In the News

The following are some of the stories I read this week. These are some of the stories that almost because subjects of a post. However, lack of time did not allow me to blog on them.


Iran envoy defends amputation ‘of the hand that steals’

Iran’s ambassador to Spain has compared chopping off the hands of thieves to a “surgeon amputating a limb to prevent the spread of gangrene.”

Conservative Rabbis to Vote on Resolution Criticizing Pope’s Revision of Prayer

The revision of a contentious Good Friday prayer approved this week by Pope Benedict XVI could set back Jewish-Catholic relations, Conservative Judaism’s international assembly of rabbis says in a resolution to be voted on next week.

The prayer calls for God to enlighten the hearts of Jews “so that they may acknowledge Jesus Christ, the savior of all men.”

God and Politics

Frank Lambert’s “Religion in American Politics,” published last month, traces the interplay between pulpits and the public square through nearly two centuries of U.S. history. Some things, he writes, never change.

Efforts to proclaim the United States a “Christian nation” date at least to 1827, when Calvinist minister Ezra Stiles Ely tried to mobilize a “Christian party in politics” to fight the delivery of mail on Sundays.

The Book of Mormon and Archaeology

Because of many false statements disseminated by members of the LDS Church, such as the one cited above, the Smithsonian Institute was forced to publish a statement concerning these matters. The 1986 statement begins with a denial of the claims put forth by Mormon enthusiasts:

“The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian archeologists see no direct connection between the archeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book.” (“Statement Regarding The Book of Mormon.” Smithsonian Institute, Spring 1986).

Enjoy reading.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, God, Islam, Mormons, Politics, Pope

The New Testament, Politics, and the Bibliobloggers

Airton José da Silva in his blog Observatório Bíblico introduces the theme of Chapter 2, Part I of J. G. Crossley’s book, Jesus in an Age of Terror: New Testament Projects for a New American Century. London: Equinox Publishing, 2009, 256 p. - ISBN 9781845534295 (Hardback) 9781845534301 (Paperback):

Part One will look at the ways in which New Testament and Christian origins scholarship has historically been influenced by its political and social settings over the past hundred years or so. Moving on to the present, the following chapter will then apply [Edward] Herman and [Noam] Chomsky's propaganda model of manufacturing consent in the mass media to the recent explosion of biblical scholars writing on the internet, in particularly `biblio-bloggers'. It is clear that political views in `biblio-blogging' conform strikingly to the emphases that come through in Herman and Chomsky's analysis of the mass media and intellectuals, particularly with the standard lines on the `war on terror' and views on the contemporary Middle East [the emphasis belongs to Airton].

I thank Airton for allowing me to copy his post here.

There are two interesting factors in Crossley’s words:

First, bibliobloggers have made an impact on biblical studies and that impact is being reflected in the way biblical scholars are taking into consideration what bibliobloggers have produced.

Second, that there is a “political view” that influences what bibliobloggers write.

Those who write on biblical themes may have a theological or ideological presupposition that guides their scholarship, but to my knowledge (and here I may be wrong), I do not think that a political view motivates bibliobloggers to post their works on the Internet or that politics influence what bibliobloggers post on their blogs.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Bibliobloggers, New Testament, Politics

What Would Jesus Do? : Politics and the Bible

The Republican presidential debate on November 28, 2007 in St. Petersburg, Florida focused on the role of the Bible on the life of the candidates.

Two questions reflect the mood of the audience: “Is every word in the Bible true?” and “What would Jesus do?”

To the question, “What would Jesus do?”, Mike Huckabee said: “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.’’

Do the candidates believe that the Bible is true? Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee offer their views about the Bible here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Bible, Politics