Extracurricular Activities 11.8.15 — The 153 Fish, Strong vs. Weak Christians, & Making Papyrus

Fred Sanders Engages Wainwright on the Trinity in the New Testament

In 1962, Arthur W. Wainwright published The Trinity in the New Testament, a helpful one-volume treatment of a vast subject. Wipf & Stock keeps it in print, and no wonder: Wainwright handled the material so well that only a few pages in it seems dated –though it’s more than fifty years old, and there has been much change in some of the sub-fields it reports on. If it doesn’t quite cover everything a reader could hope for, it nevertheless lives up to the promise of its clear title. These 270 pages deliver.

Here are some scattered notes from a reading of the first fourteen pages, where Wainwright sets up his approach. (I hope to post more notes from later sections in subsequent blog posts.)

Chris Keith on The 153 Fish in John 21:11

I've recently been doing some research on John 21 for my next book, as well as for my SBL presentation in November.  One of the enduring curiosities of that chapter (one among many enduring curiosities of that chapter) is that the author states that the disciples' big haul of fish consisted of exactly 153 fish in John 21:11.  There are numerous places in the Bible that are simultaneously interesting and unclear, a combination that inevitably leads to some really intriguing interpretations...

What Michael Bird Learned About "Strong" & "Weak" Christians in Romans 14

I’ve just finished my Romans commentary for the SGBC series. Had lots of fun, learned a bunch, and it made me think a heap about application in places like Romans 14. FYI, should be out Jan 2016, so don’t wait up for it!

So it is Halloween right and I’m sitting here drinking some wine, and it’s got me thinking about the “strong” and the “weak” in relation to disputable matters as discussed in Romans 14.

Important thing to know is that “weak” does not mean inferior or deficient, it means to have an overly sensitive conscience about something that other people are not bothered by.

Ben Witherington on the Making of Papyrus

The only ancient description we have of the making of papyrus is that of Pliny the Elder in his Natural History Book XIII. He wrote in the latter half of the first century A.D., and while some scholars have questioned whether he had actually seen the process due to some of his remarks, even if he got it second hand, this is valuable first century information.

Pliny, Natural History, 13.74-82

Paper is made from the papyrus plant by separating it with a needle point into very thin strips as broad as possible. The choice quality comes from the center, and thence in the order of slicing. The (choice) quality in former times called ‘hieratic’ because it was devoted only to religious books has, out of flattery, taken on the name of Augustus, and the next quality that of Livia, after his wife, so that the ‘hieratic’ has dropped to third rank...

Scot McKnight on Politicizing the Church

Let’s agree with a general observation: evangelicals churches tend toward Republican politics while the mainline churches tend toward Democrat politics. I see three problems with this widespread reality in the American church, and I’m sure you can add to this brief discussion of other problems:

What impacts of politicizing the church do you encounter?

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