Filling a gap in resources for learning biblical hebrew

There are plenty of great resources for learning biblical Hebrew, and plenty of pages out there that curate those resources. For instance, there are libguides from school’s like Tyndale seminary or the page hosted by the University of Alberta, and especially the great list of resources on the great website Daily Dose of Biblical Hebrew.

Despite all of the resources out there, there was still a gap in resources. It was the same gap I saw over a decade ago when I create ParseGreek for learning Biblical Greek. Repetition and practice is so important when learning language, and even the best grammars only provide so many exercises to do. In particular, the identifying and correct parsing of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs occupies a huge amount of space within introductory grammars. There simply is no option out there to easily keep quizzing yourself with parsing drills – this is where my newly release app ParseHebrew comes into play.

ParseHebrew is a mobile app that fills the gap in electronic resources for learning biblical Hebrew by providing parsing drills. The app is compatible with the 11 top intro biblical Hebrew grammars, and contains over 12,000 morphological forms. More advanced users can study using common study sets, and study by frequency.

The compatibility with intro grammars means the quizzes can be specifically tailored to the users level, being quizzed only with the words they have learned in vocabulary, and only with the morphological concepts they have been introduced to. So, for example, let’s you are a student using the Basics of Biblical Hebrew by Pratico & Van Pelt. You have learned well the vocabulary introduced in chapters 3 through 10. Chapter 10 has introduced you to nouns in the construct state, so you want to focus on the construct forms of the nouns you have already learned in your vocabulary. In ParseHebrew, this is simple. Choose the vocabulary from chapters 3 through 10, then choose the grammar from just chapter 10. This is the beauty of ParseHebrew and its compatibility with intro grammars.

As you get further along into your studies, or perhaps as you wish to review, the app also has common sets to use. Potentially the most useful is the full paradigm of the strong verb. Most textbooks (with one or two notable exceptions) use the verb קטל “to kill” as the strong verb example. Now this verb is not actually used a lot in the Hebrew Bible, every single morphological form does not occur. But I’ve added the full paradigm into ParseHebrew. Let’s say, again, that you are that same student, and you’ve gotten to the end of chapter 23, which means you have now learned all of the Qal stem in all conjugations. You can in the app, go to the Strong Verb set. You can then use the further refinements built into the app to focus in on the Qal stem. As you learn more stems (Niphal, Hiphil, etc) you can drill yourself on different stems.

To see more details and images, see the webpage. You can also see a bit of a video walk-thru of the app here. And of course, I hope you buy the app and recommend it to others!

Happy studying!

ParseHebrew is Here!

I’m happy to announce that ParseHebrew is now live on the iOS app store! Please help me spread the word, especially if you know students and professors who teach Biblical Hebrew. And for those who begin to make immediate use of it, please let me know of any issues you may have, as there are inevitably some with the first version of an app. And please help me spread the word! A great way to help this is also with an honest rating and review.

In anticipation of the inevitable question – Yes! My plan is to release an Android version as soon as I am able. Creating an app is not cheap. I am about an 8th of the way in saving up for ParseHebrew Android, and this is thanks to a generous ParseGreek user! So as soon as funding allows, the Android version will come.

Check out the video walk through of the app, and thanks for your support and patronage!

It’s Coming……ParseHebrew for iOS!

Hello to all the readers of my well maintained and proliferous blog! I’m happy to announce the imminent arrival of ParseHebrew, a parsing app for biblical Hebrew students. Most of you know and use my app ParseGreek. It is one of the most popular apps for Biblical Greek students on the market. After first publishing ParseGreek many years ago, I had it in mind to start working towards Biblical Hebrew equivalents. But with the busyness of life, the progress was much slower. It became a project that I slowly poked away at over many, many years.

With all of that said, I’m really happy to announce that the release of ParseHebrew for iOS is imminent (i.e. by end of summer at the latest). It will be very similar in look and feel to ParseGreek. Just like ParseGreek, I’ve designed it to be compatible with some of today’s top intro grammars:

• Fuller, Russell T. and Kyoungwon Choi. 2006. Invitation to Biblical Hebrew : A Beginning Grammar. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel.

• Futato, Mark David. 2003. Beginning Biblical Hebrew. Winona Lake, Ind: Eisenbrauns.

• Garrett, Duane A, and Jason Shane DeRouchie. 2009. A Modern Grammar for Biblical Hebrew [2nd ed.] ed. Nashville, Tenn: B & H Academic.

• Jo Ann Hackett, A Basic Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, with Cd. 2010. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers Marketing.

• Kelley, Page H. and Timothy G. Crawford. Biblical Hebrew : An Introductory Grammar. 2018 Second ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

• Kutz, Karl V., Rebekah L. Josberger. Learning Biblical Hebrew : Reading for Comprehension : An Introductory Grammar. 2018. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

• Lambdin, Thomas. Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. 1971. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

• Pratico, Gary and Miles Van Pelt. Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar. 2019 Third ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.

• Ross, Allen P. 2001. Introducing Biblical Hebrew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

• Seow, C. L. 1995. A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew Revised ed. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

• Webster, Brian L. 2009. The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Check out the ParseHebrew page for some more details, and I’ll announce its release on the blog when the time comes.

The inevitable question will arise asking about an Android version. My sincere hope is to release the Android version early in 2025, but this depends on $$. It costs a significant amount to get the coding done for apps, so it will take some time for me to save up for its creation.

Logos 10 Has Dropped!

Version 10 is about Integration and Performance

What’s up fellow Bible geeks! I’m excited to share with you all that Logos Bible Software has dropped version 10 — coincidentally on 10/10 of the year — a nice Thanksgiving announcement for us Canadian users.

It has been two years since FaithLife, the maker of Logos, released version 9. While some users, like myself, always like to stay up to date on app versions, many Logos users take time to decide whether it is worth it to update, especially given that the update is a paid-for update. I would summarize some of the best updates of Logos version 10 with two words: INTEGRATION and PERFORMANCE. Check out the video below to hear about Logos 10.

If you are planning on upgrading to Logos 10, there is no time like the present, as Logos gives their steepest discounts in the weeks immediately after the release of new versions. Happily, you can access 15% off for new users, and 30% off for upgraders—PLUS you can also get 5 free books (and good ones too!!) if you upgrade using this link.

