Part of my work day practice is to start the morning off with a scripture reading and prayer. For the scripture reading I've been going over my Harmony of the Gospels. Each time through I find a typo or a place where I wonder if I've been faithful to the original text, and I have to check. I realize this makes my scripture reading a little like editing. I'm not really finding much, not on this third (or is it fourth?) time through, so maybe it is almost all reading and not editing.
As chance would have it, this last week I've been going through the Holy Week narrative. I didn't plan it that way; that's just where I was in the reading. I slowed down just a little to make sure I had Jesus' death and burial reading on Good Friday. On Monday I'll read the account of Resurrection Day, and will continue on from there.
I remember when I wrote this particular section. I was apprehensive, because I thought I would have a difficult time making it fit together. I was surprised how nicely the four gospels dovetailed. The problem was the visits to the tomb. Who went? How many visits were there? To whom did Jesus appear? Expecting difficulties, I was mildly surprised at how it came together.
Look at just one aspect of it: the time of day as described by each gospel writer, and to whom that time of day applied. Here's what they say.
Mark: Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they [Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome] were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" (16:2-3)
Matthew: After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. (28:1)
Luke: On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women [Mary Magdalen, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them] took the spiced they had prepared and went to the tomb. (24:1)
John: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. (20:1)
It was only when I did the work of writing the Harmony that I noticed the difference. Of course I knew that John described a trip that Mary Magdalene made on her own, while the other three write that Mary went with the other women. I had chalked that up to fading memories of the writers, or perhaps a literary technique of the three, combining trips to save paper and ink.
However, John really gives us a clue about this, because he said "it was still dark," whereas Mark and Matthew say it was light: "just after sunrise" and "at dawn." It is light at that time, a little after sunrise. Thus it seems that the women made at least two trips to the empty tomb that morning. Mary Magdalene went quite early. It was still dark when she started out. The other women went after the sun was up; they had some light to guide them.
Perhaps Mark didn't mean to be scientifically precise when they say "just after sunrise." And maybe he didn't have the scientific knowledge we have today to know that, due to the bending of the sun's rays in the atmosphere, it gets light before the sun actually rises. And what does "as dawn" mean anyway? Is that the same thing as sunrise, or it it first light? Whichever, as I read these four accounts closely, John is describing a trip by one woman that began before daylight came to Jerusalem. The other three are describing a trip by several women that took place after first light, and so was later than Mary Magdalene's first visit to the garden tomb that morning.
So why do the other three put Mary Magdalene with the other women? It's possible they knew that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb that day, but they didn't know that she went on her own, apart from the other women, so they assumed she was with them. It's also possible they were simply trying to save paper and ink. Books (in scroll form or in codex form, which was new on the scene about then) were expensive. Any thing a writer could do to shorten the narrative while still giving essential information to their readers. I find no conflict between the gospels in the start of the Resurrection narrative.
It's Resurrection Day. He rose from the dead. Since he's still alive, we say, "He is Risen!" He is risen indeed.
Showing posts with label Harmony of the gospels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harmony of the gospels. Show all posts
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Progress on the Harmony
As I’ve written on this blog before, for several years I’ve been working on writing a harmony of the gospels. I won’t repeat what I’ve written before, but direct those interested to any of these posts for a description.
Analyzing the Chronology of Gospel Events
To Post or Not to Post
Still Writing with the Flow
Then late in 2011, having completed a number of other projects, I picked up the Harmony again. This time I went to the Appendixes. These differ from the Passage Notes in that they analysis of broader issues that must be addressed in a harmony, such as the chronology of Jesus’ life and apparent or actual duplication of teaching, events, miracles, etc. As I began again this work, I had ten appendixes identified by name and purpose, and eight of them started or complete.
First I took time to address how many appendixes were needed. I looked at some other publications of or about harmonies, and saw what they covered and what they ignored. I compared that to what I considered important by way of explanation, and came up with a final list. I’ll need thirteen appendixes to explain what I feel needs to be explained. As of November/December of last year I had seven of thirteen either complete or well along, one about a third done, and five as title only or maybe an opening paragraph.
So I set to work on the appendixes, and by mid-January had completed three of those, plus the one that was half done is now seven-eighths done. At that point I shifted back to the Passage Notes. As I resumed work on them I looked ahead and saw that I really didn’t have as much to do on them as I thought I did. I thought I might have six months more writing to do, but I actually finished the Passage Notes yesterday—subject to editing and proofreading, of course. So now it’s down to two and one-eighth appendixes, and the book will be complete.
I know some people will ask, “Why spend so much time on a non-commercial project?” My only answers are because I want to, and because I can. It has been a rewarding experience. I have a much better understanding of the gospels as a result of this, especially how our orthodox understanding of Jesus requires all four gospels. No one of them tells the whole story, though each of them, in their own way, tells a complete story. How’s that for inspiration?
Analyzing the Chronology of Gospel Events
To Post or Not to Post
Still Writing with the Flow
I thought I should give a progress report. Early last year I was working hot and heavy on what I call Passage Notes. These are where I put parallel passages side by side in a table, divide them into small units, and explain the process I went through to harmonize the passage. I made a lot of progress early in 2011, maybe even through mid-year, then pulled off. My mind was tired of it at that point, and other writing interests had hold of whatever gray cells I could muster.
Then late in 2011, having completed a number of other projects, I picked up the Harmony again. This time I went to the Appendixes. These differ from the Passage Notes in that they analysis of broader issues that must be addressed in a harmony, such as the chronology of Jesus’ life and apparent or actual duplication of teaching, events, miracles, etc. As I began again this work, I had ten appendixes identified by name and purpose, and eight of them started or complete.
First I took time to address how many appendixes were needed. I looked at some other publications of or about harmonies, and saw what they covered and what they ignored. I compared that to what I considered important by way of explanation, and came up with a final list. I’ll need thirteen appendixes to explain what I feel needs to be explained. As of November/December of last year I had seven of thirteen either complete or well along, one about a third done, and five as title only or maybe an opening paragraph.
So I set to work on the appendixes, and by mid-January had completed three of those, plus the one that was half done is now seven-eighths done. At that point I shifted back to the Passage Notes. As I resumed work on them I looked ahead and saw that I really didn’t have as much to do on them as I thought I did. I thought I might have six months more writing to do, but I actually finished the Passage Notes yesterday—subject to editing and proofreading, of course. So now it’s down to two and one-eighth appendixes, and the book will be complete.
I know some people will ask, “Why spend so much time on a non-commercial project?” My only answers are because I want to, and because I can. It has been a rewarding experience. I have a much better understanding of the gospels as a result of this, especially how our orthodox understanding of Jesus requires all four gospels. No one of them tells the whole story, though each of them, in their own way, tells a complete story. How’s that for inspiration?
So the long work is nearing completion. Yesterday and today I worked on adding bookmarks and cross-references between the Passage Notes and the harmony text. I will likely finish that on Monday or Tuesday. The next step will be to print a proofreading copy. I’ll slowly proofread it while at the same time get back to work on the last couple of appendixes. I believe I may have some text done on one of them, residing somewhere in a separate document. I also want to add some references to all the appendixes. I consulted a number of scholarly works throughout the writing, but haven’t added the references. It’s time to do so.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Ephraim Factor
This week I have been writing with the flow, on my Harmony of the Gospels. I completed passage notes for several passages, about one a day and sometimes two. I worked on the events of Tuesday of Holy Week, and pretty much finished them. This led me to the problem of the dinner held in Jesus' honor at Bethany. Was it six days before the Passover as John said, or was it two days before the Passover at Mark and Matthew say? Or was it two separate dinners with amazingly similar actions, except for the day?
When I wrote the harmony originally I decided on one dinner per John's timing, and I still agree with this. This, however, I had always planned to discuss in an appendix, which will have significantly more discussion than would the passage notes. So, going with the flow, I wrote the portion of that appendix that goes with dinner. The appendix will be a fair amount larger, and I'll work on that later. However, writing this appendix required more work than the passage notes, and I've spent the last two days reading other commentators for agreeing and disagreeing opinions on this. It's amazing what I found on Google Books.
Between this writing and Ephraim's arrival on Thursday I've neglected this blog. Yes, Sara and Ephraim drove here from Oklahoma City on Thursday to spend a few days with us. Sara is busy conducting Mary Kay parties, so grandma and grandpa have been baby-sitting. Yes, this blog will wait while Ephraim's here. He's down for a nap right now, which has allowed me to finish the writing in the appendix for the present, and write this blog.
Better go proofread what I wrote in the Harmony, then head upstairs to await Ephraim's wakening.
When I wrote the harmony originally I decided on one dinner per John's timing, and I still agree with this. This, however, I had always planned to discuss in an appendix, which will have significantly more discussion than would the passage notes. So, going with the flow, I wrote the portion of that appendix that goes with dinner. The appendix will be a fair amount larger, and I'll work on that later. However, writing this appendix required more work than the passage notes, and I've spent the last two days reading other commentators for agreeing and disagreeing opinions on this. It's amazing what I found on Google Books.
Between this writing and Ephraim's arrival on Thursday I've neglected this blog. Yes, Sara and Ephraim drove here from Oklahoma City on Thursday to spend a few days with us. Sara is busy conducting Mary Kay parties, so grandma and grandpa have been baby-sitting. Yes, this blog will wait while Ephraim's here. He's down for a nap right now, which has allowed me to finish the writing in the appendix for the present, and write this blog.
Better go proofread what I wrote in the Harmony, then head upstairs to await Ephraim's wakening.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Still Thinking About Writing With the Flow
Yes, I'm still thinking about that. I wrote my post from yesterday at work, e-mailed it to myself at home, and posted it in the early evening. After that, I got to work on the passage notes and completed one passage. That still gave me time to read a literary agent's blog, and achieve my reading goals for the night. Oh, and I got caught up on my personal finance budgets and on the checkbook. So I would call it a successful evening, if only there were more left in the checkbook and the budget balanced.
Tonight I decided to continue with the passage notes in the Harmony of the Gospels. I'm at the place where Jesus warned his disciples, and the crowd, to beware of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees (Mark 12:38-40, Matthew 23:1-12, and Luke 20:45-47). I originally worked on this 2 October 2001, and appear to have completed it in one evening. Now, however, as I was writing the passage notes "with the flow," I saw a number of places where my original harmony missed some key information. So I took time to break the passage down into smaller chunks, something I didn't do before, and reworked the harmony. I'm more pleased with it now, as it is more complete.
Maybe this writing with the flow is better. My mind is still engaged on these passages and on the passage notes. The way I'm writing them is to go back to my hand-written notebooks--three of them--where I wrote out the passages, discussed the similarities and differences, then wrote the harmony. Sometimes I began with chunks too big, and had to go back to the beginning with smaller bites. I should have done that with the passage in question. What I'm doing now is typing those notes I made as I harmonized the four gospels. However, I'm expanding my personal shorthand, and adding a few extra comments I didn't before--the laziness of writing by hand when you're used to typing seventy words a minute.
