Subject: Re: tc-list re: barrett's response

From: Jean Valentin <[email-masked]>
Date: Ven, 16 Jul 99 22:57:46 +0200

>>Good question. But you know life is short and there are a lot of books
>>to burn. Perhaps one of us should get our hands on one of the recent
>>pubs of the TC elite and work it over a little J. Derrida style. Could
>>be fun, don't you think?
>
>Nah- just look for typos--- you will find some in any book.  But anyway, the
>silence itself speaks volumes doesn't it?
>
I'm not one of the "book burenrs" out there as you call them, but I 
repeat what I've said: I prefer the "official" publication made by a 
serious papyrologist, even if it takes some time to me before I can find 
it in a university library. The Bodmer publications are remarkable, and 
I'm afraid nothing can replace them. Books made for the busy pastor are 
not for me.

Jean V.

_______________________________________________________________
Jean Valentin - 34 rue du Berceau - 1000 Bruxelles - Belgique
tel. 32-2-280.01.37
e-mail : [email-masked]
_______________________________________________________________

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From: Michael Holmes <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 15:57:15 -0500 (CDT)

At 03:42 PM 7/16/99 -0400, a list member wrote:

>Nah- just look for typos--- you will find some in any book.

Quite true.  But the *significance* of those typo's depends a great deal on
the genre and/or aims of the book. 

>  But anyway, the

Perhaps, but not necessarily; this is summer (travel, vacation, whatever),
after all, rather than the academic term, and not every one has access to
e-mail when away from the office ... 

Mike Holmes
Bethel College

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From: "Barrett, David" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 15:36:28 -0500

Dear Jean,

I certainly respect your high regard for the publications of "serious 
papryologists." We all look to respected names to help us sort through 
the myriad of publications to find those that we can probably trust. I 
would like to add one comment, however, regarding the Bodmer 
publications. They are indeed remarkable (especially P75), and I commend 
the scholar(s) who worked on them. Especially valuable are the excellent 
photos and informative footnotes. It is well-known, however, that Victor 
Martin's transcription of P66 contains a number of errors. Gordon Fee has 
published a list of many (although not all) of these, along with the 
corrected reading. (I apologize that I do not have the bibliographic 
information for Fee's article handy. It is listed, however, in our book, 
along with other sources of corrective input.) I would simply encourage 
you to use Martin's transcription with caution and to realize that he, 
too, is subject to error.

Yours,

David Barrett

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From: Jim West <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 21:40:37 -0400

At 08:12 PM 7/16/99 -0400, you wrote:
>I don't usually do this, but since this book has generated great interest
>on the list, I'll make a brief pre-publication announcement.  TC will
>publish a full review of Comfort/Barrett very soon, hopefully within the
>next two weeks.  The chief delay in publication has been my inability to
>get the tagging done in a timely manner due to numerous other commitments. 
>Summer vacation? ... 
>
>Jimmy

EXCELLENT!

Now Bob can buy it!

j.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jim West, ThD
email- [email-masked]
web page-  http://web.infoave.net/~jwest

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From: Jim West <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999 11:46:07 -0400

At 09:52 AM 7/17/99 -0500, you wrote:

>Improbable as this may sound, coming from me :-), the answer in this case
>is assuredly "yes."
>
>I don't have the resources to judge the transcriptions. I don't have the
>time to fully examine the book. In other words, I am not competent to
>judge it.
>
>I don't understand how anyone can feel otherwise. Suppose someone
>came forward with a "mathematical proof of the existence of God,"
>but it required the use of tensors. Would you content yourself with
>judging its truth or falsity? Surely not -- you would ask someone
>who knows tensors to review the mathematics. Similarly, I would
>want someone who has access to reliable editions or photos of the
>papyri to judge a book of transcription of papyri.

About math- I would certainly , absolutely require assistance in any such
matter because I can barely add 3+5, and I need the help of a calculator for
that!  :-)  But, I would never presume to speak about math either.  In
short, if I dont know about something I keep my mouth shut.  This is all I
can do as speaking merely betrays me for the dullard I am on matters I know
nothing about.

>
>I'm tempted to say that no one who has use for this book is
>competent to judge it. :-)

This however would be an insult, and I know you are not willing to insult
anyone.  But what you imply here is patetnly false.  Your implication
suggests that "the busy pastor" (to use a phrase of another) is not
qualified to judge such matters.  You are wrong in this.  There are a number
of highly educated pastors in various churches who know as much or more
about TC as folk who have univeristy posts- but who have chosen to give
their lives to actual people rather than the minutiae af whether one should
call codex Beza a western text or a gamma text.

>
>The whole purpose of reviews is to discover for us that which we do
>not have the time or knowledge to learn for ourselves!
>

Certainly not.  The purpose of reviews is to summarize for the busy scholar
what he or she does not have time to read for him or herself.

Best,

Jim