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mechanics-of-life · 5 months

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Language learning January update:

Current priorities -

1) Mandarin (basic fluency, HSK 5)

2) ASL (work through Lingvano app)

3) Toki Pona (learn all 137 words)

4) Hebrew / Arabic (relearn/learn alphabet)

5) Gaelic (start learning again, if I have time)

6) French (work through Duolingo I guess)

Mandarin -

Previous info: Been slowly learning for the last few years (uhh I think it's been like 5 years or so). I know probably around 3000 characters, but I still feel like I don't even have basic fluency somehow.

Goal: Basic fluency by the end of the year, confidence with all HSK 4 and HSK 5 words and grammar structures. Even though my current reading level is closer to the 拼音 books I have, I want to slowly work through the novel I have.

Progress: Trying to read a few pages of a 拼音 book every day, and so far with the novel I'm about 5 sentences in, with 20 new words added to my vocabulary list.

ASL (sign language) -

Previous info: started learning around October last year, working through the Lingvano app. Had a pretty good streak going for awhile but broke the streak and lost motivation sometime in December. Trying to get back into it. I probably know around 300 signs.

Goal: Work through the Lingvano app by the end of the year.

Toki Pona -

Previous info: I know 10 words...

Goals: Learn all the 137 words by the end of the year.

Greek, Gaelic, Latin, French -

Previous info: Greek - tried learning a few years ago, maybe learned about 30 words. Gaelic - started learning 2 years ago, maybe had about 50 words or so. Latin - didn't get far at all, maybe a few words. French - learned it in school up till grade 12, but I've forgotten so much; don't really have the motivation to get back into it, but I really should.

Goals: I guess these are all on hold for now, unless I get my life more organized. Greek probably won't become a priority again for awhile, Latin certainly won't be a priority for a long while unfortunately, but I hope I can get into Gaelic again later in the year if I find some time. French is definitely something I should get back into, ASAP, but the motivation is just not there for it.

Hebrew -

Previous info: I'm a scholar and a weirdo so I wanna work through the original version of the bible and all its biblical hebrew. Learning the language seems "easier" than struggling with just looking the whole thing up word by word. I didn’t get very far, I guess I sort of know the alphabet and probably around 5 words.

Goal: uhhh idk, do better.

Arabic (Egyptian dialect) -

Previous info: just started learning, still trying to work on recognizing the alphabet.

Goal: I want to be able to learn the alphabet and pronunciation by the end of the year. Duolingo can't really help so it's gonna be an uphill battle for this.

Misc -

I guess my other priorities down the line would be Sanskrit and Italian. Sanskrit cause why not, and Italian cause I want to read through the original Dante's Inferno

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darkdoverpseeker · 7 months

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Hi! I apologize but this is lengthy!

You can call me Peri. I’m 33 years old (female - she/her). I’ve got 23 years under my belt in writing both stories and roleplaying (started in 2000). I’m a multi-para to novella writer who prefers 3rd person. I only write as female characters and I don’t double. I only use real face claims and I’d prefer if you did the same. I am fine with F/F and M/F storylines.

Some very common themes in my writing are angst, trigger warnings, dark themes and a treasure trove of drama. I really enjoy gritty roleplays that dig into the core of characters. That being said, I also enjoy the fluff, the romance, the funny and the sweet moments. I often will throw characters through the ringer but I often love them dearly. I just believe a good story has peaks and valleys to contrast one another. I am smut friendly but it should never be the central idea. I need to plot and have a story that just so happens to include those passionate moments between characters…. Not a smut filled story that I need to plot around.

Looking for a few long term partners to write a few different ideas on Discord. Must be at least 21+ as SFW & NSFW themes are involved in most of my writing. As I stated, I’m fine with F/F ships but as of right now, I’m really only looking for someone to play a male/masculine character to my female/feminine character. I ask that there be literacy and decent grammar. I’m not perfect and make mistakes but please at least use the correct punctuations. Also, Idc what your real-life gender is. Just be respectful please. And don’t make me carry the entire thing alone! I need something to work with.

The good thing is I have quite a few ideas in my arsenal that we could explore!

Some genres I adore are:

Fantasy

Supernatural

Biblical (Hebrew & Christian - angels and demons)

Romance

Drama

Action

Adventure

Historical (Ancient Greece/Ancient Rome are my bread and butter)

Modern/Urban

Mythology (Greek/Roman mythology is what I know most)

Celebrities

I prefer to create my own characters, world build and so on however, there are some fandoms I’d be up to playing (and the characters I’d play beside them). I’ll also include potential characters to play against:

Game of Thrones (Daenerys Targaryen) || (against Khal Drogo or Robb Stark or OC)

Troy (Briseis) || (against Achilles)

The Last Kingdom (Aethelflaed) || (against Uhtred)

These fandoms can be canon or AU or divergent. Just talk to me and I might be up for it. My partner can choose an OC or Canon character. They can also alter characters as they see fit, I don’t mind. I love taking these stories that are established and making it our own!

Now, I’m not going to list every idea I have here so I’ll just tell you, I have soooooooo many ideas and things that I’m inspired to write at the moment and I’d love to discuss them. Some of them are very well fleshed out and others are stories we can flesh out together and may only have basic ideas to them.

Please, I ask that you be patient and understanding with me as I have ADHD, I’m on the spectrum, I have a full time job, I’m married and I have a young child so my ability to be active varies but I can post most days at least once, sometimes more frequently if I have the time and/or the inspiration.

I'd like to add one last thing. I often shower my writing partners with gifts like manips/edits, gifs, pinterest boards, aesthetics and playlists/songs for our roleplays and characters. I love to muse and talk OOC and create fun headcanons about our characters. I like to do things to help keep the inspiration alive as my ADHD makes it easy for me to lose interest.

If you have any questions or are interested in anything here, please like this post and I’ll reach out as soon as I can! ☺️

like if interested!

#oc x oc #oc x cc #1x1 rp #fandomless rp #game of thrones roleplay #game of thrones rp #the last kingdom rp #the last kingdom roleplay #21+#discord rp #spicy #rp #roleplay

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roleplay-today · 8 months

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Hi! I apologize but this is lengthy!

The good thing is I have quite a few ideas in my arsenal that we could explore!

