Currently In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity By Oskar Skarsaune see related

"When Old Wolf had offered the captive wine and made him drink it, thereupon the slayer of the sacrificial victim went forward to sacrifice him.  He had his shield and his war club edged with obsidian blades and covered with feathers.  And when he had drunk, then he struck at the captive, who likewise struck back.  And if the captive were of stout heart, if he were verily a chieftain, really manly, perhaps three or four men fought him.  Then, when he fell, they indeed slew him as a sacrifice.  And if he were not manly, not a chieftain, then he cast himself there on the round sacrificial stone, and did not fight.  Forthwith was he stretched out upon his back, and then they gashed open his breast, seized his heart, and raised it in dedication there toward where the sun came forth."

--"Old Wolf", from the Florentine Codex
(In the Language of Kings, p. 260)

Gratia vobis et pax a Deo Patre et Domino nostro Iesu Christo.

Thank God for painkillers.  I had my wisdom teeth extracted yesterday, and so without my handy bottle of hydrocodone, I'd be even more miserable than I am right now, which is somewhat more miserable than I am normally--and that sets the bar of 'miserable' pretty blasted high.  Thankfully, though, my girlfriend is at my house keeping me company, and since I'm unemployed--trying to find a job, but the prospects are pretty blasted lousy--I basically get to spend my days in relaxation and personal projects.

Reading:

Well, the time interval since my last post isn't as lengthy as the one preceding it, so naturally I have less to report here.  Here are the books I've completed since then:

• An Apology for Apologetics: A Study in the Logic of Interreligious Dialogue by Paul J. Griffiths
• Isaiah's Prophecy: Light for All Mankind (Vol. 2) by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
• Encountering New Religious Movements: A Holistic Evangelical Approach, ed. by Irving Hexham, Stephen Rost, and John W. Morehead II
• Jacob Albright: The Evangelical Pioneer by Robert Sherer Wilson

And the ones I'm currently working on:

• In the Language of Kings: An Anthology of Mesoamerican Literature, Pre-Columbian to the Present, ed. by Miguel Leon-Portilla and Earl Shorris - Very long, but has many interesting aspects.  Granted, much of it I find a tad dull, and some things I can barely comprehend.  Perhaps I need a better introduction to the Maya and the Aztecs.  However, I especially like the texts that describe human sacrifice.
• In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity by Oskar Skarsaune -- This book is highly recommended.  Skarsaune clearly has a strong grasp on a wide range of subject matter, and he does so masterfully.  The book is intended for the general reader, according to the author, but is insightful enough to provide a worthwhile treatment for any reader.  And, unlike most other books of this type, Skarsaune deals with the early church fathers as well.
• The Qur'an: Text, Translation, and Commentary, trans. by Yusuf Abdullah Ali -- I'm trying to read a surah each day.  (Haven't done today's yet.)  If I can do that, then I think I should be finished by the end of the summer.  Especially once I get into the higher-numbered surahs, which are so ridiculously short that I can do five or ten a day without a problem.
• The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey -- I picked up a copy for very cheap once, and I think I'm doing to spend some time reading my futurist non-fiction.  It's been a while, after all.  Anyway, this one is sort of a classic failure, and I find much amusement therein. 

So, according to my records, I've finished 47 books so far this year, whereas in 2008 I'd reached 35 and in 2007 I was at 23 or fewer.

Plans for the Future:

Alex asked in the comments on my previous post what I plan to do in the future, particularly after graduation.  I first of all might as well begin with pre-graduation.  I'm going to be spending the coming fall semester in Athens, Greece.  It's going to be... simply amazing.  I'll be taking courses at the Athens Centre.  Modern Greek, Monuments of Greece, Genesis of Modern Theatre... sounds good to me.

