Grace and Knowledge

* Note: the gray bar represents pages I’ve written; the blue bar represents pages approved by my committee.

If you’re using Typekit fonts on your website, you’ve probably got users seeing a FOUC (Flash of Unstyled Content) – they see the fallback fonts for your text, then they’ll see a flash, then the content in your custom fonts. To avoid this, just throw the following code into your stylesheet:

.wf-loading {
    opacity: 0;
}
html[class*="active"]{
    opacity: 1;
    -webkit-transition: opacity .4s ease-in;
    -moz-transition: opacity .4s ease-in;
    -o-transition: opacity .4s ease-in;
    -ms-transition: opacity .4s ease-in;
    transition: opacity .4s ease-in;
}

This will hide the page content while the fonts are loading, then ease it in once they’ve loaded.

Another helpful tip: put the Typekit javascript code in the head of your page (I know, best practices says put most JS in the footer, but Typekit fonts load earlier if you put the code in the header).

There’s some difference of opinion on how 2 Cor 2.14 should be translated:

• “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (KJV)
• “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ” (NASB)
• “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession” (ESV)

The KJV, NASB and ESV all communicate that God leads a triumph parade that we participate in. Since they seem to agree pretty well, that means that the difference of opinion lies with someone else. It does – me.

The grammar of this phrase is nearly identical to a phrase in Col 2.15: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” (KJV and NASB also translate the key phrase “triumphing over them.”) In both verses, a form the verb θριαμβεύω has an accusative object. In 2 Cor 2.14, the object is “us” (Paul and the Corinthians); in Col 2.15, the object is “them” (the evil powers opposing and accusing believers). In both verses, God is the one triumphing, and he triumphs in Christ.

Even though the grammar corresponds precisely, the translators chose to go opposite directions with their interpretation. Triumph + Christians = shared processional march as Christ’s victorious armies through the city; however, triumph + evil powers = dragged through the streets as captives in humiliation.

The interpretation of “triumph” in Col. 2.15 is not open for debate: Paul was certainly not rejoicing that God would lead the forces of evil in a parade of shared conquest. That brings us to 2 Cor 2.14: either [a] it should be translated “triumphs over us in Christ” (or more picturesquely: “leads us like captives in his triumph parade in Christ”) or [b] both interpretations are valid, even though they are opposite in meaning.

I checked BDAG on θριαμβεύω. It offers six definitions of this word:

1. lead in a triumphal procession, with accusative “someone” as captive
2. to lead in triumph, in imagery of Roman generals leading their troops in triumph
3. cause to triumph
4. triumph over
5. expose to shame
6. display, publicize, make known

Definitions 1, 4, 5, and 6 all fit the Col 2.15 negative meaning very well. Do definitions 2 and 3 support the positive translation in 2 Cor 2.14? The authors don’t think so. They note that 2 (to lead in triumph) has “no lexical support” and 3 (cause to triumph) “remains unexampled in Greek usage.” Basically, they acknowledge that some people have chosen to translate 2 Cor 2.14 as “leads us in triumphal procession,” but that there’s really no support for that translation in actual Greek usage of the word.

TDNT’s entry on θριαμβεύω doesn’t even mention the option of translating 2 Cor 2.14 as a shared parade. It actually prefers the negative translation option: “Paul describes himself as one of these prisoners. But he regards it as a grace that in his fetters he can accompany God always and everywhere.”

My first reaction on noticing the shared grammatical pattern between these two verses was to translate them the same way: God leads us / powers as captives in his parade of triumph in Christ. BDAG and TDNT confirm that θριαμβεύω means “to lead as a captive” and that there is no support for translating it “lead as a co-victor.”

If 2 Cor 2.14 should be translated “Thanks be to God, who always leads us as slaves in his triumphal procession in Christ,” what does that mean for understanding the passage? I’d argue that it actually makes a lot more sense in context than the “shared parade” interpretation. Paul is about to spend the next few chapters of 2 Corinthians downplaying himself and his ministry. He’s not interested in self-commendation (2 Co 3.1), his ministry is a gift of mercy (2 Co 4.1), he is a clay pot full of God’s treasure (2 Co 4.7), he is always being given over to death (2 Co 4.11-12), he is wasting away and afflicted (2 Co 4.16-17), and he is groaning for heaven (2 Co 5.2). Honestly, it’d be a little startling to brag about sharing in Christ’s triumph, then spend 3-4 chapters talking about nothing but struggles.

