The Sword

Darrell Doughty on Tacitus Recovery

2011-06-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

I was hunting for this page and found out it is no longer up at http://www.courses.drew.edu/sp2000/BIBST189.001/Tacitus.html So I thought I'd save it here, out of the cache. Thank all gods for the Wayback Machine. +++++++++++++++++ Tacitus' Account of Nero's Persecution of Christians. Annals 15.44.2-8 Text and Discussion This passage is often cited by Christian scholars as an early witness

Well, still not here yet

2011-04-03T20:11:00.001-07:00

I was going to be posting here, but then a local county government gave me a great gig that has me traveling most of my off days down in southern Taiwan. Hope to see you all by the end of the month.

Bible Argh from Newsweek

2011-02-16T06:15:00.000-08:00

All over Facebook and Twitter is Newsweek's completely incompetent article on marriage and the Bible:First, while the Bible and Jesus say many important things about love and family, neither explicitly defines marriage as between one man and one woman. And second, as the examples above illustrate, no sensible modern person wants marriage—theirs or anyone else's —to look in its particulars

Creak Letting some light in...

2010-12-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

I've decided to re-open this blog over the next couple of months. So let's let a little light into this place with some pics from my ride last week up in Miaoli, the county north of Taichung city where I live. Cycling has become a kind of national sport in Taiwan, one that blends the emerging concepts of green leisure and sustainable lifestyle -- here in Taiwan marketed as a consumer ideal rather

CFP: Christianity and China, J of Amer-E Asian Relations

2007-03-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a fascinating topic combining Christianity with foreign affairs in a key global location:++++++++++++++++H-ASIA March 25, 2007Call for Articles: Special Issue of Journal of American-East Asian Relations********************From: "Dong Wang" Call for Submissions for a Special Issue of the Journal of American-East Asian Relations"Christianity in China as an Issue in the History of United

Esther as Taiwanese Opera

2007-03-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

A Taiwanese opera group has decided to stage the Jewish tale of Esther from the Christian Bible using Taiwanese opera.A rare combination of traditional Taiwanese opera and orchestral music with the Bible story of Queen Esther will be presented by Yage Theater at Taipei City Hall's playhouse at 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow.Yage Theater and Everlight Chemical Industrial Co. have invited senior

Revving up for Action

2007-03-01T21:37:00.000-08:00

Watch this space. I'll be posting soon.

Blogging Issues

2006-03-20T04:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't been around here in a while, and it doesn't seem likely I'll have much chance to blog here more than once or twice a month, as my work schedule has increased dramatically, since my parents are coming this summer and my son is going back to hideously expensive private school next semester (*gasp of pain*). I am also trying to finish two books this semester.Lately I've been nurturing my

Mark 7:1-23

2006-02-01T02:55:00.000-08:00

Back from celebrating Chinese New Year in Hsinchu to return to the discussion of Mark 7:1-23 on the NT Gateway blog. Goodacre was wondering about the problems translating the "parenthetical" comment at the end of Jesus' speech in 7:18-19:Now it may be that the standard translation picks up the sense of this interpretative clause, even if it overstates it, but even there I am not sure. Could the

The Gospel Hoax by Stephen Carlson

2006-01-23T18:27:00.000-08:00

The Gospel Hoax: Morton Smith's Invention of Secret MarkStephen C. CarlsonBaylor University Press, 2005, 151 pages"The way of testing it, therefore, was not to consider what the machine had read, but rather how it had read it....Regardless of the thoughts passing through the mind, the thought patterns record themselves unique to the person. I compared yours with a record of Murugan's which I

Gibson on Mark 14: Was Jesus Killed in the Temple?

