Well, not really. Nerds unleashed is more like it.
I periodically get questions about the annual trek to wherever ETS, SBL, ASOR, IBR, etc. are held (San Diego this year). Chief among them is “What’s it about?” and “What do you do there?” I can only answer that for me, so don’t expect a thrill ride.
The academic conferences are the best time of year for three things: (1) catching up with friends who are as geeky as I am; (2) getting discounts on scholarly books where the bestseller threshold is triple digits (which matches the cost of many of them without the discount); and (3) listening to other scholars talk about complex, esoteric, and arcane topics.
I can hardly wait. Really. I printed out my book wish list yesterday. It has about 100 titles, about half of which are $100 or more retail (and they’re not reference sets — they are single titles). Once reality sets it about mid-week, I’ll end up getting a few. Sometimes it helps to linger at the book tables the last day. Some publishers offer an extra discount the hour before closing time. They don’t want to ship their contraband back home. (But truth be told, some just fear the book trolls and want us to go away).
What sorts of sessions do I want to attend? Well, there probably won’t be anything as fun as last year’s astrobiology afternoon on religion and ET (courtesy of the American Academy of Religion), but there will be some interesting cage matches (er … sessions) on inerrancy this year. If I see Pete Enns wearing a Yankees cap I’ll have to knock it off. (If you’re reading this, Pete, I’ll be wearing my Red Sox cap … you’ve been warned).
Seriously, there are over a thousand sessions during the week. Here are some lectures on my “hope to get to it” list:
The Punishment of the Powers: Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 82 as the Backdrop for Isaiah 34
Sacred Space in the Pentateuch
Fallen Angels, Bastard Spirits, and the Birth of God’s Son: An Enochic Etiology of Evil in Galatians
Irenaeus on the Deification of Believers and the Divinity of the Spirit
Adam and Eve at Old Princeton
The Inheritance of the Cosmic Kingdom in the Psalms and Isaiah
Greco-Roman Mythological Eschatology: The Denial of the Resurrection at Corinth
In the Religion and Science Fiction Study Group:
- Dad Wanted a Boy: Gender, Embodiment, and Transcendence in Gravity and 2001
- Hail Ripley, Full of Grace: The Evolving Paradigm of Woman as Secular Savior in Apocalyptic Science Fiction Film
- Before Superman There Was Doctor Occult: Esoteric Themes in Superhero Comics of the Golden Age
- Avengers Disassembled: Exploring the Material Culture of Sacred and Hi-Tech Weapons in Whedon’s The Avengers
“So Shall Your Seed Be”: Paul’s Use of Gen 15:5 in Rom 4:18 in light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions
Revolutionary Sacred Architecture: Akhenaten’s Sun Temples and Israel’s Tent
The Founding of the Temple in Ancient Egypt and Israel
Teaching the Bible with Google Earth and Other Visualization Tools
Akkadian Demonology and Hebrew Theology: A Phenomenological Approach
Rock Giants, a Magic Stone, and Many Destructions of the World: Extra-biblical Literature in the Noah Movie
Creation as Cosmic Temple
Sacred Trees in Ancient Near Eastern Iconography And Their Impact for the Interpretation of Genesis 2–4
What Is a Cherub?
The Function of the Heavenly Cult in Hebrews and Its Predecessors
Early Christian Mysticism, Angelomorphic Identity, and the Shepherd of Hermas
By now you’re either thinking, “Wow, those sound so cool!” or “Mike, you need help.” Or both.
Anyway, that gives you all an idea.
So yeah, I’m one who thinks “cool!” Are any of these sessions recorded, transcribed, read from papers already published (or will be soon)?
Book troll… Hilarious
J
In the past, ETS and NEAS sessions are recorded, but that’s all. No recording is done at SBL, IBR, or ASOR.
See: http://www.wordmp3.com/ets-recordings
hello Michael, im new (three years) to Christianity and am finding that one can lose their salvation if they choose to walk away from it. im wondering if u could recomend a good unbiased book covering both arguments. what is your belief on that, btw? also is there a good complete bible study on dvd i can purchase (that includes those arguments and ufo’s, giants, etc.) please let me know. thank u so much for yout time. im a big fan of yours!
kindly, sergio
see this title:
http://www.amazon.com/Views-Eternal-Security-Matthew-Pinson/dp/0310234395/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418193202&sr=1-1&keywords=assurance+salvation+four+view
My view is that there are no unbelievers in heaven.
Yes Mike, you do need help, help spreading this glorious knowledge around,of which it is “The Glory of Kings to search out”–The “Before Superman there was Dr. Occult” also brings to bear something I feel is our mission to bring knowledge to people on, concerning how how Hollywood is being run by the Occult– All the way back from its beginnings. And a lot of OUR beginnings -I knew there was something about some of those cartoons and programs that came into the door of our houses (Hebrew Pictograph there)—And now this book is saying Dr. Occult was their Pre-cursors. Is this, among other things, part of what that book is about ,revealing how those programs had occultic things in them? Maybe you can enlighten us on some of the Occultic things in those cartoons of the 50s ,60s. Also , about the other book concerning Enoch. I want to say this. When I had Only read the book of Enoch, and heard about its influence,I Immediatly recognized its influence throughout the bible– honest, I tell the Truth , I saw it so clearly. That is why I am excited about sharing this with people , because it is so clear, and gives such a good understanding.
The book by Nolan (“Our Gods Wear Spandex”) does a lot with comic books and occult / ancient astronaut themes.
My how all the pieces of the puzzle faithfully come together. One of the main spirits that beg to be exposed is the spirit of effeminancy in Hollywood .Do we realize that a majority of those Kollywoood actors are steeped in effeminancy? I have a photo of two Jews walking up a grade that my Dad took on RR during WW2 in Jerusalem, carrying huge loads and built like Oxen. No I dont suck in those images Hollywood gives us of Jesus or anyone else. They tried with Arnold, but it didnt work-Bingo-“Our Gods wear Spandex”
I’m not sure what you mean by this connection/trajectory.
Are not those Hollywood cartoons and shows, just contemporary appearances of what the ancients did in their Occultic practices? Maybe I am just not understanding what these books are about that you referenced. You tell me.I am just saying that, some of those cartoons and shows we watched in the 50s 60s and 70s if you look at society in Hollywood in those days,many of those people were living effeminate lives and have had influence on what the USA is today, to a degree.One example I can think of is those movies portraying Jesus as this skinny effeminate guy, when I have photos of Jewish guys who are very robust looking, that my dad took on RR during WW 2 in Jerusalem. Is not mis -representing Jesus the work of demonic(fallen angel) spirits. Effeminacy is just a side issue here, howbeit a main one, it is just a side issue. Because you have programs like The Adams family, Munsters, Bewitched, that are actually very fallen angel influenced.Like I said, maybe I am just not understanding what these books are about that you referenced. You tell me.–But one of the statements I make to people often, and they love it, is , I say–“I have hung around the REAL gods of the earth most of my life, not the false ones of Hollywood, who are just fame seekers” –Meaning, “I have hung around my brothers and sisters in Christ, who know how to love, and image God correctly”.
Just in service to your readers-I want to correct something I spotted in the above post –Kollywoood was a hasty Typo, not some new hip word for effeminate actors.