I'm also currently working on an application for a Fulbright.  I'm rather skeptical about whether or not I'll actually be successful--I'll be very astonished if I actually get accepted--but it's a good thing to work on anyway.  If I get accepted--and statistically, I have about a 1 in 3 chance, I think--then I'll be taking a year after I graduate to pursue research in the Philippines.  I'd like to do some study of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a non-trinitarian sect there.  I've so far found very little academic treatment of them--or non-academic treatment, for that matter--especially in the USA.  Virtually none, to be quite honest.  And that needs some fixing.

Regardless, it's time for me to start looking into further education, and so it's soon time to start applying to programs.  I'm planning on splitting the applications between doctoral programs in philosophy on the one hand, and seminaries and divinity schools on the other.  If I get accepted to anything in the first category, odds are that that's the path I'll be taking.  So far I've got my eye on three in particular:

• University of Notre Dame
  • I know a guy who's doing his doctoral work in this program, and so I decided to look into it.  What I found was the perfect place for me.  Very strong in both metaphysics and philosophy of religion (my favorites!), and very strong in the analytic philosophical tradition.  And the faculty includes Alvin Plantinga, Peter van Inwagen, Thomas Flint, Alfred Freddoso, Richard Cross, and Michael Rea.  I'd practically sacrifice a limb to study under just one of them.  (Oh, and since Jerome Neyrey teaches at Notre Dame as well, perhaps I could at least see him on occasion, if not study under him.)
• Rutgers University
  • This was one of the two philosophy programs recommended to me by my advisor when I asked about universities with more in the analytical tradition.  The faculty includes Ernest Sosa and Dean Zimmerman, and plenty of the other faculty members have heavy involvement in my fields of interest.
• New York University
  • The other one recommended by my advisor.  Kit Fine teaches there, as do Theodore Sider and a few others.  NYU is strong on metaphysics, less so on philosophy of religion, so it wouldn't fit me quite as well as either of the first two, but still would be good.

As for seminaries and divinity schools:

• Yale Divinity School -- When I met Miroslav Volf a while back, he encouraged me to consider applying here, so I plan on following his advice.  In addition to Dr. Volf, the faculty includes Harold Attridge, Christopher Beeley, John J. Collins, Adela Yarbro Collins, and Lamin Sanneh.  Sounds like a winning combination.
• Asbury Theological Seminary -- As far as seminaries go, this is my top choice.  Solid fusion of academics and ministry preparation, with a Wesleyan background.  The faculty includes Ben Witherington III, who alone is enough to make this the seminary of choice, as well as Bill Arnold, Allan Coppedge, and Terry Muck.
• Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary -- A close second to Asbury.  Faculty at the South Hamilton campus includes Walter Kaiser, Gary Pratico, Haddon Robinson, and David Wells.
• Evangelical Theological Seminary -- My denomination's seminary.  It's not exactly world-renowned and the faculty aren't especially famous or anything (excepting perhaps David Dorsey, to some extent), and so it's more of a Plan Z at this point.  I mean, it's a great institution, but I'm a hopeless academic.  On the other hand, one of my best friends from college will be going there next year, so I'm sure he and I could find ways to stir up trouble together.  (Then again, that might be reason to avoid ETS...)

Places on the Internet:

Since I don't have all that much to say, I figured I'd do a little section on the places I visit on the Internet on a regular basis.

