jerry-pattengaledf5c61de3fe27dfa

Evangelicals rehearse ancient red heifer ritual linked to Jerusalem temple prophecy

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 17:59:44 GMT

A red heifer cow is burned on a pyre on a remote hilltop in northern Israel in a practice ritual ceremony, on July 1, 2025 – in preparation for an official one on the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem’s Old City. (Photo © Boneh Israel)

JERUSALEM (RNS) — For years, Texas businessman Byron Stinson has dreamed of a world at peace.

That dream came one step closer on July 1, when a practice run of an ancient purification ceremony involving a red heifer — a cow that has not given birth — was held on a remote hilltop in northern Israel.

Some evangelical Christians like Stinson, as well as some Orthodox and Messianic Jews, believe the red heifer ritual described in the biblical Book of Numbers could pave the way to rebuilding a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. A new temple, which would replace a temple destroyed by the Romans in the first century, would usher in the kingdom of God, ruled by a messianic figure.

According to Numbers 19, the sacred ceremony — in which the cow is slaughtered and then burned — must take place on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem with a view of the site of the former temple, said Rabbi Yitzchak Mamo, president of Boneh Israel , an organization that works to build up and revive biblical sites in Israel and oversaw the practice ritual.

Stinson told RNS about the details of the practice ritual, which was held at 6 p.m. local time July 1, and released photos and video of the ceremony. That video shows a flaming pyre on a remote hilltop with what looks like the animal carcass engulfed in flames. A rabbi led the ceremony after the heifer was driven there from Shiloh in the West Bank, where the selected red heifers have been kept. Plans for the ritual have been years in the making. Stinson, who has a home in Israel and lives there part of the year, funded a search to find heifers that would fit the exacting requirements found in the biblical text. Those requirements include having no flaws or blemishes, even from the ear tags commonly used by ranchers in the United States. Stinson, who can recite the biblical text about the heifers by heart, detailed the search in his 2024 book, “The Hunt for the Red Heifer.” That search included advertising in rancher magazines, doing outreach to breeders and offering $50,000 rewards and eventually led to 21 animals in Texas — two Santa Gertrudis and 19 Red Angus heifers. After a review by rabbis working with Stinson, and months of red tape, five were flown to Israel in 2021. Stinson, whose family runs trucking and transportation companies, helped fund the selection of the five heifers, rented a plane and shipped them from Texas to Tel Aviv.

The project is one of several Stinson has funded, including spending millions of dollars to send pastors to the Holy Land since 2007 and funding a clean-up of the Garden of Gethsemane site, an important Holy Week setting.

The arrival of the five heifers in Israel may have played a role in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that began the Israel-Hamas war. In a speech listing motives for the attack on Israel, one of the leaders of Hamas accused Israelis of bringing five cows into the Holy Land, CBS News reported. The Temple Mount is the current site of the Dome of the Rock, part of the al-Aqsa Mosque, an Islamic sacred site. Joshua Swanson, producer of a forthcoming red heifer documentary entitled “Holy Cow,” said the practice run was a step to the building of a new temple. “In Revelation Chapter 11, it talks about the return of sacrifices,” he said. “This red heifer ceremony is both for purification of the flesh and a sin offering and prepares the way for these types of sacrificial events.”

Stinson said that when the actual ceremony is performed in the future, the heifer’s ashes will be mixed with water, which will then purify people from sin.

“It only takes one pinch of ash from the burnt red heifer mixed with 10,000 gallons from a fresh source of water, and you’re good to go,” he said. Organizers admitted the idea of a red heifer ceremony could be troubling to some. But Stinson said that in the end, it could have powerful effects for the good. “This is about physical purity that will bring longer lives, restoring our flesh back to God. In Romans, we find that the Jewish fathers of the faith kept the oracles of God,” Stinson said. He also said that news about the practice run had caused confusion, and he promised to provide more information in the future. The group confirmed that preparations for the official red heifer purification ceremony are still underway. The group is working on an educational video about the ritual, in conjunction with Templ3 , a media company that promotes biblical prophecy. Stinson is its executive producer. However, Stinson said even the practice run was important — and a miracle of sorts.

“Over 900,000 cattle are slaughtered daily,” he said. “This cow stood taller than all of them.”

Dr. Jerry Pattengale of Indiana Wesleyan University Awarded Indiana’s Highest Honor by Governor Eric J. Holcomb

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 05:59:02 GMT

MARION, IND. (Dec. 23) – Dr. Jerry Pattengale, a distinguished Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) professor and administrator, has been named a Sagamore of the Wabash by Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb for his lifetime achievements and commitment to the Hoosier state.

The award is the highest honor the Governor of Indiana can bestow. It recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves in service to the state or the governor and embody Hoosier values such as hospitality, wisdom, and dedication to their community.

“We are so proud of Dr. Pattengale and his longtime affiliation with the Indiana Wesleyan University community,” IWU President Jon S. Kulaga said. “This recognition reflects his unwavering commitment to education, faith, and service. We are so happy for him and appreciate all he does for IWU.”

The audience of 3,500 echoed these sentiments, rising to their feet in a thunderous standing ovation that celebrated Dr. Pattengale’s remarkable achievements and profound impact.

“To be put in the same company as Gus Grissom, presidents, and Willy Nelson was a freeze-frame moment that literally stunned me,” said Pattengale. “My mantra is ‘The dream needs to be stronger than the struggle.’ To be given this award was beyond dreams and there many happy tears. God be praised.

Dr. Pattengale is IWU’s inaugural University Professor and was a founding scholar at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. where he still serves as Senior Advisor. His influence extends beyond academia. As a Senior Fellow with the Sagamore Institute, CSR associate publisher, and on the National Press Club’s Membership Committee, he continues to shape thought leadership on history, faith, and culture at the state and global levels.

He has authored dozens of books and hundreds of articles and columns, including in prominent publications like The Chicago Tribune and The Wall Street Journal. His recent works, The New Book of Christian Martyrs (Tyndale House, 2023), The Anxious Middle (Baylor University Press, 2023), The World’s Greatest Book (Tyndale House, 2023), and Habits of Hope (IVP, 2024) have received critical acclaim. Hoosiers especially cherish his award-winning “Buck Creek” newsprint series for its engaging and insightful storytelling. His Inexplicable TV series, hosted by Dennis Haysbert, also won three Telly Awards. His forthcoming book releases March 15, 2025, The Bible’s Influence on Western Civilizations, a textbook for schools.

Born and raised in Buck Creek, Ind., Dr. Pattengale’s journey from poverty and homelessness at the end of high school to becoming a globally recognized scholar is an inspiration. He even addressed the United Nations and attended meetings at the White House. With the support of Wesleyan Church members and alumni of Marion College (now IWU), he pursued higher education, serving as student body president and graduating at the top of his class. Dr. Pattengale went on to earn a Ph.D. in history from Miami University (Ohio) with perfect marks and establishing himself as a leading voice in his field.

Despite the demands of his international career, he remains deeply rooted in Indiana. He commutes from Marion to Washington, D.C. and other cities multiple times a month.

Eminem on Donald Trump: A Lesson in Logic for Musicians

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 02:59:45 GMT

During the late 1970s, I booked or helped present concerts with trailblazers like Larry Norman , Randy Stonehill , Phil Keaggy , the Archers , Found Free, and Honeytree . Their songs were wide-ranging. They were about coming clean, like “ Rattle Me Shake Me ,” nature, such as “ Here Comes the Sun ,” and our eternal destiny. “ I Wish We’d All Been Ready ” had many of us Arminians back at the altar.

Every time these musicians arrived, whether in a rattly repurposed school bus or via a driver, there was an official interview of sorts—as a young Christian, I wanted to know if they were authentic in their faith. I suppose nothing has changed with this routine. Most recently, I’ve walked away smiling from time with Shane and Shane , Dylan Thomas, Brooke Ligertwood , Brandon Lake, Cody Carnes, JVKE (the Lawsons), Michael W., and others. From little to lots of time, it’s been uplifting.

Against this backdrop I’ve watched some singers in the secular space make rather bold statements—and was reminded of this public and private scrutiny of musicians’ public statements and lifestyle choices. Let me focus on one, as it highlights this election season.

Eminem’s Bold Statements and Public Scrutiny

Eminem’s heartfelt Shadyverse clip is making its rounds anew, and so did he at Kamala Harris’s Detroit rallies. In his Shadyverse clip he asks what does billionaire Donald J. Trump have in common with his base? Fair question, but with a misguided conclusion.

To reframe the rapper – Can a rich person give sagacious advice and show compassion to a poor person, let alone to a country? Eminem emphatically answers in the negative, and claims Trump “brainwashed” them in the past and is doing so again. This alleged “Trump derangement syndrome” didn’t escape the top-rated late-night show, GUTFELD!, which chastised Eminem for asking this (August 15, 2024). Greg Gutfeld earns a $7 million annual salary—but he didn’t ask the question.

Russell Moore’s Perspective and the Evangelical Dilemma

Likewise, Christianity Today’s poignant editor, Russell Moore , comes to a similar conclusion about many of Trumps’ Evangelical followers (“ What Hath Jerusalem to do with Mar-a-Lago? ,” July/Aug. ’24). A follow up on the recent presidential debate likely accents his talking points, as captured in Importantville’s “Hoosiers React to Debate.” (But Moore fails to offer an alternative for conservative Evangelical voters, a plan B.)

"However, those on stage, especially those of leading worship services, need to keep in mind the scrutiny that follows bold statements. Also, there’s never a place for vitriol from the platform or ad hominem banter—especially one in crucifix’s shadow."

Scrutiny? Eminem is the same rapper who said, “Money doesn’t buy happiness, it buys crazy-a** happiness.” He’s one of America’s 22 million millionaires, whose “ Houdini ” release out-trended Trump on X the morning after Trump’s 34-count verdict. If we subject this music genius to the same scrutiny pastors face on the “Preachers in Sneakers” website, we’d find a disconnect between a Detroit-born rapper worth around $230 million and his millions of followers. (Numerous high-profile pastors could also be thrown into this discussion.) Behind the rapper’s grunge look on the screen is his Spiderman comic book worth at least $1m, besides a fleet of cars and a Michigan mansion the size of many museums.

Eminem is sui generis, and like Trump, he also owns a lot of glitter. So, let’s look more closely at his premise, and do so by asking a more fundamental question. Does people’s wealth factor into the truthfulness and/or usefulness of their statements about the greater good?

Examining Wealth, Fame, and Influence

One might ask does the wealth of a visiting Christian singer determine their resonance with ticket buyers? I’m a bit longer in the tooth than many of you, and have seen a lot—some magnificent homes, ranches, cars, livestock, hunting reserves and more owned by those leading massive worship venues. However, they remain humble, powerfully motivating, and from my perspective grounded.

Many of them also have their impoverished stories (cf. “Unsung Hero” and “The Jesus Music”).

Brandon Lake told me that to fund his first album he tattooed contributors’ names on his leg! Last week, his dad (Mack) confirmed this, saying Brandon believed in the project and needed another $30,000 for the $50,000 price tag. There’s still some of that journey in his mettle as he sings.

Historical Counterpoints to Eminem’s Premise

Eminem’s statement against Trump simply doesn’t square with history. Do your statements? Let’s look at a few examples that counter Eminem’s declaration.

SoJourner Truth’s 1951 “Ain’t I a Woman!” speech in Akron, Ohio was one for the ages, in whatever version is actually authentic. She moved crowds and resonated with the poor and middle classes, also with a reach to the rich. Her insights transcend tax brackets to the present.

Former president Obama is among the most eloquent political speakers in recent memory, and stands alongside President Reagan. After POTUS 44’s comments about keeping money in focus, he continued “ . . . it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.” Whether Obama has three mansions, as he does now, or the rumored fourth in Hawaii, is irrelevant to the merit of that statement and his countless other gems.

