Meditating ...day and night

 

When I started walking with Louie, half-way through 2013,  I decided to recommence memorising Scripture. After some to-ing and fro-ing, I've settled into working through Psalms.

We learnt Psalm 1 and Psalm 23 in Sunday School, and so I first began revising those. Then I remembered that I had learnt musical versions of Psalms 150, 100, 121, and part of 46 in the 70s, in Scripture in Song versions, and so found it fairly easy to relearn them.

I think the King James Version has a lot going for it. It isn't perfect, but it certainly has power, and I'm enjoying learning these psalms in that venerable edition of God's Word.

So far I have learnt eleven psalms and am currently tackling my first lengthy one: Psalm 73. This is going to take some time!

For a sixty-one year old, learning an unfamiliar isn't easy, so I cheated and began with 117 - the shortest one! I've also tackled two other short psalms [70 and 82].

I hope to learn psalms from each of the five books, and intend to expand my repertoire proportionately, so that I learn a similar amount of each of the books, and gradually commit the same proportion of Psalm 119 to memory.

But I'm only going to be able to do this with God's help, as the opening verse of Psalm 127 reminds us:

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:

except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

 

 

Engaging with your opponents

Dr Rosaria Butterfield at Wheaton College

 

I was surprised to read that Wheaton College had students demonstrating at their own conservative college about a lecture by someone presenting conservative views. The world is so different now from the late 70s when I attended Kenmore Christian College.

 

But I think the first link shows how well Dr Butterfield engages with those who disagree with her.

 

 

Don't neglect the LXX

The Importance of the Septuagint 

Some interesting reminders here:

It is the largest extant piece of Ptolemaic Greek.
• It is one of the major works of Egyptian Greek literature.
• It is one of the first works of Hellenistic Judaism, though mostly ignored in books on the subject.
• It is (possibly) the largest work of translation literature from antiquity, offering valuable insight for translation studies on both bilingual interference and translation technique.
• It is a work of sub-literary Greek that demonstrates the complexities of Greek register.
• It is a major lexical resource for lesser-known koine words. (not only illustrated by papyri, but illuminating for papyri).
• It testifies to a distinct Jewish-Greek (even Egyptian?) identity.
• It tells us much about educational levels in Egypt and among Jews.

(To understand its theology, we must place it in its context first).

 

Facts about boat people

Yet another link to help me find a good link again!

Is the Christian story ancient plagiarism?

 

Well spent journey is an interesting blog. But I wish the author would tell us who he [or she] is

 

The author debunks several hoary old myths in this article.

 

Do you believe in miracles?

I think this article makes a valid point and makes it well. The Poached Egg website has an article called The Four Miracles of Atheism in which the writer points out that even naturalism has its miracles:

1. Getting Something from Nothing

2. Getting Life from Non-Life

3. Getting Order from Chaos

4. Getting the  Immaterial from Physical matter

 

 

The Poetry of a Murderer

Richard Beck muses on whether we would be comfortable singing songs in church by a murderer and adulterer.

A thought-provoking article.