I have been working the last two days trying to figure out how to put "static" information pages on Blogger which doesn't have such a widget or capability. It has meant study of html code and reading a series of posts on techno blogs and hours of tearing my hair out (okay, I'm not bald yet). But it has been achieved at least in a useable format although I am sorry to say that it is not pretty. Creating pretty picture tabs was just too much for me.
I promise to get back to posting real content, although it will continue to be slow over the rest of the summer. My little boy Alexander is starting Kindergarten, and so I want to give him some real home summer time during the month of August before he starts into the public school system. I will post sporadically, and will be tweaking the look of my blog in the meantime.
I am still considering whether to continue the Creating Jesus series, so if this is something you want me to do, please leave a comment.
11 comments:
"I am still considering whether to continue the Creating Jesus series, so if this is something you want me to do, please leave a comment."
Yes, please!
I'm a frequent reader and I'd just like to take this opportunity to say that I think the Jesus series is fantastic and I encourage you to continue with it.
If you ever feel you need some outside assistance on your site, I'd be more than happy to give you a hand (I'm a web designer at a certain ivy).
Thanks jed, I might pop you an email in the future!
I'm a member of the Christian Alumni Association and I appreciate the insight and wit of your Creating Jesus series.
Yes please continue your series on "Creating Jesus". Your discussion and thoughts have given me a lot to ponder on in my personel study of the Bible and near east early non-canonical christian documents. I enjoy reading your insights on the early church communities, along with the Gospel of Thomas.
Please do keep going with the Creating Jesus series. I have recommended it to a number of colleagues, friends, and former and present congregants.
Pax, C.
Dear April,
If you could decide to continue the series I would be very very glad. Reason: I personally experience your series as of irreplaceable value for my current insight in the history of "christology" as produced and experienced by related but different strands of hellenizing jews and in later phases also of spiritually varied non-jews (with interesting effects from these building blocks for a not yet existing [thus new] new religion which in the end interpreted the results as "more than jewish" material, and also included much non-jewish building blocks and frames of reference). Off course your series is "first-hand", and in the river of new studies and findings in this field nothing is more valuable than these fresh insights (based on thorough i.e. methodologically as unflawed research as possible).
But then: if you continue the series, perhaps you could now and then give also some hints as to which literature is on the same track as you are. I for me am not at all a specialist but value (apart from your school) the works of Burton Mack, George Nicklesburg, Gabriele Boccaccini because they combine (as far as I can see) thorough knowledge of - basic - history and literature in their right contexts with posing good - or anyway interesting - questions and hypotheses. And as I only know so little, your hints to reliable books or literature could be extremely valuable to the large audience which reads your blog with heavy interest and even sometimes reacts with very interesting comments (thank you all!).
In the end I would like to know in which order which motifs were used or expressly not used by which groups to express which "experienced situations" and how these usages evolved in different gruops in different geographical areas during what Boccaccini calls the period of Middle Judaism and what since long is called the Hellenistic era. So that in the end we can understand a little more not only of the related origins and development of rabbinical judaism and hellenistic christianity, but also of their exclusive and/or inclusive use of sources, traditions, interpretations, motives etc.
And in the first place: why was the choice of "Christology" as principal subject of such enormous importance for these groups in that age?! And what unite and how differ the christologies already early and how influenced this the course of religious history? And what happened with the groups with different or rather low or non-existent "christologies", as well as (or including) the ethnically jewish followers of Jesus and the non-greek speeking ones? (Already to many new questions, I apologize).
Perhaps this was not the interest of those who belonged to those religious groups at those times, but for us it seems we still can learn a lot from sound historical study about them.
Thanks so much for your blog, not just on this topic!
Boudewijn
I've been following your blog as an Asian Religionist, but with students who need access to the kind of straight forward, not-too-technical, succinct approach that you present in this series. I certainly appreciate this series, because now I have a place to point them (and myself) as we want to learn more but don't have time to delve into more specialized materials on the issue of early Christianity. Please continue your Creating Jesus series as you have time. Also, if you could post a reasonable bibliography for non-specialists, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Hello April, I just discovered your blog and have some catching up to do in terms of reading. I have been interested in early Christianity for nearly 3 years, and find the conventional church has divorced itself in its worship and theology from its cultural heritage in Judaism. The creeds make little to no mention of the Jewishness of Jesus, the hymns do not make mention of either shared lyric or melody with sacred songs within Judaism, and most have an us versus them mentality when it comes to salvation provided for all peoples. I will be back to visit your blog when time permits, thanks. Mellow Roc My blog is http://graftedinandonthejourney.blogspot.com
Oh and I'm looking forward to more on the Gnostic trajectories too!
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