Well, been a few years since my last entry so there's much to say. The issue of antilanguage did indeed come to its end in my MA Thesis: Antilanguage and the Synoptic Gospels: a sociolinguistic inquiry. There was much resistance to me creating this but it came through. Moving to Virginia was about the toughest thing we could've done, there is more deliberate and deeply held racism there than any other place I've been to and the demonic activity in the populace is widespread, almost traditional among the generations. We did make it through thankfully--me with the Master of Arts/thesis and admission to the PhD program under Dr. Porter, and my Beautiful Bride having successfully transitioned from Walmart to the Bank industry.
My research has turned heartily to that of sociolinguistics. I do believe this is a severely undernourished area of research in NT studies--viewing how the language functioned in the first century church. Viewing how it functions in the church through time as a whole is another whole can o' worms that would also need unpacking. I know this can lead to fellowship research opportunities and publications. I just need much prayer, opportunity, and resourcing. Of all things, I think that has turned to more my goal than anything--more and more my heart turns toward research. Particularly fellowship opportunities. Hmm. I read about guys like EP Sanders who spent much of his whole life in deep research, and guys like DA Carson who have their entire careers based in a "research professor" position and I strongly and persistently pray for that situation in my life. What a peaceful life it would be to research. To stew in my own track of thoughts without the need to constantly explain myself, to come out with research that changes the way we look at and understand the materials of the NT. I do pray for that.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Friday, April 13, 2012
I'm learning more about this issue of anti-language the more I read into the New Testament and its scholarship. All of the facets of this issue are mentioned time and again but are never spoken of explicitly in the terms "anti-language" and that's what makes it such a great study. I can see why Sheffield U. approved of this topic so eagerly.
Just dug into Matthew's gospel and the issues it brings along with the term "Rabbi." Now, one would think with the mass of scholarship out there that affirms the Jewish nature of the Gospel material through this gospel that the term "rabbi" would be viewed in a positive light, but when we look at Matthew's material, however, we find a very different notion indeed, and one, I might say, in perfect accord with the redefining nature of anti-language.
First, in all the spots where Jesus is spoken of as "teaching the people," activity specifically assigned to rabbis in the NT period with the Jewish people in the synagogues, Jesus is spoken of as associating it directly with the issue of miracles, and healings. This activity anti-linguistically redefines the essence of what it meant to be a Jewish teacher, rabbi, of his day. In the one spot where it says Jesus "could not perform might acts," (in his home town) the area is described as one which would not receive his teaching. So even the miraculous, therapeutic nature of Christ is spoken of as being limited by the receptivity of his teachings. Then comes the term "rabbi".
First, rabbi's are not painted in a positive light in the gospel. Redefining the cultural impact of the word from one of esteem, to one of disdain. The very qualities that established the term with esteem are redefined according to Christ's values: They are spoken of as outside of Jesus' movement, people who love the limelight (not a positive trait for Matthew's picture of a Christian), who are whitewashed tombs full of dead bodies inwardly. Though they look, and speak with appeal and eloquence, Jesus is recorded as deriding them for these very qualities. Jesus is quoted as not allowing the disciples to call anyone "rabbi," as they have one teacher, "the Christ". So the term is not held in a positive regard according to Matthew's gospel. The term disappears from the narrative until Jesus returns to Jerusalem, where the mainstay of his opposition awaits.
It is here that Jesus' reference as "rabbi" meets its anti-linguistic point of climactic irony, with the most references in the Gospel material to this term being here. The Jewish leaders refer to him as "rabbi", the crowds refer to him with it, and lastly, Judas himself is spoken of as identifying Jesus as "rabbi" (probably to alert the authorities which one to arrest). Jesus, however, takes for himself the term "didaskolos" another term for "teacher," but with little cultural equivalence amongst the Jewish people and traditions. Jesus is being called the very thing he has stood against all along, sought to redefine, and keep his movement from using according to Matthew's gospel.
