Logocentric (adj).Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).
Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:
I have always enjoyed the longer distance running and skiing. The Marathon in Summer Olympics and the 50km Mass Start in the Winter. My wife can't understand how I can watch the same race for several hours. But they are fascinating to me. I like the Downhill Slalom, Bobsled and Luge sports. Attending a Winter Olympics remains on my bucket list.
My favorite sporting events in the Winter Olympics are the Luge, Bobsled, Figure Skating and curling. Initially, I thought I would be bored with curling but I'm not. It's fascinating how they determine each glide's angle and potential score.
When my children were younger we built them a luge course, they loved it. We were lucky that winter to have lots of snow to build up the walls and with some help with pallets that we covered with snow, it kept them and the neighborhood kids busy until it warmed up and melted. I was a lot more at ease with the luge course than I was when they decided to try arial jumps off our house roof. Never a dull moment when you live in Maine.
I am reading ESV through the Bible this time. Like you, I've explored a bunch of translations. My church uses NIV but my women's Bible study group (part of the same church) varies based on what Bible study we're doing.
Hope you enjoy the Olympics! I agree that the every four year thing makes them feel more special.
I read the New American Bible, which is a Catholic Bible. (NABRE) They include Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, which generally aren't included in other versions of the Bible. I would be curious to read an orthodox bible or the Ethiopian Bible as I hear they have differences as well.
As for the Olympics, I love the Winter Olympics. I'm just crossing my fingers I have time to watch!
In terms of the original texts the NASB has the best reputation among conservative scholars. It looks at more translations, has a sensible hierarchy of text selection and the best principles for approaching the translation task. It favors original texts when possible. The ESV and NKJV are on a similar level. The Net Bible gives the best overview of the discussions in its commentary. The NIV renders the original text to make it more readable. It is a more functional text which is why many churches use it but it is also less precise. Greek or Russian orthodox are more Septuagint orientated and there is a considerable amount of ethical or emotional rendering to the text.The disadvantage of the NASB is that it loses much of the Hebrew poetical style in its effort to be precise as this does not translate into the English
I'm very fortunate to have met some practicing and humble Christians. Truly humble people seek to serve, not attain power and influence. The actions of many Christians make me run the opposite way... as fast as I can.
In his book, Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee states: "Nothing has done greater damage to our Christian testimony than our trying to be right and demanding right of others. We become preoccupied with what is and what is not right. We ask ourselves,' Have we been justly or unjustly treated?' and we think thus to vindicate our actions. But that is not our standard. The whole question for us is one of crossbearing".
Jeff, this is an excellent book. Perhaps one for your reading list?
If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you choose?
As tempting as it would be to indulge my vanity and choose to have a thirty-year old body for the final sixty years of my life, I'd choose to keep my thirty-year-old mind instead. Yeah, that's right. I'd forego all the Dorian Gray jokes, then wondering whether I'm some kind of immortal vampire, all the money I'd make as a spokesperson for some anti-aging supplement, and instead I'd choose to have a sharper mind and the full clarity of a brain at its prime.
Mostly, what it comes down to is the kinds of activities that I enjoy. If I were a more outdoorsy person or enjoyed physical activity, I could totally understand wanting the resilient body of a thirty-year old so you could run a marathon every year for sixty years, or so you can play pick-up basketball games every weekend with your friends forever. But the things that I enjoy doing (reading, writing, watching films, thinking, etc.) are all things that don't necessarily require a clear mind, but are definitely enhanced by one. I'm the kind of person who can enjoy just sitting there and reading a good book, and gets an enormous amount of satisfaction out of thinking through a problem, or typing at a computer and making up stories. I could do those things forever, so I'd love to have the mental acuity to be able to continue doing those things as well at 80 as I was in my prime at 30.
These kinds of "either/or" questions always make me wonder whether my answer would change if the particulars of the scenario changed. For example, would I still take the mind over body option if I knew I was only going to live to be sixty? What if it was the body and mind of a forty-year-old? What ratio would I choose if I could take 60 years off my mind and body (e.g., would I rather have an unbalanced 30-year mind and 90-year body, or would I split the difference and go with a 60-year mind and 60-year body at the age of 90)? Honestly, I think that would be kind of a fun way to go through life, if rather than a dramatic 60-year difference between one or the other, if I was just perpetually 30 years younger in mind and body than my chronological age. To be physically and mentally 30 at age 60, 45 at age 75, 50 at 80, etc. would be awesome.
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