Saturday, May 16, 2009

All Aboard the Scholarship

In the past six years I've probably heard about or studied about every fallacy and false claim regarding the bible and academia (going through bible college and then leading a college ministry), especially since most fraudulent views and beliefs are recycled from various 1st century heresies, and nothing is new under the sun. There's a number of people I have heard teach and preach and have drawn from to put together my worldview and understanding of the "big picture" of scripture, and how the bible itself "fits together". A popular and appropriate word for these people is scholars. I consider myself an aspiring scholar. Very transitional :)

But every once in a while, you read something in the Bible that is problematic, or requires exploration, and the scholarly beliefs are pretty unsatisfactory, or downright ridiculous. In my latest Old Testament class studying Job, I came across one such example that has little significance, but is still interesting to me.

In Job 40-41, God describes two of his greatest creatures: Behemoth and Leviathan. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a poem, so it's possible that these are overwhelming examples of hyperbole, but the "scholarly" tradition states that these creatures described correspond to a hippopotamus and an alligator. That sounds absolutely ridiculous to me.

Behemoth is described as eating grass. So far so good. It also describes his strength as being in his loins, or abdomen, and the muscles of his belly, and the manner in which he "bends his tail like a cedar." That is NOT a hippopotamus. Hippos have whispy little tails like eeyore, and their strength is in their jaws. Even if you were embellishing how mighty a hippo is, you'd talk about how fast it is, and how sharp it's teeth are, not it's tail.

The rest talks about how Behemoth is comfortable in just about any climate, again not a hippo. Hippos need water, and are intensly territorial around bodies of water. Sorry folks, I've been 10 feet from a Hippo in a game reserve, but I've never dreamed of a Behemoth. Sounds a bit like those creatures the orcs are riding in Return of the King in the big battle scene.

Leviathan is an even more impressive description, and couldn't possibly be an alligator, not for all the tea in china. It describes the Leviathan's skin as an "outer armor" of "double mail", and the seals which cannot be broken. It also describes it's breath as flashing fire and billowing smoky coals. Some writers envision an alligator spewing forth mist from underwater like a whale's blowhole and the poet interpreting that as smoke. It's a poem, so I guess you can read it that way, but it sounds to me exactly like Smogg from The Hobbit. You can kill an alligator with a hunting knife if she doesn't get you first, but the sword or spear does not avail against Leviathan.

I've never seen anything like what the bible describes, but it doesn't describe anything like what scholars claim, and it seems really weird that they stand by those interpretations. I don't think it's significant at all, but if I can get comfortable enough with Hebrew, I think this would make a fun topic for my ThM thesis in a few years, mostly because of it's lack of significance, and just the thought of writing my graduate thesis on "dragons in the bible". lol.

I can't freaking believe it's May already.

Time is going by so fast. So I'm cooking, drinking energy drinks and contemplating not sleeping. I wish I had started tabulating in college how many 24+ periods I've gone sleepless. It's still one of my most favorite experiences of being. especially right at the 7 in the morning mark. It's like you're seeing the world in a totally different way.

All that to say, I'm feeling a little introspective...mathematically. The last two years has been a roller coaster by the numbers - from May '07 to May '09, I've (deep breath) completed 38 units of seminary, made a fool of myself to not less than (<) 3 girls, gone to Mexico 2wice to build houses, gone to LA 5 times, Spent 28 days in India, completed 1 week visits to New Orleans, Dallas, Little Rock, Akron, Chicago, San Francisco 2wice, lived in 3 different places with 7 different roommates, had 5 different jobs (2 at a time concurrently), applied for 3 different government programs, went to staff 4 summer camps (3 in a row spanning 24 days while living out of a single backpack), been to 9 state parks, 2 national parks, read 2 Jane Austin novels, sustained 1 injury, spent 9 months carless, cried 2 times, went to green festival 2wice, 3 days at bumbershoot, collected 13 tattoos, hiked above 12,000 feet for the second time in my life and been to 3 weddings, 1 funeral & skipped 5 weddings. I think I also had 4 cavities and consequently started flossing more. (all in no particular order).

My life is simply great, and I don't deserve any of it, and am enjoying all of it, even the tough stuff, which really isn't that tough by comparison to pretty much anyone. It's crazy to think about how long and yet how short and fast 2 years has been and can be. Thanks be to God and my prayer for the next two years of hopefully more consistency, and focused progress in seminary.

James 4:14.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

A New Direction

Well, I have decided a number of things in one day.

1) I'll be working at a church in Yakima this summer as a pastoral ministries intern. Essentially I will be taking on a number of responsibilities for the summer ministry of the church, and generally functioning as the head Pastor's right hand man. I think I will learn a lot, and there is a strong emphasis not only on service, but professional development. I'm stoked. I also stumbled across a new insight on my last post regarding me personally.

RE: Ink - Tattoos are personal. they are for the bearer, and no one else really. as such, they are something that you can't look into in a job interview, the same way you can't ask questions about a persons family, race, or hobbies. The textbook answer is "I don't let my personal life effect my performance at work." But in applying for this job at a church, I realize that a church is hiring you FOR your personal life. We look at the paid staff as a necesarry example of living the Christian life. I'm not saying this is always so, or that it should even be the expectation. People are sinners, and I'm not above any sin. But, it is the expectation. And so even if I wore long sleeves to work, the people of the church would still see me at some point, and know that I have tattoos. This might clash with their cultural viewpoint, but is that fair? In any other industry, I would say it isn't fair, or even legal. And the assumption in that last statement is something else I disagree with. The Church isn't or ought not to be an industry, but the way the american church is set up, it looks an awful lot like one. This is an impetous for a completely different post, but a mere side note at present.

