It is a pleasure and a surprise to immerse myself again in the community of scholars, pastors, and teachers who post on Biblical things during the month. Studies - my title says. And studiousness is part of it, but I ask myself at the beginning of each month whether my focus will be too narrow or too wide or what will emerge as a theme for the month and so on.
It is a bit like composing. Will this piece be andante, or minimalist, or contrapuntal, or homophonic, and what stray instruments or obligato will emerge during the process.
Some scholarship is long winded, some short. Some takes years to develop, some is twitter like, trying to capture a thought for the ages. One of the books I am currently reading has little if anything to do with Biblical Studies (though not so little as one might think). This is Telling the Time in British Literature, 1675 - 1830 Hours of Folly? by Marcus Tomalin. It is under the banner of British Literature in Context in the Long Eighteenth Century. The words on the cover alone take some reflection. Just what is the Long Eighteenth Century?
We are in some long years at the moment. Perhaps some years last for ever. Perhaps as Herbert reminds us, there is only one day, let alone year, and that one ever. The Tomalin book is a product of years of research stemming from Hazlitt's 'On a Sun-Dial' that Marcus had lectured on in 2012 at the Hazlitt Day School under the title 'Hazlittian Horology'. (Who knew Hazlitt was so important!) The overture-like introduction, like those in many commentaries, has more citations and references than I can count at a glance (just under 100). Yes this is scholarship. And now you know that I know what it is - so I am without excuse.
If I can recognize scholarship, does that give me leave to include in a BS carnival some works that may not be scholarly? This tension is often hard to resolve. Biblical encompasses such a wide area of interest, it is somewhat less focused than horology. But it is difficult to read a truly focused work especially if one might be blinded by the intensity of the lense. Does this mean a carnival will be difficult to read? Perhaps.
A theme is emerging this month - that of tongues. By this I mean languages in general and the problems with converting from one to the other through translation. This theme is always present to some extent in any carnival, but the number of posts this month exceeds the usual. Along with the theme, I divide the carnival as is customary into Tanakh and New Testament. I have let the tongues theme suffer a little incoherence to include everything else that cannot easily fit into TNK or NT 'exclusively'.
For new carnival hosts, structurally, I include also a section on those related to Biblical Studies who die during the month - a short or long In Memoriam section. I am sure I miss some because my reach is not huge and many of the 200+ blogs that I follow are no longer posting much. There is also a final section on upcoming carnivals and a shout out to Phillip Long who manages the BS Carnivals.
Besides the study of the Biblical content, any BS carnival may include books beyond the various canons, subjects like archaeology, music, reception history and theology and any number of what might seem peripheral issues, liturgical calendars, feasts, poetry. It is an inexhaustible list of potential subjects.
Also, a carnival is supposed to be a fun thing. Most of us these days are wondering what that is exactly. In these days of tragedy, threats, lies, and mock trials, tribalism, famine, fraud, and armed violence against humanity on many fronts, it is hard to think about the partying of Purim, or the traditional February carnivals like Mardi Gras, which is today, as it happens.
With words too, we all tend to defend our chosen phrases, our in-group language. What shibboleth will I violate if I am serious, or if I make a joke? Can I even make a joke? Maybe.
Very seriously, I read this morning about 'the word of God', the 'personal knowledge of Jesus Christ', and several other specifics identifying the two. I also read about many other Biblical things. It led me to meditate on a number of issues: formula, pattern memorization (there is a legitimate need here), knowledge of character, revealing of that character in action, illness, kindness, reconciliation, is knowledge only personal, use of power or openness, freedom and criminal behaviour (reflecting another post from today), ultimate conflict, aural and visual approaches to language (reflecting my own difficulty in learning without aural immersion).
Some posts need to be attenuated to give them a necessary foundation, an appeal beyond the reach of mere power or tribe. The post raised this question (and others) for me: to what extent does the character of Yahweh reflect that of Jesus and vice versa, and if so, why do we not see this more clearly. What of such character are we seeing today? And just what do we say with the word Christ in a sentence?
If you have any posts, please let me know. Recommend others or your own. Leave a comment or tweet me @drmacdonald. The carnival is not short of posts even now, but I would welcome finding out about bloggers I have not got on my lists. If you get to this post, please look around. I have been busy this month.
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