Anti-language is a sub-culture within a culture that seeks to offer merely and solely a deliberate alternative to the main culture under which it operates. It is not a stand-alone entity. It seeks to redefine, recontextualize, and metaphorically utilize the resources currently in place according to the movement it attempts to offer. This was the modus operandi of Christianity which had begun in the first century and has continued to this very day. The way new groups legitimize themselves within Christianity, they seek to justify their movement as being the "true" Christianity by doing the very thing Jesus did--redefine, recontextualize certain key elements of the current culture that they believe need readjustment according to "the will of God." This has been the source of "revival" movements since the beginning and has kept Christianity fresh and self-examining since its inception--socio-religious anti-language.
Just dug into Matthew's gospel and the issues it brings along with the term "Rabbi." Now, one would think with the mass of scholarship out there that affirms the Jewish nature of the Gospel material through this gospel that the term "rabbi" would be viewed in a positive light, but when we look at Matthew's material, however, we find a very different notion indeed, and one, I might say, in perfect accord with the redefining nature of anti-language.
First, in all the spots where Jesus is spoken of as "teaching the people," activity specifically assigned to rabbis in the NT period with the Jewish people in the synagogues, Jesus is spoken of as associating it directly with the issue of miracles, and healings. This activity anti-linguistically redefines the essence of what it meant to be a Jewish teacher, rabbi, of his day. In the one spot where it says Jesus "could not perform might acts," (in his home town) the area is described as one which would not receive his teaching. So even the miraculous, therapeutic nature of Christ is spoken of as being limited by the receptivity of his teachings. Then comes the term "rabbi".
First, rabbi's are not painted in a positive light in the gospel. Redefining the cultural impact of the word from one of esteem, to one of disdain. The very qualities that established the term with esteem are redefined according to Christ's values: They are spoken of as outside of Jesus' movement, people who love the limelight (not a positive trait for Matthew's picture of a Christian), who are whitewashed tombs full of dead bodies inwardly. Though they look, and speak with appeal and eloquence, Jesus is recorded as deriding them for these very qualities. Jesus is quoted as not allowing the disciples to call anyone "rabbi," as they have one teacher, "the Christ". So the term is not held in a positive regard according to Matthew's gospel. The term disappears from the narrative until Jesus returns to Jerusalem, where the mainstay of his opposition awaits.
It is here that Jesus' reference as "rabbi" meets its anti-linguistic point of climactic irony, with the most references in the Gospel material to this term being here. The Jewish leaders refer to him as "rabbi", the crowds refer to him with it, and lastly, Judas himself is spoken of as identifying Jesus as "rabbi" (probably to alert the authorities which one to arrest). Jesus, however, takes for himself the term "didaskolos" another term for "teacher," but with little cultural equivalence amongst the Jewish people and traditions. Jesus is being called the very thing he has stood against all along, sought to redefine, and keep his movement from using according to Matthew's gospel.
Anti-language is a sub-culture within a culture that seeks to offer merely and solely a deliberate alternative to the main culture under which it operates. It is not a stand-alone entity. It seeks to redefine, recontextualize, and metaphorically utilize the resources currently in place according to the movement it attempts to offer. This was the modus operandi of Christianity which had begun in the first century and has continued to this very day. The way new groups legitimize themselves within Christianity, they seek to justify their movement as being the "true" Christianity by doing the very thing Jesus did--redefine, recontextualize certain key elements of the current culture that they believe need readjustment according to "the will of God." This has been the source of "revival" movements since the beginning and has kept Christianity fresh and self-examining since its inception--socio-religious anti-language.
Monday, April 9, 2012
I think I finally figured out the foundation of my struggles with people--"do not cast your pearls to swine." The fact is, I never knew what those pearls actually were that were getting me "torn into pieces" occupationally, personally, and socially and I finally found it today--the act of prioritizing the truth over all.