Some genres I adore are:

Fantasy

Supernatural

Biblical (Hebrew & Christian - angels and demons)

Romance

Drama

Action

Adventure

Historical (Ancient Greece/Ancient Rome are my bread and butter)

Modern/Urban

Mythology (Greek/Roman mythology is what I know most)

Celebrities

Game of Thrones (Daenerys Targaryen) || (against Khal Drogo or Robb Stark or OC)

Troy (Briseis) || (against Achilles)

The Last Kingdom (Aethelflaed) || (against Uhtred)

If you have any questions or are interested in anything here, please like this post and I’ll reach out as soon as I can! ☺️

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thedamagedss · 8 months

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Hi! I apologize but this is lengthy!

The good thing is I have quite a few ideas in my arsenal that we could explore!

Some genres I adore are:

Fantasy

Supernatural

Biblical (Hebrew & Christian - angels and demons)

Romance

Drama

Action

Adventure

Historical (Ancient Greece/Ancient Rome are my bread and butter)

Modern/Urban

Mythology (Greek/Roman mythology is what I know most)

Celebrities

Game of Thrones (Daenerys Targaryen) || (against Khal Drogo or Robb Stark or OC)

Troy (Briseis) || (against Achilles)

The Last Kingdom (Aethelflaed) || (against Uhtred)

If you have any questions or are interested in anything here, please like this post or feel free to message me and I’ll reach out as soon as I can! ☺️

#1x1 #roleplay wanted #rp partner search #wanted roleplay #discord rp #original characters #canon character #fandom #fandomless #roleplay search #discord #fxm #mature

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psalmonesermons · 10 months

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How do we read/study the Bible?- practical suggestions continued-part 3(b)

In study 3 (a) we saw some possible approaches to choosing a good translation. We now turn to our next steps (2-7 below).

2. Always pray before you read your Bible and make sure that you are in fellowship with the Lord. This might involve you observing 1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Ask the Lord to deal with your worldliness. The Garbage In Garbage Out (GIGO) principle applies in our lives.

James 1:21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. Only put good things into your soul such as the engrafted word. Give up your junk food (the filthiness and naughtiness) and eat God’s best!

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking,2 As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Ask the Lord to give you a revelation of what the scripture means.

3. Read the bible first before you try to do an in-depth study and it is OK to enjoy reading the bible! Go at your own speed but it is ok to pray for answers to specific questions you may have. With short books like Philippians read them through in one session to get the overall feel of the letter.

4. Good bible studies usually have good structures so it can be good to develop an overview of the book structure in the bible. Try doing this with, for instance with a book such as Genesis (see BBS083 for details in ‘additional resources’ section). This can also be done in other ways for instance, the four sections of King David’s life or according to historical time approach with 28 sections (see BBS083 for more information). If you can do a whole series of basic bible studies such as BBS series this will put some structure into your basic understanding of the Bible.

5. Sometimes developing an interest in a specific topic e.g. the life of Elijah can promote significant learning across the Bible. Or doing a topical study such love, faith, fasting etc. can increase your knowledge and understanding.

List of Reference aids for serious Bible study (many of these are available online)

a) a good concordance such as Young’s Analytical Concordance (I personally use Strong’s exhaustive concordance).

b) W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary Bible Words.

c) a study Bible such as Ryrie or Schofield (NB be aware of authors prejudices e.g. they are anti-baptism in the Holy Spirit).

Other study aids include companion bibles, topical bibles, chain reference bible (e.g. Thompson’s), an annotated Bible (by Dake), Unger’s bible studies, a Pictorial Encyclopaedia of the Bible,

6. Read good Christian books as well (this brought me on my understanding, particularly in my early years. It is advisable to read different authors and of course different topics.

7. Share the things that you have received from the Lord, you need to bring water out of the well so that fresh water can fill it! We can share with individuals as well as in groups.

Advanced Bible Studies (see also BBS 083) perhaps not for everyone

Learn the basics of the Biblical languages. You need to know English grammar before trying the Biblical languages to understand verb tenses etc. An interlinear translation i.e. English written out with Hebrew or Greek written below in line. Another useful tool for advanced study is a lexicon (word book of Greek explained in English e.g. Arndt and Gingrich or Thayer’s).

Other advanced study aids are suggested including the recommended commentaries please see BBS 083 for details.

Conclusion

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

So keep teaching the Word of God, keep teaching the truth, whether it is convenient or not, keep bringing correction or rebuke and patiently exhorting your hearers with your good teaching.

Amen

Personal Prayer

#christianity #bible study #bibletruth #blog post #blessings #psalmonesermons #faith #victory #about the bible

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adonis84r · 2 years

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Read PDF Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook PDF BY William D. Mounce

Download Or Read PDF Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook - William D. Mounce Free Full Pages Online With Audiobook.

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This expanded and updated workbook is designed with the student in mind and intended for use with the standard-setting Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar textbook, now in its fourth edition.Two optional chapters have been added to the Basics of Biblical Greek Workbook, allowing students to read large chunks of the biblical text and enjoy the fruits of their labor faster than ever before. Each chapter is divided into six sections and includes extensive exercises and significant biblical passages for translation.One of the most helpful and unique features of the workbook remains. You can go through the workbook on one of two tracks: Track One follows the workbook (and textbook) in its regular order, while Track Two is organized so you can learn verbs earlier in the course.

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ukbooksdownload · 2 years

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Clear. Understandable. Carefully organized. Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar by William D. Mounce is the standard textbook for colleges and seminaries. Since its initial publication in 1993 its integrated approach has helped more than 250,000 students learn New Testament Greek.The fourth edition of Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar has been updated throughout based on continuing feedback from professors, students, self-learners, and homeschoolers, making it even more effective for today's students. As well, improvements have been made based on recent developments in scholarship.The key to the effectiveness of Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar in helping students learn is in how it introduces them to the language. Students learn about the features of the Greek language in a logical order, with each lesson building upon the one before it. Unnecessary obstacles that discourage students and hinder progress are removed, such as rote memorization of endless verbal paradigms. Instead students

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ironwoman359 · 3 years

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This is probably not the best place to ask, but you’re also a Christian woman too. I was wondering what you thought about what the Bible says about women and how we must submit to husbands and some other stuff that has me (a potential ace) Christain woman kind of terrified. I would go to my church but social anxiety and my church is pretty conservative. I don’t want to think that we’re just second rate citizens with this. Um…that’s all. You don’t have to answer. Love your Tumblr. It’s one of the main ones I look at. Thanks for countless enjoyment!

