new website gives users access to searchable, fast-loading, high-resolution images of the scrolls, as well as short explanatory videos and background information on the texts and their history. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence, offer critical insight into Jewish society in the Land of Israel during the Second Temple Period, the time of the birth of Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. Five complete scrolls from the Israel Museum have been digitized for the project at this stage and are now accessible online.

It goes without saying how important these writings are to both Jewish and early Christian studies. There discovery in the middle of last century was perhaps the greatest archaeological find in the past hundred-plus years.

As of right now, five of the scrolls have been digitized and placed online for viewing: the Great Isaiah Scroll, the War Scroll, Commentary on the Habakkuk Scroll, the Temple Scroll, and the Community Rule Scroll.

For those who may not know much about the Scrolls, they have included a section on their site that gives the reader the basic information about their discovery, their nature and significance, the Qumran Community, and the Shrine of the Book, where the Scrolls reside in Israel.

[HT: Jim]

When I first heard that Logos was releasing the Perseus Collection I was most anxious and excited for the Classics Collection. Having been a Greek major in my undergrad I was exposed to many of the authors that are included in this marvelous collection. One of my areas of interest is the study of rhetoric, and for me this collection is a homerun! I now have the writings of Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, Quintilian, and the likes all ready to be read, searched, and explored right from my computer.

The Perseus Collection in Action

Now we will take a look at how this collection can help in ones study of scripture. One of New Testament books that has been analyzed used Graeco-Roman rhetoric is Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. In his commentary on the Corinthian epistles, Ben Witherington utilizes the methods of ancient rhetoric in his interpretation of these Pauline writings. In so doing, he realies heavily on the writings of the master rhetoricians in order to show how Paul himself constructed his writings according to this ancient practice.

In the above capture from Witherington’s commentary, you notice the circled footnote 135. When we click on this we get the following reference:

Notice that the highlighted sections point the reader to references from Aristotle, Pliny, and Quintilian. Now with the Perseus Collection one can open these references up in Logos and read for the primary sources for themselves.

Aristotle, Rhetoric 1413.2.1

Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria 12.10.53-55

I would like to make mention of a few things. First, unlike other resources in Logos the Perseus Collection is not yet hyper-linked between resources. What I mean by this is that you cannot click on a reference and have it instantly open up to that particular spot. Instead, you need to go your library icon and type in the resource you need. Second, the Greek texts in Perseus are linked primarily to LSJ, but a few times BDAG was opened when I double clicked a Greek word.

Overall this is a helpful inclusion for studying the scriptures. Once all of the references to the texts included in the Classics Collection are tag and linked, this collection will be that much better.

A important note – If you want to get your free copy of this collection you must first make sure to do the following:

1. Make sure you have the latest version of Logos 4.3. You can download the basic engine for free here.
2. Make sure you preorder now! Once Logos begins to process the preorders they will temporarily remove the Perseus Collection from their site so that they do not use to much bandwidth. But do not fret! Once things slow down they will once again place the collection back on their site for all to freely download.

]]> http://theologicalmusings.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/the-perseus-collection-review-pt2/feed/ 3 theologicalmusings Classics Witherington Quintilian Aristotle Quintilian Quote http://theologicalmusings.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/the-perseus-collection-review/ http://theologicalmusings.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/the-perseus-collection-review/#comments Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:24:02 +0000 Clifford Kvidahl http://theologicalmusings.wordpress.com/?p=919 ]]>

The kind folks at Logos Bible Software sent me a review copy of three of the collections contained in the massive Perseus Collection, the Classic Collection, the Arabic Collection, and the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri. Over the next few days I will post reviews as I familiarize myself with this collection.

Some Initial First Impressions

One of the first things that I noticed was the size of the file which downloaded automatically in Logos 4. One of the nice things about Logos 4 is that any and all updates that you may have is automatically downloaded. This is nice, because often one may forget to manually check and see if there are any updates for available to download. As I mentioned above, I only requested three of the collections, and these three together came in at just under 800MB. So, if you order all seven collections, be ready for a download size well over 1GB.

After downloading I recommend that you allow your computer to fully index your newly downloaded collections. If possible, let your computer complete this process overnight. When you awake, you should have a fully indexed and searchable collection of primary source materials right at your fingertips.

If you may be wondering why this collection is important in ones understanding of scripture, please refer to my previous post on the Importance of the Perseus Collection.

Please do come back as I continue to post my review of this incredible resource. Logos is to be commended for releasing this wealth of material, and to do so for free.

A important note – If you want to get your free copy of this collection you must first make sure to do the following:

1. Make sure you have the latest version of Logos 4.3. You can download the basic engine for free here.
2. Make sure you preorder now! Once Logos begins to process the preorders they will temporarily remove the Perseus Collection from their site so that they do not use to much bandwidth. But do not fret! Once things slow down they will once again place the collection back on their site for all to freely download.