2006-01-22T20:13:00.000-08:00

I finally got a minute to read Gibson's paper on the blasphemy charge in Mark 14, which he posted to the list a last week.In this essay Gibson argues that the writer of Mark intended to compare the Sanhedrin who tried Jesus to the Zealots of the Jewish rebellion. Gibson locates parallels between the trial before Jesus and the sham trial of Zachariah son of Baruch by the Zealots:"Here, as in Mk 14

Hurtado, Segal, Kloppenborg Criteria Discussion at Slate

2005-12-23T20:18:00.000-08:00

Mark Goodacre left a parting Xmas gift on his blog, a link to a discussion between scholars Larry Hurtado, John Kloppenborg, and Alan Segal about NT historical studies. Alan Segal commented:New Testament scholars who wanted to show that Jesus was a historical figure have developed over the last century criteria for judging the historical reliability of a source, like the New Testament, which was

DSS, Physical Anthropology, and the NT Ivory Tower

2005-12-23T06:09:00.000-08:00

Recently on the Bibilical Studies discussion list, ably hosted by Jim West (how can he do that AND have a life?), there was a discussion about how layman view scholars, and their interaction with the public. One point I made was(5) There is no history of scholarly debate *out in public* in this field. Contrast that with the debates that are staged out in the open over, say, human prehistory,

What is the Bible Literacy Project Really?

2005-12-21T01:15:00.000-08:00

Recently the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) forum published a review of "The Bible and Its Influence," the new textbook which the Biblical Literacy Project is promoting for use in secondary schools across the United States. A paragraph in the review caught my attention, for it repeated criticisms of the project that I had made several months ago on this blog:It is not surprising in our

Bible Math Textbook

2005-12-20T03:37:00.000-08:00

From the humor category, Harper's Readings has some excerpts from this Biblical Precalculus textbook for youths in private Christian Schools, published by that center of academic excellence, Bob Jones University:A line can be described either by its slope (a ratio) or by its inclination (an angle). These terms describe the deviation from the horizontal, but the word inclination also has a

Ekphrasis, Atwill, Isis, and the TF

2005-12-18T01:05:00.000-08:00

About six months ago I summarized Joseph Atwill's arguments regarding the TF and its surrounding passages.Fundamentally, Atwill regards the two paragraphs immediately following the TF as parodies of Jesus and early Christianity. As I noted before:Atwill then notes the very interesting fact that both tales have essentially the same plot. In both tales wicked priests trick a woman of "dignity",

Jacob Aliet's Review of My Commentary on Mark

2005-12-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

A good friend has reviewed my Commentary in detail and very usefully. Here is his review. I'm setting up as a permament web page as well. Review of Michael Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark Reviewed by Jacob Aliet, Dec. 2005 . 27 The last few years have seen the publication of three books arguing that the Jesus story is really the story of a Roman Emperor. These include Jesus was Caesar: On the Julian origin of Christianity, an Investigative Report, by Francesco Carotta, and

Congratulations to Mark Goodacre Again!

2005-05-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Mark Goodacre for the new post in the USA! I predict, however, that Mark will be forced to turn this post down. This is because he'll have to apply for a visa to enter the US, which in turn will force him to reveal the secret to how he is able to perform research, teach, write, blog, and still find time to raise a beautiful family and watch movies -- he is actually triplets.

Bryan Cox Assimilated!

2005-05-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

Another brave soul has been captured by the Blogsphere! Bryan Cox, sometime sparring partner in the Bible Criticism Forum at Infidels, has fallen to the Blogsphere after a vicious struggle to remain unaddicted. His new Blog, Biblaridion, is available deep in the heart of the Blogsphere. Here's Bryan after the assimlation took place.Byran after throwing his ring into the...er...his hat into the

Theological Terms from the Esoteric Dictionary of Quasi-Spiritual Mistaken Knowledge

2005-05-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

I found this over at XnForums....originally from The DoorTheological Terms from the Esoteric Dictionary of Quasi-Spiritual Mistaken KnowledgeBy Randall F. WestIssue #188, July/August 2003Trini-tini-tarianism – Belief in a miniscule but three-personed God.Exebegesis – Textual interpretation that results in scaring the pants off you.Septuasquint – Vision deficit resulting from intense study of

Was Detering Right about the Date of Mark?