— — —

(I’m responding on the submission and not the ask because the ask refused to post properly, I think it was too long for Tumblr’s fancy)

So I know you just asked for my thoughts and not a biblical interpretation lesson, but I didn’t spend 3 months writing an exegesis in college for me to never use those skills again, so buckle up for something of a long answer! (literally, this is almost 3 thousand words, so....sorry about that) *rubs hands together* The thing we need to take into consideration when reading the bible is Interpretation; any truly honest biblical scholar would tell you it is a mistake to take every word in the bible at its literal face value, ESPECIALLY since most of us are reading translations of scripture, not the original ancient hebrew/greek/aramaic/whatever else. So when interpreting scripture, we must consider these things:

Author (Who wrote it?)

Audience (Who was it written for?)

Context (What is written around it?)

So the verses you’re referencing are Ephesians 5:22-23, and in the NIV, they read as follows:

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Isolated from author, audience, and context, they sound pretty sexist, don’t they? And male authority figures have used these verses as justification for the oppression of women for centuries, just as white men used the passage only a few verses away, Ephesians 6:5, as justification for the oppression and ownership of black people (Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ). So let’s look at each of the points above in regards to Ephesians 5 and 6. First, who wrote it? Sometimes that can be a tricky question to answer, but in this case, it’s actually very easy (though there is still a bit of fuzziness/debate). Traditionally, Ephesians is one of the Apostle Paul’s letters to the early church. Specifically, to the body of believers in Ephesus, a Greek city that was a part of the Roman Empire at the time. According to two different study bibles I have, the letter of Ephesians was not addressing any particular problem that the church in Ephesus had (as was often the case with Paul’s letters), but was meant as an encouragement of faith and to increase his readers’ understanding of what it meant to be a follower of Christ. So now what about the Context? Why are the verses at the end of chapter 5 and beginning of chapter 6 so damning to our modern sensibilities? To answer that, we must look at the passages both in context to the verses around them, and in historical and cultural context (which is where 1 & 2 come into play again). Going back to the beginning of chapter 4, which is subtitled “Unity in the Body of Christ” (and remember, these subtitles and groupings were come up with LONG after they were written; we grouped sections together in a way we thought was most logical, which honestly for a book as short as Ephesians I would argue is barely even necessary), we can see that the letter from chapter 4 onward is about living a Holy and Godly life. Chapter 4 urges us to be “completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love” and warns us against living “as the Gentiles* do, in the futility of their thinking.” *Gentiles in this case meaning not neccesarily all non-Jews, but non-believers. AKA, we should live like Jesus lived, WWJD and all that jazz. If the Holy Spirit is in our hearts and our relationship with God is at the forefront of our lives, then that should show clearly in our actions. The very first verse of chapter 5 reads “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Chapters 5 and 6 especially are meant to act as a sort of guide for how a follower of Christ should act. There’s some stuff about obscenity, greed, sexual impurity, 5:15 sums it up pretty well basically, “Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise,” and then we reach the all important verse. Ephesians 5:21, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” That’s a full sentence, just that there. Submit to one another. The following three sections are all subsections of this point: one for Wives submitting to Husbands, one for Children submitting to Parents, and one for Slaves submitting to Masters. But when looking at all of these, bad shepherds (ie, racist, sexist assholes) like to ignore that first bit, submit to one another, just as they like to ignore 5:28, which says “husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself;” or they ignore 6:4 which says “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord;” and they ignore 6:9, “Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.” I do highly encourage you to read chapters 4, 5, and 6 in full, or at least start at 4:17, which is where Paul starts talking about “Living as Children of Light,” because it makes the intent of these apparently damning verses much more clear. Paul is stating that as Christians, we should treat everyone around us with honor and respect. According to one of my study bibles, the grammar of the original Greek suggests that the “submission” involved in all three sections is intended to be mutual submission, and is to come from a filling of the Holy Spirit. However, to be quite frank, Paul still Lived In A Society. A highly structured, patriarchal society, in which all members of a household (women, children, slaves) were expected to submit to the patriarchal head of that household. Male children until they reached adulthood, Slaves until they were freed (remember that, while by no means a purely morally good thing, the system of Roman Slavery was VASTLY DIFFERENT from the Atlantic Slave Trade that men later used this passage to justify existing), and women, unfortunately, for their whole lives. In another one of his letters, what is now the book of Galatians, Paul says in chapter 3 verse 27-29 that “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” This would have been radical at the time. Paul is promising all people of all genders and classes that, in the eyes of God, they are Equal, One, and all “sons,” meaning that they all have a right to the Inheritance of the Father (remember, at this time and in this culture women did not get any inheritance, and younger sons got significantly less than the firstborn. Paul assures the believers that they ALL are equal receivers of the Promises of God). But this equality that Paul speaks of was, in his eyes, a spiritual equality. He was not particularly concerned with overthrowing the earthly patriarchal society that subjugated women and lower classes, but rather instructed all members of that society who also were Believers to submit equally to one another out of love and respect, for they were all Equal in God’s eyes and would be Equal in heaven. This is why he both tells women to submit to and obey their husbands, but also husbands to love, cherish, and care for their wives. Children, obey your parents, but Fathers, don’t be dicks to your kids. Slaves should obey their masters (slavery was much more like a job that you weren’t allowed to quit until your boss said so) but Masters shouldn’t abuse their slaves. There are Societal Authorities, and Paul is telling his readers “look you can’t just go around not respecting those Authorities, but also hey, if you’re the Authority? That’s not a free pass to be an asshole.” As one of my study bibles puts it, “Paul counseled all believers to submit to one another by choice…this kind of mutual submission preserves order and harmony in the family while it increases love and respect among family members.” Paul is basically saying “it’s better for everyone if we all get along, and remember that Christ had a servant’s heart, and intentionally lowered himself for us, so we should do the same for each other.” And while a patriarchal class system is still super sucky for like 80% of the people involved, at least it’s a whole lot more bearable if everyone involved is being a Nice, Good Member of that Society. You mentioned being worried about being treated like a “second rate citizen.” The fact of the matter is that when this was written, women were second rate citizens; that is the context in which Paul is writing. And while I firmly believe that that was wrong, in every sense of the word, Paul wasn’t especially concerned about challenging that aspect of society. Priority one was “Spread the Gospel” and Priority two was “Don’t Get Killed while Spreading the Gospel.” Speaking of Paul, let’s talk a little more about Saul of Tarsus, shall we? In all literary analysis, it is important to examine the author’s beliefs and what biases may have made their way into the work. And while we believe the bible to be a Holy Book, it can and should be subject to the same rules of literary analysis as non-religious texts. First, you must ask yourself, what do you believe about the bible? There are four general ways of looking at it (which are called Theories of Inspiration).