But I find I'm adding quite a bit more to the passage notes. After I reread my old notes, and the harmony, and the gospels again, and think some more, more words flow, giving a more complete picture of the process I went through and the nature of the finished product.
So maybe this writing with the flow does work. I'm writing these passage notes kind of fast, yet at the same time adding to them and improving the Harmony. I don't know how long this inspiration will continue, but I'll go with it for a while. Maybe I'll actually finish the project in a couple of years. Since it's probably non-publishable, no hurry.
I still need to work on the discipline part of writing with the flow, which will involve writing where the flow stops so as to finish a project. I'll figure it out someday. Otherwise I'll never get a book published.
Meanwhile, the flow to do my taxes has not yet come.
Tonight I decided to continue with the passage notes in the Harmony of the Gospels. I'm at the place where Jesus warned his disciples, and the crowd, to beware of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees (Mark 12:38-40, Matthew 23:1-12, and Luke 20:45-47). I originally worked on this 2 October 2001, and appear to have completed it in one evening. Now, however, as I was writing the passage notes "with the flow," I saw a number of places where my original harmony missed some key information. So I took time to break the passage down into smaller chunks, something I didn't do before, and reworked the harmony. I'm more pleased with it now, as it is more complete.
Maybe this writing with the flow is better. My mind is still engaged on these passages and on the passage notes. The way I'm writing them is to go back to my hand-written notebooks--three of them--where I wrote out the passages, discussed the similarities and differences, then wrote the harmony. Sometimes I began with chunks too big, and had to go back to the beginning with smaller bites. I should have done that with the passage in question. What I'm doing now is typing those notes I made as I harmonized the four gospels. However, I'm expanding my personal shorthand, and adding a few extra comments I didn't before--the laziness of writing by hand when you're used to typing seventy words a minute.
But I find I'm adding quite a bit more to the passage notes. After I reread my old notes, and the harmony, and the gospels again, and think some more, more words flow, giving a more complete picture of the process I went through and the nature of the finished product.
So maybe this writing with the flow does work. I'm writing these passage notes kind of fast, yet at the same time adding to them and improving the Harmony. I don't know how long this inspiration will continue, but I'll go with it for a while. Maybe I'll actually finish the project in a couple of years. Since it's probably non-publishable, no hurry.
I still need to work on the discipline part of writing with the flow, which will involve writing where the flow stops so as to finish a project. I'll figure it out someday. Otherwise I'll never get a book published.
Meanwhile, the flow to do my taxes has not yet come.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Change of Plans -- Inspired?
The only writing I planned to do this weekend was write a follow-up article on Earth Day for Suite101.com. My article on the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day is doing quite well, page view wise. And it should do better as the day approaches. A figure another follow-up article couldn't hurt. Beyond that, I planned on finishing the Chuck Colson book.
But my weekend plans went awry. Friday night I got some good reading done, essentially on-pace to finish the book by tonight. Saturday, though, was fully consumed with chores and comings and goings, until the evening left little opportunity to read. Well, I did read. I re-read a chapter in The Shack, the book we are studying in our adult Sunday school class, and prepared to teach it in case the teacher was out today (he was, so I did). And I read a Nazarene missions book that we've had for too long (just 94 pages; easy read). Then it was bed time.
This afternoon I had to meet with the trustees at church to talk again about our parking lot rehab project. We had some money unexpectedly come our way, and have the opportunity to redo the lot according to my master plan. Looks like that will happen. But that meeting, and waiting for it to start, took a good chunk of the afternoon. No time for reading.
But the thing that really changed my plans was reading yesterday morning and today in the gospels. As I usually do this time of year, I began reading again the stories of Jesus' passion, beginning with the triumphal entry. But I decided to read it in my Harmony of the Gospels. The part I read this morning, Jesus' ministry and encounters early in the week, led me to realize I may have been off in a couple of things. Plus, my mind seemed really engaged in the subject, and I thought this might be a good time to get some passage notes written.
So this afternoon and this evening I took time to work on some passage notes. I did this for the passages that are titled, in my study Bible, Question About Paying Taxes, About the Resurrection, and The Greatest Commandment. My mind was sharp, and focused. The words of the Harmony seemed to jump out of the page as I read. This is usually a sign that I'm reading the right thing for my current state of mind. So I got to work on the passage notes.
Perhaps I should briefly describe these. They are the notes that I wrote in my notebook as I harmonized the four gospels. I would first write out the text for each gospel covering that passage, in very short pieces (usually a sentence, sometimes two). I would then write a few notes about the differences and similarities in the text; what appeared to be conflicts and what appeared to be simple differences in wording. Then I would state some basis for harmonizing the text, say "Use Mark for the basic text, work in the extra information in Matthew and the word difference in Luke", or something like that. Then I wrote the harmonized text in the notebook.
So I went to the notebook, found the part about paying taxes to Caesar, and began. I should also say that I've tried working on several of the passage notes before. I had little success, for whatever reason. But today I had good success. I took my handwritten notes and began typing. I expanded my private shorthand to full words and grammar. I added a few things that came to mind now. Most importantly, I found a few places where I could make my harmony better, and more faithful to the original text. I also found a few places where I did not adequately state the basis for my decision. I added that to the passage note.
This was not even on the radar screen when I set March goals. Consequently, I'm not sure what this will do to my goals. I may need to lay something else aside, or spend more time on writing than I anticipate having. Well, it seems that I need to write where my mind is going, not force it to write something that it is not interested in at that moment. So I'll see what tomorrow brings, be it a Suite article, a little more on my novel, editing my article for BiblioBuffet, or even another passage note.
But my weekend plans went awry. Friday night I got some good reading done, essentially on-pace to finish the book by tonight. Saturday, though, was fully consumed with chores and comings and goings, until the evening left little opportunity to read. Well, I did read. I re-read a chapter in The Shack, the book we are studying in our adult Sunday school class, and prepared to teach it in case the teacher was out today (he was, so I did). And I read a Nazarene missions book that we've had for too long (just 94 pages; easy read). Then it was bed time.
This afternoon I had to meet with the trustees at church to talk again about our parking lot rehab project. We had some money unexpectedly come our way, and have the opportunity to redo the lot according to my master plan. Looks like that will happen. But that meeting, and waiting for it to start, took a good chunk of the afternoon. No time for reading.
But the thing that really changed my plans was reading yesterday morning and today in the gospels. As I usually do this time of year, I began reading again the stories of Jesus' passion, beginning with the triumphal entry. But I decided to read it in my Harmony of the Gospels. The part I read this morning, Jesus' ministry and encounters early in the week, led me to realize I may have been off in a couple of things. Plus, my mind seemed really engaged in the subject, and I thought this might be a good time to get some passage notes written.
So this afternoon and this evening I took time to work on some passage notes. I did this for the passages that are titled, in my study Bible, Question About Paying Taxes, About the Resurrection, and The Greatest Commandment. My mind was sharp, and focused. The words of the Harmony seemed to jump out of the page as I read. This is usually a sign that I'm reading the right thing for my current state of mind. So I got to work on the passage notes.
Perhaps I should briefly describe these. They are the notes that I wrote in my notebook as I harmonized the four gospels. I would first write out the text for each gospel covering that passage, in very short pieces (usually a sentence, sometimes two). I would then write a few notes about the differences and similarities in the text; what appeared to be conflicts and what appeared to be simple differences in wording. Then I would state some basis for harmonizing the text, say "Use Mark for the basic text, work in the extra information in Matthew and the word difference in Luke", or something like that. Then I wrote the harmonized text in the notebook.
So I went to the notebook, found the part about paying taxes to Caesar, and began. I should also say that I've tried working on several of the passage notes before. I had little success, for whatever reason. But today I had good success. I took my handwritten notes and began typing. I expanded my private shorthand to full words and grammar. I added a few things that came to mind now. Most importantly, I found a few places where I could make my harmony better, and more faithful to the original text. I also found a few places where I did not adequately state the basis for my decision. I added that to the passage note.
This was not even on the radar screen when I set March goals. Consequently, I'm not sure what this will do to my goals. I may need to lay something else aside, or spend more time on writing than I anticipate having. Well, it seems that I need to write where my mind is going, not force it to write something that it is not interested in at that moment. So I'll see what tomorrow brings, be it a Suite article, a little more on my novel, editing my article for BiblioBuffet, or even another passage note.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Book Review: A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ
No, this is not the harmony that I'm writing. This is the one prepared by A.T. Robertson, published by Harper & Row in 1922. The book I picked up at a thrift store (for a dollar) was printed by H&R in 1950.
Dr. Robertson's work was based on that of Dr. John A. Broadus, published in the mid-1890s. Robertson was a student of Broadus, and took over and expanded on his work whenever some discovery of a new Biblical text came to light, or when new textural criticism better explained the difference between the different gospels.
I bought this book after I had finished my own harmony, while working on appendixes and passage notes (still an on-going, off and on effort). The is a parallel-column harmony. Neither Broadus nor Robertson believed that the texts should be interwoven, for to do so would eliminate the distinctness of the language each gospel has. My harmony is the interwoven type, with each gospel compared to the others and the different texts blended into one (hopefully) seamless narrative. But I thought this would be a good book to review to see how the chronology of the professors compared to the chronology I came up with (with the assistance of some study Bibles).
The book does a couple of things I like. First, it is not based on the King James Version, but rather the Revised Standard Version. This is still difficult to read compared to my preferred NIV, but it's an improvement. Next, it gives the Gospel of Mark the left hand column, believing, as I do, that Mark's gospel was the first one put in final form, and that Luke and Matthew used Mark as one of their sources. Next, it does not waste a lot of blank column space when less than four gospels cover an event. If only one covers it, the text of that one utilizes the full width of the page. If two cover it, wide columns are used. If the number of lines needed to show parallel passages differs greatly, narrow columns start out and then wider or full width is used later. This is all done in such a way that the reader has no problem figuring out which gospel contributed which text. Not only does this save paper, it makes reading much more enjoyable.
The end of the book contains a number of discussions, equivalent to the appendixes I'm writing, to explain decision making that went into the Harmony. This is in addition to many footnotes added to passages to clarify, cross-reference, and explain something in a way that doesn't require a long note at the end. In these end discussions, Robertson explains not only the way he thinks the harmony should be but also the main competing theories, and explains why he chose the route he did.
I did find a couple of negatives with this book. First, the font is small, very small by today's standards. The main text is probably an 8 point font, Robertson's footnotes 6 point, and the RSV footnotes 5 point! Too small on many evenings for my $5 reading glasses from Dollar General. Next, Robertson (probably after Broadus' example) is overly concerned with exact dates. One of his notes goes into considerable length to discuss what year Jesus was born in; another into what year he began his ministry. I'm not really concerned about the exact year so much as the exact order of events in Christ's life. Then, the footnotes and end discussion are perhaps too brief. Many decisions on order of the gospels, for example how Matthew seems to be non-chronological whereas Mark is chronological, could have been much better developed.
