THE MINIMALIST-MAXIMALIST DEBATE CONTINUES: Here's an encouragingly irenic essay by V. Philip Long on the Bible and Interpretation website. It is in response to an earlier essay by Niels Peter Lemche published in the same place.

Conservative Scholarship-
Critical Scholarship: Can We Talk?

At the end of the day, I believe that just as there are no "bad questions," provided that they are sincerely and respectfully posed, there are no "bogus conversations," provided they are sincerely and respectfully joined. Lemche is quite correct to decry situations in which scholars of other viewpoints are simply labeled and dismissed. This should not be done to today�s minimalist scholars, nor indeed to today�s more conservative scholars.

One small criticism: why isn't there a link to Lemche's essay in the first paragraph of this one? I wish online essayists would think like bloggers more often and link to everything in sight -- especially online pieces of immediate relevance.