The bible is the Divine Word of God, dictated word for word across centuries directly to its human authors by God Himself.

The bible is the Divine Word of God, written across centuries by men Inspired by the Holy Spirit. While they are writing in their own words, this Inspiration means that the bible is Wholly Perfect with no errors.

The bible is the Divine Word of God, written across centuries by men Inspired by the Holy Spirit. However, because they are imperfect, fallible men, there is a possibility of errors in the text, both in the account of events that happened and in the teaching therein.

The bible is a collection of accounts written by men, with no Divine Intervention from God. It is not Holy, God’s Word, or Infallible.

I was raised to believe theory 2, but now I personally believe theory 3. And since I’m the author of this analysis, it is through the lens and bias of theory 3 that I now present my next point: Paul was sexist. I don’t think he was maliciously so (see again, Galatians 3, and the statement in Ephesians 5 that men should honor, cherish, and care for their wives), but he was a product of his time who had ingrained ideas about women and their place in society. This does not A) mean he was right about how women should act OR B) mean that we should toss out everything he had to say, about women or otherwise, because he was Problematic. Most biblical authors were, in fact, Problematic. Either by our modern standards, due to the time in which they lived, OR by the standards of their own time, because God liked to use Imperfect People (we’re all imperfect, but He liked particularly imperfect people) in His plans. David was an adulterer and murderer. Paul happily sent dozens of Christians to their deaths. Peter was hotheaded and super prejudiced against Gentiles and Samaritans. And most of them were, in one way or another, sexist, racist, and homophobic. These biases then found their way, intentionally or not, into their writings, and then other racist, sexist, homophobic men used those writings to justify systemic oppression of anyone who was not like them. Oppression that is not Christlike. So where does that leave us, in our 21st century application of scripture to our daily lives? We must examine how it was to be read at the time (which we have done), and then see what we can apply from it to our own lives. For myself in my marriage, I look again to the original grammar of Ephesians 5, that indicates the submission is to be mutual. I “submit” to my husband, and he “submits” to me. In other words, our relationship is built on Trust, Clear Communication, and Respect for one another. Sometimes we have to compromise, and I have to put aside my own desires for his sake, or he must set aside his own desires for my sake. It is a willingness to listen to one another, to approach conflicts with an open mind, to consider each other’s feelings before we speak. It is an equal, mutual submission based on love for each other, which doesn’t contradict what Paul says at all. God created all people to be equal. Humans are stupid sometimes and try to insist that we know better, try to create hierarchies and use the bible to try and justify that, but that doesn’t mean those humans are right. If your church is trying to make you feel less than because of your gender, or if you date somebody who pushes TradWife rhetoric and tries to use Ephesians as their justification, then you Run, and feel justified in doing so. (Especially if they also try to use Paul’s words to tell you why you owe your partner sex; see again, Paul was not only sexist but also lived in a patriarchal time when women were second class citizens that had very specific expectations placed on them AND he wasn’t even in a relationship himself, forgive me if I take his advice on my sex life with a grain of salt. Without doing this whole process again, a good modern reading of “don’t deprive one another” is “don’t use sex as a weapon in your relationship/withhold it for bs reasons when you’re mad at each other, etc. Like all other relationship things, sex (or a lack thereof) with your spouse should be based on mutual trust, communication, and love, not petty arguments or the standards of others.)

Trust me, as an ace woman myself, I totally get the fear. I’ve felt it myself, in the past. But God’s intentions for you are not that you become a doormat or servant to a man. If a romantic relationship (or any other partnership) is part of His plan for you, then the bible clearly states, both in Ephesians and elsewhere, that it should be one built on Love and Trust, not Subjugation and Servitude.

I hope this helped you, and again, sorry it was so long XD. Have an amazing day! <3

#christianity #biblical analysis #religion #anti trad wife #ephesians 5 #ace things #taylor talks #for a loooong time

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traumacatholic · 3 years

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Cambridge University’s Introductory Reading list for Theology degrees students

So for those that don’t know, Cambridge University do have some suggestions for what students can read in order to prepare themselves for the application and interviewing stage. But I figured that this list might also be enjoyed by those who are interested in studying theology / are studying theology / want to know where to begin.

Paper 1: Languages

Hebrew

Lambdin, Thomas. Introduction to Biblical Hebrew. (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1973)

Greek

Duff, J. Elements of New Testament Greek (3rd edn; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Sanskrit

Coulson, M., Sanskrit: an introduction to the Classical Language (2nd edn; London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1992)

Arabic

Haywood, J. A. & Nahmad, H. M. A., A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language (London: Lund Humphries, 1990)

General Books on the Bible and its Interpretation

Grant, R. M. & Tracy, D. A., Short History of the Interpretation of the Bible (London: SCM, 1984)

Hayes, J. H. & Holladay, C. R., Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook (3rd edn; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2010)

Alter, R. & Kermode, F., The Literary Guide to the Bible (London: Collins, 1987)

Soskice, J.M., The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels (London: Chatto & Windus, 2009).

