tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38925694354005189232024-03-28T04:29:46.087-07:00The Revelation of the MagiBrent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-69699628632641104242014-12-23T12:07:00.001-08:002014-12-23T12:07:07.615-08:00New blog!Welcome to new visitors! I've moved to a new blog, where I'll be talking about all things having to do with the stories of Jesus' birth and the history of Christmas (including, of course, the <i>Revelation of the Magi</i>). You can now find me at: <a href="http://infancygospels.blogspot.com/">infancygospels.blogspot.com</a>.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-10582902813979169452013-01-04T18:38:00.001-08:002013-01-04T18:38:36.081-08:00Revelation of the Magi on OKC NBC AffiliateThis Christmas season has been much quieter in terms of media discussions about the <i>Revelation of the Magi</i>. But today I had a very nice conversation with Linda Cavanaugh at KFOR, the Oklahoma City NBC affiliate. Video <a href="http://kfor.com/2013/01/04/professor-talks-about-revelation-of-magi/" target="_blank">here</a>.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-71374865544251668752012-11-14T18:10:00.004-08:002012-11-14T18:15:07.058-08:00The Bible and Homosexuality<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Well, here we are in late 2012 and the <i>Revelation of the Magi</i> continues to sell well! Thanks to everyone who bought it or gave it to people as a Christmas present. I'm truly touched by the response to the book.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />This post has nothing to do with the <i>Revelation of the Magi</i>, but instead concerns a lecture I gave at OU today entitled "What the Bible Says (and Doesn't Say) About Homosexuality." A few Facebook friends wanted to know what I said, but Facebook seems to have done away with their note feature. So, for those of you who are interested, the full text of my presentation follows after the jump.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m pleased to have the opportunity
to speak with you today on the topic of what the Bible says, and doesn’t say,
about homosexuality. Most of my presentation is going to focus on the four or
five passages in the Bible that seem to address same-sex sexual intercourse.
But before we get into these passages, I’d like to make a few preliminary
remarks.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">First, notice that I said that
there are only about five or so passages in the entire Bible that discuss homosexuality…five!
So, the emphasis that we see by many conservative Christian leaders and
politicians on the sinfulness of homosexuality and gay marriage doesn’t really
match up with the amount of time that the Bible actually spends on this issue. If
we go by the number of times something is mentioned in the Bible, then the most
significant moral or social issue by far is poverty. The progressive Christian
activist Jim Wallis has made the point that if you went through the Bible with
a pair of scissors and cut out everything that had to do with poverty, then
your Bible would end up being very visibly damaged. In contrast, if you cut out
only the passages having to do with homosexuality, somebody would have to look
quite closely at your Bible to realize that anything was missing. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">So that’s the first point. The
second point is that, although I’m going to be focusing in this talk on what
the Bible says about homosexuality, we shouldn’t treat this issue in isolation
from what the Bible says more generally on issues of sexuality, gender, and the
family. And to characterize the Bible as being supportive of “traditional
family values” is very misleading. In the Christian scriptures of the New
Testament, for example, it seems quite clear that both Jesus himself and the
Apostle Paul believe that the ideal state for human beings is celibacy: no
marriage, no kids. This is because they believed that the world was going to
end in their lifetime. The logic was, if the Apocalypse is right around the corner,
then why would you keep living your life as if things weren’t going to change
dramatically? Furthermore, when we look at discussions of marriage in the
Hebrew Bible, that is, the Christian Old Testament, we find some quite shocking
ideas, as this very helpful chart indicates. For example, we have the directive
that if a man rapes an unmarried woman, then as punishment for this offense, he
is obligated to…marry her. Or take the idea of levirate marriage, where if
woman’s husband dies and they haven’t had any male children, then she must
marry his brother. And these cases don’t even address the very basic
understanding of marriage as an exchange of property—namely, the woman—from one
family to another. As you can see, many of these sentiments about marriage are
totally foreign to the way marriage is understood in Western culture today.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The third and final preliminary
point I want to make is this. It is impossible to follow the entire Bible
consistently and literally in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. Anyone who claims to
use the Bible as their instruction book for life must, at one point or another,
engage in the process of interpretation. This may involve allegorizing some piece
of instruction that seems incredibly harsh, such as Jesus saying to cut off
your hand if it causes you to sin. Or it may involve saying that certain
commandments are now no longer in effect since the coming of Christ—such as the
prohibitions on eating shrimp or pork. The ultimate reason why the Bible is
impossible to follow in its entirety is that there may have been as many as 80
different writers who contributed to the books that we now know as the Bible.
Moreover, these books were over the span of 1500 years or so, and they are the
products of cultures and worldviews that are drastically different from our own.