Yes, its true, I have always struggled with the idea that people do not want truth. Only because I have finally come to realize why--because they are trained from the very beginning to prioritize anything else to make it in this world. It's true, there are usually only two prioritized entries in any person's mind --truth, and anything else-- and I have to tell you that truth does not usually make it to the top of the list.
Why? simple--cause truth is not convenient, it calls us to submit to it; also truth is not rewarding (in earthly terms) cause it can't pay you like lies can; also its not friendly, cause most people reject it for their own opinions. So from the very beginning the world trains us to put truth on the back burner while we go through the rest of our lives, making money, paying bills, getting along with the boss, getting a raise, moving up the ladder, getting a house, putting food on the table, feeding the kids, then going to sleep and having to do it over again the next day. Truth is abrasive in relationships, truth catches those who lie and casts them down, truth can't stand ignorant opinions, truth doesn't have a stomach for people being obsessed about themselves, or trashing other people in their time of need. We just simply don't have the time for this superfluous thing called truth. We simply have no use for it in our world. Unless we want to suffer.
Clearly no one would suffer for truth. That's selfish. That's self-centered. That's egoistic. If all you care about is revealing truth to people you will need a defense from their faulty logic, you will need to do your homework on their bad evidence, you will have to call them on their selfish motives, and no one can live like that, barring a sheer act of God.
That just it--an act of God. Being born from above means you can only prioritize truth because you know that people's lives depend on it. When God is born in you, revealing the truth becomes self-centered not because you receive anything from it, but simply because its intrinsically rewarding to reveal it to people. Jesus told us the truth will set us free and then he died on a cross. Truth was not "anything else" to him, it was everything.
So, the real struggle then, the true foundation of it all, is the fact that the Spirit of God has infused my volitional faculties with the desire to prioritize the truth above all. I have not hesitated to do this and simultaneously have not stopped suffering for it. But I have seen those lives who have been changed for the better, forever. That's true treasure in heaven. That at least is encouraging.
Yes, its true, I have always struggled with the idea that people do not want truth. Only because I have finally come to realize why--because they are trained from the very beginning to prioritize anything else to make it in this world. It's true, there are usually only two prioritized entries in any person's mind --truth, and anything else-- and I have to tell you that truth does not usually make it to the top of the list.
Why? simple--cause truth is not convenient, it calls us to submit to it; also truth is not rewarding (in earthly terms) cause it can't pay you like lies can; also its not friendly, cause most people reject it for their own opinions. So from the very beginning the world trains us to put truth on the back burner while we go through the rest of our lives, making money, paying bills, getting along with the boss, getting a raise, moving up the ladder, getting a house, putting food on the table, feeding the kids, then going to sleep and having to do it over again the next day. Truth is abrasive in relationships, truth catches those who lie and casts them down, truth can't stand ignorant opinions, truth doesn't have a stomach for people being obsessed about themselves, or trashing other people in their time of need. We just simply don't have the time for this superfluous thing called truth. We simply have no use for it in our world. Unless we want to suffer.
Clearly no one would suffer for truth. That's selfish. That's self-centered. That's egoistic. If all you care about is revealing truth to people you will need a defense from their faulty logic, you will need to do your homework on their bad evidence, you will have to call them on their selfish motives, and no one can live like that, barring a sheer act of God.
That just it--an act of God. Being born from above means you can only prioritize truth because you know that people's lives depend on it. When God is born in you, revealing the truth becomes self-centered not because you receive anything from it, but simply because its intrinsically rewarding to reveal it to people. Jesus told us the truth will set us free and then he died on a cross. Truth was not "anything else" to him, it was everything.
So, the real struggle then, the true foundation of it all, is the fact that the Spirit of God has infused my volitional faculties with the desire to prioritize the truth above all. I have not hesitated to do this and simultaneously have not stopped suffering for it. But I have seen those lives who have been changed for the better, forever. That's true treasure in heaven. That at least is encouraging.
