Adam Kotsko offers a repost of the most original explanation ever as to why Jesus hasn’t come back yet.

Religion Nerd has a post on the increasingly widespread phenomenon of imprecatory prayers.

Joel Watts asks if the Taliban is more Biblical than supposed Biblical literalists among Christians.

Scot McKnight shares an encouraging Facebook update from Egypt.

Steven Douglas shares a quote from George MacDonald about penal substitution.

Via John Byron, a video of our mutual friend Loren Stuckenbruck talking about the Dead Sea Scrolls and their connection to the Essenes.

Or if you are looking for something less serious in a video, then via Jesus Needs New PR, here’s pick-up lines from the Song of Solomon:

And Marc Cortez shares something new in the realm of YouTube videos – interactive, “choose your own adventure” videos. Are they the future?

Tom Verenna shares some pdfs from Richard Carrier, which illustrate his application of Bayes Theorem to the subject of the historical Jesus.

Diglotting continues reviewing Maurice Casey’s recent book on the historical Jesus.

BioBlog offers some thoughts on attitudes towards teaching evolution in US public school science classrooms.

The Biblioblog Top 10 (by vote) and Top 50 (by Alexa ranking and NT Wrong-approved) for this past month have been posted. Thank you to everyone who voted for me – I came in first again this month. And since I have already been caricatured last month, you can click through and see this month’s caricature of Bob Cargill.

Squarely at the intersection of religion and science fiction is this cartoon (from Hijinks Ensue via io9) depicting the Battlestar Galactica Bible – i.e. the guidelines producer Ron Moore gave to the writers – here being preached upon by Moore himself.

It has been some time since my thoughts turned to LOST, but last night I found myself noticing a parallel between Jacob (and perhaps also his adoptive mother) and Desmond.

Desmond came to the island by accident, and was given the task of pushing a button in order to protect and save the world. Jacob was raised by a woman who said she came to the island by accident and had been given the task of protecting the light and thus saving the world.

The parallel between the two situations didn’t strike me quite this way until now. It provides a useful starting point for reflection on how tasks and responsibilities which may be genuinely important can become shrouded in mystery, or the rationale can be forgotten with the passage of time, leaving those who come later wondering whether the supposedly sacred duty they have had bestowed upon them is worthy of their time.

If nothing else, this reminds us why it is important to pass on not only rules and rituals but rationales. Enveloping tasks in mystery and then calling upon people to have faith that they are important seems like a dangerous way of trying to make sure that crucial things get done.

Commenter Brian said something that I thought deserved to be repeated. The original quote can be found in a comment here, but I’ll paraphrase slightly so that it makes better sense on its own:

Diglotting discusses the “Tweet Your Creed Meme” and proposes the Golden Rule. Daniel Manastireanu has a sermon that does something similar, asking what single verse encapsulates his life philosophy, and proposes Micah 6:8: “Do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God.”

Like A Child asks for testimonies about how people who embrace evolution and reject Biblical inerrancy have managed to preserve Christian faith.

Hemant Mehta shares a statistic that 13% of American school teachers of science advocate creationism.

Jerry Coyne met with a group of liberal Christians, seemingly for the first time. John Pieret thinks it is about time.

Jen McCreight shares this video of Ken Ham seeking to defend the Noah’s Ark Theme Park as worthy of state support.

And Irtiqa shares a clip of Bill Maher discussing climate change with some politicians, and in the process Congressman Jack Kingston’s stance on evolution (which he doesn’t understand) becomes apparent as well.
http://embed.crooksandliars.com/v/MTk1MzEtNDM2MDM

Like a Child finishes reviewing, and reflects on, a book entitled Can We Trust the Gospels?


A repost from Michael Spencer asks whether the Bible is where discussion should end for Christians, or where it should begin.

Diglotting begins reviewing Maurice Casey’s latest book, Jesus of Nazareth.

Remnants of Giants asks whether the Noah’s Ark theme park will include giants.

Sharp Iron asks how to define what a “Christian” is.

NakedPastor shared the cartoon on the right.