Logos version 9, Six Months in and Still Loving It!

I was asked to give a review and impression of Logos 9 6 months after release, and has very happy to do so. Any excuse to show off Logos! Check out the video, I hope you enjoy.

Should you like to purchase a base package, you can get 10% off with this link.

Newly Updated Logos Online Training

No way! You’re Kidding!! Already?!? And It’s a Free Update?!?! Awesome!!!!!

These are just some of the things I hope you say when you hear that I have completely updated my Logos online video training course for version 9. But not only is it updated, it has been completely reshot.

I launched my training course way back when Logos was in version 5. The look of Logos has changed significantly since then, and lots of new features have been added. I continued to supplement the course to make it compatible with the new version, but I knew it was time to do a complete re-shoot.

So, if you’ve already enrolled in the training course, enjoy the update! If you’re a Logos user and have thought that you aren’t utilizing Logos to its full potential, let me give a shameless self-promotion – spend a few dollars and take the plunge!

On the previously linked page you can also see a whole bunch of user reviews, the full break down of course contents, and a number of free previews.

Finally, if you haven’t yet upgraded to Logos 9 and are thinking about it, I’m a Logos partner, and you can get a 15% discount on a version 9 base package, plus 5 free books with this link.

Happy Studying!

Logos 9 Review

If you are a Logos user and not living under a rock, you know that today FaithLife announced the release of Logos 9. It is a great update with lots of goodies for Logos geeks such as myself. In this video I do a review of some of the new features to give you a sense of what to expect should you decide to upgrade.

ParseGreek 2.0 is Here!

My very first mobile app many years ago was ParseGreek. Since then it has enjoyed a lot of success on the iOS and Android app stores. A few imitators have come along since its initial release, but ParseGreek remains the best and most comprehensive quizzing app. .

I’m now happy to announce that ParseGreek 2.0 has been officially released on the iOS AppStore and Google Play app store. Here are a couple of things to look forward to in this latest version:

Free Upgrade!

FlashGreek was an entire rewrite of the app in native code. What this means is faster performance. But I wasn’t about to charge existing users more for the upgrade.

ParseGreek LITE lets you try before you buy, and upgrade to the full version in the app

Try Before you Buy!

Previous users know that I had a ParseGreek LITE version which contained all of the bells and whistles, but limits the quiz sizes. The LITE version has also been fully updated, with the bonus that people can now update in-app.

Refreshed User Interface

Users will notice right away the refreshed look to the app. In addition to the new icons, the layout is more intuitive and not as dark as the previous versions.

Compatible with Constantine Campbell's Reading Biblical Greek

Constantine Campbell has a great introductory Greek textbook, and now users of that text can quiz themselves with ParseGreek.

Compatible with my Biblical Greek Made Simple

And of course I couldn’t leave out my own Greek textbook that was released!

Further Tailor Your Quiz

A feature frequently requested is the ability to exclude words that have been answered correctly often by the user. One of the new features allows for the exclusion of words that have been answered correctly a set number of times.

There are a few other goodies, but these are the main things. Please help me spread the word!

Christmas @ Logos 2019!

Most who know me or read this blog know that I’m an avid Logos user. I plan in the new year to start posting a bit more about Logos in the form of video, as I’m now an official Logos partner.

Christmas is always a great time of year for Logos users because of all of the Christmas specials. So if you’re like me and like to buy yourself Christmas gifts, I’d encourage you to check out the sales. I want to highlight a few in particular as items that I’d recommend in particular.

Base Packages are on Sale

Of course, if you don’t have a base package, then this is often the best, though priciest, place to start. Given the cost, it is not always easy to decide which to purchase if choosing for the first time, but now is a good time as they are on sale. My typical recommendation is to ensure that you have the full Logos feature set, which is included with all the base packages at the Silver level and above include the full feature set. At Silver you also get a good starter set of commentaries. If commentaries are more what you are looking for, then I’d say go for the Gold, and even more technical (i.e. those dealing even more with the primary languages) are included at the Platinum level.

Study the Incarnation with N. T. Wright

One of this year’s Christmas special is some more concise books by the renowned New Testament scholar N. T. Wright. Advent for Everyone is 3 volumes focusing on the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke, as well as the teachings from elsewhere in the NT on the incarnation.

Lexham Geographic Commentaries

Some of my favorite items in this year’s Christmas sale are featured in the “12 days of Logos” promotion. The first is the Lexham Geographic commentaries. The two NT volumes are now out, with the 3 OT volumes forthcoming. These are unique contributions to the Bible commentary space, focusing specifically on geography in a way that no other contextual-type commentaries have. A great addition to anyone’s Logos collection!

Expositor’s Bible Commentary

The final sale I want to mention is another resource featured in the “12 days of Logos” promotion. The EBC is a very fine commentary series in the evangelical tradition. I often get asked about what my favorite commentaries are, or what I recommend. There is no one series that I think is the absolute best, but additionally it is often students who are on a budget that ask me. When cost is a factor, the EBC is often my recommendation. the EBC is 12 volumes and covers the entire Bible with 8,400+ pages of commentary and 700+ pages of introductory article material. So do not let the 12 volumes fool you, these are substantive commentaries.

Merry Christmas everyone!

My 2019 Presentations on the Bible and Ecology

I had a pretty eventful summer which included two presentations on a similar theme of eco theology. It is a topic I have been interested in for a long time, and I have been able to spend some focused time to research, write, and present on the topic. My thoughts continue to be refined as I continue the process. Several essays will come out in the next two years related to the topic. In doing this work, I have consciously tried to read the scripture in conversation with my indigeneity. The result, I hope, is an intercultural reading of the text that is more faithful to the meaning than common western understandings.