Do you know the palace-born Churchill’s * net worth (or debt) at the time of his immortal words?

“. . . We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender . . . .”

That was June 4, 1940, as his oration helped his Isle stand firm against the same ideological antisemitism now substituting the swastika for Hamas’s Dome of the Rock emblem behind two swords.

A year after this Churchill speech, Virginia Woolf died as bombs ravished her London home. She, too, had a solid financial and educated beginning, and would become part of the Bloomsbury group—though not without her loss of loved ones and personal trials. Her writings still speak to millions, including her 1925 book, “Mrs. Dalloway” (1925)—using protagonist’s Clarissa’s high society lens to address issues taboo at the time.

From Paine to Present-Day America

Perhaps Eminem had Thomas Paine in mind of “relating to his base.”

Only a year after his several failed English businesses and near trip to debtor’s prison, Paine found a patron in Benjamin Franklin and passage to America—and a voice for America’s first native news outlet. After only a year in America, Paine’s words resonated with most “Americans” in his “Common Sense” pamphlet: “Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness possitively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. . . . Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

Perhaps Gutfeld or Anderson Cooper should host Russell Moore to discuss a more appropriate question he raises in his most recent Christianity Today editorial, do we need to be “explicit and total” in our support of any candidate? The difference between Moore and those like Paine is that Moore hasn’t wandered from his ardent belief in biblical truths and promises. Still controversial, but in a recognizable context.

Paine shifted considerably as he abandoned even a pretense of such belief while supporting the French Revolution. No more than nine people were by his casket on the very soil he abandoned—America’s.

Moore’s question is a bit different, however. In his editorial he asks if these conservatives should be following (and many doting over) Trump given his morality record which clashes with biblical norms. The same could also be asked of Kamala Harris for her suspect rise to power, ethical issues surrounding President Biden’s dementia, and abortion and transgender operation views.

Questions That Linger for the 2024 Election

Eminem’s query is in the shadow of others’ questions, like “Why did 74 million people vote for Trump in 2020,” and, “Why did multiples more tune into to his interviews with Elon Musk and Joe Rogan?”

Eminem, Moore, Gutfeld, Cooper, and a mélange of influencers aren’t looking to escape across the seas like Paine—though some celebrities have hinted of such if a Red Wave hits. Common sense should caution all of us to beware of what washes ashore, or what cloaked ideologies will appear out of this election fog while some people are emphasizing the wrong questions.

It’s not Trump’s wealth that makes him unrelatable to his base, nor what attracts most followers. Eminem has the right to support either candidate, but like anyone with a platform, withstand scrutiny.

Most of us can’t relate to Trump’s $100,000 gold watch, but we can relate to solid policies, transparency, and to personal failures. Whether he can admit the latter is another matter, and likely will factor in the 2024 election’s outcome.

In the meantime, while on your music platform, real or virtual, don’t make the Eminem mistake with politics. Creative rap doesn’t guarantee reason, nor does volume insure veritas. And whatever you say in support of either party, it’s not how well your voice sounds in the moment but resounds with the facts outside of it.

Editors Note: Publishing this article is not an endorsement of Trump, nor does it signal support for any particular person or political party. As a publication, we remain neutral, focusing instead on content that serves and resonates with our readers. This piece was written by Jerry Pattengale, one of the world’s foremost scholars, who also shares a deep love for the Lord and for our publication. Jerry has been exploring ways to engage with topics that align with our mission, and we felt this article was particularly relevant given the increasing interest in political discussions within our audience—especially among prominent worship leaders. We’d approach a similar article about any other public figure, like Kamala Harris, with the same openness, provided it met our publishing standards and served our readers well.

Public Intellectuals, the Public Square and the Pursuit of the Common Good

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 20:13:56 GMT

We are at a crossroads in the US on many fronts, including the intersection of sound logic with pressing concerns. Throughout our history we have had men and women with tremendous influence speak into contemporary issues through their thought, whether manifest in writing or speaking. We are navigating an era in which many have tried to discard the law of noncontradiction. The very humanities basis for life’s important questions is considered suspect as educational institutions are under pressure. We indeed can learn from the steps of public intellectuals with transferable lessons for such a time as this.

Dr. Jerry Pattengale ’s recent book, Public Intellectuals and the Common Good, is one glimpse of these lessons, accenting his decade long project and book in progress, Borrowed Intelligence: Learning in the Shadows of Geniuses.

Jerry Pattengale , the founding scholar of Museum of the Bible (DC), has authored dozens of books, including The State of the Evangelical Mind and Public Intellectuals and the Common Good (2021), with others coming out within the next year: Cultivating Mentors, The World’s Greatest Book, and The New Book of Christian Martyrs. He has published in various other venues like WSJ, RNS, WaPo, CT, Chicago Tribune, etc., and was co-author of the six-hour TV series, Inexplicable: The Spread of Christianity to the Ends of the Earth (Telly Award, 2021), and the corresponding book. He is the inaugural University Professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, and has received several educational and writing awards, media requests, substantial funding for projects, and holds distinguished posts at Sagamore Institute, Gordon- Conwell Theological Seminary, Excelsia College (Australia), Waverley Abbey (UK) & Tyndale House–Cambridge. On February 14, 2020, he spoke at the United Nations on protecting religious spaces, and served as interim president of Religion News Service (2019-20). He serves on boards at Yale (JEC), Christianity Today, Christian Scholar’s Review (assoc. pub.), Africa New Life (Rwanda), Changing Destiny (Asia), and the membership committee of The National Press Club (DC)—receiving its “Vivian Award” in 2021. Via his current role at the museum, Senior Advisor to the President, in 2021 he secured a 180-book deal and established a new ten-year partnership with Tyndale House Publishing. His MA degrees are in Interpersonal Development (Wheaton, IL) and History (Miami, OH), and his PhD is in Ancient History (Miami, OH, under Edwin Yamauchi). In recent years he also helped bring to light key events in the antiquities world, from well-circulated stories at RNS, the “Jesus Wife Hoax” via WSJ, and the NT papyri thefts via Christianity Today. He graduated from high school at 16 and was homeless, a story featured in “Leading the Way out of Poverty” (PBS/WIPB, 2006), and background of his 20-year humorous award-winning news column. The mantra in his pioneering McGraw-Hill books on Purpose-Guided education is “The dream needs to be stronger than the struggle.”

GOLF & NETWORKING

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 19:53:55 GMT

GOLF & NETWORKING – A 20-year, transferable success story. I began our league 19 seasons ago: it's had hundreds participate, given 3,800 prizes, enjoyed widespread PR, hosted many “celebrity” guests, & realized untold business partnerships/deals.
THE PATTENGALE PLAN: Work to have it absorbed by an organization and aligned with long-term respected sponsors--Indiana Wesleyan University absorbed ours. It’s the perfect soft-touch commitment & community connection (anyone can join). The focus is fun & friendship, but often serendipitous business follows. Secret sauce: structured fun, flexible attendance, & intentional networking (w/ meticulous stats & contacts). People love to relax into structure, and, in sports, w/ fairness & begin to own it--see my podcast, last post.

KEYS:
*Flexible attendance—just show up
*Affordable, no league fees
*14 pts. nightly: prizes for 5 proximity markers (2 pts each), 1st team (2 pts.) 2nd (1 pt.) attendance (1pt)
*Annual clubhouse plaque & rotating trophy (we use a WWF-type trophy belt!), see pics
* Gather everyone at beginning & end. We pray, take requests, & use a lot of humor
*Send only one email or post weekly, w/ stats and 2-5 pictures
*Scramble format only: less threatening & fosters chats
*No Mulligans, strings, or any gimmicks (they slow it, and foster cheating)
*New teams weekly (except for families)
*Keep it fair (e.g., tape measures for markers; no stacked teams; person’s shot to green on longest putt, putts first; always same backup for common team ties [no. 1 handicap hole to easiest hole])
* Start at 5:30 PM to facilitate travel & home life
*9 holes only
*Never change the weeknight--people plan way ahead w/ standing commitments
* A known calendar annually--We do 18 weeks, May-August, Wednesdays, always at 5:30 PM
*Stagger age group and gender tees
*All volunteer staff
*Spread out A players
* Celebrate a wide array of players in newsletters. Everyone’s a winner, sometime. And other times, a hacker.
*Give annual awards with gifts: Best Mental Attitude, Most Improved, Most Unusual, Lowest Points (above minimum nights, e.g., half)
*Use smack talk—not personal stuff, just talent and/or luck. I pick on folk in newsletters and when embellishing, follow up with “I wouldn’t kid ya now.” (Because often, it’s believable.) Also, self-effacing humor goes a long way.
* Secure long-term sponsors. For us, Slingshot & CampusEdu.com (19 yrs), Hoosier Jiffy Print (10 yrs), and Rohrman Auto Group (2) have been amazing.
*Make first and last nights special: proximity markers on every hole, and we invite IWU golf teams to join, spread across teams.
All said, I’m the one who benefits the most—the league brings joy & no matter where I’m at in the world they know I try to be there Wednesdays if possible.
**This system works. To see scratch golfers & 30-handicappers win prizes on the same night is a hoot & strong friendships stretch throughout the community (from weddings and graduations to hospice and funerals).

Pierre Bayard's How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:35:37 GMT

“WHO IS MARK NOLL?” WAS AN AWKWARD question coming from an academic administrator, accented by his dazed look when I mentioned Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. I left that Christian campus with mixed feelings, appreciative of meeting goodhearted professors but pricked deeply by that conversation—his obvious unawareness of a leading Christian thinker.

I have found myself in his role, such as sharing the speaking platform with Martin Bernal before reading his Black Athena. Even more uncomfortable was sitting in England’s famous “pump room” at Bath prior to reading Northanger Abbey while being surrounded by Jane Austin veterans—my students.

Well, according to one French literary superstar, we need not feel guilty anymore.

Author Pierre Bayard, a professor of literature at the University of Paris VIII, suggests that we often find ourselves in the dialogue of the deaf. We discuss books unread by others or ourselves, or the fragments we recall from others’ recollections. He cogently argues that when we skim books we usually are left with a memory of “a different book” than the one recalled by other readers or intended by the author. Bayard finds professors especially feeling guilty for not having read an even longer list of books. Rather, we should be more concerned with being able to place a key author or book in the appropriate place on the shelf of our collective library—the collection of books common to our extended community. These are the big books we all should know.

He intrigues us with his veneer of sincerity in dealing with the constraints we feel as readers. The first constraint is that we’re under “the obligation to read” with special attention to a “canonical list” of any given community. During his beloved postmodern era, most “great books” lists prove problematic. Though the “canon” surviving the Middles Ages and enshrined during Modernity resonated with millions of readers seeking answers about the human condition, postmodern “classics” lists include everything from Proust and Clancy to cookbooks and ecology guides. Author Nick Rennison accents this subjective list approach with his collection of 100-Must Read series ranging from Classic Novels and Crime Novels to Science Fiction. A second constraint is “the obligation to read a book in its entirety,” which is commonly violated by fast-paced schedules. To compound matters, the third constraint is the academy’s expectation that in order to discuss a book we must have read it.

Bayard’s imagery seems to work prima facie as the proliferation of books keeps our heads spinning. Bayard’s literary illustrations provide context for his strategy, allegedly being transparent about his own time with the respective texts, e.g., citations are marked with “SB” = skimmed book, “UB” = unknown, “FB” = forgotten, “++” = extremely positive, “+” = positive, etc. It’s as if Woody Allen subscripts pop-up with the truth about Bayard’s reading life, accenting Oscar Wilde’s boast, “I never read a book I must review; it prejudices you so.” Bayard contends that “it’s totally possible to carry on an engaging conversation about a book you haven’t read — including, and perhaps especially, with someone else who hasn’t read it either.”

