I’ve been back on my friend Dom’s podcast, #OneFear, with a couple of new episodes last week and this week:
S3E28 – Exploring 1 Samuel 4-6
Dom and his wife, Danielle, host #OneFear. They do a variety of sorts of episodes, all focused around understanding and applying scripture.
I’ve been in San Antonio this week for academic conferences. This is my first time attending/presenting at ETS since 2015, and first time in person at SBL since 2018.
My approach to these conferences has shifted over the years. Early on as a grad student and young PhD, I felt the need to go to as many sessions as possible and pick up as much information as I could. Now, my focus is more on networking: trying to meet people whose work is important for mine, and connecting with them after the conference for future collaboration. I do go to some sessions, but often just to meet specific people afterward.
My approach to presenting papers has shifted, too. Young scholars often present too long and focus too much on method and background, to show that they’ve done their homework. This misses an opportunity, however, to test out key aspects of your hypothesis in a room full of smart people.
Continue reading"…No living human Other ever perfectly reflects you back; a relationship is not just about natural compatibility but growing into compatibility. By contrast, AI girlfriend/boyfriend/hentaifriend/otherkinfriend will reflect your desires back better and more completely than any individual human could. Thus the logic of sexual technologisation reverses into AI girlfriend."
Mary Harrington, "The Contraceptive Tetrad"
https://reactionaryfeminist.substack.com/p/the-contraceptive-tetrad?publication_id=292917&post_id=138961369&isFreemail=true&r=rv7ug
Back in July, I shared here that our family had entered an unanticipated time of transition. I had encountered such a disagreement with the elders at our little church in Grove City that I felt compelled to resign.
A lot has happened in the four months since that last update—many good things, even as we wait to discern what God has for us after this school year…
Continue readingThe follow publication was just published online, open-access:
Giffone, Benjamin D. “Toward a Better ‘Hezekiah’: The Literary Structuring of Isaiah 1–39.” Old Testament Essays 36.2 (2023): 471–489. DOI: 10.17159/2312-3621/2023/v36n2a10.
It doesn’t look like the DOI is working immediately, but you can view the essay here.
This paper has been a long-time in coming. It originated in discussions with Gary Schnittjer, and the students in my course on Isaiah at Cairn University (January 2011). I blogged about it here, many years ago.
I set it aside for a long time, then presented another version to the OT Prophets section at the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (Aberdeen, 2019).
Finally, I worked out some of these ideas further in a Fall 2021 course on Isaiah at LCC International University. I really appreciated the conversations with those students–conversations that continue to resonate in other publications, papers in review, and work that I’m doing now. Teaching and research together–a great combination!
I recently appeared on my friend Dom’s podcast, #OneFear, talking about Ezekiel 20. Check out our episode:
https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/3HOt2ior1qn5IWzBiFDIHW?utm_source=generator
Dom and his wife, Danielle, host #OneFear. They do a variety of sorts of episodes, all focused around understanding and applying scripture. You should subscribe!
Faithful readers of this blog might recognize some of my earlier work on Ezekiel 20, including my 2022 article in Biblische Zeitschrift and a sermon series at Klaipėdos LKB from 2021.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how the Bible portrays the experience of other ‘gods’ besides YHWH. It’s been a subject of fascination for me, especially since I encountered the work of Michael Heiser, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Right now, I am mulling over the phrase “gods which you/your fathers have known” in Deuteronomy—I’m working on a paper for ETS in November and a book chapter due around the same time.
Why does it matter how we think about the portrayal of ‘other gods’ in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament? Well, for starters, it’s important for us to interpret the Bible correctly, on its own terms, so we understand how the Triune God, YHWH, speaks about himself and the other beings that he has created. This includes spiritual beings as well as human beings, and we as humans relate to those spiritual beings differently than we relate to other animals on earth. So it’s relevant for our lives.
Continue readingPersonal updates and substantive writings have been slim on this blog, I acknowledge. Part of this has been the outlet of weekly preaching, plus other writing projects I’ve been working on (more on those in the weeks to come!). I’m also continuing to teach remotely at a seminary in South Asia (name withheld for security reasons). I have five students in my MTh course, Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Starting in November, I will teach Exegesis of Isaiah 40-55 for them.
Well, if weekly preaching has resulted in much less blogging output…then you might see an increase of output here. Sadly, July 30–today–was my last Sunday as pastor of Center Church in Grove City.
Continue readingI just completed a sermon series at Center Church (EPC) on the book of Ephesians. Here are all the sermons on the church’s YouTube pages (video links are queued to the start of the sermon):
Here is a devotional I gave at the Maundy Thursday communion service at Center Church EPC along with Harmony EPC (Harrisville), last week.
Continue reading
think hard, think well 