NAIITS Symposium

The first presentation was at the 2019 NAIITS symposium at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto on June 8. It was the final plenary session, and was titled GraceLand: The Land as Relational Gift in the Bible. The abstract for the paper was as follows:

The Mosaic covenant recognized and affirmed a triangulation of relationship between Deity, the land, and the community. This triangulation was not a new invention, but rather the lived reality of ancient peoples. The focus of the covenant was 1) who occupied the place of deity within the triangulation, and 2) how the occupant of the place of deity would reorder the relationships within the triangulation. The resulting covenant was one which recognized these relationships as reciprocal and the land as the gracious gift from Yahweh. The reciprocity of relationships within the triangulation involved responsibilities from each member of the triangulation to one another. Within this triangulation, the land often occupies the median place, such that to honor the land was to honor Yahweh, and the blessing of the land by Yahweh was to bless the covenant community. This triangulation construct is not dissolved in the New Testament, but is assumed in a variety of ways. First, the widespread Jewish belief that Israel was still in exile was predicated upon their relationship to the land, namely that they have not yet been gifted once again with the proper relationship to the land – some Jewish groups believed it would be the messiah who would do this work. Second, the concept of the good news of Jesus as grace-gift for all nations as nations brings with it the Old Testament triangulation, showing that part of the work of the good news is for Christ-as-Creator to fill the deity space within the triangulation and thus re-order and re-orient peoples to himself and to their place of inhabitance. In this way, Israel’s relationship in the triangulation as it was meant to be is both fulfilled in Jesus and serves as a model for all the nations of the world as they re-orient their triangulated relationship with Christ-the-Creator in the deity’s space.

I mostly hit the target of the abstract, though I ended up focusing less on the latter half of the abstract. You can watch the entirety of the presentation below and purchase the journal volume here.

Summit Presentation

The next presentation was a plenary session at an annual summit. The theme was “All Nature Sings.”

The other reason that I really enjoyed this presentation is that I got to tag-team with Terry LeBlanc. Terry is special friend and mentor, and is a widely sought-after speaker and teacher. It was a privilege to share the stage. The title of the presentation was The Land Takes Care of Us.

Modern Chronologies of Paul

Two biographies of the apostle Paul came out last year with two highly influential and respected interpreters of Paul. One biography is by N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography, and the other is by Douglas Campbell, Paul: An Apostle’s Journey. Campbell’s complete chronological picture is filled out in his 2014 Framing Paul: an Epistolary Biography. Given this recent work, I was interested to see any new thoughts on Paul’s chronology. In comparing Wright’s chronology to the chronology of Paul presented in the Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Wright follows a fairly standard chronology for Paul. Campbell’s chronology, though, is quite different. The main difference is that Campbell’s chronology is based on Paul’s epistles, with the information from Acts playing second fiddle. In addition to my table below, this external blog post outlines Campbell’s chronology.

View fullsize

Biblical Greek Made Simple Online Course

On the heels of the release of Biblical Greek Made Simple, I’m happy to announce that my online Greek course has been fully revamped to complement the textbook. This video course is ideal for self-learners or those who want to shake the dust off of their Greek skills. The course contains over 12 hours of video instruction from yours truly, as well as handy access to many of the additional components I have created for the textbook. This includes vocabulary flashcard resources, additional learning videos from my YouTube channel, and study flashcards for each chapter. Also included is a PDF of the learning activities for those who would prefer not to write in their textbook, as well as an answer key which is on its way!

I hope to see you in the course!

Which Logos Package Should I Buy?

photo credit: Ahmed ElHusseiny Early morning thoughts via photopin (license)

I get asked a couple times a month for advice on Logos Bible Software, specifically what package to spend, what resources to purchase, etc. I tend to avoid this question or answer in a round-about way, as I am wary of telling people how to spend their money. That said, I do usually offer some guideline for purchasing. In order to expedite the future responses to this question, I thought it best to place the information in a blog post.

1: Start with the Free Version

Many people don’t realize that you can take Logos for a test drive by downloading the software for free. This of course doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it helps you get a feel for the software.

But more than just the software shell, Logos offers a number of really excellent and entirely free resources to add to your free version of Logos. This includes their own translation, a Greek New Testament, and the unbelievably great FaithLife Study Bible. I have a whole blog post that I encourage you to look at called Quality Bible Study Resources for $0, particularly the first section of the post.

2: Are You Taking Greek with Me?

If a student is enquiring because they are taking introductory Greek with me, I instruct them to sign up for Logos Academic Basic. This version of Logos is free for students of colleges or seminaries, by first signing up for the educational discount. In this version, students get the free Logos resources mentioned in my Quality Bible Study Resources for $0, as well as other primary language resources (Hebrew Bible, Septuagint) and some older lexicons.

If a person is learning Greek as a self-learner with my textbook and/or my online course, they likely will not be able to get Academic Basic. However, for the purpose of learning Greek, the free version of Logos along with the free resources (particularly the SBL Greek New Testament) is sufficient for the most part.

Students then need to purchase the Louw & Nida lexicon as well as the DBL Greek lexicon. I also strongly recommend getting the Greek audio New Testament through Logos for help with reading and pronunciation.

Although not strictly necessary for the course, the final recommendation I make is a theological dictionary. The NIDNTTE is my main recommendation for students, though you can get all 10 volumes of the TDNT for the same price, or the abridged TDNT for a 1/4 of the price. The TLNT is also a good and more affordable option.

3. Consider the Full Feature Set

Logos has a massive library of resources from most of the major publishers. I prefer eBooks, and if a book is available in Logos, it is my preferred way to own it. But I recognize not everyone is like me – lots of people still much prefer a physical copy.

What you cannot get in physical copies, though, are all the incredible and growing list of features that come in Logos. There are so many wonderful datasets, interactive media, and unique Logos feature — too many to name. But it is these features that make Logos shine. For discussion on some of these, see my recent post on Logos 8.

It is for that reason that frequently recommend to people that if they want to invest in Logos, make sure to get the full feature set. Some people do not realize that you can choose not to go with a base package, but instead can purchase feature-only packages, and then just add individual title later as you want them. (Current users of Logos should also recognize that, when new versions of Logos come around, you should focus on upgrading to the next feature set.)

4. Examine the Base Packages for the Titles You Want (and make sure it has the full feature set)

For potential purchasers who would like their investment to include a little library, they need to more carefully weight the kind of titles they want in their library. Logos has a lot of different types of base packages to try to cater to the different types of users. Do you want lots of original language resources? Lots of commentaries? Lots of church history titles? Titles in counseling? Something specific to your church tradition? The decision needs to be made as to the focus of your research. But do note that in order to get the full feature set included in these base packages, you are at around $900 dollars, because it is at the silver level that the full feature set is included.

That’s it for my advice. Have anything you want to add? Put it in the comments!

FlashGreek 2.0 is Here!

