Nearing a Quarter's End

The end of the quarter is fast approaching, so my thoughts are turning to summer. I hope to get more time with Erin and Jacoby, and I hope to get some reading done. It's been a long year! It feels like I'm finishing really late in the year, but I guess I'm still used to the semester system.

I don't have much else to say at the moment. My last paper is due this coming Friday, and my biggest one is due Tuesday.

I hope to post something more substantial soon! (Jacoby began eating with a spoon tonight!)

Justin

For Paul, Did Christ Die "as a Gift"?

My latest paper concerns Galatians 2:21.

"For if justice comes through the Torah, then Christ died 'as a gift.'"

Paul uses the most interesting Greek word here: δωρεάν. The word means "as a gift" almost everywhere else in the NT, but translators and interpreters have preferred to translate the word here as "in vain" (a meaning attested nowhere else in Greek literature). They do this in spite of the fact that Paul regularly uses other words to mean "in vain." My paper is arguing that the word δωρεάν should be read "in the manner of a gift, i.e. without providing compensation" (or something close to this). (Romans 3:24 also plays a role in my paper.)

I'm slogging my way through the paper at a snail's pace, but I hope the pace will pick up tonight now that I feel like I'm on to something. I've only found a few commentators who seriously deal with the issue.

I better keep my shoulder to the wheel!

Justin

Most Unique Word of Jacoby's Vocabulary

Today Jacoby added "bogie" to his vocabulary. Jacoby was not referring to a bogey in golf, however. He was referring to this sort of bogie. (He found a picture of it in our visual dictionary.) What's next?

Justin

Jacoby's Latest Word

Jacoby began to say "taxi" today. (It sounds a little like Ahi [the tuna].) It took me a while to figure out what he was saying. When I finally opened his picture word book (which we were looking at together this morning), he pointed to the taxi and said quite clearly "Ahi." He continues to try out new words all the time now. Fun!

Justin

An Evangelical Manifesto 2

Martin Marty has weighed in on the matter.

Justin

An Evangelical Manifesto

Reviews of the recently released "Evangelical Manifesto" (here is the abbreviated version) have been mixed. For those who have not yet heard, numerous notable evangelicals of many theological stripes (check the list; you may be surprised!) issued the Manifesto in an attempt to depoliticize Evangelicalism. The Manifesto states, "We Evangelicals see it our duty to engage with politics, but our equal duty never to be completely equated with any party, partisan ideology, or nationality. The politicization of faith is never a sign of strength but of weakness." The document claims elsewhere that Evangelicals have often become "'useful idiots' for one political party or another."

I was surprised by some of the names on the list. Even conservatives such as Kay Arthur, Jack Hayford, and some from Dallas Theological Seminary signed the document. The variety of signatories on the list surprised me. I'll admit that I have not yet read the entire Manifesto, but it may be a step in the right direction for the Evangelical movement. The weakness of the document, however, is its quest for the via media. Based on my quick perusal, the document fails to propose the best way for Evangelicals to move forward.

Justin

French Exam Results

J'ai réussi à mon examen!

Justin