Old Testament: David

McKenzie, S.L., King David: A Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)*

Alter, R., The Art of Biblical Narrative (London: Basic Books, 2011)

Dietrich, W., The Early Monarchy in Israel: The Tenth Century B.C.E. (Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007)

Rogerson, J. W. & Davies, P., The Old Testament World (2nd edn; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2006)

Rogerson, J. W. (ed.), Beginning Old Testament Study (London: SPCK, 1983)

New Testament: Jesus and the Origins of the Gospels

Johnson, L. T., The Writings of the New Testament (London: SCM, 1999)

Court, J. & K., The New Testament World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)

Tuckett, C., Reading the New Testament (London: SPCK, 1987)

Barrett, C. K., The New Testament Background: Selected Documents (London: SPCK, 1956)

Moule, C. F. D., The Birth of the New Testament (London: A & C Black, 3rd ed., 1981)

E. P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (London: Allen Lane, 1993)

M Bockmuehl (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Jesus (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001)

History: Christianity and the Transformation of Culture

Brown, P., Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire (Madison,WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1992)

Markus, R., The End of Ancient Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990)

Clark, G., Christianity and Roman Society (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004)

The Question of God

Davis, Stephen T. (ed.), Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2004)

Fergusson, David. Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2014)

Ford, David F., Theology: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)

Migliore, Daniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian Theology, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004).

Solle, Dorothee. Thinking about God: An Introduction to Theology (London: SCM, 1990)

Understanding Contemporary Religion

Aldridge, A., Religion in the Contemporary World (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000)

Barker, E., The Making of a Moonie: Brainwashing or Choice (Oxford: Blackwell, 1984)

Bruce, S., Religion in the Modern World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996)

Davie, G., Religion in Britain since 1945 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994)

Davie, G., Europe: The Exceptional Case (London: DLT, 2002)

Hamilton, M. B., The Sociology of Religion (2nd edn; London: Routledge, 2001)

World Religions

Neusner, J. & Sonn, T., Comparing Religions Through Law: Judaism and Islam (London: Routledge, 1999)

McCutcheon, R. T., The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: A Reader (London: Cassell, 1999)

de Lange, N.R.M., An Introduction to Judaism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)

Waines, D., An Introduction to Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997)

Lipner, J. J., Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (London: Routledge, 1994)

Philosophy of Religion

Brian Davies, Introduction to Philosophy of Religion (Oxford, 3rd edition, 2004)

Edward Feser, Five Proofs of the Existence of God (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2017)

John Haldane and J.J.C. Smart, Atheism and Theism (London: Blackwell, 1996)

David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss (New Haven: Yale, 2014)

Richard Swinburne, Is There a God? (Oxford, revised edition, 2010)

Charles Taliaferro, Evidence and Faith: Philosophy and Religion Since the Seventeenth Century (Cambridge, 2005)

Burrell, D., Knowing the Unknowable God: Ibn-Sina, Maimonides and Aquinas (South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986)

Ethics

John Hare, God’s Call: Moral Realism, God’s Commands, and Human Autonomy (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2001)

Fergus Kerr, After Aquinas: Versions of Thomism (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), ch. 7

Alasdair MacIntyre, A Short History of Ethics: A History of Moral Philosophy from the Homeric Age to the Twentieth Century (London: Routledge, 2nd ed., 1998)

Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (London: Duckworth, 1981), ch. 1, ch. 2, ch. 9, ch. 18

Iris Murdoch, The Sovereignty of Good (London: Routledge, 1970), ch. 2

Charles Taylor, Sources of the Self: The Making of Modern Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989), esp. Part I, Part II, and Part IV

William Wainwright, Religion and Morality (London and New York: Routledge, 2005), esp. Part I and Part II

Bernard Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy (London and New York: Routledge, 2006), ch. 1 and ch. 10

General

Dixon, T.M., How to Get a First (London: Routledge, 2004). This book gives advice on teaching and learning styles and how to manage time and lectures in the Arts & Humanities. It has a helpful section on making the transition from school to university

Miscellaneous (this is compiled from another list they give to those who aren’t at the application stage and want to see what theology is all about)

Confessions by St Augustine,

Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K Dick

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot

Silence by Shusaku Endo

On Being a Muslim by Farid Esack

Ambiguous Adventure by Cheikh Hamidou Kane

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter Millar

Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Bell by Iris Murdoch

Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Phaedrus, The Symposium and Phaedo by Plato provide good background and enrichment reading

Religion: If There Is No God...On God, the Devil, Sin and Other Worries of the So-called Philosophy of Religion by Leszek Kolakowski

Protestants : The Radicals Who Made the Modern World by Alex Ryrie

Authority and the Sacred: aspects of the Christianisation of the ancient world by Peter Brown

In Search of Churchill: A Historian's Journey by Martin Gilbert

Disenchanting the English Reformation by Faculty of Divinity member Richard Rex. The site where it is found, Marginalia, is itself a great forum for thoughtful essays on a whole range of subjects, religious, cultural, and other

Faculty member, Dr Katharine Dell's theological response to coronavirus

Study Theology even if you don't believe in God by Tara Isabella Burton

#Theology #Religion #Philosophy #Literature #Studyblr #Would anyone be interested in me finding more reading lists like this??

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a-queer-seminarian · 3 years

Video

youtube

[id: thumbnail for a youtube vid labeled “Bible Tools Tour 1: Looking Up the Hebrew & Greek when you don’t know Hebrew & Greek!” Part of a Bible passage in both Hebrew and English with grammar notations is visible, with an image of me, a white nonbinary person with short brown hair, smiles at the viewer from the lower right corner. / end id]

Hey y’all, i’m starting a video series where i show how YOU (yes, you!) can use free online resources to explore a Bible passage’s original language even if you don’t know it yourself! My goal is to make biblical exegesis as accessible to as many people as possible.

Most importantly, I offer examples of why it matters -- how knowing what's in the Hebrew or Greek, and what choices the makers of any given translated version made, can influence your interpretation of a passage

Feedback is super appreciated because it’s hard to gauge what’s like, common knowledge versus what needs deeper explanation when you’re personally very knowledgeable about a subject, ya know? So tell me if the video makes sense! If it’s helpful or if you’re totally lost! What questions ya have! what more you wanna see! and so on!

(Even if you don’t have time to watch the whole video, just watching a portion or two of it could be useful to you and feedback you have on those parts would help me!)

More details about what this video holds can be found under the readmore, or in the YouTube video description.

Not everyone has the time & resources to learn biblical Hebrew & Greek like I did -- but that doesn't mean you can't dig into a Bible passage's original language a little bit! These days, there are resources FREE to anyone with internet access -- the trick is knowing what they are and how to use them. That's what this video series is for!

In this first video, I guide you through the most basic things you can do via free websites like biblehub.com & netbible.org:

compare different translations;

focus on one word you want to study further and find it in the Hebrew/Greek + look up definitions;

do a word search to see all its occurrences in the Bible;

and find translators' commentary.

