theLAB

The Logos Academic Blog

The Covid Vaccine has 666 Written All Over It…and Why that Doesn’t Matter According to Revelation

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by Matthew L. Halsted, PhD

In an article published last week on theLAB, COVID-19 and The Mark of the Beast, I claimed that the mark of the beast (666) is most likely not a physical or visible mark (Rev. 13:16). The biggest objection I received from readers had to do with this very point: how could the mark be non-physical and invisible if having the mark was what allowed people to “buy or sell” things (Rev. 13:17)? Wouldn’t the mark need to be visible in order to do that? Furthermore, isn’t there enough evidence that the vaccine is the “number” of the beast, including a bill currently before the House of Representatives (6666) and the very letters “C-O-R-O-N-A” themselves?1 These are good questions, and I think a response would be helpful. But first, we need to start from square one and do some background work.

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COVID-19 and The Mark of the Beast

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Watching the news a few days ago, I saw photos and videos of those protesting the COVID-19 quarantine on full display. I’m growing weary of how certain biblical texts are attached to certain political movements and demonstrations—texts that are, quite frankly, misused and misunderstood. Sadly, Christianity ends up getting misrepresented in the process.

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Logos Responds to COVID-19 with Thousands of Free Resources: the Remote Learning Library

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Logos has just created the Remote Learning Library in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Knowing that thousands of students are now restricted to studying from home, we are making thousands of resources freely available to faculty and students worldwide. Here are the details:

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Academic Jobs is Back! New postings May – June 2020

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Image source: Flickr

Due to the quarantine, Academic Jobs in Biblical Studies and Theology took a break while higher education figures out how to respond to the pandemic and what comes after. We have listed below the various jobs that have been posted in May and June of 2020. Jobs are available from Switzerland to China, Oregon to Oxford. Happy hunting, stay safe.

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New Testament Manuscripts, Knowledge, and Art

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The evidence we have for the New Testament in the form of manuscripts, copied from the second straight through to the nineteenth century, is an embarrassment of riches.

Scholars have long used the many thousands of manuscripts in Greek, Latin, Coptic, and other languages to reconstruct an “original” or other early form of the text, to trace the history of particular New Testament texts in particular historical contexts, to see the traces of human activity within the New Testament’s tradition, and to better understand the book technologies that have brought us the New Testament as we now experience, whether in print or digital forms. There continues to be much to do with the manuscripts along these more traditional lines.

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Understanding Greek Verbs

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Part 4 of the series Observations from a Linguistic Spectator: An Annual Report. For part 1, see here. For part 2, see here. For part 3, see here.

Introduction

In the last post, we’ve considered some basics of grammatical aspect and the lexical actional potential of verbs. This part of the series continues this exploration. In particular, we will look at some other dynamics that occur when these two factors interact. Again, I would recommend to you reading Thomson’s essay for a fuller account. We will also address some practical issues that arise when it comes to dealing with aspect and Aktionsart in our daily exegetical work. Note that the categories that were introduced in part 3 of this series will be presupposed here. So if you are new to this subject, I would strongly encourage you to read that post first.

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Get the Most Out of Your Research Trip: Advice for First-Time Archive Researchers

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Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Ryan Griffith  | Indianapolis Theological Seminary

Although library archives are most often the domain of historians and other students of the humanities, research interests will take seminary faculty into the archives from time to time. Even biblical scholarship can unexpectedly require archival research—whether to investigate a rare manuscript or to access a theologian’s unpublished correspondence. Whatever the occasion, digging around in university archives can be an inspiring experience. If you don’t plan well, however, it will be inefficient and frustrating—particularly if you are traveling to a university far away from home.

A measure of advance planning will make a research trip more enjoyable and productive—and potentially save you or your students from having to make a costly trip to a distant archive more than once. Unfortunately, graduate-level research courses sometimes neglect practical guidance on archival research. If you teach and supervise graduate (especially doctoral) students, consider including a guide to archival research as part of your regular instruction.1

Here are some tips for getting the most out of a research trip.

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Why You Should Read the Apocrypha

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Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. Source: Wikipedia

Did you know that Athanasius, Cogent of the Trinity, recommended reading the Apocrypha? In his 39th Festal Letter, after giving us one of the earliest canon lists, he writes the following: 

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a priori: Ryan Hurd’s work on the Trinity

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A Priori is a new series on the theLAB in which we put three simple questions to scholars undertaking important research in biblical studies, theology, ethics, and more. This week we hear from Ryan Hurd and his work on the Trinity.

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Radical Decision Making: A Christian-College Response to Covid-19

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Let me give you a quick a snapshot of what happened during the most difficult season of leadership I have ever experienced as a leader in higher education:

  • 25% loss of our operating budget in 30 days
  • Enrolment swung from 15% growth to 10% drop (25% swing)
  • We had to lay off 30% of our staff
  • Our Financial reserves had been exhausted
  • With the remaining staff we were as much as 9 weeks behind on payroll at one point

Surprisingly, this was not a result of the recent pandemic, this was 10 years ago! God had entrusted us with a significant season of affliction; it was painful, it was hard, and it forced us to ask some really difficult questions that God used to refine us through an incredibly difficult season. These are questions that are just as significant now as the world of higher education is in a state of serious disruption and refinement. 

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a priori: Jerod Gilcher’s Work on the Macrostructure of the Psalter

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A Priori is a recently launched series on the theLAB in which we put three simple questions to scholars undertaking important research in biblical studies, theology, ethics, and more. We seek out the authors whose mission is the church, whose vocation is research. This week we hear from Jerod Gilcher and his work on the macrostructure of the Psalter.

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Finally available for Logos Bible Software: Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments (TUAT)

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At long last, Logos Bible Software (Faithlife.com) has managed to integrate an outstanding resource, “Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments” (TUAT), into its electronic library. One meter of shelf space in printed books has become available on PCs, laptops, or smartphones, to be searched from a computer, and to be copied and cited for one’s own research. 

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