The Life of a College Graduate in Limbo

Almost a week since my last post! So busy? No...just in limbo. So I've graduated (still waiting to actually get the diploma in the mail) and now I've nothing to do until the fall...yep. I've actually checked out a ton of books from the library and have a ton on the way, and I'm sure I'll never get through them all, but hey, a boy can dream can't he...so far, here's what I've found out:

1. John Shelby Spong: Not too impressed so far. I've only read one of his books, The Sins of Scripture, and I have to tell you, this former bishop of the Anglican Church knows as much about the Old Testament and first century Judaism as I know about Rocket Science...not much. Not only that but his polemics against circumcision and his ill conceived notions of Judaism read like the old anti-semitic polemics from the early church and pagan historians. And the scholarship he's using, source criticism (the J,E,D,P) theory has been basically discarded by modern biblical scholars as grossly inaccurate or at best an over simplification, but he treats it like it's a given. The Homeric scholars who initiated the whole methodology don't even use it...It's not even good enough for Homer, but it's good enough for the Bible? In the end he feels less postmodern than a modern liberal. He's got this sort of take it or leave it mentality (he generally chooses to leave it) that doesn't strike me as the true honoring of diversity and goodness in a variety of traditions that I've come to associate with Postmodern Theology.
   
2. Philip K. Dick (Minority Report, Blade Runner, etc) is obsessed with LSD...
3. Geza Vermes, I love this guy. I've come across a good bit of his work in my scholarly research, and am reading one of his books geared toward a more popular audience (The Authentic Gospel of Jesus) and I have to recommend it to anyone who's looking for a cursory look at the teachings of Jesus, with commentary from a Jewish perspective. A little too Bultmanian for me, but his knowledge of both first century Judaism and Christianity is inspiring.
4. N.T. Wright: I get a mixed bag from this guy. I've read some of his online essays and am now going through The Last Word. He offers some interesting insights into Paul, but he certainly doesn't understand the Pharisees or first century Judaism either. This is also the feeling I thought I would get, based on Brian McLaren's books. He cites Wright as a big influence on his theology and I'm constantly amazed by how often they totally miss what Judaism teaches. It's like the New Testament, Josephus and the early church fathers are the only source for first century Judaism. Like Pharisaic/Rabbinic Jews didn't create or write their own works (the Midrash, Mishnah, Talmud, Tosefot) to explain what they were thinking.
5. I have way too much time on my hands...and still can't write a decent post.