Many years ago I unleashed FlashGreek into the world. Since then it has enjoyed a lot of success on the iOS app store. As the only multimedia flashcard app out there, it continues to be a go-to for many students learning New Testament Greek, with great ratings and reviews.

I’m now happy to announce that FlashGreek 2.0 has been officially released on the iOS AppStore, with a new Android version to come sometime in the first quarter of 2019. Here are a couple of things to look forward to in this latest version:

Free Upgrade!

FlashGreek was an entire rewrite of the app in native code. What this means is faster performance. But I wasn’t about to charge existing users more for the upgrade.

FlashGreek LITE lets you try before you buy, and upgrade to the PRO version, or just unlock vocabulary for individual texts

Try Before you Buy!

Previous users know that I had a FlashGreek PRO version which contained all of the bells and whistles, and versions tailored to specific intro Greek grammars. Going forward there are only 3 versions of FlashGreek:

• FlashGreek PRO which contains all features and is compatible with all 12 compatible grammars

• FlashGreek LITE allows you to try the app before making the choice to purchase, allowing you to upgrade to the PRO version, or unlock the vocabulary for a compatible textbook (see the list of 12 grammars on the FlashGreek page)

• FlashGreek: Mounce edition which contains only the vocabulary for Mounce’s Basics of Biblical Greek

Refreshed User Interface

Users will notice right away the refreshed look to the app. In addition to the new icons, the layout is more intuitive and not as dark as the previous versions.

Compatible with Constantine Campbell's Reading Biblical Greek

Constantine Campbell has a great introductory Greek textbook, and now users of that text can study their vocabulary in FlashGreek.

Compatible with Köstenberger, Merkle, and Plummer's Going Deeper with New Testament Greek

A wonderful new addition to the intermediate grammars available is Köstenberger, Merkle, and Plummer's Going Deeper with New Testament Greek. Users of FlashGreek PRO can now continue to use the app as they move into intermediate studies.

Compatible with my Biblical Greek Made Simple

And of course I couldn’t leave out my own Greek textbook that was just recently released!

Further Tailor Your Quiz, and Study While Driving

A feature frequently requested is the ability to exclude words that have been answered correctly often by the user. One of the new features allows for the exclusion of words that have been answered correctly a set number of times.

Slideshow mode has always been part of FlashGreek, but can now be turned on loop, enabling you to study while on commute by using the audio to play through.

There are a few other goodies, but these are the main things. Please help me spread the word!

Biblical Greek Made Simple is Here!

PURCHASE ON AMAZON, LEXHAM PRESS, OR LOGOS

I’m so happy to announce that the latest introductory Greek grammar has now arrived and is ready for purchase, and I wrote it!

I am beyond thrilled with how Biblical Greek Made Simple: all the basics in one semester has turned out. It is beautifully bound in hard cover and the layout is superb, Lexham Press has done a stellar job. One of the things that I insisted on was colored fonts in the presentation of paradigms and morphological tags, and Lexham thankfully obliged. The result is, I humbly think, the best looking Greek textbook there is!

Beyond the beauty, it has brains too. The textbook was born out of the need to move to a single semester of introductory Greek many years ago. During that time of change, I decided that, rather than urge students away from Bible software use as is so often done in introductory Greek, I would fully embrace it in this grammar. The result is a textbook that teaches all of the basics of Greek while integrating that knowledge through use of Logos Bible Software. Every chapter ends with learning activities that drill in the essentials of grammar and integrate the learning of Logos Bible Software to make use of it for Greek study.

The textbook’s eleven chapters also makes use of multimedia resources and other resources to help students learn. This includes links to my Singing Grammarian videos, other videos I have created for grammar learning, and online quizzes to reinforce grammatical concepts. You will also be happy to know that the both FlashGreek and ParseGreek are compatible with the textbook.

Finally, I am so happy that the textbook is available within Logos for those who prefer a digital version. What I love about the digital version is that the learning activities can be done right inside of Logos, and all of the links are live and ready to click.

Please join my in celebrating by ordering a box of books and handing them out to your family and friends! And Christmas is coming soon – this is the ultimate stocking stuffer! To read a little more about the text, including the book blurbs, see the book’s page here.

Finally if you would like to hear me ramble on even more about the text, listen to this podcast interview at the Exegetical Tools.

Is It Worth Updating to Logos 8? (you can probably guess my answer!)

Logos 8 dropped last week, as most Logos users would know because of promotional emails. And if you follow Logos on social media, you may have caught some of the live release where they discussed many of the new features (you can watch the release here).

I’m sure all readers will be shocked to hear me say that I give a resounding “yes” to the question. There are a number of stellar new features in Logos 8 that make it well worth the upgrade. And Logos has made it possible to upgrade the features of the application without having to necessarily upgrade your resource library. Do keep in mind, though, that the more quality sources you have in your library the more useful and powerful Logos and all of the application features become. So my recommendation is to at least upgrade to the Full Feature Upgrade. See this Logos blog post to explain all of your upgrade options.

I want to in particular recommend the upgrade for those who might still be running version 6 of Logos. There was, in my mind, a very significant leap that began with version 6 to many outstanding datasets and features that are only available as Logos features (i.e. they are not standalone books or sources). You can see my review of Logos 7’s features in an earlier blog post, or see all of my Logos related posts here.

Let me briefly run down some of the new features of Logos 8 and why I think they may be useful for you:

Performance and UI

Let’s face it, Logos has always been seen as a bit of a resource hog. In fact, this tends to be the number one complaint of my students (the second complaint of “I don’t know how to use it I address with my Logos video course). Given the power and utility of Logos, it is a sacrifice we users make. But Logos 8 brings some speed improvements in the app and a UI refresh. Included in the UI refresh is an improved way to sort through the menus and library, utilizing filters. The next speed improvement I hope Logos tackles is the amount of time the beast takes to index!

Workflows

My favorite new features is Workflows. Workflows move from the bare presentation of information (which the Guides do) to providing instruction AND a workspace for your research. Logos 8 comes with some stellar pre-built workflows for users, or users can create their own workflow and even share it with all Logos users. As a teacher I love this feature. Our seminary utilizes the Duvall & Hays Interpretive Journey approach, and I’m currently creating a Workflow for this to share. Workflows really does make it possible to go from passage right to the completion of a sermon (complete with slides and sermon notes, handouts, etc). To learn more about Workflows, see here.