• Blogs:
  • J. P. Holding's 'Anti-Blogging' Blog -- I follow this for the frequent ministry updates, and also because I enjoy hearing about books relevant to my interests.
  • Deeper Waters -- My friend Nick's blog.  I generally just skim it, to be honest.  If there's something that especially catches my interest, I'll generally give it a closer read.
  • ClobberBlog -- Run by Bridget Jack Meyers, an intelligent evangelical woman married to a Latter-day Saint husband.  She's funny, thoughtful, and makes great posts on a regular basis.  Also, the commenters are awesome.  (Except for me.  I transcend mere 'awesome'.)
  • Stuff Christians Like -- I don't check this that often, and I haven't yet gotten through the archive, but it is amazing.  Check it out.
• Webcomics:
  • Get Fuzzy -- Classic newspaper strip, and you can read it online.
  • Pearls Before Swine -- Another newspaper comic strip that I love.
  • Ctrl+Alt+Del -- This strip is full of win.
  • Dr. McNinja -- My college roommate from this past year, as well as the aforementioned Jack Meyers, managed to get my hooked on this.
  • Back on Earth -- I spotted a link to it over at TWeb a few weeks ago, and I really enjoy it.  It's about a seminary graduate with a sense of humor sort of like mine.
  • I also frequently check up on VG Cats and Snafu, but I'm stunned at how infrequently they update.
• Other:
  • Excite -- One of my main e-mail providers.  More primarily, I use my college's e-mail; I also have a Gmail account that I don't check as much.
  • Facebook -- Well, I mean, obviously.  I try not to spend too much time on there, but I fail pretty regularly.
  • Tekton Apologetics Ministries -- I primarily just check up every day to see if there are any new updates.
  • TheologyWeb -- Naturally, I spend plenty of time here.  Best theology forum around, hands down.  And I don't just say that because I'm on staff.  (And let me say that being a moderator there is even more fun than being simply a regular member, because the 'secret' staff areas frequently have plenty of hilarity.)  You can be there for intelligent debate, or for stupid debate, or for fun, or just to hang around.  There's something for everyone, so if you're not a member, you should really consider joining.
  • YouTube -- This is pretty standard.  I used to use YouTube a lot more, to listen to music.  But my new computer streams radio from enough places that I don't use YouTube as much.
  • Amazon -- I like to keep an eye out for books, so I browse their recommendations a lot.  My wishlist is nearly up to 800...
  • LibraryThing -- This is where I catalog my book collection, and it's also where I keep careful track of all the books I read.  I think that this site is wonderful.  While Shelfari has unlimited free capacity and LibraryThing doesn't, I think LibraryThing has a vastly superior layout, which is why I prefer it.
  • Ancestry.com -- This is where I do my genealogy work.  These days, since there isn't much more I can do at present for my own personal family tree, I'm just playing around more with the European royal family tree.
  • Entertaining sites such as FailBlog, Roflrazzi, I Can Has Cheezburger?, Pundit Kitchen, GraphJam, Garfield Minus Garfield, Picture Is Unrelated, and This Is Photobomb.

Miscellany:

It's hard to believe that it's been a full year since my travels in China.  I still haven't gotten all the photos from my trip uploaded...  I did manage to upload a short video I took at the Great Wall; I wanted to upload my longer one, but Xanga couldn't handle its awesomeness.

EDIT:  It took many, many hours, but I finally managed to upload the longer video to YouTube:

I finally got a haircut last Wednesday.  For those who don't have the good fortune to see me on a regular basis, I'd had a bushy beard and shoulder-length hair.  Several people joked often that I looked like the Geico caveman.  Now I have fairly short hair and a much more closely cropped beard.  Much more of a 'clean' look, and evidently I know quite a few women who like the new style.

I'm planning to meet with 'Uriah' the Jehovah's Witness again tomorrow.  I haven't seen him in ages!  I'm really looking forward to it.  Also, I'm not sure whether I remembered to mention it before, but I attended their annual Lord's Evening Meal Memorial Service.  Very interesting.  I don't think it's nearly as profound and meaningful when no one is actually partaking of the bread and wine.  (I remember Uriah once telling me that he's never seen anyone actually do so.)  I also met Uriah's wife, and it turns out that she grew up with my mother.  Small world.  So the two of them caught up while Uriah and I made jokes about the water where they grew up.

Academically, things went as expected.  I aced the semester, which brings my GPA to a 3.954.  Not bad, I suppose.  Unless I do absolutely horribly from here on out, I'm confident that I'll graduate summa cum laude next year.

Anyway, maybe sometime in the next few weeks I'll get back to making some substantive posts.  (...Yeah, right.)  Maybe find something to critique or review, or some topic to discuss.  Who knows, could be fun.

Gratia vobis.