So when I discuss these passages from the Bible about homosexuality, I am not
going to be able to say that the Bible doesn’t have anything negative to say
about same-sex relationships…it does have some very negative and hurtful things
to say about them. But, the things that it says were written by authors who understood
the world very differently than how we do today. This will be especially clear
when we get to a fascinating passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans, where
Paul says that, yes, same-sex intercourse is very bad, but he bases his
position on a whole host of assumptions about human beings, God, and the world
that nobody today—not even the most conservative Christians—would accept as
legitimate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">So without further ado, let’s move
on to the passages in the Bible where homosexuality is discussed. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first
two passages are from Leviticus, the third book of the Hebrew Bible. The first
one is Leviticus chapter 18, verse 22, which reads “You shall not lie with a
male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” The second
passage, closely related to the first, but certainly more punitive is Leviticus
chapter 20, verse 13: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them
have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon
them.” </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here are a few
of the observations that professional biblical scholars have made about these
passages. First, both passages are embedded in larger discussions in Leviticus
about sexual activities that either result in <u>illicit</u> offspring—such as
incest—or in this case, <u>lack</u> of offspring. Second, these prohibitions
seem to be concerned with maintaining a high birth rate, which would make sense
in a new nation such as Israel. This also explains why <u>male</u> homosexual
practice is condemned, but nothing is said about same-sex relations between <u>women</u>.
In fact, it’s important to recognize that there are no passages in the Bible
that explicitly address same-sex relationships between women, although Romans 1
could be read that way. Third, the Hebrew word that is used to evaluate
male-on-male sexual intercourse is translated as “abomination,” and in other
translations as “detestable” or “loathsome.” But this word is also used to
describe other things that most people today would not consider to be so
reprehensible, such as the eating of shellfish or the practice of lending money
and charging interest on it. Fourth and finally, notice what the ultimate
outcome of male-male sexual intercourse is: both of them will be put to death. This
is an example of what I mean by the fact that certain extremely harsh
directives get explained away by people who claim to follow the Bible as their
instruction book for life. Most opponents of gay rights or marriage equality do
not, to my knowledge, go so far as to say that homosexuality should be
punishable by death. So one might ask, if anti-gay activists believe that
Leviticus says homosexuality is a sin, then why do they not take the next
logical step according to the passage and insist that homosexuality be
considered a capital crime? In some ways, this is analogous to the way that
Christian communities that prohibit women’s ordination appeal to Paul’s letters
for this position, such as this passage from 1 Cor 14 where it says, <span style="color: black;">“As in all the churches of the saints,
women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak,
but should be subordinate, as the law also says. If there is anything they desire
to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to
speak in church.” But this passage is not simply saying that a woman can’t
preach a sermon…it’s saying that she can’t talk in church <i>at all</i>. So if
one wishes to appeal to the Bible to prohibit the ordination of women, why stop
there when the biblical text actually goes farther?</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">So that’s what Leviticus has to say. It certainly is very negative about
homosexual relations, but it is also embedded in a larger set of concerns about
procreation and the identity formation of the newly liberated Israelites. And,
it goes farther in its directive about what the penalty for homosexuality
should be than most conservative politicians or Christian leaders would be
comfortable.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">The next passage is the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, narrated
in Genesis 18-19. Since it’s a very long story, I’ve only put up the passage
that has most frequently been cited in attempts to link the wickedness of Sodom
with homosexuality. To give you some context, God has sent two angels to the
city of Sodom to determine how wicked its people are, because he plans to
destroy it. “The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting
in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed
down with his face to the ground. He said, “Please, my lords, turn aside to
your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise
early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the
square.” But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered
his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and
old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to
Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, so that
we may know them.” Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after
him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Look, I have
two daughters who have not known a man; let me bring them out to you, and do to
them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the
shelter of my roof.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">There are several important things to notice in this passage. First, as
many of you are aware, the verb “to know” is a very common biblical idiom for
having sexual intercourse. So, when the men of Sodom ask Lot to send the angels
outside so that they may know them, it doesn’t mean that they want to have a
conversation with them. They want to have sex with them, or, more specifically,
they want to rape them. Why do they want to do this? Is the entire male
population of Sodom homosexual in their sexual orientation, and so lustful that
they just will do anything to have these men? No, I really don’t think this is
what’s going on. This is because there wasn’t a clearly defined conception of
“sexual orientation” in the ancient world as the same way that we have it
today. Sex had two primary uses in the ancient world. One was pro-creation, in
the case of heterosexual sex. But both heterosexual and homosexual sex also had
another primary purpose, and that was to demonstrate the dominance and
superiority of the one who is penetrating over the one who is being penetrated.
This demonstration of dominance would be expressed, for example, every time a
husband had sex with his wife. But another way that dominance could be
expressed by same-sex rape, as an act of violence against another man or group
of men who were considered inferior or were defeated militarily in battle.