From The Man Without Qualities, Bayard has us follow a laughable love-struck General Stumm into his country’s imperial library. He intended to become educated to impress a woman until realizing it would take over ten thousand years to read all of the library’s books, and that’s if writing stopped. This sense of hopelessness resonates with academics as we walk up to Claremont’s Honnold/Mudd Library or approach the Widener’s steps. The Education section alone at Miami University’s (OH) King Library is beyond one’s reading capacity, and the same with the New York City Public Library’s World War II collection.

The disheveled old librarian, Bayard’s hero, reveals to Stumm his secret for keeping his large collection in perspective—he doesn’t read any of them, only the catalogues. “His love of books—of all books—incites him to remain prudently on the periphery, for fear that too pronounced an interest in one of them might cause him to neglect the others.”

I suppose there’s some freedom in this perspective. And likewise most of us have our favorite lit reviews, such as Books & Culture, Times Literary Supplement, Image, Christian Scholar’s Review, The Chronicle Review, The Atlantic, The Virginia Quarterly Review and NewPages.com (which will introduce you to dozens more). So maybe Bayard is on to something with his notion of prioritizing the place of these books in the library—important titles on the right shelves, associated with the right schools of thought.

His best contribution to our reading peril, and an image that has staying power, is his notion of our “inner library” developed in his section on “Encounters in Society.” These are books we’ve actually read or have a confident familiarity with—“around which every personality is constructed, and which then shapes each person’s individual relationship to books and to other people.” When we brush up against someone without familiarity with one of our titles, or with no or very limited overlap with inner libraries, we find ourselves in awkward situations. We should be more concerned about a book’s place among the “collective library” than whether we read it thoroughly. Bayard argues that “we never talk about a book unto itself,” but a whole set of books. Each title “serves as a temporary symbol for a complete conception of culture.” Allegedly these inner libraries “have made us who we are, and they cannot be separated from us without causing us suffering.” For a book championing non-reading, the previous statement is in tension with his own thinking.

This clever book accents the ingenuity of Bayard, also author of Who Killed Roger Ackroyd? But don’t be snookered with the whole enterprise. Like Thoreau’s Walden, Bayard lacks full disclosure and has readers (and reviewers) believing that he actually doesn’t read books. This is asinine—he’s an esteemed literature professor!

But here’s the main rub. Bayard positions reading as a social gauge, for hobnobbing at cocktail parties and impressing peers. If education targets such shallow ends, then we might as well scrap books altogether and save additional time learning his antics of non-reading. At the least, if our main concern (as Bayard argues) is social acceptance we could limit our reading to Michael Dirda’s entertaining Classics for Pleasure.

Bayard’s book is painted in a counterintuitive hue, another rub. He leans heavily on Oscar Wilde’s Artist as Critic and To Read or Not To Read, which evidently he’s digested a few times in preparation for this treatise on doing just the opposite—“anti” or “non” reading. My readers group, local Inklings of sorts, asked me, “Did you read the book before reviewing it?”

There’s a literary swagger in Bayard’s boast about non-reading, and references to various social exchanges that venerate crafty wordsmithing and psychoanalysis over careful reading. One illustration from David Lodge’s Changing Places includes the game “Humiliation” in which rivaling professors attempt to persuade others of books they haven’t read, often with details heard secondhand. The winner is the one telling the biggest lie and fooling the most.

Though a worthwhile read, the book fizzles as Bayard wades in the same relativistic waters tread by Stanley Fish. Bayard attempts to establish a case for our “inner books,” much akin to Fish’s “interpretive communities.” Books, according to Bayard, take on special meaning to each person, and the intended meaning remains unknowable to anyone. He argues that “we must profoundly transform our relationship to books,” and “accept a kind of evolution of our psychology.... what is essential is to speak about ourselves and not about books, or to speak about ourselves by way of books.” This quintessential existential approach can make a historian like me queasy, and rips the “non” out of “the law of non-contradiction.”

The climax of this suspect trajectory is Bayard’s claim that in the art of non-reading we become creators. The most important thing is that the books are about us, and this gives us the freedom to create our own text (see page 180).

This fun book with helpful observations goes awry here, offering what Jay McInerney calls a “nonreading utopia”—“a charming but ultimately terrifying prospect—a world full of writers and artists” (New York Times, 11 November 2007). Bayard’s model has us affixing gelatin manuscripts to a revolving Wittenberg Door without nails—or anything else that’s objectively real. Though we begin with practical help for daunting reading expectations (his useful concepts of inner libraries and veneration of lit reviews), we end with theories more conflicting than those gems in Alan Sokal’s hoax (in Social Text, 1996). The only difference is that Sokal intended to write camouflaged nonsense littered with ideological jargon pleasing to reviewers.

While I recommend Bayard’s book, don’t be hoodwinked by his mythical author status. Unlike the unnamed narrator in The Bleak House, the first-person is not really Bayard—though his writing finesse creates a voice as believable as other fictional male protagonists like J. D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield and Chaim Potok’s Asher Lev. Bayard seems to be following Wilde’s literary mentoring, “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth” (Intentions).

Another objection to Bayard’s thesis is his omission of the love of reading. It splits one’s dendrites to think (as Fish also seems to imply) that one can venerate the art of writing without studying it. While the usefulness of the humanities and the rationale for its place in college curricula is a debate for another time, the love of literature is not.

To miss Jane Austin’s defense of novels while describing Catherine and Isabella’s relationship forged in the details of Bath is to miss the author. To miss the hundreds of T. Harry William’s vignettes of the “wild man” days is to miss the magnetism of Huey Long, “a demagogue and a clown” who once answered the door naked and while drunk, convincing the foreign ambassador it was an American custom. To opt for Cliffs Notes or reviews of Dorian Gray is to miss a truth articulated about vanity and hubris, and Dorian’s constant tension of thinking about “the desecration that was in store for the fair face on the canvas.” Or the plea for sensibility by Basil Howard, Gray’s painter, to a hallow-souled Gray hours after the poisonous death of Gray’s lover (fittingly named, Sibyl Vane). The trajectory of Bayard’s “creator” thesis would evolve millions of Patroclus figures dying for reasons other than for an arrogant Achilles’ plight that for two millennia has resonated with the human condition. Likewise, in the nonreading scheme a secondhand Hamlet is stripped of its appeal and “My Queen” becomes platonic. And lesser gems lose all sense of place on the shelf, such as, Dubner’s Confessions of a Hero-Worshipper, with its vivid images of Franco Harris’s life-giving presence in everyday, nondescript Pittsburg.

Imagine the shallowness of Bayard’s cocktail party chatter about a Bible not firmly in their inner libraries, boasting the theme of Easter but unaware of the conversations on the cross, recounting parables’ points without understanding their purpose. And imagine churches led by preachers excelling in non-reading, vague passionless homilies from clerics that can place the Bible on the right shelf, but with little edification for the self as a whole. And for those imbibing his views of an inner book with changing meaning, meaningless sermons for changing times.

There are many more important questions than “Who is Mark Noll?” But it’s in his Scandal where Christians find a well-reasoned challenge to return to their heritage of intellectual rigor, to contribute to the “first-order public discourse” and to cultivate scholarly attitudes with “the seriousness that God intends.” Establishing strong inner libraries is an important step in this direction, but in addition to and not in place of an aggressive reading schedule.

And if I’m right, reading in between and the lines themselves, I think that’s what Bayard is suggesting, though for a much less spiritual cause.

The Big Questions

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 01:13:03 GMT

Have our colleges and universities lost sight of their purpose?

"N o matter where they've attended school," the reader is assured in Becoming a Master Student, the most widely used text intended to orient incoming freshmen, " liberally educated people can state what they're willing to bet their lives on." But this otherwise helpful book fails to give students direction on how to discover such confidence.

Among the more formidable attempts to help higher education address life's big questions was the Great Books movement, closely associated with the life work of Robert Maynard Hutchins at the University of Chicago. He was leery of any social or institutional commitments fueled by zeal without knowledge, and the latter came most notably through a study of the great thinkers through the ages—the "Great Conversation." During a lively 1970 interview (worth reading in its entirety), he cautioned the Academy:

It is the absence of anything relevant in the current program of the multiversity that has produced this demand for relevance on the part of the young. When young people are asked, "What are you interested in?" they answer that they are interested in justice, they want justice for the Negro, they want justice for the Third World. If you say, "Well, what is justice?" they haven't any idea … . They are ignorant of the fact that there is a Great Conversation echoing back through history on the subject of justice.[1]

Anthony T. Kronman, former dean of the Law School at Yale, makes a laudable attempt to revive this Great Conversation approach in Education's End: Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life . Kronman's focus is on the humanities, and his appraisal is blunt: humanities professors in our finest colleges and universities have collectively blown it, cowering in the face of the German "research ideal":

This damage was not the result of an attack from without. It was not caused by barbarians crashing the gates. It was a self-destructive response to the crisis of authority that teachers of the humanities brought down on their own heads when they embraced the research ideal and the values associated with it.

According to Kronman, the Academy is a mess, elevating what Max Weber dubbed the "Vocation of Scholarship" as the measure of all things. From graduate interns through veteran professors, specialized research has long since eclipsed the importance of teaching. Tenure and rank promotion are tied closely to peer-refereed publications in discipline-specific fields. While Kronman acknowledges great gains in the hard sciences, and much new knowledge in the humanities as well, he contends that the perennial questions of the human condition are relegated to the periphery in the university today. He supports this indictment with twenty pages of anecdotes.

In the next section, Kronman steps back to sketch a three-stage overview of American higher education, beginning with the founding of Harvard in 1636 and the ensuing "age of piety." Here the "ends of human living" were indeed central to the curriculum but, Kronman laments, teaching was erroneously based on dogmatic religious assumptions. Unsurprisingly, it's in the second period, the "age of secular humanism," that Kronman finds the zenith of American education.

Beginning after the Civil War and lasting through the mid-20th century, this expansive era, like the age of piety, was unembarrassed by fundamental questions about the meaning of life. But higher education in this phase had cast off the shackles of faith. It presupposed the existence of a common human nature and a pluralistic belief in many paths to fulfillment, but within an acceptable range of responses. Through a study of the Great Conversation, secular humanism (a flag that Kronman is quite comfortable waving) "assumed that the ultimate values toward which a human life may be directed are relatively few in number," and "a relatively permanent set of possibilities" exists since the human condition remains constant through the ages.

The third stage, beginning in the 1960s, has been dominated by the research model that Kronman critiques. His prescription for reform, laid out in the last third of the book, is a return to an enlightened secular humanism. In particular, he champions Yale's Directed Studies program, a Great Books program that enrolls a small percentage of incoming freshmen each year. But here's the rub. Kronman writes eloquently about reviving the ancients' notion of truth matching reality—the product of a time when objective standards were assumed for the determination of noble causes—but with objective standards jettisoned. The reading list for the Yale program is impressive indeed, but as Kronman frames it, this course of study leads logically to an informed existentialism, with his students making choices once expected of their mentors. His system renders firm answers to important questions impossible. Students might reasonably conclude that there's no point in asking.

How should we venerate the collective wisdom of the great writers? They frequently contradict one another; they often strongly contradict Kronman's own assumptions. For example, the thesis of Augustine's City of God couldn't be more contrary to Kronman's dismissal of religious dogma as a foundation for higher education. In the Augustinian tradition, this question is the starting point: "Is God who he is because of who I am, or am I who I am because of who God is?"