2005-05-22T01:38:00.000-07:00

Was Detering Right about the Date of Mark? The following verse, Mark 13:14 is one of the most famous verses in the Gospel: 14: "But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; (RSV)This is the famous "Abomination of Desolation" that the writer derived from Daniel 9:27. The majority of

Bible Literacy Project

2005-05-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: If you have come to this from another site, I have now demonstrated that the Biblical Literacy Project is a project of the American Religious Right.++++++++++I hadn't been planning to blog here this week, but courtesy forces me to....Sarah Jenislawski, Executive Director of the Bible Literacy Project, left some comments on my blog about my earlier post on the Bible Literacy Project:"Thank

Snowed under...

2005-05-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

...by classwork and translation. Won't be posting here til next week. On the list, reviews of Atwill's Caesar's Messiah, Mack's A Myth of Innocence, more on Mark and Q, and other stuff.

Bible Illiteracy?

2005-05-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

The Weekly Standard article on Bible Illiteracy linked to at Bibleinterp.com claims:Lincoln was America's most "biblical" president--"no president has ever had the detailed knowledge of the Bible that Lincoln had," writes the historian William Wolf. Lincoln turned to the Bible more and more frequently and fervently as the war progressed. His heterodox but profound Christianity showed him how to

Neusner on Morton Smith

2005-05-15T05:15:00.000-07:00

The following was posted to the Biblical Studies list, owned by Jim West. I suspect that we're going to see a lot more of this over the next few weeks. I am confident that Carlson is right, and so are the others who have seen the paper. But I think it would be best if everyone held off with the attacks on Morton Smith, and later engaged in thoughtful post-mortems rather than vengeful

Why are strict religions popular? An economist explains

2005-05-14T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Power of the Mustard Seed:Why strict churches are strong, a summary on Slate.com:What does the pious person get in return for all of his or her time and effort? A church full of passionate members; a community of people deeply involved in one another's lives and more willing than most to come to one another's aid; a peer group of knowledgeable souls who speak the same language (or languages),

Bible Illiteracy is Rampant

2005-05-14T03:49:00.000-07:00

Bible Dudes Blog, whose comical format and fantastic sense of humor make it easy on both the eyes and the heart, reports on rampant theological illiteracy among Christians. The article they cite notes:For example, Michael J. Vlach, president of TheologicalStudies.org, a Web site devoted to providing Christian theological information, has reported that the most widely known Bible verse among

Congrats to Mark Goodacre: 2 Million

2005-05-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

Mark Goodacre's NT Gateway website reached its two millionth visitor today! Congratulations on the resounding success of the web's best New Testament website!Now I can finally shut down that bot I set up to run random searches at NT Gateway every thirty seconds. Managing that thing was really getting to be a pain....

My cousin writes on the Pope in Common Dreams

2005-05-13T04:58:00.000-07:00

Suzanne Camino writes Why I am Still a Catholic. She's a wonderful person whom I love very much, and I am proud that she had a global audience. Go Suzanne!

Carotta ..Again Info & Discussions

2005-05-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd put these posts about Carotta's claim that Julius Caesar was Jesus up here, since a poster who is pushing Carotta at IIDB has decided to engage in personal attacks on those who disagree.There's been quite a push in several forums about this book. The forums for the movie The Beast had a discussion. The push also appeared at ephilosopher.Anyway, without further ado, still more

Steve Carlson's Paper on Secret Mark is Out...

2005-05-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to take a moment and crow about Steve Carlson's paper on Secret Mark. Identifying the Hand of Secret Mark, was accepted for the 2005 Annual Meeting SBL's 125th Anniversary program unit Paleographical Studies in the Ancient Near East.I had the great privilege of reading a draft of this paper. After Steve gives this baby, everyone at that conference will look just like this:

What is a Minimalist?

2005-05-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Rod Green over on the JesusMysteries List notes:BTW, there is nothing "minimalist" about the Copenhagen perspective, a charge that perplexes me. The only thing they have minimized is bad history. Their history of Palestine is robust and full of people, places, and activities. They just don't happen to sync up with the OT.Excellent way of putting it, Rod.

Swamped....