Indeed, even in today’s society, where we do have a clear concept of “sexual
orientation,” male-on-male rape is still used in wars and other conflicts as a
means of thoroughly humiliating the defeated. Indeed, many soldiers who have
raped their enemies would still regard themselves as heterosexual in
orientation. So, the Sodom and Gomorrah story says nothing about loving, equal
relationships between same-sex partners. Instead, we’re talking here about anal
rape being used as a weapon against those who are perceived as inferiors. Two
last points about Sodom and Gomorrah. When the story of Sodom is discussed
later in the Bible, it is not said that the sin of Sodom was homosexuality.
Rather, Sodom’s sin was the utter failure of its inhabitants to be hospitable
to foreigners, namely, to these angels. The final point to make is that, while
we have been focusing on what the men of Sodom wanted with these angels, we
should not overlook what Lot’s counter-proposal to the men is. Here, have my
virgin daughters, and do anything with them that you wish! So even though Lot
is considered one of the few righteous people that will escape the destruction
of Sodom, his actions here are quite despicable by modern standards. And it’s
quite likely that this willingness to give up his own daughters in defense of
his guests is considered a good thing by the author of this story. Again, a
good reminder of how far removed the values of the biblical world are from our
own.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, these are the passages from the
Hebrew Bible, the Christian Old Testament, that address homosexuality directly:
two from Leviticus, and one from Genesis. Both of these passages were probably
written somewhere between 1200 BC and 800 BC. Now, we’ll switch over to the
Christian New Testament; nearly all of its writings were written in the first
century of the common era, at the height of the Roman Empire’s dominance. The
two passages from the New Testament that specifically address homosexuality
come from the letters of the Apostle Paul, one of the most important
missionaries and thinkers from the first several generations of Christians. But
before we take a look at what Paul says about homosexuality, consider this. If
these are the only NT passages that talk about this issue, then that means that
Jesus himself does not ever talk about it…or at least the four gospels never
record him saying anything about it. But, I would caution that, as a biblical
scholar, I don’t think this means that Jesus himself was pro-gay. If I had to
guess, I would assume that Jesus’ attitude toward homosexuality was probably in
line with most Jews, in that they considered it to be something that mainly
non-Jews like the Greeks and Romans did, and considered it to be evidence of
their moral depravity. I don’t think he would have been in favor of stoning
them to death, however, since he opposed the attempt of self-righteous people
to stone a woman caught in adultery. But the fact that Jesus is not recorded as
saying anything about homosexuality, positive or negative, suggests that it was
not an issue that he was very concerned about.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The first passage from Paul’s
letters is 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 9 thru 11. <span style="color: black;">“Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do
not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes,
sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will
inherit the kingdom of God. And this is what some of you used to be. But you
were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">First, some context. Paul here is not talking to a Jewish audience, but
rather to a Gentile or non-Jewish audience. These were, in fact, the main group
of people that Paul did his missionary work among, and so he played an enormous
role in transforming Christian from a sect within Judaism to, in effect, a new
religion that eventually became totally Gentile and non-Jewish. And, it is
important to point out that Greek and Roman society was much more accepting of
homosexuality than was Jewish society, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Paul
discussed it at some point in his letters. And, in fact, he does discuss it in Romans
1, as we’ll see in a little bit…but as for 1 Corinthians 6:9, there are some
very good reasons to question whether Paul is actually referring to
homosexuality here. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">The two words in question are the ones that are translated “male
prostitutes” and “sodomites.” The Greek words that underlie the English
translation are <i>arsenokoites</i> and <i>malakos</i>. The problem is that the first
of these words occurs so rarely in Greek that we can’t be completely sure what
it means, and the second word occurs quite a bit more, but doesn’t refer
specifically to homosexuals.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">Let’s look at the first one, <i>arsenokoites</i>, translated as “male
prostitutes.” It’s a very uncommon word, but seems to be a compound word made
up of the words “man” and “sleeps with.” But deciding what a word means on the
basis of the smaller words it’s made up of can be quite misleading. For
example, if you understand something, does that mean you’re standing under it?
