CSBS Vancouver

I (Christopher) will be leaving to go to Vancouver for the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS) annual meeting. This year it is held at UBC. Meetings are held throughout Canada. Since the meeting is so close to my parents house I thought I would take the oppurtunity to go. The meeting consists of session in which various scholars present papers based upon research they have been doing throughout the year. This is normally a good place to test out a new idea. I submitted a paper based upon the thesis which I wrote as part of the requirements for my MA degree at McMaster Divinity College (Hamilton, ON). I am presenting on Tuesday, June 3. The paper is titled "These are the Days of the Prophets." I have posted the abstract below. I hope to publish this at a later point.

_____________________________
The scholarly conversation concerning Ezra-Nehemiah has largely been focussed on diachronic methods. Tamara Eskenazi was the first to consider Ezra-Nehemiah synchronically. Her work was an exceptional as well as essential step forward. However, her focus on the unity of Ezra and Nehemiah causes her to overlook the plot structure of Ezra 1–6. In this study a plot structure is outlined for Ezra 1–6 based upon the עלה (go up) imperative and the בנה (build) imperative which are given by Cyrus in Ezra 1:2–4. The Judean people are able to accomplish the עלה imperative without conflict, but the בנה imperative is not completed so easily as the temple rebuilding project reaches a standstill in Ezra 4:24. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah then intervene and become the catalyst for the resolution of the narrative (5:1, 6:14). This study highlights the narrative role of the prophets in Ezra 1–6.

Kenya Update No. 5

Here is another update from Leona.

__________________________
On Monday we drove to Garissa. That was so interesting. Here in Nairobi it has been warm for a couple of hours during lunch time but otherwise kind of cool, but still nice. When we drove to Garissa you could really feel the weather change. It was so hot and sticky when we got there and it is only five hours of Kenyan road (which is full of pot holes sometimes and therefore a slower drive). It really felt that we were driving into the desert. Nairobi is very green and as we got farther away the landscape became very sandy. Closer to Garissa we saw many dried-out rivers, Camel herds, and just incredible poverty. The conditions that people lived under are hard to describe. We saw many little huts (if you can even call them that) that were made out of sticks. And another thing that I found so interesting was that we were driving throught the desert and there were people walking along the road, I could not figure out what they were doing there. We could see for miles and there were no houses or anything in sight. And it was not only a few people. It was just so interesting and shocking. We were only in Garissa for one evening and one morning and we saw some things there, but I thought that the drive was the most interesting part.

Kenya Update No. 4

I (Christopher) was sitting in the Tim Horton's at Warden and Eglinton and my cell-phone rang and it was Leona calling from Kenya. This may have been one of the more expensive phone calls in our life, but it is obviously worth it. She was visiting her former co-worker in Nairobi. The group had a free afternoon to tour the city after the church service on Sunday.

This week they are making the trek east in Kenya to Garissa from Nairobi. She mentioned that she kissed a giraffe twice the previous day and has been seeing a fair amount on interesting wildlife. One of the components of last weekend was to learn how to bargain at the local markets. The African students were to aid the Canadian students. When I talked to her she said that she had used her new found bargaining skills to purchase numerous interesting items.

Hope you are enjoying these updates.

Kenya Update- May 23, 2008

I talked to Leona last night from the Lukenya hotel in which she was staying. Today she left for Nairobi and will be there for most of the next week. Last week was filled mostly with the class portion of the trip. The plan is see the sites around Nairobi for the next couple days which she is really excited about. On Sunday afternoon she plans to see one of her former co-workers who lives in Nairobi.

Second Update from Kenya

Here is a summary of the second update from Leona:

---------------

The resort is soooo amazing. We were hanging out at the pool today over lunch. We are getting so spoiled. It is unbelievable. The food is great our room is huge and beautiful, my roommate is great. I was ready to move out of my comfort zone, but it seems that I do not have to at least this week. I had a crepe with chocolate sauce for breakfast!!! I was going to tell you, I was so mad at myself yesterday. I was going to look for the Nile when we were flying, because we could see clearly, but I fell asleep right before we flew over it. Others of the group saw it. Too bad, eh. Maybe on the way back.

-----------------

First Update from Kenya- May 16- 2008

I am here and everything went well. The place we are staying at is absolutely stunning and we don't even know what it looks like during the day. It was dark out when we left the airport. But we saw the landscape when flying in. It is so beautiful.

You would not believe the drive we had from the airport to this place. Absolutely nuts. It took us probably an hour and a half. I thought the road would be bad outside of Nairobi, but I can't really imagine them being much worse.

Anyway, I am having a great time, can't wait to wake up in the morning and see Africa on the ground. Monkeys and giraffes are supposedly all around here.

Introduction

...so this Blog will provide a way for those of you who are interested in what Leona and I are doing. While in Kenya (she left on Friday, May 16) Leona will be sending me updates and I will be posting them up here. We will continue to use this Blog while in Germany to chronicle the different places that we visit. Hope you enjoy.