Many of Kronman's secular colleagues place their faith in the supreme authority of science. Not Kronman. "At the very heart of our civilization," he writes, "with its vast powers of control, there is an emptiness that science has created and cannot fill. It is an emptiness that many people feel and a cause of much anguish and yearning." You may be tempted to say amen. But wait a minute. How has "science" created the emptiness Kronman describes? He writes as if holding an iPhone stymies one's philosophy. If anything, his own account of our malaise points directly to the inadequacy of secular reason: fulfillment must be sought outside the natural realm.

But Kronman doesn't see that. On the contrary. He's convinced that the Academy, overawed by the authority of science and in thrall to the research ideal, has by default ceded authority on life's ultimate questions to churches and their mystifications. Again he prescribes a daily dose of wise and tolerant humanism.

Some readers may feel that I've been too hard on Kronman. After all, isn't his scathing account of the state of higher education right on target? Well, no. His blatant, repeated assertion that, by and large, life's ultimate questions are not being asked in our colleges simply is not true. Kronman leaves us with a gloomy impression of the national professoriate lecturing under the baleful eye of Sauron and his henchmen (the tenure committee), too intimidated to address students' deepest concerns.

Douglas and Rhonda Jacobsen's The American University in a Postsecular Age (Oxford Univ. Press, 2008) counters Kronman's central claim. "Far from fading into oblivion," they write, "religion seems to be increasing its visibility and influence; secularization is no longer the default assumption." Their position is backed by essays from fifteen noted educators, who agree that "the connections between faith and learning, rationality and religion, [and] spirituality and the search for truth" are central to the curriculum. The essay by Warren Nord (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill), "Taking Religion Seriously in Public Universities," is especially germane to Kronman's argument.

The pathologies Kronman decries are not imaginary. Nord, for example, observes that "a truly remarkable degree of intellectual compartmentalization" has dampened academic reflection on the implications of the faith beliefs held by three-quarters of college faculty members. But Kronman's sweeping jeremiad misses more of what's actually going on in the Academy than it encompasses.

Let me give a personal example, not to toot my own horn but to suggest why I experienced such cognitive dissonance while reading Kronman's book. I'm writing this review from the San Francisco Hyatt Regency, where last night Parker Palmer addressed two thousand educators on some of life's big questions. Today, McGraw-Hill distributed hundreds of copies of my book Why I Teach to professors, with a major promotion for another book, The Purpose-Guided Student. Numerous presentations at the conference addressed these same questions. Major academic publishers distributed weighty catalogues of readers for new students that invite them into big-question discussions. Hundreds of books are listed as "freshman common read"—intended for entire entering classes to wrestle with being human. The titles range from Tuesdays with Morrie to Things Fall Apart, The Bridge of San Luis Rey, and My Name is Asher Lev, from First They Killed My Father to Brave New World and Candide.

But I'm not sorry I read Kronman's book, and I'm not being insincerely polite or patronizing when I say that I'm appreciative of his work. I'm reminded of the value of reading Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho (2nd century AD), in which we see rival positions discussed openly—and the richness of thought and effort that each expends in defending his position. Kronman's forthright defense of secular humanism and his critique of other viewpoints helped me to sharpen my own convictions. Though I disagree with his main premises, I found myself returning to his pages to read again his rationale, to get lost in the helpful details of his footnotes, and to try to figure out what we have in common in using many of the same great books to understand the human condition.

The ‘First-Century Mark’ Saga from Inside the Room

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 18:11:56 GMT

My reflections after eight years of silence.

W hen one of the world’s top Greek scholars at a top university spread “first and second century” New Testament manuscripts on top of his office pool table, my colleague and I about fainted.

Surrounded by classical busts, Egyptian funerary masks, and a pile of medieval binder fragments, we stood mesmerized in the office of Dirk Obbink at Christ Church, Oxford. The “First-Century Mark” saga began. It’s still playing out.

Over the last eight years, we learned that much was not as it seemed. There seemed to be a manuscript fragment of a gospel dating to the first decades of the church. Not quite. The manuscript seemed to be for sale. It wasn’t, really. Now the world knows there were four early gospel fragments “for sale,” and at the helm was an esteemed professor, transitioning these days into a sort of Sir Leigh Teabing of Da Vinci Code lore.

Like the Harry Potter “moving staircase” at Hogwarts, filmed across in the Bodley Tower viewable from Obbink’s window, what was to unfold over the next several years would seem illusory for outside scholars and became sensationalized in the press. The sudden appearance of these manuscripts was dizzying even for the experts and owners, temporary and otherwise.

Scott Carroll and I, the two founding scholars for the Museum of the Bible, were there—we thought—for another research discussion. These were always enjoyable though long visits. As we were about to leave Obbink’s office, he stood and said, “I have something you two might like to see.” He pulled out a manila filing envelope and opened Pandora’s Box. He showed us four papyrus pieces of New Testament Gospels identified as Matthew 3:7–10, 11–12; Mark 1:8–9, 16–18; Luke 13: 25–27, 28; and John 8:26–28, 33-35.

Obbink said that three of the pieces dated from the second century (AD 100–200). Then he pointed to key letter markings in the Mark fragment: the epsilon (e), upsilon (u), and tau (t). He was convinced, he said, that it was extremely early: “very likely first century.” Even the famed “John Ryland’s Papyrus,” considered by most to be the earliest known piece of the New Testament, is usually dated to the early or middle second century.

On that eventful evening in 2011, Carroll became ecstatic. Veins along his neck bulged. He paced with arms flailing. What Bible scholar wouldn’t be excited? After all, Obbink is a MacArthur Genius Award recipient and was head of the famed Oxyrhynchus collection. He knows his stuff—flat-out brilliant. At one point, he had appointments both at the University of Michigan and Christ Church, then simultaneously with Oxford and Baylor University. And, he was always a gentleman and great with students. A master teacher.

Eventually, all four pieces were purchased in 2013 for a considerable sum—though at a fraction of their value (even taking the later dates our researchers suggested).

For context on the rarity of these remarkable texts, the esteemed David C. Parker of the University of Birmingham lists only five New Testament pieces in the second century. Dan Wallace, founder of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts, claims there are minimally four second-century Gospel fragments, and maximally 13—counting Obbink’s Mark fragment and those on the third-century edge. In short, they are extremely rare.

Scott Carroll and I had met professor Dirk Obbink many times in his Christ Church office in Oxford, had traveled with him, shared high table at Christ Church, and had invited him to be a senior fellow for the Museum of the Bible. Carroll and I had traveled a long but intermittent journey together. In the 1980s we both studied under the eminent ancient historian and Bible scholar Edwin Yamauchi. In the 1990s, we had helped financier Robert Van Kampen build his Bible collection (now at the heart of the Holy Land Experience in Orlando). Later, we worked to launch the Museum of the Bible, along with Steve Green (president of Hobby Lobby).

Through the decades, we handled thousands of ancient manuscripts in various parts of the world; had helped host exhibits in the Vatican; met in the manuscript bowels of Monte Casino; stayed in the Coptic papal residence in Wadi Natrun, Egypt; stood on a Persian rug in a bomb shelter covering a trove of antiquities in Jerusalem; had residence in Hampton Court, Herefordshire; watched Gordy Young blow a sulfate compound through scientific tubing onto cuneiform in Michigan; hosted a special evening session at the old British Library; and planned countless sessions and workshops with brilliant men and women on biblical texts.

We were approached by dealers and reporters in the oddest of ways, like the dinner at the iconic Cattleman’s restaurant in Oklahoma City. In 2010, after eating with Warren and Beverly Van Kampen, a dealer unexpectedly appeared at Carroll’s Cadillac (a gift from Bob Van Kampen for giving a brilliant answer to a spontaneous Bible question). He startled us. Nonetheless, with some bravado he placed a large open box of ancient books on the trunk, and when Carroll refused him, he left them anyway (some appeared to be rare incunables). He yelled through the parking lot, “There are descriptions in the folder. You’ll love these. Call me!”

Others had inherited or were gifted rare items of immense value. After speaking at Liberty University, I went to shake a fellow’s hand at the end of the greeting line. Instead, he pulled out a paper tube from beneath his trench coat and tried to show me a Megillah (Esther scroll) he wanted to sell. After speaking in Springfield, Missouri, a senator brought an impressive early Victorian Bible for insights; it was large enough for a shopping cart. One fellow kept calling about a buried boxcar of antiquities in Texas, another claiming ownership of something from Jesus’ birth stable, and yet another with plaster casts of the first-century tomb in Jerusalem. Of course, once I ask to see the Israeli Antiquities Authority documentation, the conversations usually change. Perhaps the most memorable incident was in Grand Haven when a brother and sister around retirement age realized one of the Bibles in our display was the same as the one they had buried with their Dutch mother. When they learned that one had sold at auction for over $200,000, the brother turned to his sister and said, “Well, I guess we’re just gonna hav’ to dig ’er up.”

Against this backdrop of the wild ride in the antiquities world, one in which many of the greatest museums have been snookered by forgeries or authentic items with forged documents, we recruited numerous top experts in various fields, including Dirk Obbink. Then he showed us what appeared to be one of the greatest discoveries since Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt had excavated the bonanza of papyri in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, in the late 1800s.

The “First-Century Mark” fragment enthused Carroll, and rightfully so. But this gifted communicator with a rare streak of creativity fell victim to his own excitement. He prematurely informed Wallace that it was okay to announce it during his debate with leading atheist scholar Bart Ehrman in February 2012. The announcement went viral —at least in the world of biblical literature scholars. Wallace says he and Carroll met the night before the debate and that Carroll showed him additional Greek manuscripts—but not the four we had seen in Oxford. (Ten of the Museum of the Bible’s New Testament papyri are currently with various research groups.) Days after the Wallace debate, long before the finalized “sale” of the four papyri, Carroll left the museum to start the Manuscript Research Group, which appears to keep rather busy. Due to some pending non-disclosures on his end, we didn’t talk again for seven years.

Even though it was the star scholar Obbink who was involved (he said he was selling the manuscripts on behalf of a private collection—a common practice), the funder from Hobby Lobby agreed to maintain our due diligence, so I consulted further expert opinion. As is well known, I recruited Wallace, who also serves as professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. Neither he nor anyone else was willing to vouch with any confidence for a pre-second century date on any of the pieces. One told me I should consult with Dirk Obbink, since he is “the established expert on papyri of this kind.” Well, yes. Peter Head, then at Tyndale House, Cambridge, candidly noted keeping “among the earliest” New Testament pieces confidential would be difficult—candor I appreciated. Since nondisclosure was a non-negotiable from Obbink (allegedly on the part of the owners), Head and I mutually agreed not to have him involved. The other scholars sat with me at different times and places and studied the four images from my laptop (another condition).

Remember when I said that the manuscripts were one of the greatest discoveries since Grenfell and Hunt had excavated the Oxyrhynchus papyri? Well, it turned out that they were part of the discovery that Grenfell and Hunt made. As news of a “First-Century Mark” surfaced, it eventually became obvious it was a piece in the Oxyrhynchus collection (P.Oxy. 83.5345; P137)—which, at the time, was under Obbink’s purview in Oxford. The piece had been awaiting research for a century, and cryptically identified in the 1980s as early New Testament (though not as Mark). When the Egyptian Exploration Society (EES), who owns this collection, discovered it was the same piece in the news, it logically thought the piece had never been for sale nor had it ever been out of its possession.

Before the EES became aware of this particular case, that the “First-Century Mark” was actually its own, Obbink reported to Steve Green (chair of the Museum of the Bible’s board) and me that the EES gave him an ultimatum to sever all public ties with our museum or be fired. His name had started surfacing in connection with other rare pieces and our museum, like the Sappho manuscripts he published, and the contract with Brill Publishers for a series. I invited him to the contract signing in Leiden and he appeared in their press release photo with our museum representatives. The sheer volume of all these new texts was raising concern. We happened to be in Oxford on the day of Obbink’s fateful meeting with the EES in London, and upon his return we sat long into the night on the patio of Oxford’s Cotswold Lodge Hotel listening to this distraught esteemed scholar. He was facing a reality that neither the EES nor we fully understood, nor could we until later—he evidently was playing both ends against the middle. . That’s how people get squashed. We simply didn’t understand the animosity.