So the better way of figuring out what an uncommon word like <i>arsenokoites</i>
means is to read texts where it’s used and try to guess at its meaning based on
the context. And, when we do this, we find that it often occurs in discussions
of economic victimization. Our best guess is that it meant someone who used money
to coerce someone sexually. But this could mean lots of things: it could be a
pimp, it could be a john, someone who visits prostitutes, it could be the
prostitute herself or himself. But that’s about all we know, so using this as a
condemnation of homosexuality is very unwise.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">The other word, <i>malakos</i>, we do know quite a bit about. Its root
meaning seems to be “effeminate.” Men who were <i>malakos</i> wore perfume and
makeup and lots of jewelry, but this is a case of where our culture is very
different from the Bible’s culture, since a man who behaved like this was, more
often then not, looking to have sex with women. So a <i>malakos</i> was
considered a man with too many feminine qualities—enjoying fine food, shaving,
singing or dancing, laughing too much. In the sexual realm, it could mean a man
who didn’t mind being penetrated, either by another man or by a woman. It could
also mean someone who masturbated, or someone who really liked having sex with
women. In Greek and Roman culture where upper class men had both male and
female sexual partners, the woman was really just for procreation, where the
other man was for having fun and feeling truly sexually fulfilled. People
tended to look a little suspiciously at those men who <i>really</i> liked
having sex with women. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">So, summing up this passage, we don’t know what <i>arsenokoites</i>
meant, except that it had something to do with exploiting someone sexually. And
we do know what <i>malakos</i> meant. While it certainly had sexual dimensions,
its root meaning is best understood as “effeminate.” It was a way of
denigrating men, often heterosexual men, by saying that they behaved like
woman. And of course, it shows us just how inferior women were in comparison to
men in antiquity.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">The final passage I want to mention
is from the New Testament, from the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Romans,
chapter 1, verses 18-27. <span style="color: black;">“For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by
their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain
to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world
his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been
understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse;
for though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him,
but they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were
darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory
of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or
four-footed animals or reptiles. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">Therefore
God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of
their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a
lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is
blessed forever! Amen. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">For this
reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural
intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the men, giving up natural
intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed
shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for
their error.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is an extraordinarily rich
passage, and I’ve only quoted part of it. Biblical scholars would say, first of
all, that Paul’s basic argument in this passage is that same-sex attraction is
one of the ways, but not the only way, that God has punished human beings who
have engaged in idolatry rather than in the worship of the true God. Notice the
implication of that: for Paul, homosexuality is a punishment that has been sent
by God. Conservative Christians and politicians virtually never talk about
homosexuality as a punishment sent from God, but rather as humans rebelling
against God’s design for sexuality. Second, however, most scholars recognize
that this scenario that Paul is describing is <u>not</u> the Fall of Humanity
in the Garden of Eden that is narrated in Genesis 3. Here, Paul is instead
talking <u>only</u> about non-Jews, since <u>they’re</u> the ones who worship
idols. Third, why is it important that Paul is only talking about Gentiles
here? If Paul is saying that homosexuality is a curse from God for engaging in
idolatry, then he is also saying that most Jews and Christians by definition <u>can’t</u>
be homosexuals because they don’t worship idols. Fourth, we have to realize that
if the crime is idolatry, then the punishment has to fit the crime. If idolatry
is worshiping something that’s lower then you—like an animal—rather than
something that’s higher than you—namely, God—then the punishment God inflicts
upon those who commit idolatry is to make them desire things that are
unnatural, that aren’t in keeping with the natural order of things. This could
be same-sex desire, but it could also be, when Paul talks about women having
unnatural intercourse, it may be something as simple as having sex on top. In
the Greco-Roman world, a woman in a dominant sexual position would certainly
have been considered out of line with the way sex was supposed to be performed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, to sum up this passage from
Romans 1, Paul does say that same-sex attraction is sinful. But if we were just
to leave the matter there, we would be grossly oversimplifying what he’s
saying. His assumptions about where homosexuality comes from, who can be a
homosexual, and what is considered natural and unnatural in sexual relations
are vastly different from modern understandings of homosexuality, including the
understandings of anti-gay Christians. Unlike anti-gay Christians, Paul thinks
that homosexuality comes from God, that it’s not something that a person chooses
to do. He also thinks that Jews and Christians by definition <i>can’t</i> be
