I’ve just begun (re)reading Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Truth is, I don’t remember ever reading the whole thing through before. Snippets here and there for lit classes over the years but never from the beginning to the end. What a ride it is! And to think that Milton wrote it blind. Contemplate that, for a minute. […]
Paradise Lost… in the Beginning Read More »
Modern believers are frequently encouraged to treat their Bible’s with a little less care. Use it! read it! don’t worry about marking it up, dog-earing pages, or wearing it ragged, they’re advised. A tired-looking Bible is a good sign. Its user is, well, using it. Sometimes, though, the thing itself, that particular copy, really matters.
Not Just What’s Inside Read More »
Countless visual representations of the Garden of Eden creation story narrated in Genesis chaps 2-3 depict a crisp apple as the downfall of Adam and Eve. Yet the original Hebrew reads simply “fruit.” Without knowing that, we English speakers (and readers) can be excused for assuming that it was specifically an apple such as a Gala
Now that’s one bad apple Read More »
As I work my way through the Buffy tv series (“work” is too severe a word here — I’m having a blast), I’m struck by how bilbical themes, language, and images lend themselves to the science fiction imagination. This isn’t earth-shattering news, I know. What’s striking is how the Bible is translated into this medium. Appreciating the wild and wacky
I happen to agree with Thomas Jefferson’s assertion that “the Bible is the cornerstone of liberty…students’ perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands,” but I doubt I’ve taken the same logic to arrive at that conclusion… or maybe even mean the same thing by it. (Oh, and one obvious caveat: I
“The Cornerstone of Liberty” ? Read More »
Halloween, when ghosts, demons, and (judging from my neighborhood anyway) a lot of pirates walk the streets unrestrained and with an insatiable sweet tooth. All Hallows Eve (Halloween) inaugurates the celebration of All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), which commemorates the especially righteous dead who are privileged in heaven to behold God immediately (an idea developed out of biblical
On Halloween, Do Demons Really Come out to Play? Read More »
I just finished an interpretive translation of the biblical book of Numbers for “The Voice,” a multi-volume project to which many extraordinary Christian writers have contributed. I’m honored to be in their company. Numbers is a funny book — one minute you can be slogging through mind-numbing details of genealogies or ritual details and the next you’re
An Unsentimental Text Read More »
I am finally following Donna Freitas‘ enthusiastic recommendation to watch old episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Hey, just because it’s research doesn’t mean it has to be dull. As I investigate how the Bible portrays supernatural beings and places and how that portrayal has influenced pop ideas about evil personified, angels, the undead, heaven,
Buffy, Vampires, and Co-opting Bible Lingo Read More »
I had the great good fortune to read a couple of new Bible translations and communicate, albeit briefly, with their creators for an article that will appear in Publishers Weekly Religion BookLine (10/28). In both cases, the translators are poets in their own right. Not only that, but both have worked for decades with these
Anyone’s who’s read through the book of Genesis, from The Beginning to its portentous end in Egypt, knows that it’s pretty darn graphic — horny gods mate with human women, men try to rape angels, there’s fratricide and the near murder of a boy by his father (commanded by God, no less), a daughter-in-law rights wrongs by seducing her errant
