It never fails to amaze me how, time and again, conservative Christians will, in the name of “the Judeo-Christian tradition,” “Christianity,” “faith,” or even the Bible itself, repudiate things that the Bible in fact says, and says in places quite clearly. The most recent case in point is Steve Kellmeyer who says that Islam is popular because in Islam, God can change his mind, whereas according to Kellmeyer, “With Judeo-Christianity, no such possibility exists. God will never change His mind... Read more

I continue to be amazed at how much excellent scholarship is available for free online. There are some I’ve mentioned in the past, but among those made available (or about which I learned) very recently are the following: The 2009 SBL papers (thanks to Michael Halcomb)Tyndale Press MonographsA lengthy list of open access journals in ancient studies To those who might be inclined to just trust whichever web page comes up first when you search via Yahoo! or Google, or... Read more

I just learned that two more reviews of my book The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in Its Jewish Context have appeared. One is more of a summary than anything else, and it is by Patrick Madigan in Heythrop Journal.The second is by Vlad Todor at Concrete Academic, and offers a thoughtful evaluation not only of the book’s argument, but also of how well I did (or didn’t) write in a way that makes the book both accessible to... Read more

The combination of musical ability and humor can be wonderful. I thus thought I’d share a video that I had seen before (and in fact shared on this blog more than a year ago) but which a commenter reminded me of today and which I think is worth sharing again: There are other videos by this entertaining duo on YouTube, which are also on their home page. Read more

It seems to me that there is something appropriately symbolic about the state of affairs I’m going to describe. There is an important article by John A. T. Robinson, “The Last Tabu? The Self-Consciousness of Jesus” which I was trying to locate a copy of. It is available in the Google Books preview of a volume on the historical Jesus in which it was reprinted. But there is a page that is not there. Isn’t that just like our attempt... Read more

Having decided to see where some of the videos of lectures that other bloggers shared were coming from, I found the University of California YouTube channel, which includes such lectures as the following: Fr. George Coyne, “Evolution of Life in the Universe” Ronald Cole-Turner, “The Genetic Revolution and Designer Babies: Moral and Religious Implications” Bart D. Ehrman, “Biblical Insights Into The Problem of Suffering” Elaine Pagels, “The Book of Revelation” Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza, “The Power Of The Word: Scripture and... Read more

Rather frustratingly, I noticed today that a copy of John A. T. Robinson’s The Priority of John which I bought years ago in the UK has some printing errors and as a result is incomplete. I also seem to be unable to find my copy of James Dunn’s The Evidence for Jesus (which can be previewed on Google Books) and I have the sinking feeling that I may have lent it to someone who failed to return it. I also... Read more

On Wolfgang’s Vault, there are also concerts by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Here’s one clip: http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/common/swf/wgv_st_player.swf Next on my list of solos to work on is the ragtime-style piano solo from “Benny the Bouncer” by ELP. You can listen to the whole song on Last.fm, or hear most of the piano solo in this short clip. And as usual there are videos of people playing it, and variations on it, on YouTube: For those who might be dismayed by posts... Read more

Here’s an item which has been making the newspapers in Sibiu, Romania, as well as various Romanian blogs. The CNSAS (the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives) has revealed that Baptist pastor Beniamin Poplăcean collaborated with the secret police during the decade prior to the fall of Communism in that country. For Baptists in Sibiu this has long been a subject for suspicion and speculation. This December it will be twenty years since the revolution that ended... Read more

There seems to be a fair bit of theological humor circulating today. David Opderbeck shared a link to The Semi-Pelagian Narrower Catechism. To find it funny, you have to be familiar with both a certain brand of American conservative Evangelicalism and also with one ore more classic catechisms. I also had pointed out to me this article on “Coffee as a Means of Grace.” Coffee is, of course, no laughing matter, but the article is admittedly amusing. Read more