Tempus Fugit

As part of our relocation to the Boston area, we bought an old Victorian style house that was built in 1900. It has been a learning experience, because houses of that age have entire histories of construction, renovation, upkeep, and decline.

The fireplace in the living room has old tilework around it, which is original to the house. During prior renovations, the line of previous owners thankfully left this unique bit unchanged. At the top center of the tilework are winged cherubs holding a banner that reads, tempus fugit.

We looked up this phrase with the help of Google, and we found that it is translated as “time flies.” It originates with Virgil, in his Georgics, as tempus inreparabile fugit, or “it escapes, irretrievable time.” Wikipedia has an entire page for this phrase (link).

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Plot Twist on Ehrman vs Wallace Debate

This article in the Atlantic tells a fascinating story of antiquities theft, cover-up, and fraud. The basic topic was attention grabbing. But I was positively arrested by the opening scene, because I remember watching it quite distinctly:

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Yale Lecture Series on Hebrew Bible

My friend Archaeopteryx was good enough to share the YouTube lecture series by Yale Professor Christine Hayes, “Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)”.  After watching the first video in the series, I believe this will make a good resource for serious seekers who want to understand the historical events, cultural forces and literary composition of the Old Testament. I read many volumes written by various historians during my own investigations, and I suspect this video series would shorten the learning arc for others.

I’m linking the first video here, which I have cued to mid-lecture as Prof. Hayes discusses 5 common myths about the Hebrew Bible that most Americans do not understand. If you have another 15 minutes, feel free to back it up for full context. I’ll also be adding a link in the sidebar under Rapid Resources, though these lectures are admittedly a bit long to be considered truly rapid. Cheers!

Just Nailing Ham’s Coffin

I find myself still flush and aglow from the resounding victory of Nye over Ham last night. But I did muse that another nail in the coffin of Ham’s literalist view would make for happy fodder. That this find was made in Israel makes for palpable irony. The world can’t have begun 6,000 years ago if we have the remains of a 10,000 year old house.

6-YOLI SHWARTZ..jpg

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