The title of this post can be taken a few different ways. It could be taken in the sense of, Why did you name the blog Pisteuomen and what does it mean? Pisteuomen is a Greek word that means "we believe." The "we" connotes "community."
This actually leads to another way that the title of this post could be taken: Why did you start Pisteuomen? Actually, I created Pisteuomen thinking that it would be a site where people's faiths / beliefs could be edified when they visited. While I still desire for that to happen, there is yet another aspect of "Why Pisteuomen?" that has come into being.
I should begin by saying that for me, my blog is not primarily concerned with self-promotion or self-publication (inevitably, though, self-publication is a part of any blog; every blogger wants to get their name out there and to get their site promoted, however, the reasons behind such motivations vary considerably). Pisteuomen has increasingly been taking on the character of being a site for others. Of course, "we" includes me as well as my readers, but as of late, the purpose of this site has become more than anything, a resource / knowledge sharing page.
One of the reasons I was hesitant to start a blog was because I was afraid someone would take my ideas or something. But the realization hit me that knowledge should not be kept from people, especially biblical / spiritual knowledge. So, along with adding posts every day, I have slowly been developing free, biblical / theological, open-source resources. At this point, I think that is the main reason "why" Pisteuomen exists. This site is meant to share and distribute knowledge and resources that will not only help build up individual faiths / beliefs but also the community ("we") of faith.
To all of my readers thus far, thanks for reading. Enjoy the free resources and if you have any ideas for new resources I might create, please let me know as I am consantly working on new projects.
Hi, Michael
ReplyDelete"I was afraid someone would take my ideas or something"
Thanks for getting past that. I only found your site today whilst meandering around the web from my bed (best place for my back to handle sustained 'surfing' - though as above I call it meandering - much less effort and not as driven by exterior influences)
I studied Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and Syriac in my middle age (now almost elderly!) I especially look forward to reading your series on Mark. It's looks like a good commentary FREE on the net - no need to buy at some exhorbitant cost, or to travel by public transport to a library where now I am having a rest from academic study I will not be able to take the book home with me (if it is actually in the library). It also has the capacity to be able to almost instantly dialogue with other interested and knowledgeable parties. I take every commentary on its own merit. By reading one can find out any vested interests and interpretations which may or may not be agreeable (much like political letters to the editors of newspapers).
Another thing (things actually), I have subscribed to your email feed but do I receive each blog entry itself (as with Logos software) or just notification of another entry? And is it OK to - leech-like - suck the entire previous contents of your blog for storage on my own computer for ready reference and reading?
There seems to be so much to read just on your blog but I'd like to give it a go.
Naomisu
Naomisu,
ReplyDeleteWow, thank you first of all for so many kind comments. I am blessed to have you as a reader of Pisteuomen.
You sound like a very astute and studied person. I will enjoy interacting with you. I can tell from your comment here that you must have some good insights.
As for the free commentary, you are right about that; that's what it is. I am planning to compile the Studies on Mark into a book format. However, for the time being, yes, you are welcome to copy any of the contents that you like. All I ask is that when appropriate, you'd give credit where credit is due--even if it's a citation of someone else's work that is simply located on this site.
As for the email feed, yes, you will recieve each day's post (or posts) individually--probably with some links back to previous posts.
Finally, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you: 1) How exactly did you find Pisteuomen and 2) Where are you located? You don't haev to answer, I know a lot of people like to maintain confidentiality but if you desire to, that'd be great; I'm interested.
Merry Christmas,
--Michael