2005-05-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

I'll be back next week.....Michael

Carotta: the Push

2005-05-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Those of you running, or involved in, forums devoted to Biblical Studies, ANE, and Classical lit, as well as informal discussion forums on Christianity and related topics, may be experiencing a concerted drive to push F. Carotta's book Jesus was Caesar On the Julian Origin of Christianity.Thanks to Toto at Infidels for the heads up on that one. A Google search will turn up many links,

Caesar's Messiah

2005-04-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

I have recently been forwarded an advance copy of the forthcoming book, Caesar's Messiah, by Joseph Atwill. From the blurb at Amazon:Author Joseph Atwill makes the case that the Christian Gospels were actually written under the direction of first-century Roman emperors. The purpose of these texts was to establish a peaceful Jewish sect to counterbalance the militaristic Jewish forces that had

Mark, Q, and Beelzebub II: Markan Interreferences

2005-04-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

This is the second in a series of posts on the Mark-Q overlaps.Before we actually get into the problem of the Mark-Q overlaps it will first be necessary to identify yet another stylistic technique of the writer of Mark. The Gospel of Mark appears to have been created in part by using the stories from the Old Testament as a framework for the events of Jesus' ministry, passion, death, and

Jim West on Iraqi Museums....

2005-04-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

I don't plan to post much on non-NT issues here, but the problem of antiquities theft and fraud does at least have a ghost of a relationship. I saw that Jim West writes on his Blog:The BBC carries the story, which begins Saddam Hussein's power had collapsed and the newly arrived US-led coalition forces were unable to prevent a crime against history. Professional smugglers connected to

Book Review: Thomas L. Thompson, The Messiah Myth: The Near Eastern Roots of Jesus and David

2005-04-24T02:13:00.000-07:00

I zoomed up to Taipei this weekend to pick up some books that a friend had procured for me overseas. In between trips to the Shanghai Hsiaoguan for Twice-Cooked Pork and hiking on the east coast:Taiwan's east coast offers spectacular sea cliffs and beautiful views.I managed to find the time to swallow a half-dozen books, including Thompson's The Messiah Myth. Here's a first pass at a review._____

Books here!

2005-04-21T02:36:00.000-07:00

Today the loot from Amazon I awarded myself last month after finishing a large translation job finally arrived. T Thompson's The Messiah Myth, T Weeden's Mark -- Traditions in Conflict, Lentz's book on the historical-critical method, and a bunch of others. I may go AWOL from the Sword this weekend, as are heading up to Keelung for some hiking in the wild terrain of the NE coast.

Is Mark Q? Beelzebub and the Mark-Q Overlaps

2005-04-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had to stay in Hsinchu again to watch the kids while my wife and her sister went shopping in the flower market. I found myself in another discussion with Earl Doherty over at JesusMysteries on the whole issue of Q, which Mark Goodacre's excellent The Case Against Q has convinced me is an artifact of scholarship.Several years back Fledderman (2001) argued that the Beelzebub

Leman Blog

2005-04-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd take a moment in between digesting calories I don't need at prices I can't afford to say that Wayne Leman has a blog devoted to English and translation wording problems in the various translations of the English bible some readers might be interested in.

Bede Responds on Chiasms

2005-04-14T04:42:00.000-07:00

The Christian apologist Bede has responded to my reconstruction of the original structure of Mark on his blog. Bede's overall assessment is quite negative. For those interested my annotated reconstruction is here. I hoped to get the comments and structure updated this weekend, but life has intervened, in the form of another trip to Hsinchu for expensive meals, swimming at the company spa, and

Is the Death of John in Mark an Interpolation? Not quite....

2005-04-12T07:23:00.000-07:00

In The Jesus the Jews Never Knew atheist and skeptic Frank Zindler argued that the appearance of John the Baptist in Mark 6 was an interpolation. Zindler's argument was very thin, based entirely on his perception of a seam. He writes:"The second major Markan passage retailing the tale of John the Baptist is found in chapter 6. Curiously, it takes the form of a fairy tale-like flashback -- perhaps

BLOGSPHERE CLAIMS NEW VICTIM

2005-04-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

BLOGSPHERE CLAIMS NEW VICTIMOLSON LATEST TO BE ASSIMILATEDNT scholar Ken Olson (pictured, below) became the latest to be assimilated by the Blogsphere this week with thelaunch of KAIMOI, adopting a rare Greek-French word meaning: "AND ME." As the blogsphere expands to fill the NT universe, will there be anyone left unblogged? We asked Robert Putnam, author of "Blogging Alone," a new book that

Biblical Studies Carnival is up and running!

