He's Back!
It didn't take long for Jim West to do exactly as I foretold. After suddenly shutting down his fourth blog he has resurrected under a fifth, Zwinglius Redivivus, launched today, January 8, 2010. Please note this is distinct from his church blog, where Jim is no doubt unable to let out his bile, ire and constant diatribes for fear of alienating folk in the pews.
Just so that things are clear, let's revisit a few places in biblioblogdom where Jim recently said he had no intention of blogging again.
(1) On Scott Bailey's blog, Scotteriology, in response to the question, "Any chance we will see you back blogging in the future?", Jim replied: "Nope. It – again- has become uninteresting to me. Now – if someone objects or maintains that the church website is a blog they simply show their ignorance. Its character is completely different because its purpose is completely different. So, again, no, I am not now nor will I in the future be ‘blogging’."
Well, Jim lied.
(2) On Roland Boer's blog, Stalin's Moustache, Jim said in comments, "you can pass along word to loren- he’s completely wrong in his notion that i’ll blog again. as i’ve told you [Roland] privately, it’s just become boring. so no, dont imagine loren or anyone else to be correct in this matter."
It turns out I was completely right. And it took only six days to be proven so.
(3) On Joel Watts' blog, The Church of Jesus Christ, Jim said, "so, joel, all the guesses and loren’s silly supposition that i’ll be back to blogging are absurdities."
It wasn't a guess on my part, but a promise. Not a supposition, but a prophecy. Think about who looks silly and absurd.
(4) On James Crossley's blog, Earliest Christian History, in response to inquiries about a possible resurrection, Jim said, "i'm afraid i'll stay quite dead. as dead as the guy in the meaning of life who exploded after eating just one thin mint."
Of course not. Jim is alive as he's ever been, and in fact has already published seven blogposts today. He can't stay away from that keyboard. We'll see how long his fifth blog lasts.
posted by Loren Rosson III @ 1/08/2010
7 Comments:
Haha, you're a better prophet than Pat Robertson. :)
Is that supposed to be a compliment, Q?
Did you have to lay on your side or anything before the visions of the Lord came over you?
Nothing so dramatic. Jim has just become sadly predictable.
Loren, you have been very right.
It baffles me why so many around the internet give Jim West so much positive attention. I get the impression that he is the biblical studies equivalent of a reality TV show celebrity who is famous for his rants or just famous for being famous. It may be entertaining, but it's not biblical studies. His recent disappearance reminds me of the helium balloon boy stunt.
It has to be said that he regularly violates his own list protocols on the list that he manages. He has not been sufficiently taken to task for this. This sad state of affairs shames us all.
Loren, you pointed out that Jim has not produced much (any?) original research. Fair point, but this may be because he is a generalist. We need generalists as well as specialists. His contribution is to provide a useful service by forwarding news and so on. He has done more than anyone else in this regard. I hope he will focus on this important role, even at the expense of his ratings.
Hi Richard,
Reality TV show equivalent is a good analogy. I always considered Jim's blogs to be tabloids, but your description fits even better.
I can prophesy too:
Jim West will continue to filter out comments that challenge his viewpoints.
Jim West will continue to represent the Copenhagen view of biblical history as the intuitive default setting, without ever offering a substantive argument for that view.
Jim West will continue to accuse others of dilletantism while he passes himself off as a credentialed scholar.
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