Notes

Part of the UI improvements includes an update to how Notes work. I really love the new features of Notes, including the filtering ability as well as the ability to see and utilize notes within each resource via the new menu button. For those who utilize Notes a lot in Logos, this will be welcome. My only complaint, which I’m confident will be rectified soon, is that some previous features of notes have been temporarily lost in Logos 8, but they will be returning soon (see this page for details of missing or deprecated features). This is probably my biggest complaint about Logos 8 – I would have rather waited a few more weeks so that I didn’t lose something like moving to the next annotation in my Locator bar, as it is something I use regularly.

Theology Guide

In version 7 (or perhaps it was features I received because of my FaithLife connect subscription) Logos had begun to do more concentrated work in the area of theology – things like the systematic theology explorer, and the new components of the Passage Guide like Biblical Theologies and Systematic Theologies. The new Theology Guide continues to build on this by utilizing the excellent Lexham Survey of Theology. Using the standard systematic categories and creating a variety of sub-sections within the categories, users can gain an overview and be presented with relevant scripture passages, relevant resources or sections of resources already owned, as well as important works outside of the Logos ecosystem.

Canvas

I was (pleasantly) surprised to see this new feature within Logos. On one hand it seems a little outside the scope of a Bible software to have quite a competent layout editor built in. I have done and continue to do some graphic design in the past with apps like Keynote and OmniGraffle. While OmniGraffle is very powerful and Keynote very easy, Canvas does a superb job at being both intuitive and powerful. And because the text is central, Canvas in fact exceeds the ability of other graphic design apps in working with and manipulating passages that a person inserts. The simple little image in this blog post was created in about 2 minutes with Canvas. To learn more about it, see here.

But I Need Some Help Learning How to Use It !

Well, I got you covered! As many know, I created a Logos tutorial course to help people learn how to master Logos Bible Software to supercharge your Bible study. I’m happy to say that on the weekend I updated the course to accommodate users of Logos 8. So whether you are a brand new user of version 8, or you are still using version 5, 6, or 7 and need some help, my course covers them all. I’d love to have you join the course!

How To Create a Scripture Index for Your Publication

This is a post for my fellow academics involved in book publication. Back in my days as a TA for Craig Evans I had to do a scripture index for a number of his books. It is a beast of a job that I wouldn't wish on anyone. Seeing a friend working on a scripture index for his book reminded me of a tutorial I made a number of years ago. If you find yourself in the same position now, this tutorial may be of benefit to you.

After doing a few indexes, I discovered a quicker way to do a scripture index utilizing some Mac applications. Below is the explanation. Be aware that it sounds (and is)  complicated, but once you get going, it makes more sense. And despite it being a complicated process, it will save you a lot of time in the process.

(please note that I created the following tutorial a number of years ago, so the images below are a little dated and don't reflect the UI of the applications as they are now)

How To Create a Scripture Index For Your Publication (on a Mac)

Step 1: Download Skim (PDF reader for Mac) and open your PDF proof in Skim

• When you begin to work, be sure to hit Save frequently.
• In the View menu, choose “Show Notes Pane”. This will show you everything you are highlighting.
• Turn on the highlight mode. Now, whenever you highlight something with your cursor, it will be highlighted in yellow with Skim.

• Take note, when saving your PDF, Skim will make a .skim file with the same name as your PDF in the same folder. DO NOT trash this file, as it holds the highlighting notes.

Step 2: Highlight all references in Skim

• Be sure that all items are separate.  For instance look at a string of references like this:  Gen 1:1; 3:5, 7, 9.  This is 4 separate references and should be highlighted as for separate items  (1) Gen 1:1   (2) 3:5  (3)  7  (4)  9  — I’ll explain how this is later fixed :-)
• Once all items are highlighted in Skim and saved, export the highlights you have made from Skim. Choose File>Export.  Choose for the File Format, “Notes as RTF”.

Step 3: Open the resulting .rtf file in TextEdit

• Choose “• Highlight, page “  and replace it with nothing by hitting Replace All

• Place a tab mark at the very beginning of the text.
• Now choose the paragraph mark and copy it into the Find. (DO NOT hit Replace All yet)

• Then choose the Tab mark and copy it into the Replace with field.  Now hit Replace All.

• Remove the very first tab with a paragraph break (hit Return)
• Copy the two Tab marks and place into the Find field

• Copy the paragraph mark and place it into the Replace with. Hit Replace All. 

• Hit Save. The result is the  pg.# [tab] scripture citation.

Step 5: Fix Partial Quotations

• Now we will fix all of the partial quotations. Open your PDF in Skim on the left side of your screen, and move the .RTF in TextEdit to the right side. As you can see, your Skim highlights are in the same order as your text file.

• Scan through your text file and add book names (be consistent, use abbreviations or full book names) and any missing chapters.
  • To jump right to a Skim highlight, double-click on the page number in the highlight
• In the image below, all of the bottom items need the book abbreviation added.  I add “1 Sam[tab]” before the citations.  I add the chapters to the bottom three as well.
  • When you come upon any book name, you also need to do a quick Find and Replace. example:
    • Find “1 Samuel “  and Replace it with “1 Sam[tab]”
      • Also Find “1 Sam ” (your book may have used a period after an abbrev., so “1 Sam.”) and Replace it with “1 Sam[tab]”
  • Do this every time you come across a new book— Do a Find and Replace for the full book name and the abbreviation type used in the proof.

• The Result of the above image is tab separation

• You need to be diligent all through this.  All of the book name abbreviations need to be consistent.
• While filling in the missing info, you need to also make note of citations that are in footnotes.  AFTER the citation put  [tab]n.6.
• Hit Save every once in a while as you go through this second major process.

• Final Find and Replaces— If your citations used colons (eg. Gen 1:1), replace all colons with periods.  Also replace en dashes and em dashes with a regular dash. (**note** this must be done, even if you are going to use colons between the chapter and verse)
• You now have a large .RTF text file that has the pdf pg# [tab] book [tab] citation

Step 6: Move to Spreadsheet software

• Highlight your whole text file and paste it into your spreadsheet. (This may take a while for your system to do, as it is a lot of text you are pasting). The result is a 3-columned spreadsheet like below.