Friday, March 23, 2012
WISDOM--THAT MASTERY FROM THE ALMIGHTY
I have always prayed for wisdom. I have always desired to be successful and generous. I have never been able to connect faith with wisdom and success in a way that felt genuine, Scriptural, and in accord with the Spirit of God however, until today.
There has been much prayer on this topic of "success" in my life and I have always known that wisdom was the intimate connection to it but I could never find that connection--I could never seem to clearly see the "why" of that connection, until I received it today. Boy was it a powerful summons, a calling to finally place into full-force the abilities and talents that I have been wired with. Powerful. And it gives me nothing but eager anticipation to make it come to pass, truly feeling, finally, that direct commissioning of God's Holy Spirit to actually be "sent" to accomplish this, for the benefit of all.
The key concept that connected "success" I have found is antithetical to the easy-gospel, prosperity preachers whose message is simply that "God desires everyone to be successful" which, as anyone with 5 seconds of Biblical education knows, is simply a euphemism for "Follow me and God will make you rich" which I have NEVER sat well with because I know it not to be a simple truth which applies to everyone. But, the glorious riches of Jesus Christ have been revealed today--that connecting link between faith and wisdom and success that falls into full accord with the Biblical message from front to back, it falls in line with the Gospel message, it falls in perfect accord with the message and example of Jesus Christ as he walked this earth and commissioned his people to do "greater things than these". That piece of wisdom is this--
** A Mastery of the Elements of the Earth **
My heart rose up in me when I heard this phrase. My volitional faculties emblazoned with unquenchable flame when I heard this phrase. My mind instantly set to work on the countless means through which I might accomplish this. Ohh, how my blood races within me to make it so. When I think of this phrase, the prophets of old come to mind--Abraham, Joseph, Job, when my mind settles to germinate this glorious seed of the tree of life, with full understanding and feeling abounding I know I am commissioned for this duty.
I think of the Edenic period, when God commissioned Adam to go and "subdue and fill the earth" it was therein the angels rebelled. Cause the angels had be set in charge of those very elements of which the earth God had made. In essence, God was saying, "Go and rule over the angels of whom I have set forth to be your ministers." Was this not the essence of the enemy's pride? That he simply refused to serve a younger, less powerful being of God's creation? Was this not the reason so many of those in the heavens agreed with him to abandon their heavenly court and seek to subdue mankind?
Indeed it was. This was why Christ had to come in human form: to redeem the original blessing of authority conferred upon the sons of men to have the earth as their very own. Christ, as Son of God had the immutable power and authority over which these fallen spirits could not prove the victors. But also Christ, as Son of man, brought back the authority proper to the dignity from which man had fallen--a mastery of the elements of the earth. This is wisdom, and hence, Christ also represented the embodiment of this wisdom, for there was nothing he did that he could not master, and there was nothing that could master him, even death itself. That was the true motivation for his miracles--just another demonstration of the mastery of the elements of the earth. His wisdom spoke into them an omnipotent movement against which neither land, nor sea, nor demon had the power or ability to resist. The Words of Christ represent the current, the outflow, of the Spirit in auditory form. An ability conferred onto those who accept the wisdom to master the elements of the earth, to subdue its thrashings, to hedge-in its wanderings, to restore the boundaries of the wisdom of God upon whatever be commanded.
Thank you God of heaven and earth, you have shown me the wisdom my heart can thrive in, can excel in permanently, can simply accept in the parameters of my faith in the Son of God, God of God, Jesus Christ. I set out for such as this, equip me, train me, and make me into that Son of God, Master of the Elements of the Earth which you have created me, nay, destined me to become. Amen.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
I love the material I'm studying, but sometimes I really feel like I'm some kind of scholastic hermit. I learn all this wonderful material--conversation analysis, variation analysis, Markedness theory, studies in verbal aspect of the Greek NT, Speech Act theory, and many others--and I just feel that no one in the field of Biblical studies has any amount of appreciation for this type of material toward the NT because their agenda is to engrained and embedded within traditional scholarship on the issues.