I found this book most useful in explaining Jesus' movements. When was he in Galilee? When in Jerusalem, or Judea? How does Jesus' statement in Luke chapter 9 about going to Jerusalem make sense in light of all the rest of the material in Luke 10-21? How did Jesus' trip to Tyre and Sidon happen relative to other departures from Galilee? These relative movements are nicely explained. I will have to review my chronology and see if I need to make any adjustments. Of course, Robertson doesn't agree with some of the decisions I made. I probably should re-think those areas, but I won't. I feel pretty strongly about some of those.
This is a keeper for me. It would be a good book for anyone who is a serious student of the Bible to have.
Dr. Robertson's work was based on that of Dr. John A. Broadus, published in the mid-1890s. Robertson was a student of Broadus, and took over and expanded on his work whenever some discovery of a new Biblical text came to light, or when new textural criticism better explained the difference between the different gospels.
I bought this book after I had finished my own harmony, while working on appendixes and passage notes (still an on-going, off and on effort). The is a parallel-column harmony. Neither Broadus nor Robertson believed that the texts should be interwoven, for to do so would eliminate the distinctness of the language each gospel has. My harmony is the interwoven type, with each gospel compared to the others and the different texts blended into one (hopefully) seamless narrative. But I thought this would be a good book to review to see how the chronology of the professors compared to the chronology I came up with (with the assistance of some study Bibles).
The book does a couple of things I like. First, it is not based on the King James Version, but rather the Revised Standard Version. This is still difficult to read compared to my preferred NIV, but it's an improvement. Next, it gives the Gospel of Mark the left hand column, believing, as I do, that Mark's gospel was the first one put in final form, and that Luke and Matthew used Mark as one of their sources. Next, it does not waste a lot of blank column space when less than four gospels cover an event. If only one covers it, the text of that one utilizes the full width of the page. If two cover it, wide columns are used. If the number of lines needed to show parallel passages differs greatly, narrow columns start out and then wider or full width is used later. This is all done in such a way that the reader has no problem figuring out which gospel contributed which text. Not only does this save paper, it makes reading much more enjoyable.
The end of the book contains a number of discussions, equivalent to the appendixes I'm writing, to explain decision making that went into the Harmony. This is in addition to many footnotes added to passages to clarify, cross-reference, and explain something in a way that doesn't require a long note at the end. In these end discussions, Robertson explains not only the way he thinks the harmony should be but also the main competing theories, and explains why he chose the route he did.
I did find a couple of negatives with this book. First, the font is small, very small by today's standards. The main text is probably an 8 point font, Robertson's footnotes 6 point, and the RSV footnotes 5 point! Too small on many evenings for my $5 reading glasses from Dollar General. Next, Robertson (probably after Broadus' example) is overly concerned with exact dates. One of his notes goes into considerable length to discuss what year Jesus was born in; another into what year he began his ministry. I'm not really concerned about the exact year so much as the exact order of events in Christ's life. Then, the footnotes and end discussion are perhaps too brief. Many decisions on order of the gospels, for example how Matthew seems to be non-chronological whereas Mark is chronological, could have been much better developed.
I found this book most useful in explaining Jesus' movements. When was he in Galilee? When in Jerusalem, or Judea? How does Jesus' statement in Luke chapter 9 about going to Jerusalem make sense in light of all the rest of the material in Luke 10-21? How did Jesus' trip to Tyre and Sidon happen relative to other departures from Galilee? These relative movements are nicely explained. I will have to review my chronology and see if I need to make any adjustments. Of course, Robertson doesn't agree with some of the decisions I made. I probably should re-think those areas, but I won't. I feel pretty strongly about some of those.
This is a keeper for me. It would be a good book for anyone who is a serious student of the Bible to have.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
August Goals
Well, I've had two fairly productive months, and hope to make it three in a row. Here's what I have at present, subject to editing, of course.
- Write 10 articles for Suite101.com.
- Blog 12 to 15 times.
- Study: search engine optimization; sources for royalty free pictures; and picture types for digital photos.
- Finish chapter 7 in In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People; Begin chapter 8
- Finish one appendix in a Harmony of the gospels; also one passage notes section.
- Complete the engineering article on storm water detention that is due Sept. 1.
- More work on Good King, Bad King. Try to identify and outline at least four more lessons.
- Work on The Strongest of All study from the apocrypha. I have the five lessons prepared, but need to add some lead-in and conclusion discussions.
- And, based on my incomplete goals from July, get some more work done on Life on a Yo Yo, in an attempt to make it a publishable study.
The July Report
Okay, let's see how I did relative to my goals.
1. Blog at least 12 times. Did this. I think I was at 15 or so.
2. Post 15 articles at Suite101.com. I beat this, posting 17.
3. Research, prepare, and submit 2 other freelance queries. I got the research done, but not the queries themselves. I drafted one but haven't yet sent it. I had to re-query one from the previous month, due to it being lost in that magazine's system.
4. Complete one set of passage notes for my Harmony of the Gospels. Got this done, as well as proofing and editing the appendix I almost finished in June.
5. Complete the first two lessons in Good King, Bad King (already started and maybe half-way done) and outline the full series. I can report only partial progress on this. I got the lessons done, and taught them last week and today. However, I have not yet outlined the rest of the series. I've brainstormed it a little, but brainstorming without getting something down on paper doesn't count.
6. For Life on a Yo Yo: Write a "sell sheet" for the Bible study; complete the first four lessons in publishable form. I totally dropped the ball on this, not even thinking about it all month. And it's not even in my draft goals for August. I may have to amend them.
7. Complete the new chapter of In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People that I got half-way done in June. It would be nice to both complete that and start another chapter, but I'm not making that a goal, not with everything else I have going on. Plus, I'm a freelancer not, not a novelist. I did a little more work on chapter 7, but I cannot say it's done. I imagine it needs another hour or two to be called done. I sent the book as is on to a new beta reader who requested it. We'll see what he says.
So, I hit some things but missed others. All in all it was a productive month. I'll next post my goals for August, a month which I hope will be even more productive.
1. Blog at least 12 times. Did this. I think I was at 15 or so.
2. Post 15 articles at Suite101.com. I beat this, posting 17.
3. Research, prepare, and submit 2 other freelance queries. I got the research done, but not the queries themselves. I drafted one but haven't yet sent it. I had to re-query one from the previous month, due to it being lost in that magazine's system.
4. Complete one set of passage notes for my Harmony of the Gospels. Got this done, as well as proofing and editing the appendix I almost finished in June.
5. Complete the first two lessons in Good King, Bad King (already started and maybe half-way done) and outline the full series. I can report only partial progress on this. I got the lessons done, and taught them last week and today. However, I have not yet outlined the rest of the series. I've brainstormed it a little, but brainstorming without getting something down on paper doesn't count.
6. For Life on a Yo Yo: Write a "sell sheet" for the Bible study; complete the first four lessons in publishable form. I totally dropped the ball on this, not even thinking about it all month. And it's not even in my draft goals for August. I may have to amend them.
7. Complete the new chapter of In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People that I got half-way done in June. It would be nice to both complete that and start another chapter, but I'm not making that a goal, not with everything else I have going on. Plus, I'm a freelancer not, not a novelist. I did a little more work on chapter 7, but I cannot say it's done. I imagine it needs another hour or two to be called done. I sent the book as is on to a new beta reader who requested it. We'll see what he says.
So, I hit some things but missed others. All in all it was a productive month. I'll next post my goals for August, a month which I hope will be even more productive.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Progress By Inches
Last night, as promised in yesterday's post, I went to the Bentonville library after work. They forgave me the fine and renewed the book. I spent a little time in a genealogy magazine, checking to see if I could write for that one, then went to the coffee shop, bought a large house blend, and sat and wrote my article on The Notebooks of Robert Frost. I didn't quite finish it, but I came close.
This was my first time to sit in a coffee shop and write. My son writes or studies in coffee shops all the time. Somehow he shuts out the noise to background and then effectively uses his time. He says he can do certain work there better than he can in the quiet of his lodgings. I've tried reading in coffee shops before, but never writing. I was surprised to make as much progress as I did. The TV mounted up high behind my back kept blaring a sitcom re-run, then a CNN program. I looked its way on occasion. Still, in about an hour I wrote 500 or so words in a steno notebook. Having previously studied the key words for this article for search engine optimization, I felt I had incorporated most of what I wanted to. I headed to the house with the article needing only a closing paragraph and editing.
At home, after a simple supper, I keyed in the article, added a photo, and published. This was my first Suite 101 article in a week, and it felt good to be back in the saddle. I then shifted gears to working on my Harmony of the Gospels. I'm pretty much done with the appendix covering the trial before Pilate, so I went next to the passage notes required for passages in that chapter. I actually finished notes for two passages! I think I have two more passages and I'm done with this chapter. Except...
..as I consulted my workbooks, from which I pulled the passage notes, I noticed that what I wrote in the workbooks did not match what I had previously typed in the Harmony. One of the differences was significant, incorporating something in the gospels I had missed in the workbooks. Had I made the changes while typing, or did I have other notes in the workbooks? I searched a little for other notes, but didn't find any. I never got around to indexing the workbooks, so I have no way of knowing if I have supplemental notes in another book (I have three all together for this project, the last one being only 2/3 used). So I spent fifteen minutes indexing that workbook.
The hour was such that I could still afford more computer time, so I spent a little time on Facebook, still trying to learn how to navigate on that site and to use it for a combination of promotion, friendship, and networking. Found two high school friends who didn't show up on the alumni list and invited them to be friends. Last, before leaving the Dungeon for the Upper Realms, I e-mailed a friend a copy of my incomplete novel, In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. He's a huge baseball fan, and when he visited us in April and we discussed this he said he'd like to read it. Only took me three months to comply.
I concluded my productive evening by reading in Robertson's Harmony of the Gospels (the book at the top of my reading pile), and read one article in a 2008 issue of Writers Digest magazine. Then I went to bed on time.
So, I'm making progress on most fronts. The checkbook is up to date. The budget is up to date. Papers are being filed. Dishes and kitchen are being handled (batching it again). Writing progressing on several fronts. Reading moseys along. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't play computer games.
This was my first time to sit in a coffee shop and write. My son writes or studies in coffee shops all the time. Somehow he shuts out the noise to background and then effectively uses his time. He says he can do certain work there better than he can in the quiet of his lodgings. I've tried reading in coffee shops before, but never writing. I was surprised to make as much progress as I did. The TV mounted up high behind my back kept blaring a sitcom re-run, then a CNN program. I looked its way on occasion. Still, in about an hour I wrote 500 or so words in a steno notebook. Having previously studied the key words for this article for search engine optimization, I felt I had incorporated most of what I wanted to. I headed to the house with the article needing only a closing paragraph and editing.
At home, after a simple supper, I keyed in the article, added a photo, and published. This was my first Suite 101 article in a week, and it felt good to be back in the saddle. I then shifted gears to working on my Harmony of the Gospels. I'm pretty much done with the appendix covering the trial before Pilate, so I went next to the passage notes required for passages in that chapter. I actually finished notes for two passages! I think I have two more passages and I'm done with this chapter. Except...
