Hayes and Holladay's "Biblical Exegesis" is very introductory book on, well, exegesis. The first chapter is the best, giving a clear explanation of what exegesis is and why it's so necessary; it's perhaps the best explanation I've read. The majority of the chapters are an overview of various forms of criticism, textual, historical, grammatical, literary, form, tradition, and redaction. The final chapter gives a sense of how the forms might be used together. Though the book overviews these forms, at 132 pages it obviously doesn't give the reader enough info to actually use them for exegesis; it truly is a beginner's handbook. Hayes and Holladay certainly have a less conservative view of the Bible than I do, yet their lack of depth is the primary reason why I can't really recommend this book. If you're interested in any of these forms, it would be better to find a book that can teach you how to do them.
Note: The Amazon link above is to the 3rd edition; I have the first edition.
Jacen's Cloak
From their studies in Medieval history, Jacen elected to have a cloak made. It's supposed to be a monk's cloak, but it (conveniently) also looks like a Jedi's cloak.
Emmy's Dress
The kids are studying medieval times for history, so Ann hired a seamstress here Chiang Mai to make her a medieval dress. Here's the result:
A Musician at the Sunday Night Market
This young girl, dressed in traditional Hill Tribe costume, prepares to perform for the crowds at the Sunday Night Market.
The Sunday Night Market
I've blogged about the Sunday Night Market several times before, because it's one of our favorite places to go in Chiang Mai. We went this week to purchase some gifts to give to friends back in the States. In between shopping stops, we did some shooting and some eating. Here's a couple pictures:
The irony of this shot is that the shooting range is in the courtyard of a Buddhist wat (temple). Emmy had 3 bulls-eyes.
This fish-shaped waffles looked good, though we didn't try any. I had a kiwi fruit smoothie and a shawarma.
The irony of this shot is that the shooting range is in the courtyard of a Buddhist wat (temple). Emmy had 3 bulls-eyes.
This fish-shaped waffles looked good, though we didn't try any. I had a kiwi fruit smoothie and a shawarma.
Come Again?
Most Thais learn English, but many don't learn it very well.* Maybe English class is part of the problem? Here's a sign I spotted on the wall of the English room in a Thai school recently.
* Uh, not that I have room to judge. My Thai is pretty bad.
* Uh, not that I have room to judge. My Thai is pretty bad.
Cute Kid
Caught this cute girl posing for me recently. She's obviously lived in Asia for a while, as the v-sign is commonly flashed by Asians when they get their pictures taken.
Practicing English
Found a group of students in a Thai school practicing their English by playing Scrabble. Except that I didn't recognize some of the "English" words they were spelling. So I looked in the "English" dictionary they were using; I didn't recognize a lot of the words in there either. It's a good idea, but I'm not sure how helpful it was.
McCullough's 1776
I recently finished reading David McCullough's "1776," a re-counting of the events of that year, focusing mostly on the war Washington led against Britain's Howe. While McCullough is an excellent researcher, he's a lousy story-teller. So many details are interjected into the story that it doesn't flow; it's not so much hard to read as it is disjointed (he needs a really good editor). Additionally, he ends the book in the middle of the story (the end of 1776), while the war is still going on and the conclusion of America's independence still undecided; that was awkward. Although I found the story/history interesting, I can't say I really recommend this book.
Spirits in a Play
A third visible evidence of the animism in Thailand is the representation of spirits in plays. They are masked characters with faces that look like dragons or wild animals. Like any character in a play, they can interact with people. Here are a couple shots taken from a play put on just off the Walking Street Market in Chiang Mai:
Guardian Dragons
Another visible evidence of animism are guardian dragons. They are placed at entrances of houses or wats (Buddhist temples) for protection. In essence, they are good spirits that guard against evil spirits. Below are some of the dragons that guard houses in our neighborhood:
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