I confided in Peter Williams, warden of Tyndale House, Cambridge, and even discussed arranging a meeting with the eminent Kenneth Kitchen and his EES colleagues to understand more fully the situation. I put forth an internal proposal to fund a professorship in Kitchen’s name at Christ Church, should the progenitor agree, assuming that Dirk would not accept the EES’s conditions. But he did, and I was outvoted anyway in favor of a plan in Waco, Texas. The meeting with Kitchen never took place, and Obbink’s dual role at Baylor began. Keep in mind: Obbink was the heralded scholar in his field, a papyrology rock star if you will. And rather enjoyable. This was an amazing catch for Baylor.

But on the “First-Century Mark” front, I could only scratch my head in disbelief, and scratch off years from the calendar as the First-Century Mark seemed mysteriously evasive. Besides questions on how Obbink, a professor, could afford to buy the Cottonland Castle in Waco, he appeared to be yet another gifted scholar helping wealthy families with their collections, and in no hurry. After all, the Oxyrhnchus project he headed was into its second century.

However, the story took a curious and fateful twist during a rather serendipitous (or Providential) dinner with Edwin Yamauchi. It proved fortuitous.

It wasn’t until November 2017 that I realized a serious ethical breach had occurred, either by Obbink, a collector he was representing, or both. Though frustrated about Obbink’s silence on the research (he assigned me to write the historical background on Mark studies for its publication), I had learned to respect his timing—he rarely rushes scholarship. Other scholars had taken over the Brill manuscript series I had begun, I had a full plate, and I was recovering from a quadruple bypass.

However, I discovered a cover-up was in the making. While sitting with Yamauchi at the opening gala dinner at the Museum of the Bible, this whole affair began to unravel. Yamauchi asked a simple question of David Trobisch, then curator of the Museum’s collection: “Dr. Trobisch, Scott Carroll mentioned the first-century Mark fragment. When do you expect its publication?” Trobisch responded, “That fragment was never offered to us for sale, isn’t that correct, Jerry?” I about snorted coffee through my nose, then responded, “Some things are best discussed in other settings.” Then David continued, “A researcher in Oxford, I think a graduate student, discovered an image of it in a museum collection, and it has remained there. It was just a misunderstanding.” You could have hit me with a frozen salmon. Apparently Obbink, or his alleged collectors, were unaware of filmed evidence of this rare piece—dating to the 1980s and rediscovered in 2008! Or someone stole it and just thought the chances of going undetected were worth it.

Edwin Yamauchi (right) asked David Trobisch (left) about the Mark fragment during the opening banquet at the Museum of the Bible.

After taking a picture of my dinner guests, as I often do, I excused myself and immediately sent a message to the funder and museum leadership outlining the seriousness of what had transpired. The law of non-contradiction comes into play here. I had worked closely with Obbink, at his request, to ensure conditions of the contract (promising no publicity until its publication). Now I realize we had all been misguided by a genius. Roberta Mazza, Josephine Dru, Candida Moss, Brent Nongbri, Ariel Sabar, and the host of scholars associated with Tyndale House Cambridge had been asking important questions, and finally some answers were no longer opaque.

Last week, with enough evidence now to go public, Michael Holmes (noted for his edition of the Apostolic Fathers and my replacement several years ago at the museum over the research side), released a copy of the purchase agreement signed by Obbink. He also included Obbink’s handwritten list of the manuscripts, a folded paper that I carried for years in my wallet. As this goes to press, an Oxford scholar informed me he traced the unidentified picture Holmes released to my house in Indiana using iPhone metadata. He knows what iPhone I used and when it was taken. I sent the picture to the museum for its files before my retirement, realizing it might be a helpful artifact in this case. Many of my digital files and most photos were lost after a malicious ransom locker virus fried my computer. After I published “How the Jesus Wife Hoax Fell Apart” (Wall Street Journal, 5.14.2014), Obbink and others thought I was drawing too much attention to their work, indirectly. The relentless attacks on me, real or perceived, are too many to record here. But after the dinner with Yamauchi, I understood the real reason for the nondisclosure request.

Obbink’s handwritten list of the manuscripts.

The extent of Obbink’s involvement in other sales is yet to unfold.

The greater the mind, the chance for the greater error—and that’s exactly what has transpired here. I have remained silent for eight years on this transaction, for the first several because the buyers agreed not to publicize or sensationalize in any way this research. Then, I remained silent after reporting this matter so it could be handled by authorities. Jeff Kloha and Trobisch (both over curatorial programs at the museum at the time) were immediately sent to the UK to meet with Obbink, and the journey to this week’s release began. What we still don’t know, as Moss hints in her Daily Beast article this week, is whether Obbink was himself deceived by a collector who obtained items sometime after the photograph notes in the 1980s. This is certainly not without precedent, like the case at Drew University in which an 18-year old freshman stole over 30 letters from the John and Charles Wesley collection. He had only worked as an intern in the archives for six months in 2010. In this case, we are reminded that many dealers have the highest of standards—a dealer in England reported the Wesley items. In the Mark case, at the least, the items were under Obbink’s purview and some bold misstatements were made.

Perhaps Obbink’s actions prompted something that may not have happened in any of our lifetimes—the prioritizing of the biblical texts, especially the Mark fragment, among the items to be researched in the massive Oxyrhynchus collection. As Elijah Hixson noted in his publication, it’s not first-century, but it’s still the earliest piece of Mark ever discovered.

Scholars have been working on this Oxyrhynchus collection for over a hundred years, and over 40 percent (more than 50 items) of all early New Testament fragments come from this collection. Tommy Wasserman of Örebro Theological Seminary in Sweden shared recently in his seminar in Oxford that currently over 30 unpublished New Testament papyri are being studied in research groups throughout the world. One of Obbink’s lasting legacies will likely be the digitization of this collection, which transforms accessibility.

A flood of biblical texts became available during the last couple of decades, some allegedly through cartonnage (think ancient papier-mâché made of discarded manuscripts). Obbink and Carroll held various public demonstrations of this practice. Some were educational, like Obbink’s lecture, “Preservation of the Painted Surface in Cartonnage Extraction” (Catholic Chaplaincy, St. Aldate’s, Oxford 7.9.14). Some were filmed. Though nearly all such texts recovered are secular, the (rather old) practice heightened interest in excavating ancient trash within trash. (The price of cartonnage has heightened quite a bit as well.) Obbink asked me to assist on occasion. I once saw about a foot-high stack of texts taken out of cartonnage—of inestimable value for understanding the third through sixth centuries. One YouTube video created quite a stir, provoking questions of cultural heritage insensitivities and celebrity involvement.

Dealers, including Obbink, learned early in the history of Museum of the Bible that there are Christians with tremendous financial means that love the Bible. But it is what he and others learned next, coupled with this new financial support, that is wreaking havoc on their old practices: A new host of Bible lovers (Christian and otherwise) have been amassed with remarkable language and research skills. Like martyrs throughout the centuries, many are aggressively dedicating their lives to its study out of religious duty. One might take advantage of them, like dealers have done for centuries, but the risk is greater; now a large group of gifted text and historical scholars has a dogged interest in every detail. From tracking textual variants to GPS records on iPhone images, these are serious efforts of scholarship. And perhaps Holmes’s posting of the contract will also help establish more collaborative efforts between the diverse groups at the Society of Biblical Literature, and with other important bodies like the EES.

I was fortunate, truly honored, to found the Scholars Program at the museum (originally called the Green Scholars Initiative), and at the start recruited over 20 of the world’s leading scholars as fellows. Scholarly involvement continues to grow under new leadership. From those mentioned to the likes of Christian Askeland, Abson Joseph, Elaine Bernius, Dirk Jongkind, Bobby Duke, Catherine McDowell, Stanley Rosenberg, Tim Laniak, David Riggs, Martin Heide, and a host of other scholars and mentors, biblical and church history studies have a healthy future.

Through this program, hundreds of biblical studies students had special access to text studies, and over 200 won scholarships to study in Oxford in the Logos program (an option for those seeking to understand how their faith intersects with their academic careers in biblical text studies). Many of these students have already finished major degrees. Nine recipients of the Edwin M. Yamauchi Award received support for PhDs in biblical text studies—from schools ranging from Notre Dame and Edinburgh to Cambridge, Oxford, and UCLA. One of the biggest surprises is that the main funders, the Green family, continue to give at a remarkable level even in the midst of an avalanche of criticism, with the harshest being either ad hominem or political. I could write a book on what I’ve observed. But for them, they have one central Book which maps their arduous journey.

Yes, the “First-Century Mark” fragment “sale” was scandalous. But huge developments in the biblical text studies fields give us hope. Bright young Christian scholars are at the proverbial table for the next generation, working alongside similarly gifted scholars of various faiths, or no faith at all. As optimistic as I am, I am even more cautious. Once again, even surrounded by many of the world’s best scholars, evangelicals, including me, fell for another “first-century” manuscript. Each biblical scholar answers questions about authenticity, accuracy, and authority. The scholars involved in this story have spent countless hours on the first two questions about manuscripts like “First-Century Mark.” But many of them, like myself, ultimately hold the last one, the question of the Bible’s authority in our lives, the most important. In truth, all three are linked—and centuries of these studies, though at times bizarre and frustrating, only strengthen our trust in the text’s historicity itself. In this case, when the smoke clears, the earliest piece of Mark’s gospel has resurfaced and we were alive to see it, plucked from an Egyptian dump a century ago, and it still reads the same.

After eight years, there is some relief in finally weighing in. Perhaps to take a break I will catch up on that Fixer Upper show with Chip and Joanna Gaines. I hear they purchased the Cottonland Castle.

Jerry Pattengale is University Professor at Indiana Wesleyan University and author, most recently, of Is the Bible at Fault? He served the Museum of the Bible from 2010 until retiring as executive director of education in December 2018. He also holds various distinguished appointments, serves on the boards of Religion News Service and Jonathan Edwards’ Center (Yale), and is associate publisher of Christian Scholar’s Review. He redirected all of his stipend to charity.

Why Mentoring in Ministry Still Matters

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 00:13:19 GMT

What defines the practice of mentoring theologically is far from obvious.

Books, articles, and programs abound about mentoring, but few offer more than what one otherwise finds at the intersection of human decency and common sense. Yet the practice of mentoring demonstrates its value over time—and, as a result, is worthy of our reflection.

This is especially true in the sphere of Christian ministry.

Take the example of Seth, who believed from the time he was young that God had called him to the ministry. While neither of Seth’s parents served as ministers, they raised him in the church and supported his calling. Seth’s youth pastor and senior pastor also affirmed this vocation and encouraged him to attend a Christian college, where he thrived and garnered the support of peers and professors.

Before heading on to seminary, Seth accepted a position as a youth pastor at a suburban church near his alma mater. And although he enjoyed working with the youth, there were ongoing challenges with some of the parents, who had competing agendas for the way Seth conducted the youth ministry. In one situation, Seth realized neither set of parents was willing to compromise.

The parents soon appealed to the senior pastor—who had shown little interest in Seth’s efforts or his transition into full-time ministry until then. The pastor simply directed Seth to resolve the situation before other parents were drawn into the fray. But when other parents got involved on social media, the senior pastor stopped by Seth’s office to ask why Seth had failed to resolve the situation. At this juncture, we may all recognize Seth needed a mentor as well as a supervisor.