• Move column A (the page number) to the right side, with one blank column after column C.

• Now in the first field of the blank column, you must make an equation to fix the page numbering  (in case you didn’t notice, the page numbers are the page of the PDF, NOT the page number of your proofs).
  • Look at your first item page number, and compare it to the actual proof page number.  You will likely need to subtract 20+ pages. Your equation should look like this. (in the brackets corrects the page number,  the “&” sign will add the footnote column to the column).  Drag down the equation to fill that column all the way through your spreadsheet (grab the bottom corner and drag down).
• The result is this:

• The first 3 columns are the info for your index. Now sort things alphabetically by column A and B.

• This will alphabetize your index by book name, with ascending chapter and verse items. Hit Save.

• NOTE: spreadsheets don’t understand the dash (-) sign. These will need to be placed properly in your final edit.

Step 7: Move Index Info into Document file

• You need a plain .txt file to be a middleman between your spreadsheet and your word processor (to strip out invisible formatting.
  • In your spreadsheet app, export your file to .txt or csv on your Desktop.
  • If you just made a .csv file, replace the .csv with .txt.
  • Open the resulting file in TextEdit and delete everything (we did the last few steps just to get a blank file).

Okay, the final tedious part.

• pen your word processor and create your index file.  (Pages or MS Word)
• Book by Book, cut (CUT not copy) and paste the first 3 columns of info from your spreadsheet into the blank .txt file (i.e. TextEdit), and then cut and paste from TextEdit into your word processor.
• Once you do the cut and paste, hold down your alt/option key and drag your mouse to highlight all of the redundant book abbreviation names. Then just put the book name once at the top.

• Go through what you have just pasted. With a careful eye:
  • Put any duplicates on the same line (eg.  Gen 1:1 [tab]  6, 35, 109). They will all be grouped together, so do quick deletes and comma additions to bring them together.
  • Citations that had dashes for verse ranges will be out of sequence. Cut and paste the whole line into the correct position.
  • Repeat for each book.  Add Major Headings as per the convention you are following, and sub-headings for each book.

There you have it!

What if the Roman Empire in Jesus' Day Was 100 People?

With various helpful videos in the internet about helping us understand the modern world by asking "what if the world were 100 people," I have had in my mind to make something similar for my own discipline, namely what would the Roman Empire look like if it were 100 people during Jesus' day.

This isn't an easy task, as ancient demography and statistics is tricky business that we hold to lightly. That said, I hope people find this video helpful and I hope it will spark some interest into the New Testament world. Many thanks go to my wonderful super–TA Christine Welles who did a ton of research to help me bring this to fruition (and upon whom all future TAs shall be measured!!). Below the video is the transcript, along with a bibliography. If you liked the video, please do share it on social media.

Transcript

What would the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus look like if it were 100 people?

Attempting to paint this portrait immediately runs into numerous complications. As organized as the Roman Empire was and even with the remains we have, it is very difficult to pin down precise numbers and percentages. Ancient historians hold these things lightly, recognizing that what we hold is often based on data from different centuries, and that some things are the best guesses of experts in the field. Bearing this in mind, the 100 people represent approximately 55 million people.

In terms of status or class, we immediately run into a problem with the choice of 100. The top of the upper class, the senatorial class had the most power and wealth concentration. When Rome was a republic, the Senatorial class was understood as 300 families and later expanded to 600, or perhaps even 900, families. From this group the actual ruling Senate, the governing body in the Roman Republic and the counseling body in the Roman Empire, was drawn. This represents such a miniscule amount of the population that I will represent them at just the very top of the head, and even this is proportionally generous.

The next class of people in the Empire was the Equestrian class. The upper classes were based on the amount of wealth owned, usually in the form of property. The Senatorian class had wealth holdings of 1,000,000 sesterces (1 sesterces is worth 4 denarii, and a denarius was roughly a labor’s day wage). There was no set number of Equestrians – one could be appointed if one was a free-born citizen and one’s wealth exceeded 400,000 sesterces. A range of population numbers are offered for this, from 10,000 to 40,000 families. Using 30,000, and recognizing that the average family size in the Roman Empire was around 4, this represents a very miniscule amount, about .02% of the population. I’ll represent this class with the remainder of the head.

The last of the upper class is the Decurion rank. With this group we at last move outside of Italy, where the Senatorial and Equestrian classes were largely confined. The majority of the ruling elites throughout the Empire were from the Decurion class. The wealth holdings of these provincial aristocrats was a minimum of 100,000 sesterces. Again, we have a range of numbers offered by scholars, from around 100,000 to 400,000 and beyond. It seems that at most this group represented .7% of the population, the remainder of the first person.

It is this one person who represents the upper class of Roman society. They were normally born into their status and held much of the private land and held nearly all of the political power. As we move to the remainder, keep in mind that there was a definite divide between this group and everyone else.

The next grouping goes by various names in the research. Sometimes called the "other wealthy,” the "respectable populace" or the "middling" class. It is a mistake, though, to think of this group as today’s middle-class, because in the Roman empire there really was only the Upper classes (our first person) and the rest. This middling group is far more spread out, representing wealthy citizens and freedmen, small landholders, the Augustales order of priests, and other wealthy artisans. In some regions, this group may have represented up to 30% of a local population. I will take as an estimate 10% of the total population. But even within this "middling" population, there was a concentration of wealth held by 50,000 to 200,000 families, with many of them being wealthier than Decurions.

Let’s complete the understanding of wealth distribution. I'll represent the wealth of the Roman Empire with $10. The Senatorial class controlled about $1.00, the equestrian class $1, the decurion class .50¢, the respectable populace $2.50, and the remaining population $5.00.