..as I consulted my workbooks, from which I pulled the passage notes, I noticed that what I wrote in the workbooks did not match what I had previously typed in the Harmony. One of the differences was significant, incorporating something in the gospels I had missed in the workbooks. Had I made the changes while typing, or did I have other notes in the workbooks? I searched a little for other notes, but didn't find any. I never got around to indexing the workbooks, so I have no way of knowing if I have supplemental notes in another book (I have three all together for this project, the last one being only 2/3 used). So I spent fifteen minutes indexing that workbook.
The hour was such that I could still afford more computer time, so I spent a little time on Facebook, still trying to learn how to navigate on that site and to use it for a combination of promotion, friendship, and networking. Found two high school friends who didn't show up on the alumni list and invited them to be friends. Last, before leaving the Dungeon for the Upper Realms, I e-mailed a friend a copy of my incomplete novel, In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People. He's a huge baseball fan, and when he visited us in April and we discussed this he said he'd like to read it. Only took me three months to comply.
I concluded my productive evening by reading in Robertson's Harmony of the Gospels (the book at the top of my reading pile), and read one article in a 2008 issue of Writers Digest magazine. Then I went to bed on time.
So, I'm making progress on most fronts. The checkbook is up to date. The budget is up to date. Papers are being filed. Dishes and kitchen are being handled (batching it again). Writing progressing on several fronts. Reading moseys along. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't play computer games.
Monday, July 27, 2009
A Pleasant Evening Awaits
It's 4:32 PM by the clock on my computer at the office. I returned here a little while ago from Centerton, where I presented my flood study to the mayor and department heads. This was for the purpose of presenting the summary of findings and recommendations, and to help them understand what their options are concerning future conditions in the drainage basin. Tomorrow evening I present it to the Planning Commission (for information purposes only).
I'd like to say that's the end of the project, but, alas, it's only the end of the study phase. I now need to pull together a submission to FEMA. This consists of reworking my report to include only those things FEMA will look at, filling out about 15 pages of FEMA forms, having one more exhibit drawn--the actual changes to the flood map, and getting the City's approval of those. At some point this will involve a public hearing and newspaper ads. The actual flood map revision, which will be the end of the project, is likely 6 to 8 months away.
But, a burden is lifted. I look forward to a pleasant evening tonight. My wife is away (no, that's not what will make it a pleasant evening), having gone this morning to Oklahoma City with her mother to spend a week with daughter, son-in-law, and grandson Ephraim. I'm going to take advantage of the time, however, and attend the regular monthly meeting of the Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society at the Bentonville library. I've never been to this group. I look forward to the fellowship.
Then, what to do at the house? A quick supper of leftovers won't take much time. I'll probably read in Robertson's harmony of the gospels, then go work on my own. I made some good progress on this yesterday, and would like to finish the appendix I worked on. That would feel pretty good, if I could finish that. The progress I made yesterday would have been greater except, having taken so long away from it, it was difficult to shift my mind from magazine articles (on-line and off-line)and Bible studies to that work. Tonight should be better, with me having not worked on other writing since then, except for this blog.
After that, probably about 11:00 PM, I'll exit the Dungeon for the upper realm and read something lighter, say in an old issue of Writers Digest that I picked up at a thrift store. That will put me in the mood for bed, and I should get six hours of blissful sleep, dreaming about the Bible, genealogy, and writing, with a little successful engineering mixed in. What could be more pleasant to dream about?
I'd like to say that's the end of the project, but, alas, it's only the end of the study phase. I now need to pull together a submission to FEMA. This consists of reworking my report to include only those things FEMA will look at, filling out about 15 pages of FEMA forms, having one more exhibit drawn--the actual changes to the flood map, and getting the City's approval of those. At some point this will involve a public hearing and newspaper ads. The actual flood map revision, which will be the end of the project, is likely 6 to 8 months away.
But, a burden is lifted. I look forward to a pleasant evening tonight. My wife is away (no, that's not what will make it a pleasant evening), having gone this morning to Oklahoma City with her mother to spend a week with daughter, son-in-law, and grandson Ephraim. I'm going to take advantage of the time, however, and attend the regular monthly meeting of the Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society at the Bentonville library. I've never been to this group. I look forward to the fellowship.
Then, what to do at the house? A quick supper of leftovers won't take much time. I'll probably read in Robertson's harmony of the gospels, then go work on my own. I made some good progress on this yesterday, and would like to finish the appendix I worked on. That would feel pretty good, if I could finish that. The progress I made yesterday would have been greater except, having taken so long away from it, it was difficult to shift my mind from magazine articles (on-line and off-line)and Bible studies to that work. Tonight should be better, with me having not worked on other writing since then, except for this blog.
After that, probably about 11:00 PM, I'll exit the Dungeon for the upper realm and read something lighter, say in an old issue of Writers Digest that I picked up at a thrift store. That will put me in the mood for bed, and I should get six hours of blissful sleep, dreaming about the Bible, genealogy, and writing, with a little successful engineering mixed in. What could be more pleasant to dream about?
Friday, July 10, 2009
Miscellaneous Musing on an Unexpectedly Free Lunch Hour
I should probably be writing something that will someday lead to revenue, but I find myself drawn here instead. I had a lunch appointment today, but the other party cancelled unexpectedly. I'll have to go out and buy something shortly, but until then I'll enter a few miscellaneous musings here.
- I'm up to 19 articles posted on Suite101.com, and have maybe four in the hopper that may jump out this weekend. The writing is enjoyable. Unlike at some Internet content sites I get to choose my own topics, the articles go life as soon as I post them, and I can edit them as needed. Unfortunately, so far I have earned only $0.03 (not a typo) based on ad clicks, on none for over a week.
- This search engine optimization thing (SEO) is going to have a steep learning curve, I'm afraid. No doubt my failure to do this well is keeping my page views low, thus fewer viewers to click on the ads. But to learn SEO will take hours and hours of reading and experimentation. You have to know this because Google and other search engines are the main way readers find your articles. So titles, subtitles, meta tags (still not quite sure what they are or if they still hold importance or not-the SEO experts seem unsure of this), and image captions all need to be "key-word rich". Yuck. I must now bow down to the Google altar.
- Suite 101 now requires that each article include at least one image, preferably more. This is adding a lot of minutes to the time it takes to ready an article for posting. Yet, the SEO experts say this is part of SEO and I will benefit by doing it. I have to believe the experts, I suppose, but I'll believe it when I see it.
- As expected, writing for Suite101.com is taking pretty much all my creative writing time. I've not even thought about other freelance queries, or novels, or Bible studies. Well, except for the Bible study I'll begin teaching in about three weeks. I have that pretty much completed as much as I need for teaching. And about a week ago I worked on an appendix to the Harmony of the Gospels. I have about an hour to do to finish that appendix, and hope to do it this weekend.
- The good news is that poetry has returned and filled what little time I have for creative writing outside of the Suite stuff. It hasn't returned in a big way, but at least it has returned. Possibly writing the Suite articles on Robert Frost was part of the catalyst for that.
Well, I'm off to either buy a lunch or forage. This weekend may be the height of blackberry season in these parts, and I hope to pick a bunch.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The No Service Conspiracy
I planned on posting a book review yesterday—not a major review, but just writing a little bit about a book I checked out from the library. I went down to the Dungeon after church, life groups, taking recyclables, and a quick visit to Wal-Mart to be parted with some of my money. Book in hand, I called forth the Internet to bring up this blog, but the Internet didn’t answer. No service. I rebooted the computer. No service. I tried the other computer, the nice new and powerful one that neither of us uses. No service, so it seemed it wasn’t my computer. I piddled around a little, reading some things at hand, checking back and still finding no Internet. We frequently have Internet service lapses of a second or two, sometimes stretching out to a minute.
When this came to 30 minutes, I decided to do something I hadn’t done on a Sunday for a while: take a nap. I should have gone out to the nearby blackberry patch and see what was ripe. The temperature was okay, and this should be the peak season, but my heart and legs weren’t in it. I had an hour of restful sleep. Or was it restless? I can’t remember now, but I then got up and came back to the computer. Still no Internet service on either computer.
Now for some reason it never dawned on me to write my book review in Word and save it until service was restored. I looked at various writing project sitting on the computer desk and work table, and decided to pull out the Harmony of the Gospels I laid aside a couple of months ago. I found it easy to get back into, first writing the passage notes for the post-resurrection day events.
I then began writing the appendix on how I harmonized the resurrection, and found that easy to do, even though I hadn’t thought about this for at least three months. I found the right place in my workbook, re-read a portion of my notes, then started typing the appendix. I never did go back to my notes. The words flowed, as I explained how I reconciled the way the four different gospels described Easter morning. An hour and a half later I had a good start on this appendix, maybe as much as half done.
At 5 PM we still had no service. I went upstairs, found Lynda up, and her not able to get on the Internet on the wireless laptop. So I called Cox and learned we had a service outage in our area (duh) and that technicians had been dispatched to restore service. After supper I went back to the Dungeon, and service was restored. However, by that time I had lost interest in posting to this blog, lost interest in writing an article for Suite 101, and so just spent the time working through a backlog of e-mails and catching up on the two message boards I read.
For the rest of the evening I set aside library books and went to my regular reading pile, now almost a year old, and pulled out the next one. It’s a harmony of the gospels, originally written in 1891 and updated for several decades as new research and manuscript finds came up. I read it through the time Jesus was in the temple as a twelve year old, and was gratified to find their conclusions were the same as mine, or since they were first I should say my conclusions were the same as theirs. It’s good to know that you worked independently and came to the same conclusions as an expert.
I got to work today intending to write this blog post, and found our Internet down. It must be a conspiracy. So I did what I didn’t do last night: I typed this in Word for later posting. Actually our service came back about twenty minutes ago, but I decided to complete this in Word, as practice for the next outage at home. This evening I’ll come back with the book review. I know you all can’t wait.
When this came to 30 minutes, I decided to do something I hadn’t done on a Sunday for a while: take a nap. I should have gone out to the nearby blackberry patch and see what was ripe. The temperature was okay, and this should be the peak season, but my heart and legs weren’t in it. I had an hour of restful sleep. Or was it restless? I can’t remember now, but I then got up and came back to the computer. Still no Internet service on either computer.
Now for some reason it never dawned on me to write my book review in Word and save it until service was restored. I looked at various writing project sitting on the computer desk and work table, and decided to pull out the Harmony of the Gospels I laid aside a couple of months ago. I found it easy to get back into, first writing the passage notes for the post-resurrection day events.
I then began writing the appendix on how I harmonized the resurrection, and found that easy to do, even though I hadn’t thought about this for at least three months. I found the right place in my workbook, re-read a portion of my notes, then started typing the appendix. I never did go back to my notes. The words flowed, as I explained how I reconciled the way the four different gospels described Easter morning. An hour and a half later I had a good start on this appendix, maybe as much as half done.