homosexual because they don’t commit idolatry. And when Paul says idolatry, he
doesn’t mean a kind of general attitude of putting other things, like sex,
money, or power ahead of God. He literally means bowing down to a statue of
Zeus or the Roman Emperor or even a lizard. He can’t conceive of homosexuality
existing in any other way. Finally, unlike anti-gay Christians, he understands
“unnatural passions” in a much broader sense than just homosexuality. If a man
has sex with his wife every night, as some Christian pastors say they do, that
would be considered unnatural by Paul. And that doesn’t even take into account
what sexual positions they’re using!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">In concluding this discussion of
Romans 1 and my entire presentation, I would say this. It is beyond a doubt
that the Bible considers homosexuality to be sinful. But, I would very quickly
add that it does this on the basis of assumptions about the way the world is
that no anti-gay Christian today would agree to. So, if someone were to say
that homosexuality is bad because Paul says it is, but he or she fails to
mention the very specific—and very different—cultural assumptions that Paul
bases this judgment on, how legitimate of a reading is this? Has this person
just taken out of the biblical text what he or she wants to find there, and ignored
all the foundational presuppositions of the biblical author because they
complicate the situation? Is it intellectually honest or morally commendable to
read a two-thousand year old writer like Paul, to say nothing of the
three-thousand year old writer of Leviticus, in such a cheerfully oblivious
fashion? Thank you.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-57957756703111719342011-01-07T09:53:00.001-08:002011-01-07T10:13:01.591-08:00Story on Salt Lake City NBC StationIn conjunction with the celebration of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_%28holiday%29">Epiphany</a> on January 6th, the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City did a very nice <a href="http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13909007">piece on the book</a>. I was especially glad that the reporter sought me out, since there are some very clear affinities between the theology/christology of the Latter Day Saint Church and the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span>.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-53134800136898933642010-12-30T18:08:00.001-08:002010-12-30T18:12:43.381-08:00Alternative ChristsThis isn't related to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span>, but as this blog progresses it will certainly develop broader horizons.<br /><br />I've just had <a href="http://www.bookreviews.org/pdf/7416_8087.pdf">my review</a> of <span style="font-style: italic;">Alternative Christs</span> published in the <span style="font-style: italic;">Review of Biblical Literature</span>. It's a nice collection of essays about unusual visions of Christ and his significance that have developed over the past 2000 years.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-25736050999060612792010-12-30T18:00:00.000-08:002010-12-30T22:06:17.433-08:00An Amazon milestoneNo, this post isn't about the ratings spike on Christmas Eve and Christmas (though that was great fun while it lasted). Rather, I've just received my first one-star review!<br /><br /><div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;"> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="margin-left: -5px;"><img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/common/customer-reviews/stars-1-0._V192241078_.gif" alt="1.0 out of 5 stars" title="1.0 out of 5 stars" height="12" width="64" border="0" /> </span><b>A One Star Rating is Too High</b>, </span> <nobr><span style="font-size:85%;">December 28, 2010</span></nobr> </div><span style="font-size:85%;"><b><span class="h3color tiny">This review is from: </span>Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem (Hardcover)</b></span><div class="tiny" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em;"> </div><span style="font-size:85%;"> I found this book to be terribly disappointing. This book is not for any serious student of the Bible or anyone seeking truth about the Magi. Fraught with all kinds of theological errors and discrepancies in its telling,the "Revelation" feels contrived and even fraudulent(i.e. the manuscript). Mr. Landau even states that "...there is nothing in "The Revelation of the Magi" that has filtered into the Christmas story that we know today...", yet he concludes that "The Revelation of the Magi" should be especially relevant to today's world because in this day of religious diversity, there is a "great deal of theological reflection on the place of Christianity among the world's religious traditions and that, according to the "Revelation", Christ appears to say there is room for religious diversity in His plan. Following Christ is a radical calling that, by Jesus's own words(John 14:6), denies that premise. Do we REALLY need to know about "The Revelation of the Magi"? I think not. If you want the indisputable truth, see this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002RBHDFK/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk">The Star of Bethlehem</a></span><br /><br />Actually, I think the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span> would agree quite strongly with <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2014:6&version=NIV">John 14:6</a>.<br /><br />And for clarification, when I post these sorts of negative comments, it's not out of self-pity or some related emotion. Instead, they make me genuinely pleased that people have reacted so strongly to my work. It would be much worse simply to be ignored.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-14614651905667947252010-12-30T17:56:00.000-08:002010-12-30T18:00:53.132-08:00Two more news items<a href="http://newsok.com/article/3526183">Here's</a> an article from <span style="font-style: italic;">The Oklahoman</span>, the major paper in my neck of the woods, which ran on Christmas Day.<br /><br />And a <a href="http://thebrowser.com/interviews/brent-landau-on-real-christmas-story">fun interview</a> in The Browser, which asked me to come up with a list of five books related to the history of Christmas.