The last 89 people comprised the bulk of the lower class, representing a wide variety of jobs and life circumstances. There were anywhere from 400,000 to 1 million military men, most of them ordinary soldiers, but an elite few of the highest being centurions and legion commanders drawn from the upper classes.     There have been attempts to understand how many slaves there were in the Roman Empire, but it has been difficult to determine an accurate percentage. It seems that upwards of 40% of Italy's 7.5 million residents were slaves. But this is where most of the wealthy lived, and we should not assume that Italy accurately represented the entire Empire. A safe guess is perhaps 10% of the population, but it may have been higher. You will notice that two slaves have been placed at the very bottom. These represent the farm slaves, mining slaves, and slaves living in other very difficult circumstances, considered by the society to be the lowest in status and living well below subsistence level. The remaining slaves are higher up in the ranks. The reality for many slaves is that they were in the home or in the servitude of wealthier people. The wealthier the owner was, the more likely a slave was to have a stable life, possibly education, upwards mobility, and the prospect of being released from slavery later. In terms of freedom and social power, many of these slaves lived in a better state than the remaining population. A number of those in the middling class, soldiers, free poor and even some in the upper class were freedmen, former slaves or descendants of former slaves.

The remainder of the population are the free poor: artisans selling their wares and produce in the markets, day laborers working for whomever would hire them, tenant farmers working for a single landowner most of their lives, or those entirely dependent on patrons for their day to day living. A lucky few may have had small plots of land from which to grow their food. An estimated 10-20% percent of the population were "destitute"— the ill, widows, and orphans. The were considered destitute during that time not only because of their inability to work, but also because in a patriarchal society, the widows and orphans were unconnected to a patriarch. For the Free Poor population, most lived day to day with starvation always a real possibility.

Despite repeated claims by some of a 10% Jewish population in the Empire, this is inaccurate. The best estimate for Palestine was 1 to 1.5 million, and perhaps there were that many outside of Palestine as well, mostly in urban settings. If this is the case, that would be about 3% of the population.

Around 10-12% of the population are urban dwellers, and 20% of the total population lived in Italy. Around 10% are Roman citizens. And finally, the estimated literacy rate for the Roman empire is 10-15% but perhaps even higher. This would represent people with formal education, those lucky enough to learn from a parent, and slaves educated in order to serve as educators of children. Outside of this formal education, there was throughout the empire a spectrum of sub-literacy, with many people equipped to conduct basic business, read signage, and read and create graffitti.

It is into this world that Jesus of Nazareth entered and the early church grew and spread.

Bibliography

Afoldy, Geza. The Social History of Rome. Translated by Croom Helm. Totowa, NJ: Barnes &
            Noble, 1985.

Bowes, Kim. “Rural Poverty in the Roman Empire.” University of Pensylvania. Accessed
            February 2, 2018, https://u.osu.edu/osuchr/files/2017/08/bowes-rural-poor-243zk6w.pdf

De Ligt, Luuk. Peasants, Citizens and Soldiers: Studies in the Demographic History of Roman
            Italy 225 BC – AD 100. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Goldsmith, Raymond W. “An Estimate of the Size and Structure of the National Product of the Early Roman Empire,” Review of Income and Wealth, 30/3 (1984): 263-88.

Hartland, Philip A. “The Economy of First Century Palestine: State of the Scholarly Discussion,”
            In Handbook of Early Christianity: A Social Science Approach, edited by Anthony J.
            Blasi, Jean Duhaime and Paul-Andre Turcotte, 511-527. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira
            Press, 2002.

Hezser, Catherine. Jewish Literacy in Roman Palestine. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001.

Jeffers, James S. The Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background
            of Early Christianity. Downers Grove, Il: Intervarsity Press, 1999.

Jongman, Willem. “The Early Roman Empire: Consumption,” In The Cambridge Economic
            History of the Greco-Roman World, edited by Walter Scheidel, Ian Morris and Richard
            Saller, 592-618. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Kehoe, Dennis P. “The Early Roman Empire: Production,” In The Cambridge Economic History
            of the Greco-Roman World, edited by Walter Scheidel, Ian Morris and Richard Saller,
            543-569. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Lo Cascio, Elio. “The Early Roman Empire: The State and The Economy,” In The Cambridge
            Economic History of the Greco-Roman World, edited by Walter Scheidel, Ian Morris and
            Richard Saller, 619-647. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

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            Figures,” The Journal of Roman Studies 84 (1994): 23-40.

McGing, Brian. “Population and Proselytism: How Many Jews were there in the Ancient
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            London: Routledge, 2002.

McGinn, Thomas A. J. “Widows, Orphans, and Social History,” Journal of Roman Archeology
            12 (1999): 617-632.

Morley, Neville. “The Early Roman Empire: Distribution,” In The Cambridge Economic History
            of the Greco-Roman World, edited by Walter Scheidel, Ian Morris and Richard Saller,
            570-591. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Saller, Richard P. “Household and Gender.” In The Cambridge Economic History
            of the Greco-Roman World, edited by Walter Scheidel, Ian Morris and Richard Saller,
            87-112. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Scheidel, Walter. “Demography,” In The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman
            World, edited by Walter Scheidel, Ian Morris and Richard Saller, 38-86. Cambridge:
            Cambridge University Press, 2007.

----“Population and Demography,” Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, Version 1.0.
            Stanford University, 2006.

----. “Slavery in the Roman Economy,” Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, Version
            1.0. Stanford University, 2010.

----. “The Roman Slave Supply,” Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, Version 1.0.
            Stanford University, 2007.

Scheidel, Walter and Steven J. Friesen. “The Size of the Economy and the Distribution of
            Income in the Roman Empire,” Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, Version
            2.0. Stanford University and University of Texas, 2009.

Wasserstein, A. “The Number and Provenance of Jews in Graeco-Roman Antiquity: A Note on
            Population Statistics,” In Classical Studies in Honor of David Sohlberg, edited by Ranon
            Katzoff, 307-317. Ramat Gan, Israel: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1996.

Coaching Corner: Reflections & Tips on Academic Writing pt.2

In the previous post I started with some essential pre-amble, namely what drives me to read about writing. In this post I want to talk about some important takeaways I have from Helen Sword's excellent book Air & Light & Time & Space.

There is a lot to love about this book. The first is that Sword is a great writer, making the reading a delight. Her other books on writing are on my to-read list now. Beyond the great writing, the book is a collection and distillation of many academic voices. As you read this book, you are not simply being fed a single person's mode of operation. Rather, it reflects the variety of successful practices by many academics. Because we are all different people, there is no one-size-fits-all regimen. Reading this and finding a collation of different types of practices to foster writing in the book has been great.

I have a ton of takeaways from the book, with lots of notes made in my reference manager. Below I'll highlight a few concrete actions I am going to take, some important insights I've gleaned, and some recommended books I plan to read in the future.