Arguably, those most likely to benefit from the Christian practice of mentoring are millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and members of Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012), since certain qualities of these generations are often perceived as sources of friction. For example, in a New York Times Magazine commentary from 2020, Jasmine Hughes advised employers to hire a “generational consultant” to “keep Gen Z workers happy.”

Regardless of one’s views of the younger generations, they are gradually entering the workforce and filling roles formerly held by baby boomers and Gen Xers. By 2016, for example, millennials had become the largest generation in the US labor force.

Resisting the changes spurred on by millennials and Generation Z members is not only pragmatically misguided, but it also fails to appreciate the positive qualities they may introduce. For example, Claire Cain Miller and Sanam Yar posed the following question about the next generation: “Could they, instead, be among the first to understand the proper role of work in life—and end up remaking work for everyone else?”

To take advantage of such positive qualities in the younger generations, sociologists point to an increased need—and even appetite—for mentoring.

In his 2016 book studying young people and the church entitled You Lost Me , David Kinnaman noted that the next generation’s “prodigious use” of technology, entertainment, and media is historically significant. But such forms and usage of media often disconnect younger believers from older adults and, in turn, impacts how they will inherit their future roles.

Kinnaman suggests mentoring practices focused on the cultivation of vocational awareness and wisdom as ways to address these challenges.

But we still need to explore a theological definition—to clarify what it means to be human, what it means to cultivate wisdom, and what it means to flourish—if we are to position mentoring as a distinctively Christian practice that serves the next generation.

Understanding what it means to be human is the theological starting point for mentorship. In Genesis 1:26, we read, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.’” Unlike any other created being, humans were made in the image of their Creator and bear that image on earth.

In Creation and Fall , Dietrich Bonhoeffer notes the obvious but often forgotten truth that humans are the result not of their own creation but of the relationship they share with God. Mentors are called to cultivate that awareness by helping their mentees understand that while they are finite, the unique potential they possess reflects the One who created them.

Next, helping mentees see the potential they possess involves cultivating wisdom.

Mentors must recognize that the challenges they faced likely differ from the ones their mentees face. However, mentees will benefit greatly from knowing the nature of the challenges they encounter is not unique—and that they are not alone in their experiences. Wisdom invariably comes with limits, but mentors who have faced comparable challenges and met them with varying levels of success can offer their mentees counsel.

In many of its passages, the Book of Proverbs speaks to the importance of wisdom—including the value of identifying and avoiding the ways of the wicked, recognizing the blessings and curses wealth offers, and understanding the value of work. Proverbs 1:9, for example, describes the wisdom gleaned from a father’s instruction and a mother’s teaching as “a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck” (ESV).

The Capitol offense: A Christian professor’s warning 50 years ago

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 00:09:26 GMT

People shelter in the House gallery as protesters try to break into the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

The prescient words of professor Glenn Martin remind us why biblical Christians should reverence government as a gift of God in a fallen world.

(RNS) — An ancient tablet discovered near the Palestinian city of Nablus may contain the earliest known mention of God’s name in proto-alphabetic Hebrew.

Scott Stripling, director of the Archaeological Studies Institute at The Bible Seminary in Katy, Texas, announced the discovery of the lead tablet Thursday (March 24). He said it could push back the written record of the name “Yahweh” a couple of centuries earlier, to at least 1200 B.C. and perhaps as early as 1400 B.C. The finding may also spur renewed debate on the dating of biblical events, especially those told in the Book of Exodus. A peer-reviewed article is in process. The artifact, less than 1 inch in length and width and known as a curse tablet, also recalls the account of Joshua building an altar nearby, which Israeli archaeologist Adam Zertal excavated in the 1980s.

The curse tablet was discovered near Mount Ebal, also called the Mount of the Curse in the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua. Stripling found it in a dump site, part of the structure Zertal identified as Joshua’s altar. Stripling said the finding was a confirmation of the biblical account. In recent years, Stripling also announced the discovery of a Tabernacle platform during his ongoing excavations at biblical Shiloh.

But the 2-centimeter-square (.78-inch) amulet may be the signature discovery of a lifetime. Professor Gershon Galil of the University of Haifa said this type of discovery is made only once a millennium.

Galil deciphered the hidden internal text with another paleographer, Pieter Gert van der Veen of the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. A release from the Associates for Biblical Research press said they employed advanced tomographic scans to recover the hidden text.

The inscription reads: “Cursed, cursed, cursed — cursed by the God YHW. You will die cursed. Cursed you will surely die. Cursed by YHW – cursed, cursed, cursed.”

Scott Stripling announces the discovery of an ancient lead tablet, March 24, 2022, in Houston. Photo by Jerry Pattengale

Stripling was joined by Museum of the Bible CEO Harry Hargrave, who noted, “This little artifact helps us understand better the history, story, and impact of the Bible — all within one square inch.”

Gabriel Barkay had helped Stripling learn the wet-sifting technique in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Barkay made the remarkable discovery in 1979 of the Ketef Hinnom scrolls, which contain the earliest biblical text discovered (circa seventh century B.C.).

The Mount Ebal tablet’s text provides context outside the biblical canon but sheds light on the historical context six centuries earlier.

“Our discovery of a Late Bronze Age inscription stunned me,” Stripling said.

The dirt around the area of the discovery was discarded over 30 years ago. It had been dry-sifted before Stripling’s decision to run it through again using the wet-sifting technique.

5 Books About Contemporary Christian Martyrs

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 00:08:05 GMT

Chosen by Jerry Pattengale , coauthor of “The New Book of Christian Martyrs:

The Heroes of Our Faith from the First Century to the 21st Century.”

Virginia Prodan

Saving My Assassin: A Memoir

Imagine a five-foot-tall woman capable of challenging the entire Communist Romanian dictatorship, and you have a picture of Virginia Prodan, an author, speaker, and international human rights attorney. In the opening scene of her captivating memoir, she has an assassin’s gun to her head, and the postscript brings her amazing story full circle with an account of this assassin coming to Christ. The book, packed with firsthand accounts of religious oppression under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s horrific regime, details how Prodan exposed a secret that helped topple his government—but not before the deaths of thousands of Christians.

Johnnie Moore

The Martyr’s Oath:

Living for the Jesus They’re Willing to Die For

Moore, an author, human-rights activist, and president of the Congress of Christian Leaders, received a Medal of Valor award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center in 2017 for his efforts to rescue thousands of persecuted Christians from Iraq and Lebanon, which included chartering and funding planes. The Martyr’s Oath, inspired by a pledge that he heard recited at a graduation ceremony for theology students in India, draws on interviews with the family members of martyrs from countries across the world. Each of the book’s 15 chapters highlights one of the oath’s statements and describes how persecuted believers are living them out in the face of incredible hostility.

Todd Nettleton

When Faith Is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians

Nettleton is the longtime “voice” of the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) and host of its radio program. In this book, he recounts some of his journeys to meet with persecuted Christians around the world, journeys that have taken him to over 20 countries. Many of Nettleton’s stories will linger in your mind as testaments to the cost of carrying the Cross—stories like that of Pastor Abraham in Sudan with his little red Bible, the only one available to his congregation until VOM arrived with boxes more. Four days after that joyful encounter, jihadists shot him in the head and kidnapped several others.

Angus Kinnear

Against the Tide:

The Unforgettable Story of Watchman Nee

Few modern martyrs have left behind as monumental a legacy as the 20th-century Chinese evangelist Watchman Nee, whose books sold in the millions and whose Little Flock movement helped plant untold numbers of house churches. This biography comes from Angus Kinnear, a friend and missionary doctor who also translated some of Nee’s key works, including The Normal Christian Life, into English. It gives us a peek into Nee’s contemplative pietism, his opposition to denominational divisions, his fortitude among haters of Christ, and his long journey through persecution unto death.

Bryan M. Litfin

Early Christian Martyr Stories: An Evangelical Introduction with New Translations

Shifting from contemporary Christian martyrs to contemporary Christians writing about martyrs, we come to this lively little volume from Bryan Litfin, a longtime Moody Bible Institute theology professor now teaching at Liberty University’s divinity school (as well as an occasional writer of historical fiction). In Early Christian Martyr Stories, he corrects various misrepresentations that crop up in other accounts, such as overstatements on the scope of persecution or problematic depictions of Romans and Christians alike. A highlight is Litfin’s riveting chapter on the noblewoman Perpetua and her servant Felicitas, who were put to death for their faith in third-century Carthage despite the former being a new mother and the latter being pregnant.

Chaplain Black gave us a new piece of our oral history

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 06:42:44 GMT

(RNS) With his Darius Rucker voice, Martin Luther King Jr. prose, G.K. Chesterton depth and Billy Graham anointing, the Senate chaplain provoked our minds and prodded our emotions.

African-American congressional staffers and representatives stage a walkout on the steps of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 11, 2014 to protest the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Senate Chaplain Barry Black, center, leads the group in prayer. Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Gary Cameron

(RNS) Our country has many voices, and at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast one rose to an epic volume. Senate Chaplain Barry Black, a retired Navy rear admiral, gave us a new piece of our oral history, recognized by a thunderous crowd. With his Darius Rucker voice, Martin Luther King Jr. prose, G.K. Chesterton depth and Billy Graham anointing, he provoked our minds and prodded our emotions.

He said he wanted to talk about “making your voice heard in heaven.” He challenged us to pray for all people, and do so “out of a sense of need,” “with intimacy,” and “for those who govern.” When he finished, we could join him in stating that we “feel the palpable presence of God in this place.”

He reflected on his life’s intersection with 1 Peter 1:18-19. At 10 years of age he had the logical awareness to realize that “the value of an object is based upon the price someone is willing to pay.” And that Jesus had paid the ultimate price for him. And as his life unfolded, everywhere he went he kept running into “that man.”

Producer Mark Burnett, certainly one of the world’s best judges of giftedness, immediately classified it as “one of the most impassioned keynotes I’ve ever heard.” The crowd stirred with agreement.

President Donald Trump relayed high praise for the chaplain with a preface that might become a moniker for our times. “I don’t know if you’re a Democrat or a Republican, but you’re appointed for another year.” Then realizing the chaplain was appointed by the Senate, amid obvious bipartisan approval he noted that Chaplain Black had job security either way.

Barry Black addressing the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast. C-SPAN video

My mind went back to last year’s keynote remarks from Roma Downey about her journey through war-torn Northern Ireland. A holy hush enveloped the crowd as she recalled a bullet ripping through her coat, and that the bridge through her home city of Derry divided sides. And then, invoking a picturesque moral imperative, she recalled her return trip after the fighting ended — and the need to build bridges and keep existing ones open.

As Black finished, my mind also rested on Eric Metaxas’ 2012 keynote from the same stage. From his Veggie Tales humor and his reflections on his years of searching at Yale, to his gripping Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenges, he had taken the crowd on an unexpected and provocative ride.

But this morning prompted even deeper reflections. My mind dwelled on the event in 1851 when Sojourner Truth interrupted an otherwise routine gathering, and left an indelible impression on the national conscience with “Ain’t I a Woman?” The moderator, Frances Dana Barker Gage, reflected:

“Amid roars of applause, she returned to her corner leaving more than one of us with streaming eyes, and hearts beating with gratitude. She had taken us up in her strong arms and carried us safely over the slough of difficulty turning the whole tide in our favor. I have never in my life seen anything like the magical influence that subdued the mobbish spirit of the day, and turned the sneers and jeers of an excited crowd into notes of respect and admiration. Hundreds rushed up to shake hands with her.”

Chaplain Black indeed gave us one of the most impassioned keynotes of modern history, and the final four minutes, like the end of Dr. King’s speech, will be replayed millions of times in the coming decades.

I often sit and reread about Truth, King, Mandela, Churchill, Shusaku Endo, C.S. Lewis, Presidents Reagan and Clinton, and others who have defined our earthly journey.

