Thesis done!

I turned in my thesis yesterday afternoon!
Peace,
Chris

Thesis

Summary of An Uncomfortable Bit of Rope: Retellings of the Akedah
Chris Halverson

In this dissertation I begin by describing several recent retellings of Genesis chapter 22, the Binding of Isaac, which I refer to throughout as “the Akedah.” I suggest that this event is perplexing. Then I contend that when rewriters of the Bible retell the Akedah their particular focuses manifest themselves greatly, especially at the points where their accounts deviate from the biblical version. In other words, the Akedah is a literary Rorschach test.
In order to test this contention I look at four retellings from the early second century BCE to the closing of the first century CE. They are: The Book of Jubilees, also known as The Little Genesis, by an unknown author; Philo’s On Abraham; Biblical Antiquities by an unnamed author often called, for reasons explained in the dissertation, “Pseudo-Philo”; and Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities. I finish my introduction by going through the biblical account of the event and pointing out places in the text that may be ripe for retelling.
The next section involves me looking at each of these four authors, their works, and their versions of the Binding of Isaac. I describe how their accounts of the Akedah differ from the one found in the Bible and how this reveals the author’s biases.
Then, in order to explore the cultural and historical backgrounds of the texts, I look at them in synthesis with one another.
Finally, I discuss three modern retellings of the Akedah, which I had mentioned at the start of the dissertation.

65 citations

Did my Bibliography today. 65 books/articles read, 174 footnotes.
The current draft is 49 pages, 17,400 words,
Its due on Wednesday.
Peace,
Chris

My senator died

I once applied to be an intern for this guy. I think my mom did some Veterans Administration stuff with him once, and thought he knew what was what.
Peace,
Chris

All you need to know about Philo

Philo’s worldview can be summed up thus. Man is a mixture of body and soul; the latter requires salvation from the former. The Bible gives us examples of those who have been saved, but if it is properly read it “touches on the personal experience of each of us.” Within it we find the path to salvation from temptation. It gives us hope, calls us to repent, and allows us to achieve “limited tranquility.” Once we have reached this stabilized status we can attain perfection through learning, our natural capacities, and our right practice.

The last formal hall

Tonight was my last formal hall at St. Eds. Nothing special, I ate with an Estonian, a German, a Tibetan, and a Portuguese. We argued whether the garnish on the pork was sea weed or asparagus... Then as I sipped Port outside the College I met the parents of a British Divinity guy. We talked about South Africa and how their son should not anger Muslim extremists with his work.
I realize this won’t be the norm when I go back to the states. I’ll no longer wear the gown, I’ll not be served by English butlers, I’ll no longer select the finest cheeses for my crackers. I’ll be in Philly chillin’ with a bunch of ELCAers.
These last two years in England have been pretty darn cool, but they are coming to an end, 12 days and my thesis is due, soon enough after that I’ll be back in Oregon as if none of this ever happened.
Yet it’s been good. I’ve seen my country from the outside, inside, right side, left side. I’ve experienced a culture where CCTV and Chavs are the norm. And it has happened, my time here has been more than some dream. Two years of my life have been infused with England, and I’m fairly happy about that!
You may not hear from me again until my thesis is done. If that is the case… Peace.
Chris

Philo and Plain reason

Sometimes I give short shrift to the basics of the reformation, specifically that scripture was encouraged to be read with a literal meaning and with plain reason.
Wait, I'm a literalist now and all that implies? Nah, not exactly, but if the Catholics of the time read the Bible in a way anywhere similar to how Philo of Alexandria did I'd be nailing thesis to all kinds of things.
As you might have guessed I'm writing up my Philo chapter right now.
Peace,
Chris

The Folks

So here's my parents. They are chilling with MTV stars and writing things with their bodies... Mom's on the first D dad's on the first E. Sigh, to be old and carefree.
Back to the Thesis!
Peace,
Chris

Andrew Sullivan put up my window

Not something to write home about I suppose... but when you spend your days and nights writing about child sacrifice it doesn't take much to excite you.... Oh, yeah... I'm writing up my disertation. I've written draft one of my Josephus chapter, I'm finishing up the skeleton version of my disertation tonight (minus a conclusion about what contemporary rewritings of Gen.22 say about modernity.)
Peace,
Chris

These folks wanted me to link to them

So I have. It is a pro-homosexual inclusion blog.
Peace,
Chris

Short Story Monday: Space

I left him screaming in his padded room. He was the third one we’d picked up this week. The new Captain was too green; he still believed we can bring them back, he thinks they want to come back, these raft riders, Asteroid miners, and solar pirates.
They don’t. None of them are 1st generation like most of us on the Minnow.
I sat down in the mess hall. Some coffee was brought to me. It hovered gently in my cup. We’ve yet to adequately produce all of Earth’s wonders consistently on long voyages like ours. I took a sip. It was good, though you could still taste the dry shippy bitterness, even in liquids.
“That’s an unhappy face there Iris. What’s on your mind?” Kevin from security said, sitting down across the table from me. He set his stainless steel thermos on the table.
“The Asteroid boy is still at it.”
“Umm.”
“Four generations in space.”
“Jeeze. Imagine not knowing where you came from?”
I nodded in agreement and drank some more of the coffee.
“What you suppose his great great grand dad was running from?”
“It might be that he was running too something,” I countered.
“Most of ‘em were criminals though.”
“Criminality is in the eye of the beholder,” I said. His face soured at that. I tried to explain myself, “I think there was a real urge then to, you know,” I took a sip, “to fill the space. To fill space. It’s a very primitive, primeval urge. Dr. Gix Jin said, ‘Space is the womb, the fiminine, passive. Man wishes to fil it. To return from wence he came, to create anew the greatt old pattern, but now writ large upon the canvas of eternity.’ Yeah,” I said, “Dr. Gix Jin.”
I took a sip. Kevin drank from his thermos.
“Its bullshit. They were filth from the gutters of earth.”
“Even filth is motivated by something.”
“Is that why we are out here?”
I sipped the dreadful coffee, “No. Its just a job,” I finished it and left it on the table. I got up.
“See you later Iris.”
“See you Kevin,” I said, walking back to the hospital rooms.
The boy had never been to earth. He’d never felt real gravity, at least of the Earth kind. He’d likely lived on that asteroid his whole life. Yet we want him to be an earthman.
I could hear him still screaming as I neared his room.

The New Christianity

What can I say we are a nation wedded to war.
Peace,
Chris

Christian Aid Week: 250 Pounds

Last Thursday I trotted through the rain knocking on doors along with other folks from Emmanuel URC's Young Adults Group for Christian Aid Week and raised 258.17 pounds, or about 500 US. Not to toot our own horn or anything, but I think we did a pretty darn good job!
Peace,
Chris

Um... this is really bad.

he White House went ahead and reauthorized a controversial, presidential-power-grabbing program deemed illegal by the Justice Department, after trying to extract permission from a critically sick John Ashcroft who didn't quite know what day it was.

Did I mention I'm TTBA editor?

CUSFS Science Fiction and Fantasy Contest Get published in TTBA!!!

Peace,
Chris