At 5 PM we still had no service. I went upstairs, found Lynda up, and her not able to get on the Internet on the wireless laptop. So I called Cox and learned we had a service outage in our area (duh) and that technicians had been dispatched to restore service. After supper I went back to the Dungeon, and service was restored. However, by that time I had lost interest in posting to this blog, lost interest in writing an article for Suite 101, and so just spent the time working through a backlog of e-mails and catching up on the two message boards I read.
For the rest of the evening I set aside library books and went to my regular reading pile, now almost a year old, and pulled out the next one. It’s a harmony of the gospels, originally written in 1891 and updated for several decades as new research and manuscript finds came up. I read it through the time Jesus was in the temple as a twelve year old, and was gratified to find their conclusions were the same as mine, or since they were first I should say my conclusions were the same as theirs. It’s good to know that you worked independently and came to the same conclusions as an expert.
I got to work today intending to write this blog post, and found our Internet down. It must be a conspiracy. So I did what I didn’t do last night: I typed this in Word for later posting. Actually our service came back about twenty minutes ago, but I decided to complete this in Word, as practice for the next outage at home. This evening I’ll come back with the book review. I know you all can’t wait.
Monday, June 1, 2009
June Goals
I don't want to set any writing goals this month, but know I must. I have to spend time on many things this month, most of which have nothing to do with writing. I have to get some financial stuff done for our home business, and for our 2009 taxes (yes, I'm trying to get ahead of the curve). Yard work is probably at a peak this month. And we'll have another road trip, though that is partially writing related.
Mainly, though, I have to do more about my health. I have lost 21 pounds this year, which is good, but I'm stuck where I am. In the last two months I've been bouncing back and forth in the same four-pound range, not gaining or losing. To get going down again, I'm either going to have to starve myself or significantly ramp up the exercise. This weekend I ramped up the exercise, taking time Saturday and Sunday for walks and calisthenics when I could have been writing. And what was the result? A one pound gain. I did eat big Friday night (visiting with a relative at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Baxter Springs, Kansas) and snacked some on Sunday afternoon and evening. But it seems I must have breathed some heavy air or something, and it stayed on my bones. I shall have to go on Dad's diet: water only, and that just to wash in.
Well, here are my writing goals for June. They are somewhat bold, given the limited time I see for writing during the month.
1. Blog a minimum of twelve times.
2. Evaluate two or three additional freelance markets, and submit to at least one. This will no doubt require quite a bit of Web research as well as preparing some new writing shorts.
3. Complete one chapter of In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People, begun yesterday.
4. Complete my latest Bible study, tentatively titled, "The Strongest Of All". Actually, this should more be termed a small group study, since it is from the Apocrypha and not the Bible proper.
5. Complete one appendix (already started) and the notes for one passage in the Harmony of the Gospels.
6. Attend the Chicago Tribune Publishers Row Lit Fair next weekend, and, as a sub-goal, talk with at least three publishers who are real candidates for me to submit to.
7. Get back into Life on a Yo Yo and prepare it for publication while it is still somewhat fresh.
8. Submit a query for another article for Internet Genealogy. I will wait to make sure the article already submitted is acceptable to the editor.
Mainly, though, I have to do more about my health. I have lost 21 pounds this year, which is good, but I'm stuck where I am. In the last two months I've been bouncing back and forth in the same four-pound range, not gaining or losing. To get going down again, I'm either going to have to starve myself or significantly ramp up the exercise. This weekend I ramped up the exercise, taking time Saturday and Sunday for walks and calisthenics when I could have been writing. And what was the result? A one pound gain. I did eat big Friday night (visiting with a relative at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Baxter Springs, Kansas) and snacked some on Sunday afternoon and evening. But it seems I must have breathed some heavy air or something, and it stayed on my bones. I shall have to go on Dad's diet: water only, and that just to wash in.
Well, here are my writing goals for June. They are somewhat bold, given the limited time I see for writing during the month.
1. Blog a minimum of twelve times.
2. Evaluate two or three additional freelance markets, and submit to at least one. This will no doubt require quite a bit of Web research as well as preparing some new writing shorts.
3. Complete one chapter of In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People, begun yesterday.
4. Complete my latest Bible study, tentatively titled, "The Strongest Of All". Actually, this should more be termed a small group study, since it is from the Apocrypha and not the Bible proper.
5. Complete one appendix (already started) and the notes for one passage in the Harmony of the Gospels.
6. Attend the Chicago Tribune Publishers Row Lit Fair next weekend, and, as a sub-goal, talk with at least three publishers who are real candidates for me to submit to.
7. Get back into Life on a Yo Yo and prepare it for publication while it is still somewhat fresh.
8. Submit a query for another article for Internet Genealogy. I will wait to make sure the article already submitted is acceptable to the editor.
Friday, May 15, 2009
4:20 PM, Friday Afternoon
This has been a full and busy day.
Work wise, I completed the base work on the Little Osage Creek Flood Study. That is, I:
- entered new rainfall data into the hydrology model for the 10-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year rainfall events, and re-ran the run-off calculations. Since I hadn't run the 500-year before, I had to make adjustments in the overflow structures of eleven detention ponds. By noon, I had a successful run-off model.
- entered the new run-off values into the hydraulics model and re-ran the flood calculations. This was successful at about 3:50 PM. That doesn't mean I'm quite done with this. I still need to run two phases of ditch improvements and one major future condition, but the hard work is done. Oh, and I still need to write the report, fill out the FEMA forms, and submit it. But with the work today, I consider the hard part done.
I also helped a man in the office with construction site problems.
Personal work wise, I:
- Proofread my article for Internet Genealogy; found a few changes to make; typed the changes; printed the article; proof-read it (in one uninterrupted sitting); found a few more changes to make; typed them; proof-read it and saw it was where I wanted it to be; and e-mailed it to the editor. The article still is not quite finished, because...
- I once again called the professor I wanted to interview for the article, and once again had to leave a message. I've found a work-around in case I can't get a hold of him.
- Mailed my mother-in-law's income taxes. "So late?" you ask. Yes. She doesn't owe anything, they don't owe her anything, she probably doesn't even need to file at her income level, so yes, quite late, but it's done for this year.
- Walked a mile on the noon hour.
I approach the end of a day of great accomplishment that made the whole week worthwhile, and somewhat made up for my inefficiencies of the last two weeks, and the two weeks before vacation. I have only 22 pages to go on my reading book, which I will finish tonight and write my review over the weekend. Next in the reading pile is Team Of Rivals, which I am looking forward to. I'm fairly close to finishing the edits on the John Cheney file that I've been plodding through a little each night for the last week and a half. I'll surely have them done by Sunday afternoon, after which I'll print and file it, file accumulated genealogy papers and clean up my mess in the Dungeon. Hopefully I'll put genealogy behind me for a while and figure out what to write next. Probably it will be one or two appendixes on the Harmony of the Gospels. Possibly it will be a chapter or two of In Front of 50000 Screaming People. I'll also consider working on queries for other articles, or fleshing out proposals for the Bible studies I've been working on recently.
Too many choices; too little time.
Work wise, I completed the base work on the Little Osage Creek Flood Study. That is, I:
- entered new rainfall data into the hydrology model for the 10-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year rainfall events, and re-ran the run-off calculations. Since I hadn't run the 500-year before, I had to make adjustments in the overflow structures of eleven detention ponds. By noon, I had a successful run-off model.
- entered the new run-off values into the hydraulics model and re-ran the flood calculations. This was successful at about 3:50 PM. That doesn't mean I'm quite done with this. I still need to run two phases of ditch improvements and one major future condition, but the hard work is done. Oh, and I still need to write the report, fill out the FEMA forms, and submit it. But with the work today, I consider the hard part done.
I also helped a man in the office with construction site problems.
Personal work wise, I:
- Proofread my article for Internet Genealogy; found a few changes to make; typed the changes; printed the article; proof-read it (in one uninterrupted sitting); found a few more changes to make; typed them; proof-read it and saw it was where I wanted it to be; and e-mailed it to the editor. The article still is not quite finished, because...
- I once again called the professor I wanted to interview for the article, and once again had to leave a message. I've found a work-around in case I can't get a hold of him.
- Mailed my mother-in-law's income taxes. "So late?" you ask. Yes. She doesn't owe anything, they don't owe her anything, she probably doesn't even need to file at her income level, so yes, quite late, but it's done for this year.
- Walked a mile on the noon hour.
I approach the end of a day of great accomplishment that made the whole week worthwhile, and somewhat made up for my inefficiencies of the last two weeks, and the two weeks before vacation. I have only 22 pages to go on my reading book, which I will finish tonight and write my review over the weekend. Next in the reading pile is Team Of Rivals, which I am looking forward to. I'm fairly close to finishing the edits on the John Cheney file that I've been plodding through a little each night for the last week and a half. I'll surely have them done by Sunday afternoon, after which I'll print and file it, file accumulated genealogy papers and clean up my mess in the Dungeon. Hopefully I'll put genealogy behind me for a while and figure out what to write next. Probably it will be one or two appendixes on the Harmony of the Gospels. Possibly it will be a chapter or two of In Front of 50000 Screaming People. I'll also consider working on queries for other articles, or fleshing out proposals for the Bible studies I've been working on recently.
Too many choices; too little time.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
My article in good shape, other writing no so much
I received the assignment to write the article for Internet Genealogy last Friday, April 17. In my query letter I included an outline of what I thought would be in the article, so I had a pretty good place from which to start.
I started the next night, but then didn't work on it until Tuesday. My thoughts gelled a bit more yesterday, and the words began to flow. By the end of yesterday evening I was up to about 600 words, out of 1500 to 2000 for the article. I don't think I'll have any problem filling the words, as I still have much more to write. Cutting some words will be more likely.
However, I have not made a lot of progress on anything else. Last night our pastor came up to me before church and said he was enjoying my Harmony of the gospels, and wanted to know if I had anything more written on the appendixes. The version I gave him had one appendix, the only one written, so he could see the sorts of things I'm planning on doing for them. No, I said, nothing more yet; been working on other things. He seemed disappointed, and said he is anxious to see what I'm going to do with them. So I guess I need to get back to work on that.
Yesterday I submitted my short story, "Mom's Letter," to three magazines via snail mail. I hope to submit to three or four more today. All of these accept simultaneous submissions. So that item is done on this month's to do list.
I have finished teaching Life On A Yo Yo in life group (my co-teacher will teach the last lesson this Sunday while I am gone), and it's time to take my notes and write them up in a somewhat presentable fashion. This could then become a potential Bible study I could market and write.
Any real writing on my latest Bible study, "Good King, Bad King", will have to wait for a couple of weeks at least.
On books, I've done nothing of late, except dream. I outlined the next seven chapters of In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People, but have not written any more on it. I don't think I will for a while, while working on platform-building activities.
Will that platform building make a difference in being accepted by a royalty paying publisher? Who knows. The experts in the industry say so, and since I am not an expert I will have to rely on them. Time will tell.
