Mining and Mapping Apocalyptic Texts, Part 2
As I explained in my last blog post, my dissertation will compare several statements about the final fate of humankind in Paul to similar statements in apocalyptic texts. In that post, I described how text-mining could help with the interpretation of the texts which stand at the center of my dissertation. In this post, I will discuss how geographic information systems (GIS) can help to visualize geographic relationships among texts. My ideas here, as in my first blog post, are the result of conversations with other staff members here at the Scholars’ Lab. The question that I pose and answer in this blog post is, What does geography have to do with the analysis of biblical texts? The short answer is, “Much, in every way.” But I can’t just assert that, I need to show it.
About the Author
Matthew Munson
Matt is a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies and a Scholars' Lab graduate consultant.
Read more about Matt and access his other posts here.
Mining and Mapping Apocalyptic Texts, Part 1
I have used computer technology to help my work in biblical interpretation for a while. I learned to do complex digital word searches with the Bibleworks software package early in my graduate career. When I started working at the Scholars’ Lab in the summer of 2006, I was introduced to digital humanities. I found these technologies fascinating. But how, I asked, could they help me interpret ancient religious texts in their original languages? I recently posed this question to some of my colleagues in the Scholars’ Lab and was pleasantly surprised by the answers. Read more…
About the Author
Matthew Munson
Matt is a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies and a Scholars' Lab graduate consultant.
Read more about Matt and access his other posts here.
Biblical Statistics
The first topic that I chose for my dissertation in UVA’s Department of Religious Studies was the “School of Saint Paul.” I hoped to show the existence of a group of followers who surrounded Paul and engaged with him in the interpretation of the Old Testament. In order to do this, I decided to investigate how Paul used scripture in his epistles and how the followers of Paul used the same scripture in their writings. I anticipated finding certain portions of the Old Testament that either were used exclusively in the Pauline and post-Pauline literature or were used differently in the Pauline and post-Pauline literature than in the rest of the New Testament.
But I had a problem. Read more…
About the Author
Matthew Munson
Matt is a Ph.D. candidate in Religious Studies and a Scholars' Lab graduate consultant.
Read more about Matt and access his other posts here.