And during these “mobbish” days with “streaming eyes” and a heart “beating with gratitude,” I still don’t know if Chaplain Black is a Democrat or a Republican, but concur that we need to be more concerned with our voices reaching heaven.

Earliest mention of ‘Yahweh’ found in archaeological dump

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 01:55:27 GMT

The artifact, less than 1 inch in length and width, and known as a curse tablet, may spur renewed debate on the dating of biblical events, especially those told in the Book of Exodus. This curse tablet was discovered by Mount Ebal, which is near the Palestinian city of Nablus. Photo by Michael C. Luddeni

(RNS) — An ancient tablet discovered near the Palestinian city of Nablus may contain the earliest known mention of God’s name in proto-alphabetic Hebrew.

The inscription reads: “Cursed, cursed, cursed — cursed by the God YHW. You will die cursed. Cursed you will surely die. Cursed by YHW – cursed, cursed, cursed.”

Scott Stripling announces the discovery of an ancient lead tablet, March 24, 2022, in Houston. Photo by Jerry Pattengale

The Mount Ebal tablet’s text provides context outside the biblical canon but sheds light on the historical context six centuries earlier.

“Our discovery of a Late Bronze Age inscription stunned me,” Stripling said.

The dirt around the area of the discovery was discarded over 30 years ago. It had been dry-sifted before Stripling’s decision to run it through again using the wet-sifting technique.

The scientific meltdown over a controversial discovery of ‘Biblical Sodom’

Sun, 21 Jul 2024 01:31:09 GMT

The remains of a city’s fiery demise near the Dead Sea have archaeologists at odds.

People participate in the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project at Tall el-Hammam, an ancient settlement near the Dead Sea, in western Jordan. The Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project is a joint venture by Trinity Southwest University and Veritas International University. Photo via tallelhammam.com

(RNS) — What everyone agrees on is that something unusual happened at Tall el-Hammam, an ancient settlement near the Dead Sea.

In a layer of ancient earth, archaeologists claim to have found evidence of an apocalyptic event: Melted rooftops. Disintegrated pottery. Unusual patterns in the rock formations that can be associated with intense heat. For another three to six centuries after 1650 B.C., the settlement’s 100 acres lay fallow.

But when Steven Collins, the principal archaeologist at Tall el-Hammam, considered the scientists’ evidence in an article that ran last year in the respected scientific journal Nature , he claimed that the incineration matched with the place and timing of the biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah. This brought down on himself what in academic circles might be called hellfire. That story of Sodom and its sister city Gomorrah is one of the Bible’s best-known stories. Abraham bargains with God to spare Sodom — even then synonymous with sin — to save its few righteous residents. The Lord was having none of it. “Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah,” the Book of Genesis says. Abraham looks back and sees “dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.”

On the face of it, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see possible connections between Tell el-Hammam. But in a real sense you do.

(RNS) — What everyone agrees on is that something unusual happened at Tall el-Hammam, an ancient settlement near the Dead Sea.

On the face of it, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see possible connections between Tell el-Hammam. But in a real sense you do.

But last month Steven Jaret, a postdoctoral fellow at the American Museum of Natural History, and R. Scott Harris, a space scientist at Atlanta’s Fernbank Science Center, challenged these conclusions of the 21 scholars, also in Nature, basically hinting that Collins’ group confused run-of-the-mill smelting and pottery processes with heat from an airburst.

A burgeoning group of scientists agree with these two, making much of the fact that Collins’ school is “an unaccredited Bible college.” Paul Braterman, blogging at Primate’s Progress, headlined his take, “ an airburst of gullibility .”

“It certainly raises suspicions when an archaeologist makes dramatic claims like ‘this site is Biblical Sodom’ and that person is not credentialed as we expect,” said James Hoffmeier, emeritus professor of Near Eastern archaeology and Old Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, in an interview with Religion News Service.

But Hoffmeier added, “As we well know, however, there are highly qualified archaeologists whose minimalist presuppositions draw outrageous negative conclusions about the Bible and their work is rarely subjected to critical evaluation.”

In comments to RNS, Collins noted that most of the 21 authors of the paper are scientist peers who worked “six years” to produce their findings. But he conceded that “even if the two critics’ claims are valid about the failure to meet the crystalized criteria for extraterrestrial matter, it doesn’t even touch the melted room, plaster, humans, etc.”

The archaeological site of Tall el-Hammam in western Jordan. Photo by Deg777/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

He reiterated his agreement with the findings of the authors of the original paper, going a step further to claim it’s sure evidence of the biblical account of Sodom’s fall. In one of his many video clips he claims he’s walking through the mudbrick gate of the city, “We are now entering Sodom!”

But besides the causes of the destruction, Tall el-Hammam’s link to the biblical events has another test that is perhaps more difficult to prove — its date. The Bible chronology watchdog Answers in Genesis , along with many others such as Bryant Wood, editor of Bible and Spade, are rather candid in putting the fall of Sodom some two centuries off. Collins has gained traction, at least in the media, and a few scientists and some Bible scholars are telling him to keep looking. Tall el-Hammam, the largest known city of its era in the region, is the best candidate that has surfaced.

But the intense criticism from the larger fraternity of scientists includes assertions that some of the original papers’ authors have been too quick in the past to identify bolides. Science Integrity Digest pointed out that eight of the 21 authors are founders of the Comet Research Group , which has attempted “to show that ancient cities were frequently destroyed by comets, and to do something about comets before ‘your city is next.’”

But Hoffmeier reminds us that scientific debate can proceed without ridicule. “Walter Rast and Tom Schaub in the 1970s-’80s had advanced the idea that Bab ed-Dra and Numeira were associated with Sodom and Gomorrah,” he said. “Their idea was evaluated by the discipline and rejected. I think Collins and his team should be afforded [such] a courtesy.”

A Serial Entrepreneur’s Unique Journey and Financial Risk to Help Christian Education: Is Amy Smiling?

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 01:18:27 GMT

An odd little book was amongst the cascading vendor enticements at last month’s educational gathering in Dallas, TX. From Walter Kim and Bryan Stephenson to Adelle Banks and Michelle Boorstein, the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities ’ International Forum produced a stellar lineup for its 1100 attendees—and they proved every bit as engaging as their billing. However, missing from the pre-conference hype was a clever book on chickens.

Like Animal Farm but with a positive twist , How Angie Saved Chicken U is a quick read of a rather alarming state of events in higher education, and particularly those with Christian missions. But a departure from Orwell is Angie’s attachment to actual operational steps out of the barnyard into reality.

This gem of a book has a curious cover with a giant hen in academic regalia. It’s monochromatic with rather large print, and its black-taped binding makes it akin to grade school composition notebooks. Indeed, it is a unique 93-page giveaway, but its title and plebeian appeal work. Here’s the kicker, this delightful book was written and typeset in just two days.

Darren Campbell, the serial entrepreneur who founded Slingshot and Campus EDU, both tied to this little book, was well aware that the educational barnyard was already thinning out at CCCU schools before COVID. It was hard to miss this decline with 65% of its 112 US affiliate schools experiencing decreasing enrollments heading into the pandemic. They lost 230 faculty and staff by 2020. U.S. colleges overall had a 4% workforce drop by 2020, with 3.9% among all four-year privates .

What Campbell was trying to rally others to address before the pandemic, what seemed plainly in sight for him, was obviously accented by the unseen virus. National Public Radio summarized last month the data released from The National Student Clearinghouse, “More than 1 million fewer students are enrolled in college now than before the pandemic began.”

Stan Rosenberg, the CCCU’s vice president for research and scholarship, noted for this article that the CCCU’s central office lost 60% of its central staff during COVID, losing 28 positions. Its stellar program in Oxford, which he founded, “has had 30% of the students it should have had since the beginning of Covid.”

But something else was nagging at Campbell—his responsibility to help address this enrollment slide, buttressed by his continued upward wealth trajectory. By the pandemic’s onset he and his wife, Nancy, had already given millions to Christian educational causes, all the while running businesses. Simultaneously, they founded and were pastoring the thriving “Exit 59 Church,” literally off that I-69 exit between Taylor and Indiana Wesleyan universities. Earlier, after college graduation, he was youth pastor and director of the JC BodyShop . I was privileged to found it with the help of friends in 1981. God worked through the Campbells to build the programs, a multi-million-dollar complex, and obtain FM radio rights, all during the early days of Slingshot (then called Tree of Life Bookstores, named after a sermon)

Nancy and Darren Campbell, founders of Slingshot, Campus EDU, Abbey Coffee, Exit 59 Church, and other interests.

People around him came to realize that his successes indeed were a manifestation of what Amy Sherman articulates in many of her articles and books. The Campbells are consistent examples of what she outlines in Kingdom Calling about Proverbs 11:10, “When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices.” Besides the Campbells’ targeted giving, their companies have hired dozens of people to give them employment (though no real position openings). Oftentimes these are burned out or transitioning pastors or former ministry staff—usually very gifted, but tired. They also built the huge, two-tiered Abbey Coffee shop not as a revenue stream but as a way to give back to their Marion, Indiana community. And attached to it, a tentmaking channel for ministry-minded baristas (one who won top national honours). Next door to the Abbey, still in the massive Slingshot and Campus EDU headquarters, is a hall often used for Christian concerns and community events.

While flying back from the CCCU event noted above, I ran into Caleb Crandall—who had just spent his annual time with Campbell and another accountability partner, Gary Ott. Like the “See-Suite” group I’m honored to be in (founded by another serial entrepreneur, Scott Pyle ), it’s in some ways a mini Ziklag gathering.

The conversation with Crandall in the terminal spilled over into the plane as we happened to be seated next to one another. Turns out, their annual time in Vail, Colorado focuses on how best to steward their businesses for the church, or “Kingdom causes.” Ott had recently given $20 million to a nursing building at a Christian university. Crandall (an engineer by training) liquidated one type of commercial property to buy 65 units of another type, all with an eye to their long-term value for Kingdom causes. Add to this the Campbells, and it’s quite a triad. And their communities all rejoice. While they all have properties in other places (for the Campbells, most recently in Franklin, TN), they still remain faithful to their Indiana roots—but first and foremost to the church.

I’ve been privileged to work with various billionaire and millionaire Christians, and indeed there is a freshness when such people are what Sherman reminds us, the “ tsaddiqim —the people who see everything they have as gifts from God to be stewarded for his purposes—pursue their vocation with an eye to the greater good. “

Against this backdrop, I found myself in deep reflection about Campus EDU, and the huge (but exciting) risk watching one of the modern tsaddiqim engage enrollment hits at Christian colleges. (Full disclosure: Over the past twenty years I’ve been rather involved in two efforts with similar goals of Campus EDU, key projects for aiding Christian education across institutions. However, $17 million later the prospects aren’t bright for the deliverables. Shifting platforms and the fear of financial collaboration can wobble one’s footing.)

Now we return to the chicken book for help putting all of this, the excitement and the risks, into a bigger context. Like Erasmus, it offers a solution with a smile.

Back in the conference in the expansive Gaylord Resort Hotel, Ken Schenck’s name as a co-author of How Angie Saved Chicken U stopped my normal exhibit hall gait. He’s a polyglot I’ve followed for decades, though I hadn’t seen any word of this release. That’s because, as I found, it was conceived and printed just days before the forum. Schenck was known during his teaching tenure at Indiana Wesleyan University to outline the Aorist Active Indicative for his Greek class, slip across the hall to teach on Latin prepositions and the Ablative, pause to lead a religion division faculty meeting, then give a Zoom lecture on George Whitefield. And these days, he spends his Friday nights and Saturday mornings writing his Deconstruction novel, as noted on his author blogposts.

