Enigma

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
If we endure, we will also reign with him;
If we deny him, he will also deny us;
If we are faithless, he remains faithful -
For he cannot deny himself.

how........

The calm before the storm

Life is once again calm. I finished my paper for my Monday due date. I spent my whole last weekend grinding away on this paper. I think it's of my weaker papers; the argumentation wasn't as tight as I wanted it to be. And of all the papers I've writtin for religious studies, I was the least confident about my thesis (and the warrant for it). I wish I had managed my time better and had read a wider selection of literature (primary sources, especially). But whatever, its done. And its only a second year term paper, I don't think anyone expects the confidence and wide base of a thesis paper. Maybe I'll post some of the paper up one day, in case anyone is interested.

Whats more, my wonderful little gnome is at level 41. I love having a mount, but man - it looks like a giant mechanical turkey..ugh. The guys and I also started our horde characters. We're just waiting for a certain someone to go and buy the game! (name withheld for security reasons)

I've also set my quit day for the bank. April 23rd is gonna be my last day as a teller, a sad day in history, but I really don't want to have a job during summer session. Not again, not this year. Last summer was hell for me; I won't go through that again. I want to actually HAVE a summer, however limited it may be.

And lastly, term is coming to the last pull before exams. I'm behind in readings, behind in understanding, and just, well, plain behind. But it's still calm. No major exams or papers left. Nothing but finals stand between me and 2 weeks of summer break.

Till the next post.
Peace be with you all.

Term Paper Freewrite

My stack of books for my term paper keeps getting higher and higher. I've settled on writing about Jesus compared with miracle-workers of his day. Primary texts: NRSV Bible, Greek NT, Hebrew (Masoretic) OT, Philostratus' Life of Apollonius (English and Greek), Dead Sea Scrolls, complete works of Josephus. Secondary texts so far: Tom Wright, Ed Sanders, Ben Meyer, John Meier, A.E. Harvey, Andy Reimer. So much to read. I've spent most the past week reading the secondary texts so I have some understanding of the lay of the land before I go about reading the primary texts in depth.
I take 'hermeneutical spiral of knowledge' model: you start at a point with a preliminary hypothesis; you test the hypothesis (as you go around the spiral); you eventually find yourself in a place similar to where you started, but refined; then you go back with your refined hypothesis. Perhaps I am overly optimistic about the spiral, maybe it really is only a circle--going round and round--or maybe it's a descending spiral going deeper and deeper into the depths of oblivion.
In any case, a preliminary hypothesis is forming in my mind, thus forming my entrance point into the spiral. It seems to me that Jesus' mighty deeds (I avoid the term 'miracle' because of the baggage which the term carries to many modern ears) are inseparable from his message and words. Not only that, his words and deeds are based on an overall aim or intention for his own ministry. Thus, Jesus' mighty deeds can only be understood within the aim of his ministry (vocation?) as a whole.
The past few days I have spent many hours pouring over what the secondary sources have to say about Jesus and the 'Kingdom of God'. This prophetic announcement of the 'Kingdom' is a central component to Jesus' whole ministry. I see a link (along with several of the critics I have read) between the Kingdom of God and Jesus' mighty deeds. One of the major options out there is that Jesus' mighty deeds represent the immanence/presence/realization/inbreaking/prefiguring of the Kingdom of God (I give all those options because they are precisely the point of debate).
Taking this route, other doers of mighty deeds (miracle-workers) would likely look much different. Was Apollonius doing his mighty-deeds as part and parcel of the announcement of the Kingdom of God...highly unlikely. Reading Philostratus will let me see exactly what Apollonius may have been up to, but this much I know - he wasn't a Jewish eschatological prophet.
I am interested in what Josephus and later Rabbinic texts have to say about Jewish miracle-workers contemporary to Jesus. I am interested in seeing if any of them were eschatological in aim.

I miss the old days in high school where the teacher would just give us pen and paper and tell us to just keep writing for half an hour. That is basically what I just did above: a running log of what my mind is racing back and forth over. I welcome any and all comments on what I have presented. I still have plenty of time and much position shifting yet to do.

Ah, and for those who follow, my Mage is now level 35. I have had some fun time in PvP (Player versus Player) as of late. The mage is powerful class when used properly...I've been pleasantly surprised.

And as a last note, congratulations Matt! (If you ever read this, who knows...) I wish you all the best with your doctoral studies, and know that you still remain in my prayers.