Loading...On Friday, October, 2019, at 7:00 pm, I will be hosting a Blog Dinner for blog members (members only, I’m afraid) in Chicago. Well, kind-a. I’ll be in Oak Brook to give a paper the next day, so it would need to be near there. The table is limited to eight. I’m one of them. That means that seven spots are available. First come first served: please do NOT response here on the blog, but send me a private email, at [email protected].
The occasion is a bit unusual for me. There is a conservative evangelical conference focused on “apologetics” (called The “Defenders Conference”) dealing with differences among the Gospels. The other three speakers are themselves evangelical, two of them are scholars I know and have had interactions with before (Mike Licona and Craig Keener), the other I don’t know (Rob Bowman), but he’s apparently on expert on what he calls Christian “cults” (for example, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses). In any event, I’ll be discussing why I think there are differences in the Gospels that cannot be reconciled; the others will be showing why I’m wrong. 🙂 There won’t be *much* interaction between us, but there will be a short panel discussion at the end of the day.
If you’re interested in the conference: https://www.thedefendersconference.com/
Important to note: you do NOT need to be attending the conference, or even wanting to (!), to attend the dinner. The dinner is designed simply to allow us to have a chance to get to know each other and talk about matters of mutual interest.
The only requirements for attendance to the dinner would be that (a) you be a blog member; (b) you pay your own way – both getting to the event and your meal itself. Otherwise, there is no expense and no requirement. You don’t even have to feel obliged to say much!
If you want to come and know for sure you can, zap me a note. Do so right away: if past experience is any guide, the table will fill rather quickly. I will notify the lucky winners via email. And if/when the table is filled, I will put another announcement the blog.
I very much enjoy reading Rob Bowman’s work. He wrote this neat analysis of the King James style language in the various writings of Joseph Smith. I bet you would find it quite interesting:
https://robertbowman.net/2018/07/31/yea-verily-yea-the-word-yea-and-the-book-of-mormons-imitation-of-the-king-james-version/
Three against one does not seem fair.
On the subject of “Fraud,” would the authors of Matthew and Luke copying parts of Mark, without crediting the author of Mark, been considered unethical in ancient times? Was such copying common in ancient times? Would it have been considered to have been “fraud”?
They would be considered plagiarizers ONLY if they wrote in their own names and claim that a writing they had copied (written by someone else also explicitly named) was something they themselves had composed. If an anoynous author copies the work of another anonymous author they weren’t (ever to my knowledge) called out for it or charged with doing something wrong. (Ancients called plagiarism: “Theft”)