I have to let out my growing disdain for theological studies of the NT when we are using that material to explain the NT Greek. That just has really grown to chafe my hide as I come to other approaches of linguistic study and find that many views are untenable according to the language of Scripture. At the same time, I can begin to see what the Apostle Paul talks about to Timothy that if he engrosses himself in the Scriptures then he will stay firmly established in the traditions that Paul taught him and trained in him to carry on to other generations.
I look forward to the days ahead, not knowing what they have in store, but a quiet confidence remains.
I have to let out my growing disdain for theological studies of the NT when we are using that material to explain the NT Greek. That just has really grown to chafe my hide as I come to other approaches of linguistic study and find that many views are untenable according to the language of Scripture. At the same time, I can begin to see what the Apostle Paul talks about to Timothy that if he engrosses himself in the Scriptures then he will stay firmly established in the traditions that Paul taught him and trained in him to carry on to other generations.
I look forward to the days ahead, not knowing what they have in store, but a quiet confidence remains.
Friday, March 2, 2012
I watch the stories of those who succeed, and I see truly the words of Jesus are real: the greatest needs to be servant of all, OF ALL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVLm9ZUCJns&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL84gvKWrEc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_P3Hrq7UMw
These people (mostly children) just want to offer their best. Those who are remembered the most, the most vividly, with the memories that remain the cherished above all, are those who simply offer what God has given them to serve the greatest amount or quantity of people as much as they can. Is this not the reason our children are becoming major stars on stage and screen? Is this not the words of Jesus coming to life in the lives of our children and communities? God is using the simplicity of a child's purity and uninhibited service-oriented performance for excellence to shame the self-centered, disgusting greed of their elders. Truly, this is the fulfillment of those who gave their talents to "the money changers" in order to reap the most interest of their talent back to God. I see these are intimately connected, service is the key.
Therein lies the key to life that so many have discovered, but so many more do not understand. Therein is the true open door for all to take that many will never understand. Therein is the true wisdom and protection of the Lord for everyone who offers their lives up to this cause: just simply give what you have back to humanity. Was that not the actions of Jesus himself? Was that not at the end of the day what all others have done in the past? The longstanding heretidge of the great people of the past? Nothing can bring a larger blessing than the offering of our talents, and that is the real issue--our TRUE talents. We can never hope to serve in a capacity that God has not blessed for us to do. We can never be someone or do something that is obviously not the way we are wired, the part of our very nature that has been set in place for the service that it was meant for, just as a tree is planted by God by the river to shade, and protect those near it, to feed and be fed from the river by which it was planted. So too, are we in the place where the Almighty has planted us.
In this, all He simply desires from us is to produce the fruit we were meant to create and to offer it to the world's people, so that they all might share in and enjoy, and spread the good fruit which he has designed us to make, and create, in service to all. That, coincidentally, is also the nature of sin--to disqualify us from the prize of this service, to waste our time, effort, resources, and talent on a worthless, serviceless, self-absorbed activity that has no lasting, growing, joyful fruit. Service to others with who and what we are is the true answer. Hence James challenges us with his poignant admonition: if you know the good you ought to do, and do not do it, you sin; from which the words and example of Jesus save us once again: I have not come to be served but to serve and to give my life. . . Amen Lord Jesus, come, and fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may live this unshakable wisdom you have predestined me to live, that all may share in the blessing!
Lord, I am ready now: let me serve; let me offer my life in the talents you have given for others' fruitfullness! Amen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVLm9ZUCJns&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL84gvKWrEc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_P3Hrq7UMw
These people (mostly children) just want to offer their best. Those who are remembered the most, the most vividly, with the memories that remain the cherished above all, are those who simply offer what God has given them to serve the greatest amount or quantity of people as much as they can. Is this not the reason our children are becoming major stars on stage and screen? Is this not the words of Jesus coming to life in the lives of our children and communities? God is using the simplicity of a child's purity and uninhibited service-oriented performance for excellence to shame the self-centered, disgusting greed of their elders. Truly, this is the fulfillment of those who gave their talents to "the money changers" in order to reap the most interest of their talent back to God. I see these are intimately connected, service is the key.