Granted, you could respond that Paul is pointing out the big heavenly reality – triumph – as a way to endure the difficulties of earth. Paul certainly does do that in other places, but not here. He’s not trying to encourage the Corinthians about enduring difficulties: his humility and affliction comments are almost exclusively focused on himself as he defends his ministry. He’s also not spending half of their letter giving himself a pep-talk: his whole point is that he’s not on center stage (God is).

It seems best to take 2 Co 2.14 as a statement that fits with all the other words and phrases of humiliation and lowness that Paul uses in this letter. The essence of the TDNT quotation above really sums it up well. Paul claims to be a captive in God’s triumphal parade: even that captivity is grace because it means being with God and demonstrating his victory to all onlookers.

The phrase “owe no man any thing” (Rom 13.8) is commonly misquoted as a prohibition on incurring financial debt. This verse is often twisted to mean, “Don’t put that TV on your credit card,” “Only buy used cars,” and “Don’t borrow money from your relatives.” (Strangely, those who misuse it in this fashion almost never take it to mean, “Don’t sign a mortgage to buy a house…”)

Paul says something in the preceding verses that make it impossible to read this verse as a blanket prohibition on “financial debt.” In verse 7, Paul told the Roman believers to “pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” In other words, “pay all your financial obligations.” He uses the words “revenue” and “owed” back-to-back with no qualification. He doesn’t say, “If you happen to be under a financial obligation because you’re a sinner who doesn’t heed the words of Dave Ramsey*, pay what you owe.” He assumes that the readers have financial obligations and tells them to pay those assumed debts.

I suppose someone might argue that Paul is just talking about taxes, not car loans and credit cards. To that objection, I’d raise the following questions.

1. Why did he say “taxes” and “revenue?” Wouldn’t “taxes” have sufficed if he was only talking about them?
2. There were no car loans back then; of course Paul didn’t identify them.
3. By stacking the words “taxes,” “revenue,” “respect,” and “honor,” Paul broadens this instruction far beyond car loans and credit cards.

Paul’s point is this: no matter what you owe someone, pay it. From taxes to financial debts to intangible forms of honor for authorities, pay what you are obligated to pay. That means if you sign a car loan or mortgage, pay each payment on time. If you owe recurring forms of financial obligation, like rent, school payments, cell phone bills, or taxes, make each payment on time. He assumes that his readers will have financial obligations; the instruction is to pay them properly, not to judge people whose obligation is different from or heavier than yours.

Of course, don’t take on debt for foolish reasons or in a foolish way. There’s a lot of wisdom about that in Solomon. But also, don’t take Paul’s words to mean something different from what he wrote them to mean.

As long as we’re on the topic of misquoted verses, I’d like to point out that “give honor to whom honor is due” is not really a verse about graduation honors. In its original context, it referred to respect shown to a civil authority, not to a student with a 4.0. I’m not saying it’s heresy to quote that verse during commencement; I’m just pointing out that it means something different.

* No disrespect meant to Dave Ramsey at all – my wife and I appreciate and follow much of his advice.** I’m just poking at those who misunderstand this verse and treat his books as inspired gospel-truth to corroborate that misinterpretation.

** Yes, that’s an affiliate link. I earn a little if you use it to buy this book; you don’t pay any extra, though. Win-win!

When I started my dissertation, I knew that it would be hard to keep myself productive and motivated on a year-long, self-planned schedule. What I didn’t realize until recently was that the key to keeping myself on that schedule was not to plan monthly deadlines, but to manage my hourly productivity each time I sat down to work. I’d sit down for an afternoon of research or writing, hit a block (obstacles are everywhere in a dissertation!), and spend 2-3 hours chasing bad leads, looking for distraction, or just staring and waiting for inspiration. Apparently, even a 4 hour block of time is too long for me to be left unsupervised! Enter 30/30.

30/30 lets you create a list of tasks, sort them, assign them durations, and get notifications when it’s time to switch. It’s loosely based on the Pomodoro Technique, but it allows you to set any duration for any task.

My afternoon study list loops through 1 hour read-write blocks and 15 minute breaks. I can pause it at any time. (This week, I’ve found myself pausing at the end of a writing block so that I can get another paragraph or two done while I’m on a roll.)

30/30 helps me work by telling me what to do at this exact moment; it helps me avoid the seemingly endless Feedly breaks and focus on productivity, yet without letting the afternoon look like a long, boring block of time.

Get 30/30 for free in the App Store:

Chapter 2 was a veritable beast to write. I’m glad to be finished with it. It’s been sent off to my volunteer readers and I’ll be editing and submitting it on Friday. Assuming that it is approved by my committee, that will bring my total page count to 68.