TIMESTAMPS:

(0:00 - 3:43) Introducing myself & the purpose of the video

(3:44 - 8:19) Introducing biblehub.com & how to view parallel versions of a passage - the Cain & Abel story

(8:20 - 13:05) Choosing a verse for deeper study: Gen 4:4 - comparing numerous English translations

(13:06 - 20:10) Looking at the Hebrew - interlinear verses; choosing one Hebrew word to look up in Strong's Concordance and Brown-Drivers-Briggs

(20:11 - 26:54) Exploring each occurrence of the Hebrew word throughout the Bible to see what it means in different contexts; my conclusions for how I would translate the word into English, how different translations of this one word affect the story's overall meaning

(26:55 - 37:15) Another word study example - exploring the Hebrew behind "my brother's keeper"

(37:16 - 46:00) Lumina's NET Bible - a resource with similar tools AND with helpful translators' notes on every Bible passage!

(46:01 - end) wrapping up

#bible study #biblical languages #biblical hebrew #biblical greek #biblical interpretation #progressive christians #youtube #log #summer 2021 #bible tools tour #exegesis

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nerdygaymormon · 3 years

Note

Do you have a link to your thoughts on the CES letter? Because I'm sure plenty of folk have asked you about it. I'm, struggling.

The CES letter has been mentioned to me a few times in asks, but I don’t recall being asked to respond directly to it.

Before getting into it, I want to make you aware of this post about Faith Transitions, I think it may be useful to you.

I read the CES letter many years ago, probably the original version, it’s changed a lot since then. I think the CES letter is sloppy, and twists quotes, uses some questionable sources, and frames things in the worst possible way. It’s basically an amalgamation of all the anti-Mormon literature. But many of the main points of the CES letter are important and correct, even if the supporting details aren’t.

In a way, the CES letter has done the Church a favor. For a long time, Elder Packer insisted that anything which isn’t faith-promoting shouldn’t be taught. As a result, most members of the Church were taught a simplified version of Church history, leaving out anything that is messy or difficult. Although those things could be found if someone was looking for them, I found many of them simply by reading Brigham Young Discourses or other works of the early church.

With the internet, Elder Packer’s approach to history turns out to be a bad one. This information is out there and now most members learn about it from sources seeking to destroy their faith. One response to this has been a series of essays where the Church talks about some difficult subjects.

————————————————————

I’m not going to go through all the claims & challenges of the CES letter, but let me address some of the main ones.

1) There are errors in the Book of Mormon that are also contained in the 1769 edition of the Bible.

From the more faithful point-of-view, Joseph recognizes these passages, such as those from Isaiah, and knows they've already been translated into English and copies them from his family’s Bible. The non-faithful point-of-view is that Joseph copied these verses from his family Bible and tried to pass it off as his own translation.

2) DNA analysis has concluded that Native American Indians do not originate from the Middle East or from Israelites but from Asia.

This is correct. The Church has an essay which admits this and then spends a lot of time explaining how genetics works and one day we might find some Middle East connection. I find the Church essay convoluted as it goes through many possible (and unlikely) reasons for why no DNA of the Jaredites, Nephites or Lamanites has yet been found in the Americas.

3) There are things in the Book of Mormon that didn’t exist during Book of Mormon times, or in Central America (assuming this is where the Book of Mormon takes place), such as horses, chariots, goats, elephants, wheat, and steel.

This is also correct. Maybe the translation process was using a common word in English for a common item in the Book of Mormon. Maybe these are errors. Maybe it’s made up.

4) No archeological evidence has been found for the Nephite/Lamanite civilizations.

Correct. When it comes to archeological evidence, it's true that we haven't found any. For one thing, we don't know where the Nephite & Lamanite civilizations are supposed to have taken place. If you don't know where to look, it's easy to have no evidence. Perhaps Nephites & Lamanites didn’t actually exist and that’s why there’s no archeological evidence. The Book of Mormon does seem to do a decent job of describing geography of the Middle East before Lehi & his family boarded the boat for the Promised Land.

5) Book of Mormon names and places are strikingly similar (or identical) to many local names and places of the region Joseph Smith lived in.

This seems like a funny thing to get hung up on. First of all, it’s not very many names that are similar. Secondly, many places in the US are named for Biblical places & people. If the Book of Mormon people came from Israel, it makes sense they did something similar. For example, the word Jordan is in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and in many places in America.

6) He points to obscure books or dime-novels that Joseph Smith might have read and the similarities between them and the Book of Mormon.

Those similarities are mostly at the surface level. To me it doesn't seem like Joseph plagiarized any particular book, and these specific books seem to not been very popular so difficult to say Joseph, who lived on the frontier, actually read them. Funny how no one from that time period thought the Book of Mormon resembled those books, probably because they hadn’t heard of them. But Joseph did hear and read a number of stories and some of that phrasing or whatever of the time influenced him. Think of songwriters, they create a new song then get accused of plagiarizing because it's similar to another popular song. Even without intending to, they were influenced by things they heard.

7) The Book of Mormon has had 100,000 changes.

Most of the "100,000" changes to the Book of Mormon were to break it into chapters & verses, to add chapter headings, or to add grammar such as commas and whatnot. There are some changes to fix errors that got printed but differed from the original manuscript. And there's been some clarifications made, but these are few in number. By claiming "100,000" he's trying to make it seem like there's a scam being done. It's easy to get a replication of the first Book of Mormon from the Community of Christ and read it side-by-side with today's version. I’ve done that and occasionally there’s a word or two here or there which differ, but overall it's mostly the same.

8) There were over 4 different First Vision accounts

True. Over the years, the way Joseph described the First Vision changed. I think different versions emphasize different aspects of the experience. I don’t find them to be contradictory. Oh, and the Church has an essay about this.

9) The papyri that Joseph translated into the Book of Abraham has been found and translated and it’s nothing like the Book of Abraham.

This is true. The Church has an essay about it. The Church now says that the papyri inspired Joseph to get the Book of Abraham via revelation, much like his translations of the Bible weren’t from studying the ancient Greek & Hebrew. It is a big change from what the Church used to teach, that this was a translation of the papyrus. The papyri has nothing to do with the Book of Abraham, and the explanations of the facsimiles in the Pearl of Great Price don’t match what the scholars say those pictures are about.

