How did the disciples...

know what Moses and Elijah looked like? I never gave it much thought but today, I just started wondering about this scene in Mark 9:2-10 (pars. Matthew 17:1-9, Luke 9:28-36) when Jesus took his inner circle (Peter, James, and John) up to the mountain where he talks with Moses and Elijah in transfigured form. I don't know if this is an irrelevant question, but honestly, in a day without pictures or videos, how would you be able to identify someone a thousand years past? Would they tell their children, "Look son, if you ever see a man with a long white beard with a cool staff, he's Moses, and if you ever see a man wearing a garment of hair with a leather belt, he's Elijah"...? Or did Jesus say, "By the way guys, this is Moses and Elijah, say hi"? I might be missing something altogether, but this was very odd to me as I was reading the passage today... Anyone have any thoughts?

Institutio oratorio, Part 1

Quintilian was a Roman rhetorician, a contemporary of Paul (ca. A.D. 35-100), and supposedly a teacher of Pliny and Juvenal. I just started reading his The Orator's Education volume 1 in the Loeb Classical Library because I have some interest in rhetorical-criticism as well as Hellenistic influences on the New Testament. Also, I might do a research paper sometime this semester on Paul and rhetoric so here I am. Anyway, so far it's been a very fascinating and quick read, so I thought I'd just post some quotes from it as well as my thoughts:

"There is one point which I must emphasize at the start: without the help of nature, precepts and techniques are powerless. This work (i.e., his books), therefore, must not be thought of as written for persons without talent, any more than treatises on agriculture are meant for barren soils. And there are other aids also, with which individuals have to be born: voice, strong lungs, good health, stamina, good looks. A modest supply of these can be furthered developed by methodical training; but sometimes they are so completely lacking as to destroy any advantages of talent and study, just as these themselves are of no profit without a skilled teacher, persistence in study, and much continuous practice in writing, reading, and speaking."

-- Quintilian, Institutio oratoria, 1.26-27

This must be the type of perspective that pervaded Roman Corinth in the first century as the Corinthians were apparently unimpressed by Paul's rhetorical skills:

"For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.""

-- 2 Cor. 10:10

More quotes from Quintilian to come.

The Animal Apocalypse

I've been reading through 1 Enoch these days for a possible research paper, and I have to say the section known as the Animal Apocalypse (1 Enoch 83-90) is the weirdest (and kind of the funniest) so far. I would like to quote you something from this very interesting section (I think you will have a knowing smirk by the time you're through reading it):

"But thenceforth I saw how the wolves even intensified their pressure upon the sheep. They, the sheep, cried aloud--they cried aloud with all their strength. Then their Lord came to the rescue of the sheep, whereupon they began to whip those wolves. So the wolves began to make lamentations, but the sheep thereafter became quiet and stopped crying aloud. I continued to see the sheep until they departed from the presence of the wolves, and the wolves until their eyes were dazzled; yet the wolves went out to pursue those sheep, with all their might. But the Lord of the sheep went with them as their leader, while all his sheep were following him; his face was glorious, adorable, and marvelous to behold. As for the wolves, they continued to pursue those sheep until they found them at a certain pool of water. Then the pool of water was rent asunder, and the water stood apart on this and on that side before their very eyes, and their Lord, their leader, stood between them and the wolves. Those wolves were still not able to see the sheep, and the sheep walked through the pool of water; then the wolves followed the sheep and ran after them into that pool of water. Then when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned in order to flee from before his face. But that pool of water gathered itself together and immediately returned to its normal state, the water became full and rose high until it covered completely those wolves. Thus I saw till the wolves which pursued those sheep perished and were drowned."
-- 1 Enoch 89:19-27

Does the story sound familiar? Oh, and do you remember Animal Farm from George Orwell? I kind of got reminded of that allegory as I was reading through this section. Maybe Orwell read 1 Enoch.