The Writer's BASE (and my weak pillar)

Sword uses the metaphor of BASE for your house of writing, with BASE representing behavioural habits, artisanal habits, social habits, and emotional habits. The book works through each of these spaces. Before that, though, Sword describes them and has the reader self-diagnose their own base. In my estimation, my biggest weakness is social habits (with none of my pillars being particularly strong).

The social habits issue was actually one of my biggest insights and action items. It made me reflect on my own habits and hang-ups. For someone like me who is an introvert, avoids confrontation, and seeks approval – the idea of someone scrutinizing my writing is difficult. But a bigger issue is that the nature of my PhD (part-time and at a distance) did not give me the type of social interaction around my work like other PhD students. I got comfortable in my own echo chamber.

To try and change this, Sword recommends entering into some sort of social writing efforts. This might be co-authoring, but it can also be social gatherings around writing. She has a number of suggestions, and I have already talked to a few of my colleagues about starting some sort of writing group together. I'm excited about this and if it comes to fruition, I'll make sure I share about the experience here on the blog.

Start With Why

It was a simple suggestion, but it sent me immediately to my computer to pound out a bullet list for myself. Sword suggests that academics really need to wrestle with why you want to write. Your list can and should range from the simple (I like the sound of a keyboard) to the grand (I want to see my books listed on Amazon). Keep these in mind, and perhaps even review them when you are about to begin a writing session. I've started my list already, and will continue to refine it.

Help Your Future Self

This was a simple suggestion that I so wish I had during the dissertation process. As you end a writing session, take 2 minutes to write a note to your future self. Quite often during my dissertation writing, it would take an unruly amount of time just to get my head back into the right space. A note to your future self reminding you where you left off, what you were thinking, and where you are heading can help accelerate the re-entry process.

Play Chicken with Teaching

This was a pretty provocative suggestion in the book, and I'm still mulling it over. I'm not sure I fully agree, but it has at least caused me to think. Essentially, the idea is to prioritize your writing time over everything else. This is not the norm for most of us. The priority as a professor goes to teaching (and all the administration that goes with it). The suggestion is that, because of the automatic deadlines, pressure, and rhythm of class time, you will get the work done in time, so you don't need to prioritize it. I'll need to chew on this one!

Outlining

In one writer profile featured, the author talks about outlining and how essential it is to his writing. I found this quite intriguing and it is something I need to seriously consider. Basically, the scholar consistently works on a detailed outline for what becomes a book or article. This gives you something very concrete to do during the research, reading, and note-taking process, without the pressure to produce something polished. It removes the pressure to write good-sounding sentences, but builds the detailed skeleton of your work so that when the writing time comes, you are simply adding flesh to the bones.

Further Reading

Sword has a lot of good reading recommendations through the book, and a couple that really caught my eye and that I've put on my reading list are the following:

• Paul Silvia, How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
• Roy Clark, Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer
• Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
• Richard Louv, The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age

Any comments or suggestions? Let me know in the comments

Coaching Corner: Reflections & Tips on Academic Writing pt.1

Just to be clear, I'm not the coach in this blog post. I'm the one being coached. Like a previous blog post in which I received some career coaching from senior NT scholar Gary Burge, I want to share some coaching I've received by Helen Sword in her wonderful new book Air & Light & Time & Space. I'll share some thoughts and takeaways from the book in my next blog post, but in this one I want to offer some reflections on what is driving me to read a book like this in the first place.

A number of weeks ago the excellent OnScript podcast interviewed Jonathan Pennington about his Sermon on the Mount book. In addition to the excellent interview, Pennington casually mentioned that he frequently taught the research and writing components of the PhD program where he teaches. I took that occasion to email Jonathan in the hopes that he might share some of the book recommendations he makes for his students – both for myself and as recommendations for my own students. He was kind enough to share that information. Two weeks later, I ran into Jonathan at the SBL meeting in Boston at the Baker booth, and during that enjoyable conversation, Jonathan recommended most glowingly Helen Sword's book, Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write. Since I had some Amazon credit, the first thing I did when I returned home was order a copy. Before I get to some of my takeaways from the book, one more story from Boston.

One of the delights of almost every person that goes to SBL is walking through the book display. I spend a lot of time wandering around those displays and drooling over books. But I noticed something a little different about myself this time around. I was, of course, interested in the latest books in NT scholarship and those that may help me in preparing new courses. But my eyes were drawn especially to books on writing, on thinking, on argumentation — perhaps I can categorize them on "coaching the scholarly life" type of books.

Here is the raw truth of it. As a junior scholar, I still feel way in over my head. I walk into most of my classes wondering how I'm going to fill the time, wondering if what I have planned to share will be of any interest, and wondering if I've really truly earned that doctorate of mine. After reading Burge's book, I'm at least happy to know that I'm not alone.

The other reality is that just because I completed a dissertation does not mean I feel like an academic writer, nor have I learned to find the correct rhythm between teaching, administration, and research. Most young scholars are prone to a bit of hero worship. I have my favourite NT scholars, and had Craig Evans as a mentor – someone incredibly productive in publication and who challenged me and trained me with collaborative projects. But I increasingly realize that I'm not any of those people. My interests are sometimes different. My upbringing and background are different, and the communities that want to hear from me are different too. So now, even after published articles, dictionary entries, edited books, and published books — I still feel like I am wading in water seeking a firm footing. I am still trying to find my voice.

My authentic voice as a creator (academic writing, blogging, video making, etc) will be a cocktail mixed with many things. It starts with who I am as a person and all those people and events that shaped me from youth and up to the present, splashes in the best of what I've learned through school, adds a shot of flavour from the mentorship I've received both near and far, and intersects with my present circumstances and interests. The resulting creations will be a word first to me and then to those who choose to listen. I fully recognize that finding my voice is a long process, perhaps a lifetime for someone with my personality, but I take some comfort and encouragement from the fact that I have now at least recognized the process. Like Oscar Wilde said, "Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." Or like my colleague Anna Robbins said to me when I succeeded Craig Evans and moved into the position of Professor of New Testament Studies at Acadia Divinity College, "you're not Craig Evans, and we don't want you to be. We want to hear from you." Now I just need to keep working to figure out who I am.

All of this is essential pre-amble to my next post, which will highlight some takeaways from Sword's book. Stay tuned.