2) I'm staying in Washington. I was pretty stoked about Dallas out of the gate after I went to visit. But I believe God has placed a lot of the deciding elements in my life in Tacoma already, and many of the less significant advantages of Dallas have fallen through. So I am excited to continue at Northwest, and begin the core of my M.Div in the fall quarter as a full time seminoid.

3) In addition, the choice of summer employment marks my departure from Crossroads Bible Church (My last Sunday will be June 7th) my home church for the past 10 years and 7 months. Though to be fair I wasn't attending for the 9 months/year during the 4 years of college, and I also missed an entire year while living in Africa, and wasn't attending for the first 3 months of this year, so...that's still almost 6 years of loving my church and thinking of it as my home. It feels like a very appropriate time to move on, and for a very good reason. I hope that I am able to maintain my many friendships with the people there.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

On Ink

Tattoos are one of the more provocative subjects in society these days. Shows like Miami Ink and MTV's Real Life have chronicled the lives of the artists, the tattooed and the regretful. I myself have partaken under the needle, and as a part of the journey I have come to grips with the many varied opinions of the masses regarding tattoos and tattoo culture.

Why get a tattoo? This is often the first question many people have with the presupposition that it is somehow unappealing or shallow. There are many reasons people have for getting a tattoo, but the underlying motive is always for the benefit to the person getting the tattoo. In a non-egotistical way, a persons tattoos are for that person, and if no one else sees them, or appreciates them, they are still worthwhile to the person wearing them. There is a beautiful metaphor in the tattoo process. When you get something tattooed, there's a physical and meta-physical way in which that thing represented in the tattoo becomes a part of you. And even tattoos without as much significance at conception become significant as they become part of your life. It's also a great ice breaker, and fun to talk about (definitely not the primary reason for getting a tattoo). People are curious about the stories behind tattoos, or find it common ground.

People often say that tattoos are addictive, and there are many reasons that this is so. A tattoo is relatively inexpensive compared to some addictions, it's beautiful artwork, it lasts forever, and it's usually intensely personal. After you get a tattoo, you experience one of two sensations: 1) A massive endorphin rush and the feeling of being the coolest person in the world. 2) A slowly mounting wave of regret combined with a make-do attitude. I've never experienced the latter, though I know people who have.

There are 3 main objections people have regarding tattoos. 1) They are old school (or maybe just old) and consider a tattoo a sign of rebellion. For them, only sailors, bikers and convicts get tattoos, and not their little girl or boy. Culturally this just isn't the case and hasn't been for most of the past two decades. 2) They are religious and genuinely believe their religious text forbids it. For more on this, check out ReligiousTattoos.net. Essentially, the only verses forbidding tattoo-ish sounding practices are found in Leviticus, which is ancient Israel's national constitution, and not legally binding for Christians. There are also a lot of other practices in Leviticus that no one upholds. For example, if you get mold in your shower, you have to replace your shower. That doesn't negate some of the principles found in it, but it does negate any type of strict 1 to 1 correspondence with levitical law and the practice of the Christian life. 3) They simply look at the practice as culturally absurd, and unwise. And depending on what you are going to do in your life, it is. I wouldn't reccomend getting tattoos on an area of your body that can't be concealed by professional atire. Certain jobs are out of the question if you have tattoos on the neck, hands, or even arms if you're required to wear short sleeves as part of your uniform (depending on the season, you might not be very comfortable in long sleeves). but even this trend, apart from military or civil service, is starting to change as tattoos become more and more common in our culture.

A fourth objection is often voiced by the potential bearer of a tattoo before they get it. If you think this about a tattoo you are considering, I would strongly advise against it. 4) Won't it eventually look like those military veteran's tattoos, all shriveled and green, or do I really want a big dark tattoo on my back when I'm wearing my wedding dress? Questioning the aesthetic of a tattoo is probably a bad omen for your reception of such a tattoo.

I usually respond that if that's how you think of tattoos, I don't think you should get one, because eventually you will find reason to regret having it, but in answer to the question: A) When you're as old as those veterans, you probably won't look that great, tattoos or not. The reason theirs have faded is because of UV exposure and lack of care. If you wear sunscreen, get your tattoo touched up every few years, and generally maintain it, it should still look great after 30+ years. Colors will fade more than black as well. B) If you don't think it looks great enough to show to other people, and that concerns you, maybe you should reexamine your reason for getting one in the first place. It's a non-issue for me since I'll have the option of wearing long sleeves should I ever get married, but if I did have an informal wedding, I would love wearing short sleeves, cause I think my tattoos are beautiful, and I like them a lot. They are 100% enhancement as far as aesthetic goes.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Update

Okay, So with more free time then ever before, I still have had little motivation to start blogging, but I had an epiphany while sitting in class.

I have a list of subjects I want to blog/mini-essay about, and some good ideas for all of them, but I'm going to try to make it creativity^2 by Vlogging about things as well as Blogging, and to do that, I've decided to create some new "channels" for it

I've got a youtube channel, with a bunch of copyrighted stuff (mostly the music I choose for editing with) and so I started a new youtube channel where I'm going to endeavour to make it 100% original material.

And since I'm a Christian, I also started a tangle channel (tangle replaced Godtube)

So, coming attractions. Links once things are actually up, and I'll probably start posting these blogs to facebook in the vain hope of readership.

Despite being unemployed, I feel great and I'm really enjoying life, and I'll for sure be working this summer. yay. God is good all the time.