2005-04-07T04:48:00.000-07:00

Joel Ng, who runs the Ebla Forum, has finally got his Biblical Studies Carnival Blog up and running! The blog summarizes the best of Bibliologs around the Net. Joel ideally wants: Original contributions with substantive comment on issues relating to the early Hebrew/Jewish and Christian scriptures (and pseudepigraphia), as well as Syro-Palestinian archaeology. Blogs themselves need not be

More work...

2005-04-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

I won't be able to post here until next week. I sure hate it when work interferes with my hobby! To come: Fowler, Crossan, Source-Critical methodologies, and Markan Chiasms......

Chreia in the Temple Cleansing in Mark

2005-04-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

From some comments on my Chiasm stuff earlier:I wonder if it's time to start thinking about all of this as evidence for layers of redaction...the bits that are not chiasmed would seem to be later additions, and it's interesting that there seems to be some correlation with those elements that are missing from Luke--I should look into this in more detail. Mr. Turton, have you discovered Ur-Markus?

Carotta Part II: Jesus...was not Julius

2005-04-02T04:41:00.000-08:00

Carotta's discussion of the Passion of Julius and the Passion of Jesus moves on to Simon of Cyrene.The King James Version lingers in our ears: ‘…to bear his cross.’ But Mark says arêi: ‘…to take up his cross, lift it.’[124]This is strange. According to Mark, Simon did not bear the cross in Jesus’ place but rather lifted it up, erected it. Did Jesus ever come in contact with that cross? Here again

Was J Caesar Really J Christ?

2005-04-01T07:34:00.000-08:00

Website Review:On the Julian Origin of Christianity– an investigative report –Jesus was CaesarFrancesco CarottaI thought I'd look at this idea. It crops up from time to time in forums where people discuss such stuff. The title of the page basically says it all -- Carotta's theory is that the Gospels actually are about Julius Caesar.The first page of Carotta's site deals mainly with what Caesar

Workload eases...more stuff coming up!

2005-03-23T06:15:00.000-08:00

Finally killed the last of a major run of work...looking forward to reviews of the Embarrassment criterion and the Crucifixion, and the fruitcake ideas of an Italian academic who has decided the Gospels are really the story of the death of Julius Caesar, as well as updates to my Markan chiasms, and book reviews of Fowler's Let the Reader Understand and Bowersock's Fiction as History.

Mark in Chiasms, Completed and Annotated.

2005-03-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

I have completed the chiastic structure of each pericope for the entire gospel and updated all my previous work. This laying out of Mark has paid dividends in my understanding of the author's original intention, and highlighted interpolations, redactions, and other text-critical issues. It has also shown the reason for many odd Markan habits, such as his doublets and duplications, and other

Chiasm Rules Update #2

2005-03-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

I've expanded the rules for making Markan Chiasms. As I expand the rules, I am updating previous structures, today adding Rule 9 to yesterday's Rule 8. For updated Chiasms, see the second excursus to Mark 16 on my commentary.1. Markan A brackets are almost always people shifting location2. The A' of the previous pericope is always the A of the next one -- that is the only rule the writer never

Chiasms: Mark 11:27-13:1

2005-03-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

Here is 11:27-13:1. All that is needed is to do 11:1-27, which has been surprisingly resistant, and then revise a few in the section from 8:22 to 11:1, and I can offer the entire back end of Mark, chiasmed more or less properly. Here's a look at what I've done today.

Mark 13: Chiastic structure

2005-03-14T06:59:00.000-08:00

I finally cracked Mark 13, having the experience of Mark 4 (groan! now gotta go back and redo that!). The sequence breaks out by Jesus' warnings to heed, the marker "Truly I say...", and by shifts in the target of Jesus' declarations. Where a speaker shifts to a new target in a speech, a new bracket is warranted. As always, you can see the updated chiasms on my Commentary.