10) Joseph married 34+ women, many without Emma’s consent, some who had husbands, and even a teenager.

This all appears to be true. Emma knew about some of them, but not all. As for the married women, they were still married to their husbands but sealed to Joseph (I know this is strange to us, but this sort of thing was common until Wilford Woodruff standardized how sealings are done).

Polygamy was illegal in the United States. Most people who participated were told to keep it secret. So of course there’s carefully-worded statements by Joseph and others denying they participate in polygamy.

The salacious question everyone wants to know is if Joseph slept with all these women. We don’t know, but a DNA search for descendants of Joseph has taken place among the descendants of the women he was ‘married’ to and none have been found. But still, if he wasn’t doing anything wrong, why is he hiding this from Emma?

11) The Church used to teach that polygamy was required for exaltation, even though the Book of Mormon condemns polygamy.

This is accurate. The Church says polygamy was part of ancient Israel and so as part of the restoration of all things, polygamy had to be restored, see D&C 132:34. Now we no longer say polygamy is required to get to the highest level of the Celestial Kingdom.

12) Brigham Young taught Adam-God theory, which is now disavowed by the Church.

True. Joseph Smith didn’t teach this and John Taylor & Wilford Woodruff don’t seem to have any time for this teaching. It’s a thing Brigham Young was hot about and taught, but seems a lot of the church didn’t buy it as it was discarded after his death.

13) Black people weren’t allowed to hold the priesthood until 1978, despite Joseph having conferred it to a few Black people during his life.

Very true and very sad. This and the Mountain Meadows Massacre are the two biggest stains on the Church’s past. There is a Church essay on Race & the Priesthood. The ban appears to have begun with Brigham Young and he developed several theories to justify it, and these explanations expanded over the decades and bigotry was taught as doctrine. The Church now disavows all explanations that were taught in the past.

No reason for the priesthood ban is put forward in the Church essay other than racism. The past leaders were racists and that blinded them to what God wanted for Black people. There’s a big lesson in that for LGBTQ teachings of the Church.

14) The Church misrepresents how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.

The accounts of Joseph Smith putting a seer stone in a hat and reading words from it, that's part of the historic record. Quotes about it don’t make it to our Sunday School lessons, but if you go back to the Joseph Smith papers and other accounts, it’s there to read. Joseph also used the Urim & Thummim, and wrote out characters and studied them, but he seems to have most favored the stone-in-hat method. I think the main problem here is the Church in its artwork and movies does not depict this, and therefore most members are unaware until they see anti-Mormon literature. Why does the Church not show Joseph looking into a hat? Because it seems magical and weird to modern people. But how much weirder is it than he put on the Urim & Thummim like glasses and could translate that way, or he wrote out these characters from some extinct language and was able to figure out what they mean?

————————————————————

A number of the main points in the CES letter are true (even if explanations/supporting details in the CES are problematic). Some of the main points have simple explanations and don’t seem like a big deal. Others challenge what the Church has taught. To its credit, the Church put out essays by historians & scholars, with sources listed in the footnotes, addressing several of these controversial topics.

————————————————————

Religion is meant to help humans make sense of their world and our place in it. Most religious stories are metaphorical but end up getting taught as literal history and, in my opinion, the same is true of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And that’s why the CES letter has power, it points out things aren’t literally true but were taught by the Church as factual, and the CES letter shows us part of our messy history that the Church tried to hide.

————————————————————

The story of Adam and Eve can’t literally be true. It doesn’t fit our evolutionary past, but it’s meant to make our lives important, God created us and we have to account to Him for our choices, and it’s important to find someone to go through life with. We can say the same of Job and the Book of Ruth, fiction with a purpose.

While there are some real events included in the Bible, much of what’s written is there to teach lessons, culture, and give meaning to life. Jesus taught in parables so at least he was upfront that they were stories that contained morals.

Can I believe the same about the Book of Mormon, that it’s inspired fiction with meaning I can apply to my life, or must it be literally history to have value?

————————————————————

I went through a massive faith crisis while attending BYU. I had access to materials that told a different story of this religion than I’d been taught (the sorts of things in the CES Letter) and it threw me for a loop.

It felt like the floor of faith I had stood on shattered and I fell with no way to stop myself. After I had a chance to process through the things I was feeling, I looked at my shattered faith and picked up the parts that were meaningful to me.

I had lined up my faith similar to a line of dominoes. If the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph was a prophet. If Joseph was a prophet, then this is the true church. If this is the true church, then...

This works until it doesn’t. Once a domino topples over, it starts a chain event.

Now I look at principles and concepts and decide if they’re meaningful to me.

I love the idea that we can spend eternity with the people we love most.

I believe we should be charitable and loving to others.

People on the margins need to be looked after and helped and lifted.

Poor people deserve dignity and the rich to be challenged.

We have a commitment to our community and we all serve to make it better.

All are alike to God, we’re all loved and God has a grand plan for us.

Those who passed away can still be saved through the atonement of Christ.

Those are all principles I find in the Bible and Book of Mormon or at church and I find Love flows through all of those.

This new approach works for me. I don’t have to believe or hold onto problematic teachings. I can drop them and still hold the parts that I find valuable. I can reject the teachings and statements which are bigoted, homophobic, transphobic, racist, ableist, misogynistic. Prophets can make mistakes and still have taught some useful things.

That little voice of the spirit and what it teaches and guides me to do, I trust it over what Church leaders say. Overarching principles are more important to me than specific details for how this gets applied in the 1800′s or 1950′s or Biblical times.

————————————————————

I truly hope some of what I’ve written is helpful.

There’s no use pretending that the CES letter doesn’t get some things correct. It’s also helpful to understand it’s not just trying to share truth, but has an agenda to make the Church look as bad as possible.

What about the things the CES letter is correct about?

Has this church helped you learn to connect with the Divine?

The Church has some very big flaws, but also has some big things in its favor. Some of its unique teachings are very appealing and feel hopeful and right.

Can you leave the Church and be a good person and have a relationship with God? Absolutely.

I also know this church is a community and it’s hard to walk away cold-turkey with nothing to replace it, without another network to belong to. It’s as much a religion as it is a lifestyle and circle of friends.

Are there parts you can hold onto? Parts you can let go of?

