Whatever our political positions, most of us are distraught about the situation in Afghanistan. It will almost certainly get worse. As a result of the crisis, relief agencies there are under enormous pressure, more than in a very long time.
One of the charities supported by the blog is Doctors Without Borders, one of the truly great organizations in our world. They are staying in Afghanistan for now (and hopefully for a long time) and their hands are incredibly full. Naturally, they are desperate for additional resources (just look them up in relation to the situation there, and you can get some reports).
We will be doing a blog fund-raiser for Afghanistan relief, this Sunday. I will be giving a lecture and we will be taking voluntary donations of any amount, in hopes of raising substantial funds. Every donation will go in toto directly to Doctors without Borders.
The lecture is blog-related rather than crisis-related, since that is what I know about and is also why most of you are here. It’s an intriguing topic, I think, and I hope you’ll be interested. Here are the details, including directions for how you can participate.
TOPIC: The Strange World of Religion at the Time of the Apostles
DESCRIPTION: The earliest followers of Jesus were bound and determined to convert others to their new faith in Christ as the son of God who died for the sins of the world. Most of their potential converts came from gentile stock, “pagans” who participated in traditional Roman polytheistic religions. These religions seem very strange indeed to those of us who are imbued with Christian, Jewish, or Muslim understandings of “religion.” The premises, assumptions, practices, and beliefs of pagan religions are not at all what we might expect. And yet very few people today know even the basics about them. In this lecture I will give an overview of what it meant to practice religion in the Roman world, at just the time that the early Christians began trying to convert it.
THE EVENT: I will give the lecture on Zoom to anyone who wants to come. The lecture will last 40-45 minutes, and I will then engage in Q&A for 25-30 minutes. Participants, of course, can come and go as they please.
DATE AND TIME: Sunday, August 29; 2:00 – 3:15 pm.
TO PARTICIPATE: Everyone is welcome. And everyone is urged to provide a voluntary donation. It will be entirely tax deductable. Please be as generous as you can. If you can’t afford a thing, come anyway. But if you can donate $2, $20, $200, $2000 — PLEASE do so. You will need a Zoom link to access the event.
To get the link: send an email to Diane Pittman at [email protected] In the email indicate the amount you are willing to donate. Diane will then send you the link. (It may take a day or two.)
To make the donation: Simply go to the blog site as you normally do, and at the bottom of the landing page choose whichever of the two options for making a donation you prefer; click on it and go for it. However much you donate, you will receive a star in your crown.
An Additional Incentive: I am happy to have a 30-minute one-on-one with the highest donor (either at the end of the event or at a mutually agreed upon time) to talk about anything they fancy. If you want to bid for this, please put “30 Minutes” in the Subject line of your email.
I do hope you can participate in the event. It is an interesting topic and an unusually worthy cause.
Hello!
I received an invitation to listen to your lecture on donations to Doctors Without Borders.
There is a quote:
“To get the link: send an email to Diane Pittman at [email protected].”
Looks like the email address is not good.
Please Diane Pittman send me the address to my email:
[email protected]
Greetings from Croatia!
I think that’s the right address. Maybve you put a period at the end? It should simply be [email protected] See if that works. If not, contact Support by clicking “Help”
Question: In their description of the seating arrangements at the Last Supper, all four of the canonical gospels (I think) use a Greek expression indicating that Jesus and his disciples “reclined at the table” – in contrast to the more familiar Renaissance-era depictions which invariably show everyone seated upright. Regrettably this detail seems to be obscured in most modern English translations of the relevant passages. Before coming across this aspect of New Testament translation, I was familiar with the ancient Greco-Roman custom of reclining at table, but was surprised to encounter it in a Jewish context. My initial thought was that this betrayed a Hellenistic perspective on the part of the gospel authors, and that it therefore probably lacked historicity. Since then, I have come across some claims that the custom was not uncommon among Jews of the period, but none of these claims has ever been backed up by citations of any kind, leading me to wonder if the New Testament isn’t the source of evidence resorted to by such claimants. Do we have good research into this topic? How likely is it that first century Jews of Jesus’ class and background would have reclined at the supper table?
I don’t think the idea of dining tables with chairs came along till much later. I don’t know the history of it, but my sense is that meals were normally eaten on the floor. Maybe someone on the blog can give us a bit more precise information.
“The attacks killed 22 people, including 12 MSF staff members and 10 patients. Three of those killed were children. The United States government admitted that it was a U.S. military airstrike that hit the hospital, despite the fact that MSF had provided the GPS coordinates of the facility to Coalition and Afghan military officials as recently as five days before the attacks took place. The bombardments also continued for 30 minutes after MSF first informed U.S. and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington that it was our hospital being hit.”
I saw this on the DWB website and it is painful to read. I don’t know how to feel about this. Sad, Angry, Embarrassed, Disappointed… Maybe I’m naive… but this makes no sense. And I’m “just a Canadian”. Count me in, I will be signing up to help. Ruby from Alberta Canada.
The time is Eastern time, I assume?
Thanks!¨
Now is right adress and I send an email to Diane.
Same question as Dankok, ie at what time will I need to open a computer in Croatia ???
YOu can just check the time difference with NYC; that’s “Eastern time”
Awesome. I will try to be there. Not sure would I can be the highest donor. I just might feel not smart enough to attend though. But you say it’s open to everyone, so I will try to be there. For a good cause and great conversation.
You’re plenty smart enough. It ain’t rocket science!
Ok. Thanks Dr. Ehrman. This time I will probably just sit in, unless called on. Thanks for allowing me to join!
I am sponsoring 2 Afghan refugee families, if we can get them out. With the help of 2 fiercely dedicated Immigration Attorneys, I think we can probably rescue 1 family, but likely not the other. The father of the family we can probably rescue was a Colonel in Afghan military that ousted the Taliban in 2002-04 so he is targeted. Also, the son of this family worked for a US sponsored mission so this helps towards emergency evacuation.
The less likely rescue is a man who teaches civil law at the Salam University in Kabul. He is a strong proponent of full rights for women and girls. He was already visited this week by a team of Taliban, carrying long guns and homemade bombs. They took his money and threatened to kill him unless he agrees to comply with Sharia law.
Has anyone on this blog sponsored refugees who did not transition through Refugee Camps, but rather came directly to the US? If so please let me know your experience and learned suggestions.
Thanks
Wow. Thanks for sharing. I hope someone can provide you with some information.