I started the next night, but then didn't work on it until Tuesday. My thoughts gelled a bit more yesterday, and the words began to flow. By the end of yesterday evening I was up to about 600 words, out of 1500 to 2000 for the article. I don't think I'll have any problem filling the words, as I still have much more to write. Cutting some words will be more likely.
However, I have not made a lot of progress on anything else. Last night our pastor came up to me before church and said he was enjoying my Harmony of the gospels, and wanted to know if I had anything more written on the appendixes. The version I gave him had one appendix, the only one written, so he could see the sorts of things I'm planning on doing for them. No, I said, nothing more yet; been working on other things. He seemed disappointed, and said he is anxious to see what I'm going to do with them. So I guess I need to get back to work on that.
Yesterday I submitted my short story, "Mom's Letter," to three magazines via snail mail. I hope to submit to three or four more today. All of these accept simultaneous submissions. So that item is done on this month's to do list.
I have finished teaching Life On A Yo Yo in life group (my co-teacher will teach the last lesson this Sunday while I am gone), and it's time to take my notes and write them up in a somewhat presentable fashion. This could then become a potential Bible study I could market and write.
Any real writing on my latest Bible study, "Good King, Bad King", will have to wait for a couple of weeks at least.
On books, I've done nothing of late, except dream. I outlined the next seven chapters of In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People, but have not written any more on it. I don't think I will for a while, while working on platform-building activities.
Will that platform building make a difference in being accepted by a royalty paying publisher? Who knows. The experts in the industry say so, and since I am not an expert I will have to rely on them. Time will tell.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Inch by Inch
That's advice you always here:
"Mile by mile it's a trial.
Yard by yard it's hard.
Inch by inch it's a cinch."
I've often felt that the person giving such advice was running a two-mile race, not a marathon. Yet, I can see some truth in this in terms of my own life and the improvements I'd like to make in character and conduct, as well as the goals I have set for myself.
Take my weight, for example. Slowly over the course of about three years, I have lost 50 pounds. That was as of my scales moment Friday. Of course, that does no more than put me back to where I was on a day in June 2003. I've still got 54 pounds to lose to make it to the top end of my ideal weight range. So I have many more inches to go in this.
Take the Harmony of the Gospels I've been working on since, when was it, 2004? This is a project that for a long time I worked at between other projects. It started as a Bible study for myself, to use in teaching an adult Sunday School class and to satisfy my own curiosity about something. Yet, since then it has grown into a Bible study I am working on to be of publishable quality. Friday night I finished the second round of proof-reading. I have only one more step to go before I begin typing these edits and putting it in a format to share with my pastor. Only a couple of yards to go, inch by inch.
Take the book I'm reading, The Powers That Be by David Halberstam. I began this sometime before Christmas. A 736 page tome, I'm down to twenty-five pages to go, and likely will finish it tonight. Perhaps I was stupid for persevering through the whole thing rather than setting it aside after a hundred pages, when I realized that, while it was good, the reading was going to be tedious and I would be a couple of months getting through it. Oh well, persevere I did, and have only a few inches to go.
Take trying to be published. This is certainly an inch by inch proposition, as at this time I'm not prepared to self-publish. The problem is I don't know how long the journey still is, or even if there is a final destination. Possibly the inches are taking me along a race track with no finish line, and I will never be published. Or perhaps it is only an inch or two ahead. Either way, in the last couple of weeks I managed to move a couple of inches forward, mainly in my realization of where my writing is relative to publishing standards, and in seeing the next two or three inches along the way.
Other things in my life have also shown inched progress. And I'm thankful for that.
"Mile by mile it's a trial.
Yard by yard it's hard.
Inch by inch it's a cinch."
I've often felt that the person giving such advice was running a two-mile race, not a marathon. Yet, I can see some truth in this in terms of my own life and the improvements I'd like to make in character and conduct, as well as the goals I have set for myself.
Take my weight, for example. Slowly over the course of about three years, I have lost 50 pounds. That was as of my scales moment Friday. Of course, that does no more than put me back to where I was on a day in June 2003. I've still got 54 pounds to lose to make it to the top end of my ideal weight range. So I have many more inches to go in this.
Take the Harmony of the Gospels I've been working on since, when was it, 2004? This is a project that for a long time I worked at between other projects. It started as a Bible study for myself, to use in teaching an adult Sunday School class and to satisfy my own curiosity about something. Yet, since then it has grown into a Bible study I am working on to be of publishable quality. Friday night I finished the second round of proof-reading. I have only one more step to go before I begin typing these edits and putting it in a format to share with my pastor. Only a couple of yards to go, inch by inch.
Take the book I'm reading, The Powers That Be by David Halberstam. I began this sometime before Christmas. A 736 page tome, I'm down to twenty-five pages to go, and likely will finish it tonight. Perhaps I was stupid for persevering through the whole thing rather than setting it aside after a hundred pages, when I realized that, while it was good, the reading was going to be tedious and I would be a couple of months getting through it. Oh well, persevere I did, and have only a few inches to go.
Take trying to be published. This is certainly an inch by inch proposition, as at this time I'm not prepared to self-publish. The problem is I don't know how long the journey still is, or even if there is a final destination. Possibly the inches are taking me along a race track with no finish line, and I will never be published. Or perhaps it is only an inch or two ahead. Either way, in the last couple of weeks I managed to move a couple of inches forward, mainly in my realization of where my writing is relative to publishing standards, and in seeing the next two or three inches along the way.
Other things in my life have also shown inched progress. And I'm thankful for that.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
To Post or Not To Post
I should post today, but I sit here at my computer in the office, 32 minutes before I start my work day, with a mostly detached mind. It's not writer's block, for I can think of twenty things to write about, but none of those seem well enough developed in my thinking to begin writing for public consumption.
My evening writing time for the last three or four weeks has been devoted to the Harmony of the Gospels I've been working on for some years. Right now I'm entering the NIV footnotes (my base text is NIV). This has been a tedious task. Sometimes the footnote will say that it applies to the noted verse and several other numbered verses in the passage. Since I don't have numbered verses, I have to alter the footnote. I began the footnote work with Matthew, then Mark, then Luke, and am now to the 13th chapter of John. With each gospel, as I got to a parallel passage, I found fewer notes to enter, the same footnotes typically applying to the multiple versions of the passage. Also, as I typed much of the unique passages from John, I entered some of the footnotes as I went along. So, tonight I should finish John.
As I entered footnotes, I found a couple of places where I had missed something in the harmonizing. And, I left two or three places up in the air as I did the original work in manuscript, passages that were particularly difficult to blend, or to establish a most probably timeline, so I put them off to a later date. That later date arrives this weekend, it looks like.
Also, one difficult part of harmonizing is knowing how to fit the unique passages in John into the approximate timeline presented by the synoptic gospels. John Chapter 5, for example, a trip to Jerusalem. Where does that go in the synoptics? Assuming John's gospel is chronological and not topical (a dangerous assumption!), all we know is it goes between Jesus' second miracle in Galilee and the feeding of the five thousand. That puts it anywhere between Matthew 4:13 and 14:13, or Mark 1:2 and 6:30, or Luke 4:38 and 9:10--assuming each of those is chronological, again a dangerous assumption. The same can be asked for chapters 7 through 12 in John; where do they fit in?
In general, I followed the chronology suggested in the NIV Life Application Bible. After I was about a third of the way through my original harmonizing, I checked the harmonizing of events in the NIV-LIB, and found that we had exactly agreed up to that point. So from that point on I just followed the NIV-LIB order, rather than develop my own chronology. However, I now think I need to shift John chapter 7 to a later point than I have it. I also need to figure out what to do with Luke 9:51, which seems to upset much of my chronology.
All of this will not likely lead to publication. But it is fun; it stimulates my mind; and should produce something useful for Bible study, even if only for me.
I think, however, when I come to a good stopping point in the Harmony, which I see coming in about two weeks, I will shift back to In Front of Fifty-Thousand Screaming People, and try to finish that.
My evening writing time for the last three or four weeks has been devoted to the Harmony of the Gospels I've been working on for some years. Right now I'm entering the NIV footnotes (my base text is NIV). This has been a tedious task. Sometimes the footnote will say that it applies to the noted verse and several other numbered verses in the passage. Since I don't have numbered verses, I have to alter the footnote. I began the footnote work with Matthew, then Mark, then Luke, and am now to the 13th chapter of John. With each gospel, as I got to a parallel passage, I found fewer notes to enter, the same footnotes typically applying to the multiple versions of the passage. Also, as I typed much of the unique passages from John, I entered some of the footnotes as I went along. So, tonight I should finish John.
As I entered footnotes, I found a couple of places where I had missed something in the harmonizing. And, I left two or three places up in the air as I did the original work in manuscript, passages that were particularly difficult to blend, or to establish a most probably timeline, so I put them off to a later date. That later date arrives this weekend, it looks like.
Also, one difficult part of harmonizing is knowing how to fit the unique passages in John into the approximate timeline presented by the synoptic gospels. John Chapter 5, for example, a trip to Jerusalem. Where does that go in the synoptics? Assuming John's gospel is chronological and not topical (a dangerous assumption!), all we know is it goes between Jesus' second miracle in Galilee and the feeding of the five thousand. That puts it anywhere between Matthew 4:13 and 14:13, or Mark 1:2 and 6:30, or Luke 4:38 and 9:10--assuming each of those is chronological, again a dangerous assumption. The same can be asked for chapters 7 through 12 in John; where do they fit in?
In general, I followed the chronology suggested in the NIV Life Application Bible. After I was about a third of the way through my original harmonizing, I checked the harmonizing of events in the NIV-LIB, and found that we had exactly agreed up to that point. So from that point on I just followed the NIV-LIB order, rather than develop my own chronology. However, I now think I need to shift John chapter 7 to a later point than I have it. I also need to figure out what to do with Luke 9:51, which seems to upset much of my chronology.
All of this will not likely lead to publication. But it is fun; it stimulates my mind; and should produce something useful for Bible study, even if only for me.
I think, however, when I come to a good stopping point in the Harmony, which I see coming in about two weeks, I will shift back to In Front of Fifty-Thousand Screaming People, and try to finish that.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Fishermen Called: Matthew/Mark vs. Luke
As I said a few days ago, I believe that the calling by Jesus of the fishermen that Luke describes in his Chapter 5 is a different event than the one described by Matthew in his Chapter 4 and Mark in his Chapter 1. In the prior post I dealt with the timeline. Now I'll deal with the specifics of the event(s).
Certainly, when two eyewitnesses see the same event, they will have different recollections. That is especially true when they wait thirty years to write it down. The inspiration of God for them to write probably did not eliminate their foibles and nuances of memory. So, when Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of the same event, we can expect some differences. So differences alone are probably not enough to be certain of whether these are two events.
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee. In Luke, he is more or less stationary. At least Luke does not mention him walking along.