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-8637839806163953522010-12-30T17:50:00.001-08:002010-12-30T17:56:02.726-08:00Most widely-read dissertation?I pose a question to you, inspired by the large number of people who have viewed <a href="http://ou.academia.edu/BrentLandau/Papers/134184/The_Sages_and_the_Star-Child_An_Introduction_to_the_Revelation_of_the_Magi_An_Ancient_Christian_Apocryphon">my dissertation</a>. It made me wonder what have been the most widely-read dissertations (presumably in published form, I would imagine). Any ideas? I'm sure mine doesn't compare, but I'd be interested to know which theses have been the most successful.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-74430601220592817742010-12-30T17:35:00.000-08:002010-12-30T17:49:56.879-08:00More reviewsQuite a few reviews of the book out in the blogosphere, so I wanted to highlight several newer ones.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.johnreilly.info/magi.htm">This one</a> by John Reilly (a commenter on the blog) calls attention to the text's focus on human inability to speak about the divine, and also to the text's positive view of <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%206:1-4&version=NIV">the Watchers</a>, those folks who started the whole Flood mess.<br /><br />And<a href="http://www.patheos.com/community/takeandread/2010/12/23/the-bright-light-of-the-magi/"> here's</a> another review from the Patheos website, by Angelica Nohemi Quinonez. I found the following passage particularly beautiful:<br />"<style>@font-face { font-family: "MS 明朝"; }@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }@font-face { font-family: "Goudy Old Style"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Goudy Old Style"; }.MsoChpDefault { font-family: Cambria; }.MsoPapDefault { margin-bottom: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; </style><em><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style";">Revelation of the Magi </span></em><span style="">is a testament to God’s communication with humanity. It is not only that God communicates through the Magi through the star, just as it is not that God communicates Himself to humanity through the incarnation or the cross. Rather, God gives himself to us in love. There is an open invitation to allow that unseen resplendent light to guide us. <em><span style="font-family: "Goudy Old Style";">Revelation of the Magi</span></em> is, perhaps, a story about us–wanderers in expectation of seeing the mysteries reveal themselves before our eyes, walking in faith, open to truth.</span>" <br /><br />Last but certainly not least, <a href="http://judithweingarten.blogspot.com/2010/12/we-twelve-kings-of-orient-are.html">a review</a> by Judith Weingarten, an archaeologist whose blog is truly required reading for those interested in ancient history.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-18716369200003236552010-12-30T17:28:00.000-08:002015-10-14T11:20:21.236-07:00Nightline (and Fox News)The <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wise-men-ancient-text-differs-bible-tale-magi/story?id=12460820">Nightline piece</a> was enormously successful, and ended up being featured on the Yahoo homepage for several hours on Christmas Day.<br />
<br />
Here's my favorite comment from the ABC website (and this is a comment I genuinely <span style="font-style: italic;">like</span>!):<br />
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"The cave is filled with light," Landau said, describing the transcribed text. "They're kind of hesitant about this, but eventually the star...its light concentrates and reveals the small luminous human being...a star child, if you will...it's Christ." -------------- So Jesus was an alien? Well, that's at least as believable as anything else......</div>
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Very late edit: I never included the very nice piece on the book that Fox News ran. So <a href="http://video.foxnews.com/v/4473817/revelations-of-the-magi/?#sp=show-clips" target="_blank">here</a> it is.</div>
Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-15312335599249430912010-12-30T17:19:00.000-08:002010-12-30T22:04:43.687-08:00Diane RehmHaving the opportunity to appear on <a href="http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-12-20/brent-landau-revelation-magi">The Diane Rehm Show</a> was absolutely amazing. She had long been my favorite NPR show and one of my favorite interviewers, so it was really one of the high points of this whole experience.<br /><br />As expected, Diane asked great, provocative questions, and deftly managed callers, emailers, tweeters, etc., getting a diverse sampling of opinions and questions.<br /><br />Of course, not everyone was happy. Here's the first comment of all from the website:<br /> <style>@font-face { font-family: "Times"; }@font-face { font-family: "MS 明朝"; }@font-face { font-family: "MS 明朝"; }@font-face { font-family: "Goudy Old Style"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Goudy Old Style"; }p { margin-right: 0in; margin-left: 0in; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Times; }.MsoChpDefault { font-family: Cambria; }.MsoPapDefault { margin-bottom: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { page: WordSection1; }</style> <p>"Your producers are scraping the bottom for guest [<span style="font-style: italic;">sic</span>].</p> <p>This writer has no hard facts, only vivid imagination."</p><p><span style="font-size:130%;">I do indeed think the writer of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi </span>had a vivid imagination, but I don't think that's what the commentator meant.</span><br /></p>Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-52041530859962102632010-12-30T17:10:00.000-08:002010-12-30T17:17:42.606-08:00Back at itI've neglected the blog for the past week and a half: partly due to holiday festivities, partly due to several other appearances, but mostly due to my immune system completely abandoning me. The last month has been a tad busier than I'm used to!