Therein lies the key to life that so many have discovered, but so many more do not understand. Therein is the true open door for all to take that many will never understand. Therein is the true wisdom and protection of the Lord for everyone who offers their lives up to this cause: just simply give what you have back to humanity. Was that not the actions of Jesus himself? Was that not at the end of the day what all others have done in the past? The longstanding heretidge of the great people of the past? Nothing can bring a larger blessing than the offering of our talents, and that is the real issue--our TRUE talents. We can never hope to serve in a capacity that God has not blessed for us to do. We can never be someone or do something that is obviously not the way we are wired, the part of our very nature that has been set in place for the service that it was meant for, just as a tree is planted by God by the river to shade, and protect those near it, to feed and be fed from the river by which it was planted. So too, are we in the place where the Almighty has planted us.
In this, all He simply desires from us is to produce the fruit we were meant to create and to offer it to the world's people, so that they all might share in and enjoy, and spread the good fruit which he has designed us to make, and create, in service to all. That, coincidentally, is also the nature of sin--to disqualify us from the prize of this service, to waste our time, effort, resources, and talent on a worthless, serviceless, self-absorbed activity that has no lasting, growing, joyful fruit. Service to others with who and what we are is the true answer. Hence James challenges us with his poignant admonition: if you know the good you ought to do, and do not do it, you sin; from which the words and example of Jesus save us once again: I have not come to be served but to serve and to give my life. . . Amen Lord Jesus, come, and fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may live this unshakable wisdom you have predestined me to live, that all may share in the blessing!
Lord, I am ready now: let me serve; let me offer my life in the talents you have given for others' fruitfullness! Amen.
My heart has simply been given over to deeper study of the Scriptures linguistically on a doctoral level. New and improved means of linguistic study are being revealed everyday. There seems no end to the level of understanding that can be gained in this regard: pragmatics, semantics, optalmics, sociolinguistics, rhetorics, the list goes on and on. I sense that God has for me now an intense time of study, prayer, and mental visualization to receive by faith the program that he has for me.
In this consideration, I have sought MacDiv, Dallas, 5 colleges in MA, Georgetown, Wisconson U., certainly Oxford, Edinborough, and many others. I feel lost in this regard. Therefore, I will move forward with my Chaplain career and wait on God's movement to direct me in the Holy Spirit.
My prayer is that I could move forward into the right program that would become the most productive for the talents that I am wired with that could put them to use and produce the best material in scholarship that I can offer and shake up the world with new insights the change the course of studying the Scriptures. I model after what EP Sanders has done with Pauline studies: exposing the tradition for what it is, a tradition, and getting back to the source itself to reveal to audiences the original intent of the author. I know I am meant for this. I just need the outlet. Linguistic studies of the NT Greek material is certainly shaking up the scholarship here at Regent U. Logos Digital Libraries are certainly making that exposure happen on a grandeur scale.
In this consideration, I have sought MacDiv, Dallas, 5 colleges in MA, Georgetown, Wisconson U., certainly Oxford, Edinborough, and many others. I feel lost in this regard. Therefore, I will move forward with my Chaplain career and wait on God's movement to direct me in the Holy Spirit.
My prayer is that I could move forward into the right program that would become the most productive for the talents that I am wired with that could put them to use and produce the best material in scholarship that I can offer and shake up the world with new insights the change the course of studying the Scriptures. I model after what EP Sanders has done with Pauline studies: exposing the tradition for what it is, a tradition, and getting back to the source itself to reveal to audiences the original intent of the author. I know I am meant for this. I just need the outlet. Linguistic studies of the NT Greek material is certainly shaking up the scholarship here at Regent U. Logos Digital Libraries are certainly making that exposure happen on a grandeur scale.
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