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Apologia Report 16:24 (1,074)
July 14, 2011
Subject: What the Mayans were really expecting In 2012
In this issue:
2012 DOOMSDAY PROPHECY - Mayan scholar's translation of 2012 import curiously at odds with popular interpretation
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION - the "irrationality and logical impossibility" of depending only on the Bible?
CHRISTOLOGY - the resurrection and "insights of professional historians who are not biblical scholars"
MORMONISM - award-winning "Book of Mormon" musical is all Hollywood, and little reality
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2012 DOOMSDAY PROPHECY
The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth About 2012, by David Stuart [1] -- reviewer Gerard Helferich summarizes: "In The Order of Days, a leading scholar exposes this cosmic conspiracy theory for what it is. It's 'all complete nonsense,' David Stuart assures us, perpetrated by 'gurus and spiritualists who wouldn't know a Maya glyph if one hit them on the nose.' But more than a rebuttal of the apocalypse-pushers, The Order of Days is a broader (and more interesting) consideration of the role that time played in Maya culture. ...
"For the Maya, Dec. 21, 2012, would have been a red-letter date, the completion of a 144,000-day (or nearly 400-year) period called a bak'tun, and it would have been marked with ceremonies presided over by their kings. But the milestone - known as '13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahaw 3 K'ank'in' on the Long Count calendar - would not have signaled the end of the world. Rather, it would have heralded the beginning of a new bak'tun, a resetting of the cosmic odometer analogous to the one we marked on January 1, 2000. ...
"If the Maya never predicted that the world would end on next year's winter solstice, why do so many people believe they did? According to Mr. Stuart, the 2012 phenomenon tells us more about ourselves than about the Maya - about our attitude toward supposedly mystical cultures, our quest for spiritual meaning and the anxieties provoked by modern life. ...
"Mr. Stuart brings to his task considerable intellectual heft. The son of two scholars of Maya civilization, he has traveled on archaeological digs since the age of 3 and has deciphered Maya hieroglyphs since he was 8. He delivered his first academic paper at 12, and at 18 he received a MacArthur 'genius award.' [H]is passion is contagious, and the more-than-casual reader will find The Order of Days an authoritative study of an fascinating and timely topic." Wall Street Journal, May 21 '11, pC8. <www.on.wsj.com/qtDsz2>
For a preview, see Stuart's "Q & A about 2012" at <www.bit.ly/pZ2fy6>.
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BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture, by Christian Smith [2] -- "American evangelicalism is a textured and varied collection of believers, scholars, and students. Despite the variety of belief and practice, one idea unites them: the centrality of the Bible, and the determined appeal to sola scriptura that has defined their religious basis from earliest times. The much published Smith, a professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame, sets out in this finely constructed volume to question not just the wisdom but even the possibility of depending only on the Bible to define faith and practice. The 'Bible only' foundational belief is so ingrained in the consciousness of evangelicalism that asserting its irrationality and logical impossibility strikes at the very heart of what motivates and defines the evangelical community. Smith makes a persuasive case for shifting one's focus from the sole authority of the words of scripture to the one whom scripture proclaims to be 'the way, the truth and the life.' Such a shift, he insists, is necessary for American evangelicalism to move forward." Expect a backlash from evangelical academics. Publishers Weekly, Jun #2 '11, n.p.
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CHRISTOLOGY
The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, by Michael R. Licona [3] -- the unnamed reviewer tells us: "Licona (Southern Evangelical Seminary) notes that few biblical scholars have formal education in secular historiography and historical research methods. He seeks to apply the insights of professional historians who are not biblical scholars to the historical analysis of reports of the resurrection of Jesus. Licona analyzes possible sources, both canonical and noncanonical, for the resurrection written within 200 years of Jesus' death. After identifying sources that the majority of scholars would consider most reliable, Licona compiles a short list of 'bedrock' facts for which nearly unanimous consensus exists among a wide range of scholars, including Christians, Jews, agnostics, and atheists. Using these bedrock facts and methods identified in the first chapter, Licona analyzes and compares the resurrection theories proposed by several prominent scholars. He rates each theory on explanatory scope, explanatory power, plausibility, degree to which the theory is ad hoc, and ability of the theory to account for related facts or problems. Not all will agree with Licona's conclusions, of course, but readers of this well-written, well-documented book will find that both the process used and the issues covered are fascinating." Choice, Jun '11, n.p.
Norm Geisler is one who has trouble with Licona's thinking here. Amazon.com includes his significant criticism (review #8, at <www.tinyurl.com/7shppfb>).
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MORMONISM
"Theme of 'Book of Mormon' musical not quite true" by David Brooks -- the hugely successful, Tony award-winning Broadway production depicts "Mormon missionaries who find themselves in an AIDS-ravaged, warlord-dominated region in Uganda. It ridicules Mormonism but not the Mormons, who are loopy but ultimately admirable.
"The central theme of 'The Book of Mormon' is that many religious stories are silly — the idea that God would plant golden plates in upstate New York. Many religious doctrines are rigid and out of touch.
"But religion itself can do enormous good as long as people take religious teaching metaphorically and not literally; as long as people understand that all religions ultimately preach love and service underneath their superficial particulars; as long as people practice their faiths open-mindedly and are tolerant of different beliefs.
"This warm theme infuses the play with humanity and compassion. It also plays very well to an educated American audience. Many Americans have always admired the style of belief that is spiritual but not doctrinal, pluralistic and not exclusive, which offers tools for serving the greater good but is not marred by intolerant theological judgments.
"The only problem with 'The Book of Mormon' (you realize when thinking about it later) is that its theme is not quite true. Vague, uplifting, nondoctrinal religiosity doesn't actually last. The religions that grow, succor and motivate people to perform heroic acts of service are usually theologically rigorous, arduous in practice and definite in their convictions about what is True and False. ...
"The religions that thrive have exactly what 'The Book of Mormon' ridicules: communal theologies, doctrines and codes of conduct rooted in claims of absolute truth. ...
"I was once in an AIDS-ravaged village in southern Africa. The vague humanism of the outside do-gooders didn't do much to get people to alter their risky behavior. The blunt theological talk of the church ladies - right and wrong, salvation and damnation - seemed to have a better effect." Salt Lake Tribune, May 10 '11, n.p., <www.http://bit.ly/mRMzrs>
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SOURCES: Monographs
1 - The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth About 2012, by David Stuart (Harmony, 2011, hardcover, 368 pages)
2 - The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture, by Christian Smith (Brazos, 2011, hardcover, 240 pages) <www.amzn.to/pyrjcF>
3 - The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, by Michael R. Licona (IVP, 2010, paperback, 718 pages) <www.amzn.to/mWr3YW>
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