Some good stuff -

"Seven hundred thousand out of a total Lebanese population of 3.5 million, 20 percent of the population, mostly Shiites, are now being cared for and given refuge by mostly Christian schools, churches, and other humanitarian organizations. This is the story of the Good Samaritan at a mega scale! And to think that this is the outcome of a strategy that meant to rouse anti-Hezbollah feelings among the Lebanese population and government. Talk about a failed strategy! Of course, this has happened so many times before that any thoughtful tactician would have learned the lesson by now, but military muscle is always too hedonistic and narcissistic to listen to the voice of reason and history."

- Dr. Martin Accad, academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary of Lebanon.

*ahem* Emphasis mine.

Some good stuff -

"Seven hundred thousand out of a total Lebanese population of 3.5 million, 20 percent of the population, mostly Shiites, are now being cared for and given refuge by mostly Christian schools, churches, and other humanitarian organizations. This is the story of the Good Samaritan at a mega scale! And to think that this is the outcome of a strategy that meant to rouse anti-Hezbollah feelings among the Lebanese population and government. Talk about a failed strategy! Of course, this has happened so many times before that any thoughtful tactician would have learned the lesson by now, but military muscle is always too hedonistic and narcissistic to listen to the voice of reason and history."

- Dr. Martin Accad, academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary of Lebanon.

*ahem* Emphasis mine.

Some good stuff -

"Seven hundred thousand out of a total Lebanese population of 3.5 million, 20 percent of the population, mostly Shiites, are now being cared for and given refuge by mostly Christian schools, churches, and other humanitarian organizations. This is the story of the Good Samaritan at a mega scale! And to think that this is the outcome of a strategy that meant to rouse anti-Hezbollah feelings among the Lebanese population and government. Talk about a failed strategy! Of course, this has happened so many times before that any thoughtful tactician would have learned the lesson by now, but military muscle is always too hedonistic and narcissistic to listen to the voice of reason and history."

- Dr. Martin Accad, academic dean of the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary of Lebanon.

*ahem* Emphasis mine.

PSA

I haven't heard this one, but then again - I doubt I travel in circles that would.

Y'all might have friends who do, though.

To quote my friend nagerj (He's friends-only, but a lovely person nonetheless):

Some of you may have read about an ancient Irish Psalter that's been discovered in a bog recently. What I didn't know until this morning (compliments of orthodixie) was that some folks are taking the find as a sign from God.

Lemme 'splain.

No, there is too much. Lemme sum up.

The Psalter, written in Latin as pretty much any 9th-11th century Irish Psalter would have been, has been reported as found open to Psalm 83. Some industrious apocalyptic zealots apparently pulled their Bibles off the shelf, turned to Psalm 83, and read such colorful lines as "For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance." These lines are followed by references to various peoples conspiring against Israel, including "Ishmaelites" and "Philistines," among others. (You can probably see where I'm going with this.) A-ha! This is an omen from God, that those nasty Arabs (Ishmaelites/Muslims) and Palestinians (Philistines) are attacking the chosen people! The end of this Psalm is filled with prayers for God's vengeance against the attackers.

There's a small problem, though. Psalm 83 in modern Protestant and Jewish Bibles does indeed have all these references to the enemies of ancient Israel. But Psalm 83 in a 9th-11th century Latin Psalter is not the same psalm but would rather correspond to Psalm 84 in Protestant and Jewish Bibles, in which one would be hard pressed to find prophecies about the current crisis in the Middle East. You see, when Martin Luther did his translation of the Bible into German, he also chose to revise the Biblical canon. Besides removing some books (and later adding a few back in that he'd removed, such as Hebrews), he also chose to follow the Hebrew numbering for the Psalms rather than the Christian one found in Greek and Latin Psalters (the one found in the Septuagint).

This is why interpreting the Bible and knowledge about religious history matter. No doubt these folks who see a prophecy in the Irish mud are even now using this find as ammunition in their politics. The National Museum of Ireland has issued a reply with a clarification. One hopes that it gets read.

It's nice to know people more intelligent and better read than myself. He's delightful. (You think we agree on a lot of things? Nah. But then again, is that the point of having friends? They all have to be Just Like Yourself?)

PSA

I haven't heard this one, but then again - I doubt I travel in circles that would.