I’ve also posted revisions to my deadline calendar. Originally, I left the summer entirely open, hoping to work ahead, catch up, or take some time off. Even though my committee won’t be obligated to return each chapter on a specific schedule, I’ll plan to complete a few more chapters during the summer and have a queue ready for the fall.

Both my initial committee members have approved Chapter 1! Hopefully I can finish Chapter 2 within the next week or so.

So as you probably heard, Google has announced that they’ll shut down Google Reader on July 1, 2013. Even though that’s more than three months warning, that announcement sent many loyal users into a panic and overloaded several other RSS sites by trying to move all their feeds immediately to a new RSS reader to replace Google Reader. (Full disclosure: I may have participated in that stampede.)

Google Reader was awesome.

I’ve been using Google Reader for – honestly, I don’t even know. My Trends page says I’ve read 95,000 items since July 2008, but I feel like I’ve been using it for longer. At any rate, I have almost 200 feeds, get about 400 new items a day, and read about 75 of those items. (More disclosure: about 20 of those are humor posts or comics; another 25 get sent to Pocket for reading later or archived in Evernote; another 10 I probably only skim, but Google Reader marks them as “read.”) I probably read about 10-15 actual articles per day on various topics from theology to web development to sports. All that boils down to this: I used Google Reader heavily; if it disappeared, that would be rough.

Now I’m not here to complain about Google’s decision. (1) They owned it. (2) It was a free service. (3) There are other options. (4) Even if I had no RSS reader at all, life would continue with no qualitative decline. That said, I’m pretty excited about my new RSS Reader: Feedly. Here’s why:

Feedly is even awesomer.

1. Feedly imports your Google Reader feeds automatically. Just sign into Feedly with your Google account and bazinga – it imports all your feeds and categories.
2. Feedly is promising to create an API that mimics Google Reader. This is great news for anyone who has a favorite 3rd party app that accessed Google Reader feeds. If your app’s developer wants to maintain that app, they can use Feedly’s new API.
3. Feedly’s iOS apps are easy to use. It’s a different way to read feeds than I was used to. I had been using Feeddler Pro; that app provided detailed functionality, was slightly clunky in use, and made no attempt at aesthetics. Feedly’s apps are quick, well-designed, and must faster to use! I never used the Feeddler iPhone app because navigation between categories was very cumbersome; with Feedly, you just keep scrolling! They put some thoughtful planning into the gesture design for their apps.
4. Feedly looks great, IMO. It’s more colorful than Google Reader, but it keeps the same flat, clean design aesthetic.
5. Feedly has exactly the sharing options that I need. I can open links in Chrome instead of Safari, save to Pocket, Tweet, and more.
6. Its icon isn’t blue.

Get Feedly.

If you’re looking for a good RSS reader to replace Google Reader, you can sign up for Feedly for free and get the awesome Feedly iOS app.

What a relief! I just submitted Chapter 1: “The Official Development of the Imperial Cult in Rome.” It ended up being almost 7500 words (10% of the minimum requirement).

Now I only have to do that 9 more times…

You know that feeling of starting a new project, having no idea how much time it’s going to take, but still needing to set some deadlines? Starting a dissertation fits that description precisely.

I started with a schedule based on an estimate 3-4 weeks of work per chapter, I left the summer entirely open (my committee members aren’t obligated to return graded chapters in their normal turn-around time since it’s summer break for them), and I aimed to finish by Jan. 15, 2014. That’s all well and good, but…

It turns out, I didn’t finish chapter 1 in 3-4 weeks. I’m in my 5th week and not positive that I’ll finish this Friday. I’m not discouraged, however. A friend of mine who just finished his first draft last month told me that his first chapter took eight months to write. It’s not unusual for the first chapter to be more time-consuming. I’m certainly hoping that subsequent chapters move more quickly once more of the introductory research work is done.

I’m flexible to make adjustments as I go. I’m not just adjusting due dates on a calendar; I’m also learning and adapting my work habits and schedule. I realize the importance of my dedicated study environment. I know now to request as many library loan books as soon as possible so I don’t get slowed down waiting for them. I can let writing time overflow into evenings and weekends if I need to. I can make up for lost time by writing this summer (I might not get immediate feedback but I can certainly have chapters ready when the school year begins).

Here’s my revised calendar; here’s my progress meter. Thanks for checking them out and helping me keep going!

After spending two days on a single book (a very detailed, very relevant single book!), I decided to aim for momentum today. I’ve got another two volumes of two-day reading (and two or three more in the library loan shipping system), but before getting back into the “good stuff,” I knocked out several shorter, less pertinent sources this morning.

It feels good to get through five books in one day.