<br /><br />If you're just finding this for the first time, welcome! If you're looking to buy the book, go <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061947032/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0M1YBNYVCPJYAHYJJGCZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846">here</a>; if you're looking for the dissertation, go <a href="http://ou.academia.edu/BrentLandau/Papers/134184/The_Sages_and_the_Star-Child_An_Introduction_to_the_Revelation_of_the_Magi_An_Ancient_Christian_Apocryphon">here</a>.<br /><br />Catching up on media to follow shortly.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-69671473651056863942010-12-19T18:56:00.000-08:002010-12-19T19:05:24.378-08:00Two Great New ReviewsSeveral in-depth reviews of the book have just been published.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/books/la-ca-sirens-call-20101216,0,2028254.story">This one</a> in the LA Times book section gave it five stars and implied that I was a bit like Dan Brown's Robert Langdon. Not really, but it's quite flattering to be compared with the eminent symbologist.<br /><br />And <a href="http://www.christianhumanist.org/chb/2010/12/jesus-in-the-far-east-a-review-of-the-revelation-of-the-magi-for-harperone-2/">this one</a> on the Christian Humanist blog had some extremely interesting things to say.<br /><br />First, my favorite quote: "And to prove that old texts have their own warped sense of humor, there’s even a baby-switch gag in which Mary panics because she sees one of the Magi’s mystical vision of Christ and thinks that he’s kidnapped baby Jesus. Of course, when she finds the real Jesus back where he should be, the infant gives her a long speech providing her anxious soul comfort. (Yes, you did just read that. You really want to check it out now, don’t you?)."<br /><br />And second, a very insightful critique of one of my major theses (and one that I don't really have a good answer for at present): "Landau’s footnote to this verse as well as the volume’s concluding essay point to this as evidence of an early “theology of the world’s religions” and speculates that the final episodes in RM might have been later scribal addenda geared towards taking the sting out of such an intellectual novelty. The problem I see with Landau’s approach is that he seems to apply a very modern understanding of “faith” without giving any lexical justification. In modern times, of course, phrases like “interfaith dialogue” and “faith-based organizations” are relatively commonplace: “a faith” in this language-game is Islam, Christianity, or something bearing resemblance to them, and there are a plurality of “faiths” in the world. In legal systems that recognize a plurality of incommensurable “faiths” or “religions,” such a use makes perfect sense, but in an intellectual context that knows syncretism but not pluralism, such a move seems strange."Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-18634285420476343922010-12-13T18:51:00.000-08:002010-12-13T18:53:20.499-08:00KGOU InterviewThe local NPR station here in Norman just aired my interview with them this morning. If you missed it (or just want to hear it again), here's a <a href="http://kgou.org/assets/mp3_files/101213A.mp3">link</a> to the MP3.<br /><br />I've only had a chance to listen to the first three minutes, but I've heard from other people who enjoyed it.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-15855553271849767192010-12-12T19:33:00.000-08:002010-12-12T19:38:38.666-08:00McKnight review and my responseOne of the reviews at Patheos that I especially enjoyed was that of Scot McKnight, Professor of New Testament and early Christianity at North Park University. His <a href="http://www.patheos.com/community/jesuscreed/2010/12/08/the-magi-story/">review</a> criticized several of my main claims about the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span>, and I've responded to his critique in this <a href="http://www.patheos.com/community/takeandread/2010/12/10/magi-author-responds-to-scot-mcknight">rejoinder</a>.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-19909838351600834252010-12-12T18:47:00.000-08:002010-12-12T19:33:34.935-08:00Reviews on PatheosA few contributors to Patheos have posted some very thoughtful reviews of the book.<br /><br />Here's <a href="http://www.patheos.com/community/takeandread/2010/12/06/shining-the-light-on-the-wise-men/">one</a> by Rev. Peter M. Wallace.<br /><br />And here's Amy Julia Becker's <a href="http://www.patheos.com/community/takeandread/2010/12/09/gift-of-the-magi/">review</a>.<br /><br />Lisa Hess's review, <a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Context-Is-Everything-A-Scholarly-Response-to-the-Revelation-of-the-Magi.html">"Context is Everything."</a><br /><br />And Beth Davies-Stofka's <a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/An-Encounter-of-Your-Own.html">"An Encounter of Your Own."</a>Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-13607585777945427472010-12-12T18:45:00.000-08:002010-12-12T18:47:21.539-08:00Q & A with United Methodist ReporterI'm a bit late in posting <a href="http://www.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=7404">this</a>, but it's a really good Q&A session with Mary Jacobs from the UM Reporter.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-8465902841371017462010-12-12T18:34:00.000-08:002010-12-12T18:45:30.399-08:00Huffington PostFriday saw the debut of a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brent-landau/on-revelation-of-the-magi_b_788238.html">piece</a> I wrote for the Huffington Post. Rather than just giving an overview of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span>, I talked more specifically about the text's understanding of non-Christian religions.<br /><br />I'm really happy with the piece, but the readers' comments were pretty disappointing overall (and I probably shouldn't have expected otherwise). Lots of proclamations about how Jesus never existed, that Christianity was based on ancient Egyptian mythology, and similarly ignorant stuff.<br /><br />But, I *loved* this comment, since at least this conspiracy theorist actually read the article:<br />"The author ignores the possibility that the exclusion of "Jesus" or "Christ" did not appear in the original text, was because those concepts were named well after it was written."