Y'all might have friends who do, though.

To quote my friend nagerj (He's friends-only, but a lovely person nonetheless):

Some of you may have read about an ancient Irish Psalter that's been discovered in a bog recently. What I didn't know until this morning (compliments of orthodixie) was that some folks are taking the find as a sign from God.

Lemme 'splain.

No, there is too much. Lemme sum up.

The Psalter, written in Latin as pretty much any 9th-11th century Irish Psalter would have been, has been reported as found open to Psalm 83. Some industrious apocalyptic zealots apparently pulled their Bibles off the shelf, turned to Psalm 83, and read such colorful lines as "For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance." These lines are followed by references to various peoples conspiring against Israel, including "Ishmaelites" and "Philistines," among others. (You can probably see where I'm going with this.) A-ha! This is an omen from God, that those nasty Arabs (Ishmaelites/Muslims) and Palestinians (Philistines) are attacking the chosen people! The end of this Psalm is filled with prayers for God's vengeance against the attackers.

There's a small problem, though. Psalm 83 in modern Protestant and Jewish Bibles does indeed have all these references to the enemies of ancient Israel. But Psalm 83 in a 9th-11th century Latin Psalter is not the same psalm but would rather correspond to Psalm 84 in Protestant and Jewish Bibles, in which one would be hard pressed to find prophecies about the current crisis in the Middle East. You see, when Martin Luther did his translation of the Bible into German, he also chose to revise the Biblical canon. Besides removing some books (and later adding a few back in that he'd removed, such as Hebrews), he also chose to follow the Hebrew numbering for the Psalms rather than the Christian one found in Greek and Latin Psalters (the one found in the Septuagint).

This is why interpreting the Bible and knowledge about religious history matter. No doubt these folks who see a prophecy in the Irish mud are even now using this find as ammunition in their politics. The National Museum of Ireland has issued a reply with a clarification. One hopes that it gets read.

It's nice to know people more intelligent and better read than myself. He's delightful. (You think we agree on a lot of things? Nah. But then again, is that the point of having friends? They all have to be Just Like Yourself?)

PSA

I haven't heard this one, but then again - I doubt I travel in circles that would.

Y'all might have friends who do, though.

To quote my friend nagerj (He's friends-only, but a lovely person nonetheless):

Some of you may have read about an ancient Irish Psalter that's been discovered in a bog recently. What I didn't know until this morning (compliments of orthodixie) was that some folks are taking the find as a sign from God.

Lemme 'splain.

No, there is too much. Lemme sum up.

The Psalter, written in Latin as pretty much any 9th-11th century Irish Psalter would have been, has been reported as found open to Psalm 83. Some industrious apocalyptic zealots apparently pulled their Bibles off the shelf, turned to Psalm 83, and read such colorful lines as "For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance." These lines are followed by references to various peoples conspiring against Israel, including "Ishmaelites" and "Philistines," among others. (You can probably see where I'm going with this.) A-ha! This is an omen from God, that those nasty Arabs (Ishmaelites/Muslims) and Palestinians (Philistines) are attacking the chosen people! The end of this Psalm is filled with prayers for God's vengeance against the attackers.

There's a small problem, though. Psalm 83 in modern Protestant and Jewish Bibles does indeed have all these references to the enemies of ancient Israel. But Psalm 83 in a 9th-11th century Latin Psalter is not the same psalm but would rather correspond to Psalm 84 in Protestant and Jewish Bibles, in which one would be hard pressed to find prophecies about the current crisis in the Middle East. You see, when Martin Luther did his translation of the Bible into German, he also chose to revise the Biblical canon. Besides removing some books (and later adding a few back in that he'd removed, such as Hebrews), he also chose to follow the Hebrew numbering for the Psalms rather than the Christian one found in Greek and Latin Psalters (the one found in the Septuagint).

This is why interpreting the Bible and knowledge about religious history matter. No doubt these folks who see a prophecy in the Irish mud are even now using this find as ammunition in their politics. The National Museum of Ireland has issued a reply with a clarification. One hopes that it gets read.

It's nice to know people more intelligent and better read than myself. He's delightful. (You think we agree on a lot of things? Nah. But then again, is that the point of having friends? They all have to be Just Like Yourself?)