The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis
The Doctor Who episode “The Claws of Axos” from the Jon Pertwee era features aliens who remind me of golden gods, perhaps from Greek mythology. And the story actually echoes, in a sense, a famous mythic story from that tradition, but on this occasion it is godlike beings who bring the treacherous gift. The Axons [...]
I presume that this sign is intentional and not a spelling error: From This Isn't Happiness, HT Jeff Carter on Facebook Gods were, and then later a single God was, thought to be capricious and terrifying in ancient times. The divine was thought to be, or later to be expressed through, what we today call [...]
If one compares the most recent Doctor Who episode “The Rings of Akhaten” with the episode “The Aztecs” from the very first season, an interesting change in the Doctor's outlook about religion and human sacrifice emerges. In “The Aztecs” the Doctor is emphatically opposed to Barbara's interference in an attempt to change history. It may [...]
The Doctor Who episode “The Rings of Akhaten” is surely one of the best in the show’s history for those interested in seeing Doctor Who explore religion. Spoilers ahead! The episode begins with a charming scene (with the Doctor somewhat creepily spying on it) as a leaf blowing in the wind – yes, the leaf [...]
A comment left on this blog recently brought up the question of the Doctor’s monkishness. The episode “The Bells of St. John” isn’t the first time the Doctor has been a monk. Indeed, the first time he encountered the Great Intelligence, it was at a monastery where he had previously spent some time. In that [...]
Today's Non Sequitur cartoon fits how some understand Good Friday perfectly: Among our oldest traceable concept of gods are the personalities we once assumed to be behind the forces of nature. How do we find a way to get rain when we need it, or divert illness away from ourselves? Placate the deity. And how [...]
The Doctor Who episode “Colony in Space” from the Jon Pertwee era sees the Doctor sent on a mission on behalf of the time lords, although without his being informed of the nature of the mission in advance. It seems as though the confines of Earth felt too restricting not only to the character of [...]
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