<br /><div class="comment_body"><br /></div>Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-75444977966577478562010-12-12T18:24:00.000-08:002010-12-13T05:42:13.965-08:00Upcoming TV and RadioI spent a day in NYC last week taping some segments for ABC's Nightline and for Fox News--pretty exciting! I believe the Nightline piece will air sometime early next week (the week of the 20th). And one of the Fox News pieces was for a Fox and Friends special that's supposed to air Christmas Eve. The other Fox piece is online only, I think. When I have more information, I'll be sure to post it.<br /><br />But I do know that I'll be on the <a href="http://thedianerehmshow.org/">Diane Rehm Show</a> on Monday, December 20th, from 11AM-12PM EST (the second hour of the show)! I'm thrilled and flattered to be interviewed by Diane Rehm, as she's one of the best in the business and a huge personal favorite of mine.<br /><br />I'll post again on these appearances once we get a little closer and I have more info.<br /><br />NOTE: For y'all in Oklahoma, the Diane Rehm Show is on from 9AM-11AM CST, so I'll be on from 10-11. And for those of you in Arizona, I've heard reports that the second hour is on first (??), from 9-10. Beyond that, check your local listings! And if you miss it, I'm sure it will be available at the <a href="http://www.npr.org">NPR website</a> in perpetuity.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com48tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-12655431406497944532010-12-12T16:26:00.000-08:002010-12-12T16:31:52.424-08:00Interview on Local NPR Station Tomorrow MorningI've got a lot of news to update, and will be doing so later tonight, but I wanted to get this out first because it's time-sensitive.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.kgou.org">KGOU</a>, the National Public Radio affiliate here in Norman, OK, will be airing an interview with me about the book on Monday, December 13th (that's tomorrow) at 11:00AM CST. It will be on the "Oklahoma Voices" program.<br /><br />So tune in, either on the radio or over the Internet!Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-27725617363289712762010-12-04T19:55:00.001-08:002010-12-04T19:59:34.611-08:00Two Completely Awesome WebsitesIf you're not familiar with <a href="http://www.readthespirit.com/">ReadTheSpirit</a> or <a href="http://www.patheos.com/">Patheos</a>, you should be. They are absolutely great sites devoted to a variety of religious and spiritual issues.<br /><br />And you can start by looking at their features on the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span>, <a href="http://www.readthespirit.com/explore/2010/12/3/christmas-surprise-three-magi-how-about-12.html">here</a> and <a href="http://www.patheos.com/Find/Religion-and-Faith-Book-Club.html">here</a>!Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-68897376725079478472010-12-04T19:51:00.000-08:002010-12-04T19:54:40.159-08:00Were the Wise Men from China?So asks <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/mind-soul/spirituality/2010-12-03-three-wise-men_N.htm">this article</a> by Michelle Healey in USA Today. Thanks, Michelle!!<br /><br />And do be sure to take a look at the readers' comments. :)Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com136tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-66065788950010337632010-12-04T19:39:00.000-08:002010-12-04T19:50:26.716-08:00Blog ReviewsTony Burke's <a href="http://www.tonyburke.ca/apocryphicity/">Apocryphicity</a>, devoted to all things apocryphal, posted a <a href="http://www.tonyburke.ca/apocryphicity/2010/11/02/the-revelation-of-the-magi/">review</a> of the book the day of its release.<br /><br />A very kind and thoughtful <a href="http://justinmartyr.blogspot.com/2010/11/syriac-scholar-brent-landau-and.html">review</a> by "<a href="http://justinmartyr.blogspot.com/">Justin Martyr</a>."<br /><br />Finally, <a href="http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/">Roger Pearse</a> summarizes the previous review and adds further thoughts <a href="http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/?p=5399">here</a>.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-16155882317853055332010-12-04T19:35:00.000-08:002010-12-04T19:39:26.888-08:00Also Available In Audiobook Format!If you'd like to listen to a dramatic reading of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span>, check out the <a href="http://oasisaudio.com/product.php?prod=9781598598339">audiobook version</a> by Oasis Audio.<br /><br />And for the record, listening to a stage actor read my English translation of the Syriac has been by far the most surreal moment of this experience thus far.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3892569435400518923.post-34519520228963777792010-12-04T19:16:00.000-08:002010-12-04T19:34:21.096-08:00Welcome to the Revelation of the Magi!Hello! My name is Brent Landau, and I'm an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma. I've just released a book entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">The Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to Bethlehem</span>, published by HarperCollins.<br /><br />To my delight, the book has already generated a fair amount of interest, so this blog will keep track of news stories, reviews, media appearances, and the like.<br /><br />For starters, here's a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061947032/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0M1YBNYVCPJYAHYJJGCZ&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846">link</a> to where you can buy the book.<br /><br />And if you'd like to browse the book, go <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=pKz41BofeOEC&lpg=PP1&ots=FCenfDZx36&dq=revelation%20of%20the%20magi&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">here</a>.<br /><br />Lastly, this book is an adaptation of my dissertation. If you're interested in a more technical, scholarly approach to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Revelation of the Magi</span>, you can access my dissertation <a href="http://ou.academia.edu/BrentLandau/Papers/134184/The_Sages_and_the_Star-Child_An_Introduction_to_the_Revelation_of_the_Magi_An_Ancient_Christian_Apocryphon">here</a>.Brent Landauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08909103438428487966noreply@blogger.com1