Why I don't use Biblical people topic guide - an appeal for votes on suggestions
There is some good content in Factbook and the Topic guide when I am researching a person. I use the referred to as section to find the variety of ways the person is referred to, I use Factbook tags to find resources that I personally tagged so they would show, and in some cases I use topics.logos.com for the etymology of names which I was added until I realized no one else looked at the data and switched to a link on my shortcut bar.
If I were younger, I would use many more sections from these tools as I would still be learning the basic life story and relationships of the people populating the Bible. But I am at the point where, when I am looking at a person or place I am concerned with what that person meant to the original audience. Just as a mention of George Washington brings to my mind cherry tree, wooden teeth, white wig, President, crossing the Delaware, Biblical people of note came with their "common cultural knowledge" - a critical piece of the social context of scripture. This is what I am looking for when I research a person now. And the hints available to be are found in apocrypha, pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scroll, Gnostic writings, Rabbinic writings and folklore.
These suggestions are steps in making cultural milieu more accessible:
- Factbook and topic guide: Context section for Biblical persons and places | Faithlife
- Lists of Biblical People, Places, etc: Add Greek & Hebrew Etymology of Each Name | Faithlife
- Biblical person character guide | Faithlife
- Howard Schwartz | Faithlife
- Robert Graves and Raphael Patai | Faithlife
- Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era | Faithlife
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."