In Luke, he has a crowd with him, waiting to hear him teach, that is so big he decides to use Peter's boat as a platform and get a little distance between him and the crowd so as to be more effective in his teaching. Neither Matthew nor Mark mention any crowd. They lead us to believe Jesus was alone.
In Matthew/Mark, Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, and they immediately follow; he then goes on a short distance and sees James and John sons of Zebedee, calls them, and they immediately follow. That's the end of the scene. In Luke, after Jesus finishes teaching, he suggest that Peter put out into deep water to catch some fish. Peter does so, and catches some. When he returns to shore, he worships Jesus, yet at the same time says he is not worthy to follow Jesus.
The difference in the words that Jesus says are also of importance. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus' words are almost identical: "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." But in Luke his words are: "Don't be afraid; from now on your will catch men." Could this be different recollections of the same words? Possibly, but the differences lead me to believe these are different events. Matthew and Mark is a calling; Luke is a declaration. And "don't be afraid" appears to be in response to Peter saying he was sinful and Jesus should leave him.
But the really key item in my mind is that in the Luke account Peter calls Jesus, "Master". The Greek word is epistata, a word used in political or military sense to imply chain of command issues. The president of a Greek democratic institution was the epistata. Certain officers, not necessarily the ones in highest command, were epistata. The word may also have the connotation of a school master in authority over his students. Now, if this is the first calling of Peter (and remember that the encounter in John 1:41-42 was not a calling), why would Peter call him epistata? Was Jesus' reputation such by then to warrant that kind of title?
Some say that, since epistata appears several times in Luke's gospel but in no other, this was Luke's way of using a term of authority that his Greek and Roman audiences would understand, rather than rabbi and other Aramaic or Hebrew titles. Still, Peter used a title, of respect and authority. I maintain that he would only use such a title if he had already spent some time with Jesus, and had found him to be one he (Peter) would be willing to have in authority over him. By the time of what is described in Luke 5, Peter must have already spent a significant amount of time with Jesus.
So what kind of calling was this? Did Peter follow Jesus for a while, possibly a couple of months, then leave him to go back to fishing? That's what I suspect happened. Jesus called Peter and his companions (Matthew 4:18-22/Mark 1:16-20); Peter followed immediately; took part of some of those events given in the combined timeline, but then went back to fishing. He was at his trade when Jesus came by again, this time with a crowd, and used another method to convince the inconsistent Peter that people, not fish, were to be his life's pursuit.
So says the layman, dangerously dabbling in theological water he possibly shouldn't be. I'm not dogmatic about this. Others will read these passages and a few before and after and come to another conclusion. So be it. But this is my conclusion, one I have found others to be in agreement with, and I throw it into cyberspace for whatever good it may do.
Certainly, when two eyewitnesses see the same event, they will have different recollections. That is especially true when they wait thirty years to write it down. The inspiration of God for them to write probably did not eliminate their foibles and nuances of memory. So, when Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of the same event, we can expect some differences. So differences alone are probably not enough to be certain of whether these are two events.
In Matthew and Mark, Jesus is walking by the sea of Galilee. In Luke, he is more or less stationary. At least Luke does not mention him walking along.
In Luke, he has a crowd with him, waiting to hear him teach, that is so big he decides to use Peter's boat as a platform and get a little distance between him and the crowd so as to be more effective in his teaching. Neither Matthew nor Mark mention any crowd. They lead us to believe Jesus was alone.
In Matthew/Mark, Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, and they immediately follow; he then goes on a short distance and sees James and John sons of Zebedee, calls them, and they immediately follow. That's the end of the scene. In Luke, after Jesus finishes teaching, he suggest that Peter put out into deep water to catch some fish. Peter does so, and catches some. When he returns to shore, he worships Jesus, yet at the same time says he is not worthy to follow Jesus.
The difference in the words that Jesus says are also of importance. In Matthew and Mark, Jesus' words are almost identical: "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." But in Luke his words are: "Don't be afraid; from now on your will catch men." Could this be different recollections of the same words? Possibly, but the differences lead me to believe these are different events. Matthew and Mark is a calling; Luke is a declaration. And "don't be afraid" appears to be in response to Peter saying he was sinful and Jesus should leave him.
But the really key item in my mind is that in the Luke account Peter calls Jesus, "Master". The Greek word is epistata, a word used in political or military sense to imply chain of command issues. The president of a Greek democratic institution was the epistata. Certain officers, not necessarily the ones in highest command, were epistata. The word may also have the connotation of a school master in authority over his students. Now, if this is the first calling of Peter (and remember that the encounter in John 1:41-42 was not a calling), why would Peter call him epistata? Was Jesus' reputation such by then to warrant that kind of title?
Some say that, since epistata appears several times in Luke's gospel but in no other, this was Luke's way of using a term of authority that his Greek and Roman audiences would understand, rather than rabbi and other Aramaic or Hebrew titles. Still, Peter used a title, of respect and authority. I maintain that he would only use such a title if he had already spent some time with Jesus, and had found him to be one he (Peter) would be willing to have in authority over him. By the time of what is described in Luke 5, Peter must have already spent a significant amount of time with Jesus.
So what kind of calling was this? Did Peter follow Jesus for a while, possibly a couple of months, then leave him to go back to fishing? That's what I suspect happened. Jesus called Peter and his companions (Matthew 4:18-22/Mark 1:16-20); Peter followed immediately; took part of some of those events given in the combined timeline, but then went back to fishing. He was at his trade when Jesus came by again, this time with a crowd, and used another method to convince the inconsistent Peter that people, not fish, were to be his life's pursuit.
So says the layman, dangerously dabbling in theological water he possibly shouldn't be. I'm not dogmatic about this. Others will read these passages and a few before and after and come to another conclusion. So be it. But this is my conclusion, one I have found others to be in agreement with, and I throw it into cyberspace for whatever good it may do.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Timeline of the Fishermen's Calling
Busyness presses on me today, both at the office and in personal life. After today, I will unlikely to have any time to post until Sunday, and have little enough time to post today. So I’ll get right at it.
Why do I think Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus directs the fishermen to a seemingly miraculous catch of fish then calls them to follow him full time, is different than the calling of the fishermen in Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20? Because of 1) the specifics of the encounter(s) between Jesus and the fishermen, and 2) because of the apparent timeline the gospels together seem to create.
Let’s deal with “The Timeline” first. Here are the key events as told by the three synoptic gospels (John doesn’t deal with this period).
Per Matthew
4:12 John the Baptist put in prison
4:12 Jesus goes to Galilee
4:13 Jesus goes from Nazareth to Capernaum
4:14-17 Jesus begins his preaching ministry
4:18-22 Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him
4:23-25 Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry in Galilee
5:1-7:29 The Sermon on the Mount
8:1-4 Jesus heals a man with leprosy
8:5-13 The faith of the centurion
8:14-17 Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law
Per Mark
1: 14 John the Baptist put in prison
1:14 Jesus goes to Galilee
1:14-15 Jesus begins his preaching ministry
1:16-20 Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him
1:21-28 Jesus drives out an evil spirit
1:29-33 Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law
1:33-37 Jesus prays in a solitary place
1:38-39 Preaching ministry in other villages
1:40-45 Jesus heals a man with leprosy
Per Luke
4:14-30 Jesus rejected at Nazareth
4:31 Jesus goes to Capernaum
4:31-37 Jesus drives out an evil spirit
4:38-41 Jesus heals many, including Simon’s mother-in-law
4:42 Jesus prays in a solitary place
4:43-44 Preaching ministry in other villages
5:1-11 Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen
5:12-16 Jesus heals a man with leprosy
As you can see, none of these are identical, but they are similar. Mark and Luke are closest to each other. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is a big event the other two don’t mention. Actually, Luke does have much of this material, but it is later in his gospel, in chapters 6, 11, and 12 (maybe others as well). If Luke has his gospel somewhat chronological, it appears that Matthew has grouped this material and put it where he did, not to establish a chronology, but to early on explain the main thrust of Jesus’ teaching. Matthew has done this in other places, grouping miracles of healing together and parables together. Matthew is, perhaps somewhat, being more of a biographer or theologian than a historian.
Blending the timelines of Mark and Luke, with the same events together, gives the following.
John the Baptist put in prison Mk 1:14
Jesus goes to Galilee Mk 1:14
Jesus rejected at Nazareth Lk 4:14-30
Jesus goes to Capernaum Lk 4:31
Jesus begins his preaching ministry Mk 1:14-15
Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him Mk 1:16-20
Jesus drives out an evil spirit Mk 1:21-28, Lk 4:31-37
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mk 1:29-33, Lk 4:38-41
Jesus prays in a solitary place Mk 1:33-37, Lk 4:42
Preaching ministry in other villages Mk 1:38-39, Lk 4:43-44
Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen Lk 5:1-11
Jesus heals a man with leprosy Mk 1:40-45, Lk 5:12-16
Adding what Matthew has, leaving out the Sermon on the Mount, results in the following.
John the Baptist put in prison Mk 1:14, Mt 4:12
Jesus goes to Galilee Mk 1:14, Mt 4:12
Jesus rejected at Nazareth Lk 4:14-30
Jesus goes to Capernaum Lk 4:31, Mt 4:13
Jesus begins his preaching ministry Mk 1:14-15, Mt 4:14-17
Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him Mk 1:16-20, Mt 4:18-22
Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry in Galilee Mt 4:23-25
Jesus drives out an evil spirit Mk 1:21-28, Lk 4:31-37
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mk 1:29-33, Lk 4:38-41
Jesus prays in a solitary place Mk 1:33-37, Lk 4:42
Preaching ministry in other villages Mk 1:38-39, Lk 4:43-44
Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen Lk 5:1-11
Jesus heals a man with leprosy Mk 1:40-45, Lk 5:12-16, Mt 8:1-4
The faith of the centurion Mt 8:5-13
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mt 8:14-17
Thus, only two things are out of place when Matthew is added in: the faith of the centurion, and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. Looking ahead in Luke, we find the story of the centurion in Luke 6, immediately after the same material as in the Sermon on the Mount! Thus it looks like Matthew grouped this with S-o-t-M, and it falls within that chronology. As far as the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, is it easier to think there were two such healings, or that one of the authors has it out of sequence, for whatever reason? I think the latter. Therefore, I cross out the last two items of Matthew, only because I believe they are out of sequence in this chronology: Peter's mother-in-law was healed earlier, and the centurion's servant was healed later, after some other things happened.
One other item concerning timeline: Luke does mention John the Baptist being put in prison. He does so right after his discussion of John’s ministry and before the discussion of Jesus’ baptism. Clearly, John couldn’t have baptized Jesus if he had been put in prison. A careful reading of Luke’s mention of John’s imprisonment shows he is not giving that as a chronological event, but merely puts it in at a convenient place.
So, I conclude that the blended chronology of these three gospels implies that the calling of the four fishermen in Matthew/Mark is a different event, in the chronology of things, than the miraculous catch of fish and what must be a second calling of the fishermen. But relying strictly on this chronology could be dangerous, and potentially misleading. Perhaps none of these writers gave us a true chronology. What about the specifics of the encounter(s) in the gospels?
