A Window on my Miscellany

Life at college has been in something of a lull recently. Not that it's been boring, not that that there's been nothing to do - it just hasn't been hectic. So I thought I'd tell you about a few disconnected little things that have either surprised me or taken my interest or whatever.

Engage Conference - Starting this year, these smart-thinking Sydney Anglicans are running a Bible conference just for workers: Engage. What a brilliant idea! Tasmania, I think we need one :)

Deuteronomy Essay - My Old Testament essay is about the relationship between Israel (God's special, chosen people) and the nations around them, particularly in the book of Deuteronomy. It's proving a really great topic.

Hugh Palmer - I don't think I've heard better preaching while being in Sydney than I have in the last 8 days: 5 sermons by Hugh Palmer. Hugh's from All Soul's in London (John Stott's old church). His preaching reminded me heaps of David Jones' style. Some of his sermons will soon be available from the Cathedral.

Holman v ESV - (This is a total Bible-nerd comment) Ok, this was a surprise to me. I had thoroughly expected everyone up here to rave about the ESV when I first arrived. Not so. If anything, the Bible that gets the big props is the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Cheap, too (from Moore Books, anyway).

Why would anyone read this book?

Finished earlier this afternoon...


Here lies the second-hardest book I've ever read (well, finished).

So why do I reckon it's so great? Well. Have you ever watched those docos telling you that the exodus (from Egypt) never happened, or that archaeology has disproved Israel's conquest in Canaan, or... (the list is endless) and you wished you had a place to turn to check it out further? This book is the place. It's thorough; it interacts with all sorts of recent discoveries; it takes the Bible seriously.

How much can archaeology really tell us? This book has an answer. Is the Bible so biased (theologically) that it fudges the facts? This book has an answer. Are the dates and numbers and names and places in the Bible verifiable from other sources? This book takes you through it all.

You could drown in the detail. But detail is what's needed when the world has such an anti-Bible stance, I guess. I really want the authors to do a 100-page popular version so that this stuff is accessible to the TV-informed world.

This book is for you if:

• you're teaching from the Old Testament historical literature, or
• you've got a real passion for studying history, or
• you've got big questions on the historical reliability of the Old Testament.

Lectures, Lectures, and America's Finest

Here are a few things that have taken my attention recently:

The Word of God in the Book of Jeremiah is the topic of the 2007 Annual Moore College Lectures. That might sound boring to some, and I'll admit it's an unimaginative title; but the lectures so far have been very good. Andrew Shead has been talking about stuff like: the relationship between the words of the prophet Jeremiah and the Word of God; Jeremiah's embodiment of his prophecies; and other stuff...

Oliver O'Donovan is delivering the New College Lectures this year. He's a big name in ethics, in particular. They're free, but you just have to RSVP by the end of this month. If you're going to be in Sydney in early September (4th - 6th) I'd recommend heading along.

The Gospel Coalition (involving Tim Keller, Don Carson, Mark Driscoll and others) has finally got a bunch of content on their (very swish) website. I'm yet to check much of it out, but it couldn't possibly be bad, coming from those blokes. (At this very moment I'm downloading the Don Carson on "What is the Gospel" video - warning: it's a huge file!)

PS. Am I the only one who thinks the term 'Coalition' is a little tainted at the present time?

Finished... Satisfied.