John Paul II and Osama bin Laden

The past weekend was a busy one. Aside from the royal wedding, the news was flooded with news of one man’s elevation to the status of blessedness, as well as another’s violent death.

I learned of the death of Osama bin Laden when I awoke this morning and glanced at Facebook. There, I saw a slew of status updates rejoicing that bin Laden had been killed, and I even saw a few who had changed their profile pictures to images of eagles superimposed on American flags. A quick search on Google led to some assorted news stories about the death, as well as a collection of “tweets” on the subject. One said something like, “I’m so happy that the last thing bin Laden heard was the shot of an American soldier’s rifle.” In the midst of such comments, it is difficult to lose sight of the fact that the object of celebration and joy is the taking of a human life.

I am by no means a fan of Osama bin Laden, and I’m not here pleading for people to somehow realize that he was actually a person of respect whose ideology had simply been distorted by the media. He was a criminal whose capacity to inspire individuals to “go and do likewise” has made the world a more dangerous place. In this respect, perhaps he did deserve to die.

Now, what of the title of this post? What has bin Laden to do with John Paul II?

Earlier today, my wife sent me a link to an article that was originally published in 2006 (republished yesterday), following the release of Mehmet Ali Agca from prison. Mehmet Ali Agca is a name that, for most, doesn’t ring any bells. He is, in fact, the man who attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. The article tells of John Paul II’s visit to Agca while he was in prison, how he talked with him and prayed for him in his cell. The article sums up the issue better than I ever could, so I quote here:

As a follower of Jesus, the Pope gave us a memorable event that mirrored the actions of our savior on the cross. If God could forgive those who pounded the nails into his flesh then no human being is too hard to love. When John Paul II forgave Mehmet Ali Agca he set in motion a mission for all of us to radically rethink what Christian love is all about.

Take from that what you will.

Other bloggers have written on the topic of bin Laden’s death in the past 24 hours or so. Here are a few links for those who are interested:

J. R. Daniel Kirk on “The Economy of Death”

Br. Dan Horen, a Franciscan Prayer for Peace

Michael Gorman, various thoughts

Noah’s Ark 2.0

The Dutch Daily News ran a story today on a man who has been working on a replica of Noah’s ark. Apparently, he had a dream that the Netherlands was underwater (not too far removed from the realm of possibility, or so I’ve heard), and the next day it became his dream to build an ark, presumably to escape the deluge. What’s more, he’s actually planning on taking to the high seas with this thing. Click here for the full story, as well as a video interview with the guy (which is in Dutch).

The article states that the ark will be open to the public at some point in the near future. My hope is that, when he lets people on this badboy, he will at least attempt to squeeze two of every animal on board with them. Now THAT would be a story!

HT Scotteriology

Fake Codices, Nails and Easter Cartoons

This pre-Easter season has brought quite a few “treasures,” including fake metal codices as well as another set of nails used in Jesus’ crucifixion (I’ll go ahead and put the rent money on these being fake as well). There is a little less than a week, and I’m dying to see what the media will unearth next!

Until then, I leave you with the following Easter cartoons:

SBL’s New Edition of the Greek New Testament

The SBL has announced that they will be putting forth a new version of the Greek New Testament, which has been edited by Michael Holmes.

The version is not intended to replace the well-established Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, nor is it really equipped to do so; according to the announcement found on the Evangelical Textual Criticism Blog, “this text may be considered a ‘reading edition,’ with the apparatus serving to alert the reader to the most important places where there are differences between editions of the Greek NT and to indicate how the other editions have handled matters.”

The primary resources in establishing the text are:

1. Westcott-Hort (1881)
2. S.P. Tregelles (1857-1879)
3. Goodrich-Lukaszewski (2003)
4. Robinson-Pierpont (2005)

As I see it, there are several upsides to the new SBL edition. First, it is free for download in .pdf format (or will be soon, according to the website). This means that those who have a Kindle or some other sort of tablet reading device will be able to take their text with them electronically. The SBL will offer a print version of the text (which I’m looking forward to seeing in November), but those who have no need for another Greek New Testament will likely be satisfied in just having the .pdf files. Second, it will draw attention to the more major text-critical issues in the NT. As it stands, the critical apparatus of the Nestle-Aland can be somewhat exhausting. Third, did I mention that it is free?!

Considering that this edition is in no way intended to replace the critical editions already in use, my first complaint, that the apparatus is not detailed enough, is invalid. I really only have one beef with the new SBL Greek New Testament, and that is that it uses the SBL Greek Font, which I despise.

See more on this text here, here, and here.