Latest Rules for Putting Together Markan Chiasms

2005-03-14T04:50:00.000-08:00

I've expanded the rules for making Markan Chiasms. As I expand the rules, I am updating previous structures. For updated Chiasms, see the second excursus to Mark 16 on my commentary.1. Markan A brackets are almost always people shifting location2. The A' of the previous pericope is always the A of the next one -- that is the only rule the writer never violates.3. Actions may constitute separate

Chiastic Structure: Mark 1:14-6:13

2005-03-13T05:09:00.000-08:00

Hi y'all. Sick yet?I mapped everything from 1:14-6:13 today. No doubt some tinkering will still be required. I take no responsibility for the parable section in Mark 4, it makes not one whit of sense. I stopped at 6:13 as the execution of JBap was so long and involved, and the rules for putting it all together are not clear to me. I did make a very nice chiasm out of it that pivoted on the

Chiasms in Mark 8:22-11:1

2005-03-12T17:12:00.000-08:00

Here are the structures for Mark 8:22-11:1. There are several that I am not satisfied with, and I rejected the ones I constructed in the Bethsaida section. Even the opening couple here are not very satisfying.

Mark 10: The chiasm

2005-03-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

Here is Mark 10:1-11:1 pericoped in all its glory. I have relied on the following insights in constructing this.1. Markan A brackets are almost always people shifting location2. The A' of the previous pericope is always the A of the next one -- that is the only rule the writer never violates.3. Actions may constitute separate brackets. And they laid hands on him and seized him.4. Speeches,

Why is Mark linked to Peter? Maybe....

2005-03-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

I got to thinking -- a bad habit when you have 40,000 chinese characters awaiting translation -- and revisited Mk 16:2-8 to see if I could create a chiasm. The problem is that 16:8 cannot possibly be the end of the gospel, because there is no A' bracket involving geographical location/ movement to balance the A bracket.......A And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when

Unveiled at Last! The Chiastic Structure of Mark 14-16

2005-03-06T07:14:00.000-08:00

To heck with work.Here is Mark 14-16:2 pericoped in all its glory. I have relied on the following insights in constructing this.Rules:* Markan A brackets are almost always geographical movement. The A' of the previous pericope is always the A of the next one -- that is the only rule the writer never violates.*actions may constitute separate brackets. And they laid hands on him and seized him. *

Clobbered by work...

2005-03-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

I'm off line for a couple of days as I am overwhelmed with translation work. Looking forward to essays on the Embarrassment Criterion and the Crucifixion, more chiasms, and other fun stuff in March!

The Chiasm in the Crucifixion: Some Surprising Discoveries

2005-03-02T18:37:00.000-08:00

I went back and redid the chiasm in Mark 15:21-41. First I found that my original construction was incorrect because it did not include Mark 15:40-41. I have also discovered that, most likely, a verse has gone AWOL in Mark. See discussion below.First, the text-critical issues. It is clear that no verse now opposes 15:39. There are several possible solutions.(1) 15:39 is interpolated, most likely

The Final Piece: The Chiasm in the Mocking Scene

2005-03-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Here is the chiasm in Mark 15:16-20.All of the pieces of the trial and crucifixion are now assembled. It's clear that Dart was right about almost everything except Markan centers, which are complex. Here the writer of Mark alternated the centers. Going by the centers only....Sanhedrin Trial: ABABPilate Trial: ABBAMocking Scene: ABABCrucifixion: ABBAA clear pattern.I'll have the crucifixion up in

Modeling Mark's Chiasms: Mark 14, the Sanhedrin Trial

2005-03-02T06:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the hiatus! Work overwhelmed me the past few days.Here is the beautiful chiasm in Mark 14. I now have the entire chiastic structure from Mark 14:53 to Mark 15:39 laid out, I need to spiffy up some details and reconfigure Dart's chiasm for the mockery scene. I should have the whole thing laid out tomorrow night. Thanks to Joe Wallack over at Infidels for an important clue to how this