Keith Drury, a prolific author of practical theology books, says of Schenck, “He’s the only author I know whose first drafts need no edits.” This hints that something at Campus EDU seems promising for such an accomplished religion professor to give his sunset years. Drury, also a former colleague with Schenck at IWU and influential in Campbell’s life, writes in The Call of a Lifetime, “service that is Christian in either content or motivation is Christian ministry.”

I also noticed in the cover picture of the chicken an inconspicuous “RM” etched beneath the tree—yet another well-accomplished professor who jumped ship (early retirement) to join Campus EDU. Ron Mazellan, illustrator of the New York Times Bestsellers by Tony Dungy and Cal Ripkin, Jr. and various other awards, including from the NAACP for You Can Be a Friend, serves as the Creative Director . Another major sunset change of a Rockstar faculty member.

With puns galore, Schenck’s book parodies higher education’s landscape, utilizing a farm backdrop and chickens worried about keeping open their coops (dorms)—if not farms (colleges)—amidst declining enrollments.

Last year, the bird flu forced them to send all the chickens home in the middle of the semester. And while a gift from the humans in Big City had kept their doors open, [President] Angie knew that they could not survive for long . . . she decided to take a quick stroll around the farm campus. Several classes were in session in the Gen Ed Barn. Dr. Sissa was teaching Bird Brains, a chicken psychology class. . . .

Beyond the classroom barns were the student coops. Angie reminisced . . . . But those days were gone. Now half of the student coops were empty. . . .

At the edge of the property was the Owl Line program [distance learning] . . . . It was part of the campus that many chicken faculty never visited, and some preferred to forget even existed.

Yeah, this narrative hits close to home for many of us. These fictional fowl help readers follow the journey familiar to many colleges, characters easily imagined with our peers’ faces. And particularly important here are the key steps in forming an easily accessible platform that allows all colleges to give and accept credits, along with the revenue (seeds) from such courses. But it has to be a two-sided, high-image platform or it will not attract students. Think YouTube, Google, Netflix and the like.

Throughout How Angie Saved Chicken U, decisions made by the real Owl U ( Campus EDU ) are revealed. These steps resolved competing interests and quality control. Campus EDU isn’t selling content, but the platform and template options that digital natives, including those in the hatcheries (high schools) find engaging. Perhaps the most angst amongst C-Suites at institutions, implied in the book, is when discussions of a Carvana approach surface. That is, with more regulated pricing—an approach that cuts out the discounts and simply lowers the price tag 10,000 seeds (dollars) or more to “real costs”. But in the end, this is actually relative overall, as the average Christian university (the target of this book) is already around half the sticker price of the top fifty tuition schools nationally, which start around $74,000.

In the Campus EDU scheme, any institution selling content sets the price. Pretty simple. Courses currently on the platform range from $200 to $600. Current market prices, especially for dual-credit high school courses, create a ceiling price at a fraction of seat-time credits on traditional campuses. But the Campus EDU platform, in initial studies, shows a much stronger matriculation rate of its students to their favorite “online” professor. I imagine high school students taking Ian Drummond’s Latin courses, with him often in a Roman helmet walking around Gordon College campus, will sure give Wenham, Massachusetts a serious look for their college years.

Nearly twenty years ago, David Wright (now president of Indiana Wesleyan University), a few colleagues, and I, tried to implement an early version of Campus EDU at IWU, “The Possibility Network.” Two key obstacles seemed insurmountable and eventually halted an effort aided by over $10m from the Lilly Endowment. Other colleges were reluctant to participate—hesitant to release credit or to trust others with tuition funds. Likewise, it was a platform issue, as the two-sided platform cleverly utilized by Campus EDU wasn’t an option. Two key pages in Angie address these obstacles (pp. 48-49). The following exchange is from Benny, a character likely manifesting the personality and decisions of the energetic Campbell.

Despite the conversation, it would take over a year to get the colleges in Owl Edu to open up their enrollments to the other colleges, . . . “That’s the way it is with the new ventures,” he [Benny] said. “You are constantly reinventing to find the right formula. That’s the way it was with our bookstore business [Slingshot]. When Chicazon [Amazon] came out, we thought we were done for, but then we found a way to integrate directly with your CIS (chicken information system), which is something Chicazon couldn’t do.”

At the least, the book prompts discussion—and I’ve suggested a glossary or list be added to help readers follow the actual history. From the iComb (iPhone) and Loom (Zoom) references to Noodle (Moodle), it’s clever. Moreover, it’s helpful in that it helps one reflect on the status of events and to maintain that there really is hope.

Campus EDU will have different benefits and limits to different audiences, but it seems to have a mélange of attractions for this pandemic reset. Larger Christian schools, both high schools and colleges, might take more advantage of specialty classes like Latin, and smaller ones the general education courses. All of these enjoy a refreshing Netflix skin, and propose to have “Rockstar” professors teaching them (pricing options include videos for course trailers—yes, just like students are accustomed to).

In September 2021, Schenck surprised many colleagues when he joined Campus EDU. His co-author is Campus EDU’s chief academic officer, Erin Crisp, a valued writer who also left her CCCU school. Schenck is the company’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, a key role in establishing the Campus Learn platform (Owl Island in the book).

I couldn’t help but notice the irony in the placement of booths in the CCCU’s exhibition hall, with Campus EDU directly across from IVP’s expansive display of books. Proudly facing the Campus EDU booth is our research team’s new IVP book— Public Intellectuals and the Common Good: Christian Thinking for Human Flourishing. In order to help a wide swath of students to have access to education, let alone to Christian thinkers, a Christian entrepreneur (Campbell) is trying to deliver courses for these very colleges in ways that both attract them and are affordable.

In the prime position on the IVP table, even closer to the Campus EDU booth than Public Intellectuals, is Restoring the Soul of the University. The latter’s subtitle is fitting with President Angie and her barns and coops in its shadow (I.e., Restoring Christian Higher Education in a Fragmented Age).

Campus EDU is a company trying to do this, but berthed more from the practical or utilitarian side than we find in Restoring the Soul . Both sides are important. With the generous investments of the successful book distributor, Slingshot, it has a shot.

In Campbell’s CCCU conference session, he highlighted insights from the MIT gurus behind Platform Revolution . Likewise, he began a flurry of thinktank meetings among his hundreds of employees, and he hired additional talent to implement their ideas, aided by dozens of Slingshot programmers. The chicken book unpacks this journey. Campbell noted in his “edutainment” session that his goal was to capitalize on lessons from e-commerce “to reduce friction” for the users and to get rid of two-dimensional online learning. He reminded the audience that “Silicon Valley takes time to curate content.”

He added, “The Great Commission delivered through Christian Education is our goal. The western countries will cover the largest proportion of the costs (just like pharma) and the rest of the world will benefit from a lower cost solution.”

In a follow-up interview for this article, Campbell wouldn’t share how much he’s invested into Campus EDU (likely millions), but he seemed committed to it for the long-term. To him, it’s a matter of stewarding funds among Christian donors and colleges. The revenue from Slingshot and its robust tech and development teams make this effort possible, along with partnerships. Ten Christian institutions are already listed as “innovating with Campus.” Campus EDU also has an exclusive in delivering content to the 23,000 Association for Christian Schools International schools for dual credits.

God prompted Campbell to go public with the two-sided platform idea—in public. I heard it first from Campbell, and then again from his Vice President for Marketing, Mark Shepherd. Shepherd is one of those young gifted pastors who joined Campbell (at first through Slingshot) after ten years as a full-time pastor in Michigan and Colorado. He notes that Campbell was slated as a keynote for a gathering of CCCU presidents. When it came his turn to talk about Slingshot and book distribution options (with 35 of the CCCU universities present already using his company), he paused. Scrapping his scheduled talk on bookstores, he began a conversation.

Wisdom gushing out of him’: A remembrance of Robert E. Cooley

accountingstaff@lifestream.tv (Devin Stewart) — Fri, 14 Jun 2024 07:33:58 GMT

Cooley, former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, died Thursday (April 1) at age 91.

Robert E. Cooley, center right, shows a Dothan vase to Museum of the Bible fellow board members and staff in 2010 in Oklahoma City. Cooley hadn’t seen the vase in over 50 years, but he immediately recognized it and gave the date he discovered it. Photo by Jerry Pattengale

(RNS) — If you met Robert E. Cooley, you remember his arresting handshake. If you sat in a meeting with him, you recall a brilliance that stopped committee chatter or — more improbably — made sudden sense of it. If you worked with him, you remember a measured decisiveness that could pull your organization back to its mission or lead a whole new movement.

Cooley, a Near Eastern archaeologist and former president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, died Thursday (April 1) at age 91.

Best known for his presidency of the seminary from 1981 to 1997, Cooley spent much of his earlier career at archaeological sites in Israel and Egypt. His most important discoveries were made at Tel Dothan, in the West Bank, where he brought to light the burial rituals of 288 of the ancient city that speak volumes about how they lived. He played a key role in the founding of the Near East Archaeological Society .

His later research of 106 Native American sites while director of the Center for Archaeological Research at Missouri State University became central for the U.S. government’s “cultural resource management studies.”

But it was in higher education that he had his greatest impact on American religious life, much of it after he retired from Gordon-Conwell. He helped Tim Laniak, then-dean of the Charlotte, North Carolina, campus, develop that campus and plant a satellite school in Jacksonville, Florida. “Those who knew Dr. Cooley,” Laniak said on Thursday, “assumed the whole world did.”

In 2008, Cooley helped to reorganize the governance of Oral Roberts University at a time when the school had fallen into debt and was on the brink of closing. Mart Green, a co-owner of the Hobby Lobby stores who brought Cooley in to help rescue the school, recalled, “I first met Bob when he was in his late 70s, and wisdom was gushing out of him.”

The son of an Assemblies of God minister, Cooley was instrumental in the 2011 consolidation of three of the denomination’s schools — Central Bible College (his alma mater), Evangel University and the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri.

Cooley, a past president of the Association of Theological Schools in the U.S. and Canada, also served as a senior editor for Christianity Today magazine and worked for the World Evangelical Alliance. He served as a founding board member for the Museum of the Bible.

Jerry Pattengale, left, and Robert E. Cooley at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 26, 2020. Photo courtesy of Jerry Pattengale.

His last lecture , in November 2019, was at the Charlotte campus, where he retired. Titled “Household Archaeology: My Career Is in Ruins,” it was the first he delivered seated, Cooley explained, noting that he was approaching “the 90-yard line of life.”

Cooley was a man of great personal strength and he aged gracefully — at 84 years, he could grab a 100-pound bag of golf clubs in one hand from his trunk, and carry it some distance.

In 2014, he gave a lecture in Springfield, Missouri, at a traveling exhibit of the Museum of the Bible, speaking for more than an hour to a standing room only crowd, no notes in hand, and gave a detailed and memorable talk on archaeology and the Bible. The Q&A was wide-ranging and even more riveting. Afterward, he withstood a long line of people waiting to chat. Seeing that image of him leaning slightly on the rostrum was a freeze-frame moment. He told me beforehand it was his last special lecture away from home as “my youth is leaving me.”

He lived fully, and purposefully. As he lost the ability to get around and eventually the ability to breathe, he never lost the strength to invest in others, and to live with the belief of heaven. He took pride in not being “the last of the conservatives,” but a mentor to future generations.

Green said the news of Cooley’s passing, and his life at large, brought to mind a verse from the Book of Job: “Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?”

(Jerry Pattengale is the inaugural University Professor at Indiana Wesleyan University and a founding scholar of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. He is the author most recently of “Inexplicable: How Christianity Spread to the Ends of the Earth” and is co-author of the accompanying TBN docuseries. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)

Jerry Pattengale, left, and Robert E. Cooley at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Feb. 26, 2020. Photo courtesy of Jerry Pattengale