You have a lot to think about and work through.

#long post #ces letter #this is a much longer answer than I thought I would write

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hardoncaulfield · 3 years

Note

Hii any advice on how to start learnin greek ??

Okay so, to clarify I study ancient greek and specifically attic greek (there are other dialectics of ancient greek like ionic and doric, there's also biblical greek which is known as koine) most students learn attic first because it’s easier then to learn other dialects.

The thing about Greek is that it's hard to go it alone, it's a difficult language but it's extremely rewarding and very fun and I love it. You'll need some good resources to help you get to grips with it:

This is a pdf of the textbook (Athenaze) I used as a beginner, from what I’ve heard it isn’t the best one out there, but I’m familiar with it and I personally did enjoy that the translation exercises are staged as a continuous story throughout the book. This is the complete text online from the companion answer book.

This is a link to the Perseus online library which is the saving grace for all classicists. It has most Greek and Roman texts in both the original and with an English translation. Plus they have an extremely handy Greek word tool, which is fantastic for when you’re translating.

Lexilogos is one of the best online Greek dictionaries I’ve found.

Here is another beginner’s textbook for variety, but I haven’t used this one personally so I can’t speak from experience.

My advice is to take things slowly and make sure the basics are firmly in your mind before you move onto the next topic. Make sure you get to grips with using noun cases if you’ve never studied an inflected language before. Some of the grammar you’ll be learning in the beginning is really strange and quite frustrating, working in order through a textbook helps but it will still frustrate you - that’s just the nature of the language, it’s a wild ride. It does get easier! You won’t believe me, because I didn’t believe the people who told me this when I was a beginner, but it really does get easier the further you get into it.

Try and test your vocabulary often, I used the memrise app which has the corresponding vocabulary for each chapter of the Athenaze textbook and gives you quizes and learning exercises - it’s a little boring but I felt it really helped me to learn the vocab - especially in the early days when I wasn’t as familiar with the way Greek words look and sound. Memrise is also available free online, if you don’t want to download an app.

Also - if you can move on to translating real original texts soon, then do it. The sooner the better. It’s hard, but it’s rewarding and there’s something about being able to read a text in the original that is so special, even if it takes you several agonising hours with a dictionary and Perseus pouring over the grammar - it’s very nice to have that relationship with a text. Personally I’ve been sporadically translating from the Odyssey because I love it and I just wanted to have that intimacy with the text that you can’t get if you don’t make the effort to pull it across into your own language by yourself.

Anyway, I’m excited for you - learning Greek is one of the best things I’ve ever done and I truly love the language. I hope your studying goes well!

#asks #anon #study advice #this is a studyblr #Greek

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themildestofwriters-ocs · 3 years

Text

Hymn to the Queen of the Stars

The Hymn to the Queen of the Stars is a liturgical poem written in 5813 EA by forerunner of the Imperial Cult, High Priestess Ishkhar-ramat. Originally, it was written in Zīzlishani, but has since been translated into countless other languages. It is one of the earliest surviving documents proclaiming the divinity of Empress Elishewa rikhut Bit-Kinakhn, and was compiled within the cult's holy text, the Book of Quiet Mercy.

As of 6021 EA, the original text, along with the 26 other poems written by the High Priestess, resides within her tomb beneath the Temple of Martyrs, Esha.

Description

The poem is etched on a single titanium plate, 6.25 ubanu (13 centimeters) wide, 6.73 ubanu (14 centimeters) high, 0.19 ubanu (0.4 centimeters) thick, but has been alchemically preserved. Three holes, 0.24 ubanu (0.5 centimeter) in diameter, are been drilled along the left margin of the tablet at equal distance, 0.36 ubanu (0.75 centimeters) away from the edge.

The Text

It is comprised of 12 lines, 4 stanzas and a 2-line colophony.

The first stanza (1-3) introduces the subject of the hymn, Empress Elishewa, by her common title "Queen of the Stars," describing the figure, her mythologised ancestry, along with her titles.

The second stanza (4-5) continues to extol her virtues and her place above the previous pantheon of gods, the Sleeping Gods, who are relegated to servants of her will according to the Imperial Cult.

The third stanza (6-8) expands on this, describing her place within the Imperial Cult as well as dictating several regional names attributed to her, each a representation of her divine aspects.

The final stanza (9-10) ends the poem with an invocation of peace and wellness.

Zizlishani Transliteration

i (1) šarrat-kakkabī azammar anāku azammar mārat bīt-maḫrîlī u awīlūtī kāšid bīt-ekleti bēlet erṣetī ša atti ina bīrīni ittalakki

ii (4) atti elī kala ṣalīl-ilānū dannat šarratu ḫībti kitta nēmeqa hasīsa eršēt

iii (6) ilatni ummani mušēzibatni šamašni tašīlīni nīnu kattu šumātu ana dārū u dārū nitallal ūripaēssa zāmira aḇala aya neḫṭet

vi (9) šarrat kakkabī dāriat bēlet išḫar dāriš ūmī qīšīniāšim šalama u napišta

colophony tuppi išḫar-rāmat mārat kakki riḫût awīlūtī enat išḫar

English Translation

i (1) I sing to the queen of the stars, I sing! Daughter of the House of the First Gods, Conqueror of the House of Darkness, Lady of [all] the Earths, who walked among us.

ii (4) You are mightier than the sleeping-gods. My beloved queen, you are wise in justice, knowledge, and understanding.

iii (6) Our Goddess, our mother, our saviour, our sun, our glory. For generations and generations we will exult your names: Euryphaessa, Zamira, Avala, Aya, Nekhtet.

vi (9) Immortal Queen of the Stars, Lady Ishkhar. For all days grant us peace and good health.

colophony Tablet of Ishkhar-ramat, daughter of Kakki. Descendant of [all] Humanity, Priestess of the Queen of the Stars.

References

Abdusch, Tzvi. “Essays on Babylonian and Biblical Literature and Religion.” Harvard Semitic Studies, vol. 65, no. 1. 2020.

Chiera, Edward. List of Personal Names from the Temple School of Nippur. The University Museum. 9116.

Cousin, Laura; Watai, Yoko. “Onomastics of Women in Babylonia in the First Millennium BC.” Orient, vol. 51, no. 1, 2016, 3-27.

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