Apikorus

Gee, the last time I was at an SBL meeting nobody so much as mentioned theology. Well, that's what I get for hanging out with the archaeology guys.

Oooh. McLaren has a Wikipedia entry. Now that changes everything. Toto you're right that he's apparently not much of a scholar. No Ph.D.?

Toto

You not so "with it" as you appear. "Queer" is used as a badge of honor by gay liberation activists and others who reject the sexual straighjackets of traditional culture.

Apikorus

Anyone not familiar with the term "queer studies" hasn't been around the block, academically speaking.

Save us from postmodern malarkey by Wm. G. Dever. The postmodernists have even tried a foray into my field (physics). It hasn't gone so well for them. The real world keeps popping up at the most inconvenient times.

musashiaharon

Almah absolutely does not mean virgin. There is a verse in Mishlei (Proverbs) 30:18-19 which says:

"There are three things the earth trembles, and a fourth I do not know: the way of an eagle in the heavens; the way of a snake upon a rock; the way of a ship in the heart of the sea; and the way of a man with a young woman (almah)." (Stone Edition Tanach)

Being with a man obviously would put a young woman's virginity in danger.

Also, that the Septuagint translates almah as parthenos is of no account, at least to the Jewish view. The seventy rabbis who were forced to translate the Torah into Greek only translated the 5 books of Moses. The rest of the Septuagint was translated by the Church centuries later.

EDIT: added citation

Toto

Perhaps Gamera can explain his relevance here.

Apikorus

Isn't it obvious, Toto? Mr. McLaren has interests in medieval drama, romantic poetry, modern philosophy, and the novels of Dr. Walker Percy. He is also a musician and songwriter. So of course we should defer to his expertise on Hebrew Bible. I suspect he is completely ignorant of Hebrew and Aramaic, which is better still, since, as we have learned from the postmodernists, language is an artificial, derived social construct.

Gamera

Ah, sarcasm. The sound of somebody losing an argument and trying to change the subject. I never indicated that McLaren was a academician; I mentioned him (and there are dozens more) to rebut your claim that post-structuralism is a "flop" as to biblical studies. I suspect (I know) more books have come out on post-structural Christian studies in the last 5 years than the old tired historical criticism camp. It's old news.

Gamera

Toogle down and catch up with the argument and you'll see.

Gamera

"Postmodern obscurantism" -- nothing like argument by invective. I suspect you've never read any significant post-structural works on historical studies. By the way, start with Foucault's History of Sexualty Vol. I, which sets the standard for discussing homosexuality in the classic world, and hence in the NT. But no, he's an obscurantist

Chris Weimer

Post-structuralism, better known as post-modernism, is the biggest waste of time after fundamentalism. The position is logically flawed - any position which is founded on illogical absurdism is not to be taken seriously.

It's virtually useless in any studies, let alone historical studies.