The post on writing well was a fun literary get-away, but my “official” July kickstarter is on everyone’s not-so-favorite but inescapable subject: death. I’m reading Philodemus’ On Death (Book 4) and so the subject has been on my…
Greece trip
Gold’s Gym or God’s Gym?: Abstinence, Discipline, and Endurance for Godliness
Bronze boxer (ca. 2nd cent. BC) recovered from the ANTIKYTHERA shipwreckPhoto taken by Max Lee © 2014 Athens Museum Continuing from the post on ancient athleticism and training regimes, I wanted to make a few remarks…
Ministry Can Be More Brutal than Boxing
Continuing from my last post on Lucillius’ epigrams satirizing the viciousness of ancient boxing, I turn to 1 Cor 9:24-27 where Paul makes an explicit comparison of the athlete (runner, boxer) with the challenges of…
Koiné Greek Music Videos
Theater Mask (ca. 2nd century BC; Athens Museum) Photo taken by Max Lee © 2014 It is probably the most miserable time of the semester for me. I just finished giving my last set of final…
The Presence of Christ at the Lord’s Supper and Pagan Sacramentalism
Sorry for the delay between posts, but I have been scrambling now with the indices to the Seyoon Kim Festschrift and my taxes (the first a joy; the 2nd a real pain). But back to…
Idol Food Is No Idle Business at Corinth
Whew! Just turned in the proof’s for the Seyoon Kim Festschrift yesterday. That was brutal. I went through several pots of coffee and about a half-bottle of Advil to get this done… and all this…
The Mystery of the Missing Fragment from the Butcher Shop Inscription at Corinth
[Warning: Going turbo nerd here!] Besides the Gallio inscription at Delphi and the Erastus inscription near the theater at Corinth, another inscription that drew my attention during the Greece trip was the dedication of the…
More Pastoral Reflections on the Life of a Slave and Paul’s Letter to Philemon
One of the more difficult texts in the New Testament has been what Paul says (or rather, does not say) concerning slaves in the Greco-Roman era. Past interpreters of the Bible, for example, are puzzled…
Pastoral Reflections on the Days in the Life of a Slave
There are two types of insights born from a trip like the travel course to Greece. One insight comes in the immediate moment when a person experiences an archaeological site for the first time (e.g.,…
The Final Day in the Life of a Slave
When you drive up to Delphi, you cannot help but pause and just marvel at the beauty of Greece. The site of ancient Delphi is located in a mountainous range, part of the southwest spur…