Word of the Day

aleatory |ˈālēəˌtôrē; ˈal-|adjectivedepending on the throw of a die or on chance; random.• relating to or denoting music or other forms of art involving elements of random choice (sometimes using statistical or computertechniques) during their composition, production, or performance.

Word of the Day

harridan |ˈharidn|nouna strict, bossy, or belligerent old woman : a bullying old harridan.

Word of the Day

persiflage |ˈpərsəˌflä zh |noun formallight and slightly contemptuous mockery or banter.

More from the Gospel of Peter and Molly

This gospel that I have discovered seems to be yielding more and more surprises.  Firstly, upon closer analysis the two main interlocutors in the logia are identified as Peter and Molly.  As far as I know, Molly is mentioned nowhere else in the Jewish/Christian corpus; be it canonical, apocryphal, or pseudepigraphic.  It even seems like the Peter here is not the Apostle, but someone else entirely.  Given this information I feel compelled to call this new gospel "The Gospel of Peter and Molly".  I hope you all approve.  Secondly, it would appear that this text is not merely a collection of sayings, but also includes a few narrative vignettes.  These brief accounts generally portray conversations that Jesus has with figures other than Peter and Molly.  Although these portions differ somewhat from the other sayings I have numbered them among the logia for the sake of continuity.  The logion that I'm sharing with you today has some very striking similarities with Mark 10:17-22, even matching the text exactly in some places.

Logion 3: "And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Honor thy father and mother.  And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these things have I observed from my youth.  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, acquire great riches, buy a boat for thyself and fine clothing for thy wife: and come, let me borrow thy horse when I need to make long journeys.  And he was happy at that saying, and went away rejoicing: for his father-in-law had an excellent job waiting for him."

Enlightening!

Word of the Day

epigone |ˈepiˌgōn|noun ( pl. epigones |ˈepiˌgōnz| or epigoni |iˈpigəˌnī|)a less distinguished follower or imitator of someone, esp. an artist or philosopher : the epigone's habit of exaggerating his master's voice.

Word of the Day

strake |strāk|noun1 a continuous line of planking or plates from the stem to the stern of a ship or boat.2 a protruding ridge fitted to an aircraft or other structure to improveaerodynamic stability.ORIGIN Middle English : from Anglo-Latin stracus, straca; probably from the Germanic base of the verb stretch .

New Gospel Discovered!

As you, the three readers of this blog, are aware, I am involved in research of the NT and related topics.  Well, during one of my forays into BYU's special collections vault I came across a very old and yet unpublished manuscript written in an obscure Utardic dialect.  It contains a number of sayings of Jesus (see Gospel of Thomas) that I believe are particularly interesting to an LDS audience.  The text has no title to speak of, so in the edition that I will publish it will be called "The Gospel of the Mormons".  Here is one of the logia that I have translated most recently.

Logion 32:  "Peter said to Jesus: 'Lord, how are we to overcome our enemies and receive the inheritance laid aside for us?'  Jesus answered: 'I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.'"

As you can see, there are some serious doctrinal implications.  More to come...

Word of the Day

Gibbon never disappoints.

demesne |diˈmān|noun historical1 land attached to a manor and retained for the owner's own use.• the lands of an estate.• archaic a region or domain : she may one day queen it over that fair demesne.2 historical Law possession of real property in one's own right.PHRASESheld in demesne (of an estate) occupied by the owner, not by tenants.ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French demeine (later Anglo-Norman French demesne) ‘belonging to a lord,’ from Latindominicus, from dominus ‘lord, master.’ Compare with domain .

Word of the Day

Hegira |hiˈjīrə; ˈhejərə| (also Hejira or Hijra |ˈhijrə|)nounMuhammad's departure from Mecca to Medina in ad 622, prompted by the opposition of the merchants of Mecca and marking the consolidation of the first Muslim community.• the Muslim era reckoned from this date : the second century of the Hegira. See also AH .• ( hegira) an exodus or migration.ORIGIN via medieval Latin from Arabic hijra ‘departure,’ from hajara‘emigrate.’

Hike #6 - Cascade Saddle Redux

Bright and early on the 4th of July some friends and I hiked to Cascade Saddle.  Last year I hiked to the same destination, but started at Rock Canyon.  This time we started at the Big Springs trailhead in the south fork of Provo Canyon.  I'm not exactly sure how long the hike is.  The various sources I've checked seem to disagree, but it's somewhere between 9 and 12 miles roundtrip.  The trail starts off easy enough, but before long it gets steep and rocky.  However, there was plenty of shade along the way.  Once you get to the top there's a nice view of the valley as well as some of the other nearby peaks.  You can also hike along the ridges to the north or south, but there aren't really any trails.  

Words of the Day

exiguous |igˈzigyoōəs; ikˈsig-|adjective formalvery small in size or amount : my exiguous musical resources.
desuetude |ˈdeswiˌt(y)oōd|noun formala state of disuse : the docks fell into desuetude.

Words of the Day

I've got two of them for you today:

ratiocinate |ˌratēˈōsəˌnāt; ˌra sh ē-|verb [ intrans. ] formalform judgments by a process of logic; reason.
opprobrious |əˈprōbrēəs|adjective(of language) expressing opprobrium.• disgraceful; shameful : their opprobrious conduct.