Have you published a book, an article, an essay, or a poem (or something else) — either privately, or on the internet in some form, or with a journal/publishing company — that you would like more people to know about?  Something you would like to share with other members of the blog?   I have decided to allow blog members to make their work known to others who might be interested.

I will not be publishing the works here, or reprinting them.  I will be allowing blog members to write brief descriptions of what they have produced, with a link that allows other blog members to have access either to the work itself or to a site that describes it and/or allows them to access (or purchase) it.   For now this offer applies only to *written* materials (not artwork or other visual forms).

This is how it will work.   First, requirements.

  • You must be a member of the blog
  • The writing needs to be related in SOME broad way with the interests of the blog. I say “broad” way because the way is indeed broad (even if the path is not easy), and there are many that go that way.  For example, your writing could involve such  topics as:
    1. The Bible in any sense (but see below, note 2 iii !!)
    2. Religion in any sense
      1. The obvious ones are Christianity and Judaism, but also other religions from, say Islam to Buddhism, so long as the *issues* you are addressing are relevant to the kinds of issues we deal with on the blog.
      2. Religious practices and beliefs in the modern world; or ancient; or medieval; etc.
      3. PLEASE NOTE. A very important  I will not be posting anything that is trying to convert others to your religious views; or demonstrating the superiority of your religion to others (Mormonism is THE ONLY TRUTH!  Islam is SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHER RELIGIONS!  If you are not a Christian YOU WILL GO TO HELL!  Nothing like that please).
    3. Ethics/Morality
    4. The Ancient World as connected with the Bible (so anything, for example, on Greece, Rome, Israel, etc., but probably not Japan. Unless you have some idea that, well, links Japan to the interests of the blog).
    5. Anything else of relevance. NOTE: I will NOT be posting anything that is inflammatory or irrelevant, for example, an essay devoted to pleading for the removal of Donald Trump or Nancy Pelosi from office; or to research focused on the reproductive systems of earthworms; or to the hunting practices of pre-colonial Australian Aborigines.   These are all important topics, but not so much for the blog, unless your writing somehow shows its relevance.  But even then, I’m not going to be posting divisive and partisan political rants, even though I myself am regularly tempted to make some.
  • The writing has to be something that has already appeared in the public sphere in some form and is accessible on the internet – i.e., either available to be read there or accessed in some other way there (e.g., for purchase).
  • It has to be by produced by you yourself, not your cousin or neighbor’s best friend.
  • It can be any form of written communication, but I prefer it be something substantial – that can be described in two or three sentences.

Still interested?   Here is what you need to do.  (Please follow these instructions closely; those who deviate will be thrown into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.)

  1. Send me a private email at [email protected]
  2. The Subject Line of your email should say: “Blog Writing Submission.”
  3. The Body of the email should include the following information, numbered:|
    1. The kind of writing it is (book, article, poem, song, whatever); the title; and the name, if any, under which it has been published (some people, of course, publish pseudonymously. I’ve always wanted to….)
    2. A link that either takes a person to the writing itself or to a site where it can be purchased or otherwise accessed.
    3. A description of two to four sentences of what the piece is (I give an example below); the description may not exceed 125 words.
    4. Any other information you would like me to have.
  4. IMPORTANT POINT. Your email should contain only ONE of your written works.   You *can* however later send another submission two weeks later, and then another two weeks after that.  Note: I will accept only one from you every two weeks, max.

Here is how I will proceed once I get some submissions.  I will make a series of separate blog posts, to be posted over time (till eternity if necessary), each of which will include a number of the submissions I have received.  Depending on what I receive, the posts could assume different shapes – e.g., I could post a bunch of submissions that are all books for purchase, or essays that have been privately distributed to family members, or whatever; or a bunch of submissions that are all about, say modern atheism, or the use of the Bible in America, etc.

In the post I will give the information you provide.  That means that if you really want to achieve your goal of having people read your work, you need to make your description attractive and accurate.

If you send a highly inaccurate or misleading description – for example, if you describe your post as being about the understanding of the Bible’s views of homosexuality, but in fact it is a plea that Biden chooses Stacey Abrams as his running mate – then I will not accept any further submissions from you.  Or, well, post that one!  So keep the descriptions accurate, to the point, and enticing.

I imagine I will be encountering problems with this system, and so I reserve the right to scratch it or to make up more rules from time to time.  Possibly starting tomorrow

OK, here is an example of the kind of submission I have in mind, based on my first trade book:

  1. Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millenium, by Bart D. Ehrman
  2. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Apocalyptic-Prophet-New-Millennium/dp/0195124731/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1592144351&sr=1-3
  3. This book focuses on what we can know about the historical Jesus – what he said, did, and experienced; how he died; and what happened next. The book also explains how we can know about him: what sources of information are available, within and outside the New Testament; why our most valuable sources, the Gospels, are also historically problematic, and what methods scholars have devised to study them.  My thesis is that Jesus is best understood as an “apocalyptic prophet” who, like so many other Jews of his time, believed God was soon to intervene in history to overthrow the forces of evil and bring in his kingdom here on earth, with Jesus himself as its messianic king – all to happen within his own generation.  (125 words)
  4. Nada