“Foucault’s Pendulum” (1988) by Umberto Eco

Undoubtedly the best written piece of utter nonsense I’ve read in a long time.   Short version: three friends decide to create their own conspiracy theory loosely based around events pertaining to the Knights Templar (”The Plan”), and become increasingly obsessed by it.  Their “Plan” eventually catches up with them with tragic consequences.  

If you decide to waste your time reading this parody of the arcane be sure to have the Oxford English Dictionary (not the compact version) close at hand.  And please don’t ask to borrow my copy.  Due to an unwillingness to devote shelf-space to Rosicrucians, gnostics, Masons, Illuminati, Cabalists, etc, etc, etc, I tossed it into the garbage.

“Freakonomics”

My daugther Rita had me read “Freakonomics”, a sometimes fun, sometimes sobering collection of ecclectic facts drawn from off-beat questions (as in “why do drug dealers live with their mothers”?).  The dots it connects are, at times, not just unconventional, they are eye opening: this is the book that tied the  drop in the crime wave to the legalization of abortion.   I was particularly entertained by its critique of such “experts” (hucksters?) as real estate agents (what do they have in common with the Ku Klux Klan?), criminologists, political scientists and other pundits.  Although the book’s advice on parenting has come a bit late for my wife and I the authors would, no doubt, agree with me that that doesn’t matter–though for different reasons.

“The King of Torts” by John Grisham

OK novel, easy read; just the right thing for a long-haul flight.  Plot gets a bit repetitive, enabling you snooze mid-Atlantic.   Message: Fame comes at a price, money is a root of all kinds of evil and Jesus Christ can bring positive change to the worst human wreckage. 

Bloesch’s “Essentials of Evangelical Theology”

I’ve been reading Donald G. Bloesch’s Essentials of Evangelical Theology to help me fall asleep at night.  First published in 1979, it is a good introduction/overview of Chistian scholarship up to that time.

Bloesch’s strength and weakness is that he seeks to create a scholarly synthesis around his broadly (neo-?)Reformed presentation of the Christian faith.  That is not easy.  Sometimes he succeeds admirably, as in this synopsis of various views of atonement: “For Calvin it might be said that all is of grace, but grace is not for all.  Wesley and Luther on the other hand held that all is of grace and grace is for all, but not all are for grace.  Karl Barth, who unites Calvinist emphasis on the universality of the atonment, maintains that grace encompasses all but that every person is set against grace; at the same time every one is caught up in the movement of grace even where there is continued oposition to it”.  

Sometimes his attempt to include multiple strands makes no sense, as when trying NOT to have to embrace particular redemtion: ”Only those who believe have been effectively redeemed by Christ, and only those who are effectivley redeemed come to believe.  This is not necessarily a commitment to limited atonement, however, since the ultimate number of those who believe is hidden with God. It must also be affirmed that even those who do not believe are benefited by the cross and resurrection of Christ since the devil and his hosts were objectively overthrown and defeated irrepective of man’s response to the cross.”   The latter point, as he admits himself, is a “rationally insurmountable mystery”.  Also, those who believe in limited atonement don’t deny that the ultimate number of those saved is hidden with God.    Surely the uniquivocal embrace of particular redemtion would cut through this mish-mash. 

Even if nuanced in places, Bloesch is very partial to Barth.  For those who find the wordy German tough sledding, Bloesh might be a good stepping stone.  In any case, if you are looking for a good read to help you fall asleep, try Bloesch.

Pictures for use in language learning

I uploaded loads of pictures for language learning purposes on my website (www.pikkert.com).  Click on the “downloads” link, then on “Stuff Pertaining to Language Learning”.  Then click on whatever “simple sketches” you want.

If you wonder how to use these sketches click on the “LACE Manual”.  It contains loads of language learning ideas.

Albanian Proverb

He who eats alone dies alone.

Sad Statistics on Turkish Young Adults

On May 17, 2008, ANGIAD, The Ankara Young Businessmens Association, released some sad statistics on Turkish young adults.  Their survey polled 1694 young adults aged 18-30.  Here a few highlights.

• a mere 14.02 % considered their father good role models.
• 20.21 % have nationalist-conservatve sympathies
• only 18.11 % consider themselves secularist
• 74.15 % don’t follow political developments
• 43.62 % don’t want Turkey to join the European Union
• but a whopping 78.14 % want to leave Turkey
• 46.21 % have little hope for Turkey’s future
• 83.07 % don’t engage in any sports activities
• 53.17 % don’t read a newspaper; 35.87 % only read the sports pages
• 84.19 % have been subjected to violence
• 56.89 % have been subjected to violence by one or more family member.

(from Radikal, 18 May 20

 

“The Gospels for all Christians” (ed. Bauckman)

I’ve just finished reading “The Gospel for All Christians” (ed. Richard Bauckman).  First published in 1998, I wished I’d read it 10 years ago. 

This easily readable 217 page volume argues convincingly against the common notion that the gospels were written for specific Matthean, Markan, Lukan and Johannine communities.  Marshalling a whole host of reasons it makes the case that the gospels unlike, say, the Pauline letters, were deliberately written for all Christians, as opposed to specific churches.  

Fascinating chapters include those on communication between churches of the early period, ancient book production and the ancient concept of biography.  The chapter “John for Readers of Mark” argues very convincingly that such parenthetical explanations as John 3:24 and 11:2 are specifically intended for readers of John who were already familiar with Mark’s gospel.   

If a theology prof tries to tell you that each gospel is the specific product of the unique ”sits im leben” of a particular (semi) isolated early Christian community (a la Davies & Allison, T. Weeden, J.A. Fitzmyer, H. Kee, W.A. Meeks, J. L. Martyn, et. al.), then read this book…

The Islamization of Turkish Society

Daily life in Turkey is changing.  Most of us, myself included, are so frog-like that we don’t really notice the gradual environmental changes until someone points it out.  A recent article by the veteran Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Birand highlighted a number of things which rang true with me:

1.  Religious language (i.e., once outmoded Arabism and Qur’anic expressions) are re-emerging in daily speech patterns of AKP politicians in particular and ordinary citizens in general. 

2. Body language is changing. In the past people shook hands or kissed.  Now the more stand-offish placing of a hand on the heart is in vogue.  Touching women is an iffy business, so a nod will suffice for them.

3. Eating and drinking patters are changing.  Alcohol, as Birand puts it, “is gradually leaving the tables. It is being kept in nooks and corners as proof of tolerance. It is served if it is particularly asked for, but that is all. You also have to be brave or audacious to actually ask for it. It is becoming more usual to drink liquid yogurt, orange juice or other fruit juice with meals.” 

4.  More women are donning the dour, black chador or the head scarf and long coats.  Cover-all bathing suits manufacturers are probably the only boom industry in the country at the moment. 

5. The separation of men and women seems to have become more prevalent.

6.  More people go to the mosque on Fridays for midday prayers

7. There is an increase in the number of newspapers and TV channels that promote religious values.

8. There is an increase in the number of religious foundations.

The full article from which the above was distilled can be found at http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=98857

“Chronicle in Stone” by Ismail Kadare

 The best way to begin understanding another culture is to read its novels; a good novelist can humanize that which seems incomprehensible, even demonic, to the outsider. 

While in Albania recently I picked up the novel “Chronicle in Stone” by the country’s Communist-era writer Ismail Kadare.    It is a beautifully written tale about social transition in a former pariah state as seen through the eyes of a young boy.   Two thumbs up!