Andy Rowell

Church Leadership Conversations

  • Official versions of Hebrew, Greek Bibles and Septuagint now available online for free

    From the German Bible Society's http://www.academic-bible.com/ at their page Online Bibles

    Our online Bibles are the official Internet editions of individual academic biblical texts. They are always the most up to date versions. This is only possible because the German Bible Society oversees these editions itself as publisher.

    The following editions are currently available:

    • Hebrew Old Testament following the text of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
    • Greek New Testament following the text of the Novum Testamentum Graece (ed. Nestle-Aland), 27. Edition
    • Greek Old Testament following the text of the Septuagint (ed. Rahlfs/Hanhart)
    • Latin Bible following the text of the Vulgate (ed. Weber/Gryson)

    This is big news as there have only been the less official versions available online until now or you could buy them with Bible software. 

    See other resources at:

    http://www.biblegateway.com/

    and

    Duke professor Mark Goodacre's http://www.ntgateway.com/

    The letter from the German Bible Society just came in the mail yesterday announcing this. 

  • Citing Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics

    I am figuring out a few things about citation usage while writing my dissertation including the correct title of Barth's major work and how to abbreviate it.  

    First, the title of Karl Barth's four volume magnum opus is not The Church Dogmatics but rather Church Dogmatics.  The work can be referred to as "the Church Dogmatics."  

    Second, the way to abbreviate the Church Dogmatics varies. 

    Examples:  

    • Barth, Church Dogmatics, vol. IV, part 2, p. 676. (Eucharist and Ecumenism's style) 
    • CD IV/2, p. 676. (Johnson's and For the Sake of the World's style) 
    • CD IV/2, 676. (Flett's style and Critically Realistic Dialectical's style)
    • CD IV/2:676. (Orthodox and Modern's style)
    • CD IV/2 676. (Busch's style)
    • IV/2, 676. (How to Read Karl Barth's style)

    References:

    John Flett, Karl Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology by Bruce McCormack, How to Read Karl Barth by George Hunsinger, Eucharist and Ecumenism by George Hunsinger,  Keith Johnson, For the Sake of the World edited by George Hunsinger, Eberhard Busch and Orthodox and Modern by Bruce McCormack,

    Basic sequence: Church Dogmatics or abbreviated CD [italics or not], then the volume number, then the slash sign / and then the part volume number, and and then [comma or not] [p. or not] [colon or not] page number.

    At this point, I think I will not be using any of the above but rather my own concoction for subsequent footnote references:

    • Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV/2, 676. (Turabian-inspired).

    First footnote reference: (I think the following is sufficient–I'm still playing with EndNote and Turabian style to note translators, editors, etc.)

    For the new "Study Edition":

    Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 4 vols. (New York: T&T Clark, 2009).

     

    For the old version:

    Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 4 vols. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956-1975).

     

    Bibliography:

    For the new "Study Edition:"

    Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. 4 vols. New York: T&T Clark, 2009.

     

    For the old version:

    Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. 4 vols. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956-1975.

     

    See more of my advice about reading Barth at my Karl Barth category–with some practical hints at Advice about exploring Karl Barth's ecclesiology in Church Dogmatics IV/2 67.4 "The Order of the Community”

  • Nonfiction Audiobooks from the Library

    I have listed some audiobooks from the library I have recently listened to, and then some more I have just requested.

    In addition to CD's, audiobooks may be available in a downloadable format for 7-14 days through your library through downloadable eBook services like: Recorded Books One-Click Audio, Ingram Digital's MyiLibrary Audio Book Platform, or Audiobooks from Overdrive.


    Audiobooks I have recently listened to:

    Fascinating and fresh.  Makes you think differently about food–meticulously researched and wonderfully written.  5 out of 5 stars. 

     

     

    Brief and engaging story about George Washington's army losing and winning battles at the beginning of the war for independence.  5 out of 5 stars.

     

     

    Relatively engaging story of the friendship between Churchill and Roosevelt during World War II and the events they directed.  4 out of 5 stars.

     

     

    Engaging argument about talent and most of the research stands up to critical review. Cf. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201104/is-there-really-genius-in-all-us  4 out of 5 stars. See my reflections at: A few theological reflections on the pursuit of greatness, excellence, success, and parenting

     

     

    Relatively engaging overview of how Britain outsmarted the Germans before and during the air battle over Britain in World War II.   4 out of 5 stars. 

     

     

     

    The fictional characters distract from and muddle the research–I was almost put off enough to quit it–but very interesting factoids and lots of people are talking about this book–e.g. Andy Crouch and James K. A. Smith–so I am sticking with it.  4 out of 5 stars.

     

     

    Thought-provoking and fairly brief about a motorcycle mechanic who has a Ph.D. in philosophy and how he thinks about manual work.  4 out of 5 stars. 

     

     

    Good portraits of Stalin and Hitler and how they faced off.  4 out of 5 stars. 

     

     

    Interesting reflections on poetry, short stories, Shakespeare and more from a Yale professor of English but not something that is easy to finish.  4 out of 5 stars.

     

     

    A decent introduction to Shakespeare but moves too slowly for an audiobook.  3 out of 5 stars.

     

     

     

    I couldn't make it through the long descriptions but the story about zookeepers in Warsaw, Poland who resist the Nazis is worth telling.  3 out of 5 stars. 

     

     

    Audiobooks Requested from the Library:

    59 seconds [sound recording] [think a little, change a lot] / Richard Wiseman.

     

     
    Aristotle's children [sound recording] : [how Christians, Muslims, and Jews rediscovered wisdom and illuminated the Dark Ages] / by Richard E. Rubenstein.
    by Rubenstein, Richard E.

     
           
      
    Collapse [sound recording] : [how societies choose to fail or succeed] / Jared Diamond.
    by Diamond, Jared M.

     
      
    Gandhi & Churchill [sound recording] / by Arthur Herman.
    by Herman, Arthur, 1956-

     
          
    Green metropolis [sound recording] : [what the city can teach the country about true sustainability] / David Owen.
    by Owen, David, 1955-

     

     
    Guns, germs, and steel [sound recording] : [the fates of human societies] / Jared Diamond.
    by Diamond, Jared M.

           
                          
    One L [sound recording] [the turbulent true story of a first year at Harvard Law School] / by Scott Turow ; [with a new introduction by and interview with the author.]
    by Turow, Scott.

           
                             
    Paris 1919 [sound recording] : [six months that changed the world] / by Margaret MacMillan.
    by Macmillan, Margaret Olwen.

           
     
    A short history of nearly everything [sound recording] / Bill Bryson.
    by Bryson, Bill.