Reading Genesis 1-2: An Evangelical Conversation (Review)

J. Daryl Charles, ed. Reading Genesis 1–2: An Evangelical Conversation. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 2013. 240 pp. + xxi. $24.95.

In the fall of 2011, the Bryan Institute of Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee, hosted a two day symposium, titled “Reading Genesis 1–2: A Evangelical Conversation.” The conference welcomed highly regarded and widely published evangelical scholars to contribute a spectrum of perspectives on the foundational chapters of Scripture. The book by the same name is a revised collection of the papers presented at the Chattanooga Convention Center, with two additional essays by Bryan College faculty. Guided by the editorial hand of J. Daryl Charles, the present volume is structured according to a point, counter-point format. Each of the first five chapters presents one scholar’s perspective, followed by responses from each of the other panel members. The final two chapters attempt to move the discussion beyond the academy and into the pews and classrooms.

The Making of Many Books (Review)

I just reviewed Stuart Weeks' impressive new book for Bulletin for Biblical Research. The review probably won't be published until the fall, so you'll have to wait until then for the full scoop. In the meantime, here's a small excerpt to whet your appetite for this latest contribution in the discussion on reception history.

Scholars and students of Ecclesiastes will undoubtedly be grateful for Weeks’ achievement of accumulating and organization of over 700 bibliographical entries. It is no small task to track down these resources and compile them in an accessible and usable format. Entries are organized in chronological order, and alphabetical order within a given publication year. Moreover, the addition of three indices (author, publisher, and passages) makes the volume especially useful and usable as a reference book. However, what makes The Making of Many Books especially valuable is that it accounts for more than just a database of ancient books on Ecclesiastes, although in some cases that was the only information Weeks had available to him. Overall, this volume goes beyond a basic cataloging of an annotated bibliography. Instead, Weeks shows how some works adapted previous works, how newer treatments creatively reinvented older treatments, and how errors—intentional and inadvertent—crept into later bibliographies and academic parlance.

Ancient Near East Today, Vol III, No. 2

Welcome to The Ancient Near East Today, Vol. III, No. 2! This month, we’re delighted to take you from Iran to the Aegean, and from the questions raised by unprovenanced objects to the relationship between the Bible and archaeology.

We begin with Ralph Hawkins asking about the relationship between the Bible and archaeology. Benjamin Foster then looks at the difficult problem of acquiring and publishing unprovenanced cuneiform tablets. Helen Dawson discusses the colonization of Mediterranean islands, and Megan Cifarelli examines the difficult question of identifying gender using archaeological evidence. Finally, we’re pleased to present field reports from students who have received ASOR scholarships and to highlight a campaign to support students in the upcoming year.

Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus

I have added links to both the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus to the Biblical Studies Resources tab.

Review of Cooley's Poetic Astronomy

 Stephen Russell's review of Jeff Cooley's Poetic Astronomy nails it. "Throughout...
Cooley offers a balanced treatment of the evidence. He avoids the speculative adventures
of the old pan-Babylonian school, who at times overread the data, and the idealized
reconstructions of historians of science, who at times isolated the data from the cultural
contexts that produced them. As a result, readers are likely to agree with the broad theses
of the book even where they might disagree with its treatment of one piece of evidence or
another."

"Voice of Israel" Interviews Carol Meyers

The Voice of Israel interviews Carol Meyers. I post it here as an appropriate "prequel" to Kristine Garroway's interview.

Women Biblical Scholars Blog Interviews Kristine Garroway

My friend and former Hebrew Union College colleague interviewed by the Women Biblical Scholars blog. See her interview here.

SAA and SAAS @ Eisenbrauns

Eisenbrauns: We are delighted to announce that for the first time in several years, every volume of the State Archives of Assyria (SAA) and State Archives of Assyria Studies (SAAS) is now available. Over the last several months we have reprinted the eleven erstwhile out-of-print volumes in this series. To celebrate their newfound availability, we are offering a 20% discount on any of the reprinted volumes. We are also offering a 40% discount on other SAA and SAAS titles. Complete your set today! Newly available reprints include, for SAA, volumes 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13; for SAAS, volumes 2 and 11.

Thomas Wagner's Review of Batto's In the Beginning

Wagner's review of In the Beginning by Bernard Batto (Eisenbauns, 2013) continues the recent trend in the Review of Biblical Literature to offer uncritical summaries, rather than engage the authors' arguments. One glaring absence from this review is Batto's assumption that there is direct borrowing between the Mesopotamian sources and the biblical text. This stands in stark contrast to R. J. Clifford's classic, Creation Accounts in the Ancient Near East and the Bible (CBA, 1994).