Unfortunately, I’m way out of time and space. I’ll leave that for another day, perhaps Sunday.
Why do I think Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus directs the fishermen to a seemingly miraculous catch of fish then calls them to follow him full time, is different than the calling of the fishermen in Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20? Because of 1) the specifics of the encounter(s) between Jesus and the fishermen, and 2) because of the apparent timeline the gospels together seem to create.
Let’s deal with “The Timeline” first. Here are the key events as told by the three synoptic gospels (John doesn’t deal with this period).
Per Matthew
4:12 John the Baptist put in prison
4:12 Jesus goes to Galilee
4:13 Jesus goes from Nazareth to Capernaum
4:14-17 Jesus begins his preaching ministry
4:18-22 Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him
4:23-25 Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry in Galilee
5:1-7:29 The Sermon on the Mount
8:1-4 Jesus heals a man with leprosy
8:5-13 The faith of the centurion
8:14-17 Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law
Per Mark
1: 14 John the Baptist put in prison
1:14 Jesus goes to Galilee
1:14-15 Jesus begins his preaching ministry
1:16-20 Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him
1:21-28 Jesus drives out an evil spirit
1:29-33 Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law
1:33-37 Jesus prays in a solitary place
1:38-39 Preaching ministry in other villages
1:40-45 Jesus heals a man with leprosy
Per Luke
4:14-30 Jesus rejected at Nazareth
4:31 Jesus goes to Capernaum
4:31-37 Jesus drives out an evil spirit
4:38-41 Jesus heals many, including Simon’s mother-in-law
4:42 Jesus prays in a solitary place
4:43-44 Preaching ministry in other villages
5:1-11 Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen
5:12-16 Jesus heals a man with leprosy
As you can see, none of these are identical, but they are similar. Mark and Luke are closest to each other. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is a big event the other two don’t mention. Actually, Luke does have much of this material, but it is later in his gospel, in chapters 6, 11, and 12 (maybe others as well). If Luke has his gospel somewhat chronological, it appears that Matthew has grouped this material and put it where he did, not to establish a chronology, but to early on explain the main thrust of Jesus’ teaching. Matthew has done this in other places, grouping miracles of healing together and parables together. Matthew is, perhaps somewhat, being more of a biographer or theologian than a historian.
Blending the timelines of Mark and Luke, with the same events together, gives the following.
John the Baptist put in prison Mk 1:14
Jesus goes to Galilee Mk 1:14
Jesus rejected at Nazareth Lk 4:14-30
Jesus goes to Capernaum Lk 4:31
Jesus begins his preaching ministry Mk 1:14-15
Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him Mk 1:16-20
Jesus drives out an evil spirit Mk 1:21-28, Lk 4:31-37
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mk 1:29-33, Lk 4:38-41
Jesus prays in a solitary place Mk 1:33-37, Lk 4:42
Preaching ministry in other villages Mk 1:38-39, Lk 4:43-44
Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen Lk 5:1-11
Jesus heals a man with leprosy Mk 1:40-45, Lk 5:12-16
Adding what Matthew has, leaving out the Sermon on the Mount, results in the following.
John the Baptist put in prison Mk 1:14, Mt 4:12
Jesus goes to Galilee Mk 1:14, Mt 4:12
Jesus rejected at Nazareth Lk 4:14-30
Jesus goes to Capernaum Lk 4:31, Mt 4:13
Jesus begins his preaching ministry Mk 1:14-15, Mt 4:14-17
Jesus calls the four fishermen, and they follow him Mk 1:16-20, Mt 4:18-22
Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry in Galilee Mt 4:23-25
Jesus drives out an evil spirit Mk 1:21-28, Lk 4:31-37
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mk 1:29-33, Lk 4:38-41
Jesus prays in a solitary place Mk 1:33-37, Lk 4:42
Preaching ministry in other villages Mk 1:38-39, Lk 4:43-44
Catch of fish and calling of the fishermen Lk 5:1-11
Jesus heals a man with leprosy Mk 1:40-45, Lk 5:12-16, Mt 8:1-4
Jesus heals many, including Peter’s mother-in-law Mt 8:14-17
Thus, only two things are out of place when Matthew is added in: the faith of the centurion, and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. Looking ahead in Luke, we find the story of the centurion in Luke 6, immediately after the same material as in the Sermon on the Mount! Thus it looks like Matthew grouped this with S-o-t-M, and it falls within that chronology. As far as the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, is it easier to think there were two such healings, or that one of the authors has it out of sequence, for whatever reason? I think the latter. Therefore, I cross out the last two items of Matthew, only because I believe they are out of sequence in this chronology: Peter's mother-in-law was healed earlier, and the centurion's servant was healed later, after some other things happened.
One other item concerning timeline: Luke does mention John the Baptist being put in prison. He does so right after his discussion of John’s ministry and before the discussion of Jesus’ baptism. Clearly, John couldn’t have baptized Jesus if he had been put in prison. A careful reading of Luke’s mention of John’s imprisonment shows he is not giving that as a chronological event, but merely puts it in at a convenient place.
So, I conclude that the blended chronology of these three gospels implies that the calling of the four fishermen in Matthew/Mark is a different event, in the chronology of things, than the miraculous catch of fish and what must be a second calling of the fishermen. But relying strictly on this chronology could be dangerous, and potentially misleading. Perhaps none of these writers gave us a true chronology. What about the specifics of the encounter(s) in the gospels?
Unfortunately, I’m way out of time and space. I’ll leave that for another day, perhaps Sunday.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Comparing John 1:29-54 to Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20
Last night I typed away on the Harmony, reaching the death of Jesus on the cross. So all I have left is his burial, resurrection, and post-resurrection activities. Based on my typing speed and available hours for it, I should finish this by Sunday next, if not before. I also spent some time last night adding passage headings and footnotes. Much more of that remains.
Yesterday I gave some of my process of analysis on how to judge whether the four gospel accounts of Jesus calling his first disciples are one event, two events, or three events. Why would I write yesterday, "A careful reading of the four gospels together, as an overlapping panorama (as my friend Gary described it) suggests that these are three events" when a have a study Bible that says these are all one event, and another study Bible that says the John event was separate, but the other three accounts are of the same event? Why would I, a layman, dare to challenge someone (either an individual or a scholars committee) who had enough standing to have their opinion published in a study Bible?
I do so because my detailed study of the four passages leads me to that conclusion. How can I remain silent, despite what I see in a published work? Look at the circumstances of the passage in John 1:29-54. John the Baptist is preaching and baptizing somewhere, probably at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River (Jn 1:28). The day after some Pharisees question him, he begins to point his disciples to Jesus. The next day, some of those disciples (Andrew among them) begin to follow Jesus. Andrew goes to get Peter. Since Peter was likely in Galilee with the fishing boats, this must have required a couple of days. From there, Jesus goes to Cana (Jn 2:1), to Jerusalem (Jn 2:12), etc. as I described yesterday. In John 3:26-36, we see John questioned about Jesus, and his well-known reply, "He must become greater; I must become less."
Now, in John chapter 4, we see Jesus go from the Judean countryside through Samaria on his way to Galilee. That means, assuming John is giving an accurate chronology--which seems likely, that Jesus was still in Judea when John was baptizing, now at Aenon near Salim. Obviously John the Baptist is a free man; he has not yet been put in prison. Yet, in Matthew 4:12,17 we read, "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee...[and] began to preach." This is echoed in Mark 1:14. So Jesus began to preach after John the Baptist was imprisoned, and he called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his disciples after he began to preach. Clearly, the encounter between Jesus and Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel in John chapter 1 was before John the Baptist was imprisoned, and thus must be a separate event than Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. To me this is a no-brainer.
Yet, enough other things are different between the John account and the Matthew/Mark account to show they are different events. John 1:29 etc. takes place at Bethany. Matthew 4/Mark 1 takes place on the Sea of Galilee, probably at Capernaum. In John 1, Jesus doesn't call anyone; they simply come to him based first on the Baptist's testimony then by word of mouth. In Matthew 4/Mark 1 Jesus is the one who does the calling. In John 1 there is no mention of the fishermen leaving their livelihood to follow Jesus. In Matthew 4/Mark 1 they do leave their livelihood. All of this points to two events.
What, then, is my basis for saying Luke 5:1-11 is a separate event from Matthew 4/Mark 1? Unfortunately, I'm running long and I'm out of time. Stay tuned for another post on another day.
Yesterday I gave some of my process of analysis on how to judge whether the four gospel accounts of Jesus calling his first disciples are one event, two events, or three events. Why would I write yesterday, "A careful reading of the four gospels together, as an overlapping panorama (as my friend Gary described it) suggests that these are three events" when a have a study Bible that says these are all one event, and another study Bible that says the John event was separate, but the other three accounts are of the same event? Why would I, a layman, dare to challenge someone (either an individual or a scholars committee) who had enough standing to have their opinion published in a study Bible?
I do so because my detailed study of the four passages leads me to that conclusion. How can I remain silent, despite what I see in a published work? Look at the circumstances of the passage in John 1:29-54. John the Baptist is preaching and baptizing somewhere, probably at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River (Jn 1:28). The day after some Pharisees question him, he begins to point his disciples to Jesus. The next day, some of those disciples (Andrew among them) begin to follow Jesus. Andrew goes to get Peter. Since Peter was likely in Galilee with the fishing boats, this must have required a couple of days. From there, Jesus goes to Cana (Jn 2:1), to Jerusalem (Jn 2:12), etc. as I described yesterday. In John 3:26-36, we see John questioned about Jesus, and his well-known reply, "He must become greater; I must become less."
Now, in John chapter 4, we see Jesus go from the Judean countryside through Samaria on his way to Galilee. That means, assuming John is giving an accurate chronology--which seems likely, that Jesus was still in Judea when John was baptizing, now at Aenon near Salim. Obviously John the Baptist is a free man; he has not yet been put in prison. Yet, in Matthew 4:12,17 we read, "When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee...[and] began to preach." This is echoed in Mark 1:14. So Jesus began to preach after John the Baptist was imprisoned, and he called Peter, Andrew, James, and John to be his disciples after he began to preach. Clearly, the encounter between Jesus and Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel in John chapter 1 was before John the Baptist was imprisoned, and thus must be a separate event than Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20. To me this is a no-brainer.
Yet, enough other things are different between the John account and the Matthew/Mark account to show they are different events. John 1:29 etc. takes place at Bethany. Matthew 4/Mark 1 takes place on the Sea of Galilee, probably at Capernaum. In John 1, Jesus doesn't call anyone; they simply come to him based first on the Baptist's testimony then by word of mouth. In Matthew 4/Mark 1 Jesus is the one who does the calling. In John 1 there is no mention of the fishermen leaving their livelihood to follow Jesus. In Matthew 4/Mark 1 they do leave their livelihood. All of this points to two events.
What, then, is my basis for saying Luke 5:1-11 is a separate event from Matthew 4/Mark 1? Unfortunately, I'm running long and I'm out of time. Stay tuned for another post on another day.
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