The thirteenth proposition in Walton’s book is that “the difference between origin accounts in science and scripture is metaphysical in nature. I am not certain that this is the best way of expressing Walton’s key point, which is that the Bible affirms purpose or teleology rather than a specific process. Science consciously eliminates teleology from consideration and examines natural processes. Walton therefore appears to be correct to highlight the circular character of the argument that, because science does not find... Read more

Doug Chaplin tagged me with a meme a while back, and for a while I’ve been suffering from meme immunity, but the illness seems to be passing. Or maybe my beliefs just aren’t random enough…No, that’s definitely not it. Anyway, here are ten random things I believe: 1) I believe music is a symbol of transcendence, pointing us to the way in which complexity produces things that are not simply the sum of their parts.2) I believe that science is... Read more

I’ve just become aware that there is a manuscript in the holdings of the Bodleian Library, catalogued as a “Syriac” manuscript (MS. Syr. f. 2), which is in fact in Mandaic. If you click through, you can see some images that the Bodleian has shared. Click through to see the images. There are notes on the scroll in French which may suggest that the text relates to the Mandaean holiday of Paruanaiia, celebrated during the 5 intercalary days that allow... Read more

Dr. Platypus shared a great clip from The West Wing that featured the Peters Projection Map. Perhaps it will “freak out” some readers of this blog as much as it did some characters on the show. Here’s the clip: And here’s the map: Read more

Doug Mangum has shared some random thoughts on Genesis 3. I’ve offered a reply that is at least as random. Here’s the gist of my thoughts that arose after reading his thoughts and some of the comments others left on the post: I like translating the Hebrew word that describes the serpent with “shrewd”, because it then allows you to make an attempt at rendering the Hebrew pun by using “nude” instead of naked. I appreciated another commenter’s point about... Read more

The end of the month is drawing near, and that means it is almost time for another Biblical Studies Carnival. There are reminders at both Codex and Hebrew and Greek Reader, the latter being the blog that is hosting the carnival for this month. Do submit relevant posts on academic Biblical studies that either you have written over this past month or that you have read and think ought to be shared with a wider audience. Read more

OK, so the title doesn’t precisely reflect the contents of this post, but I couldn’t think of another way to include all three of the very interesting elements in the blog post “Praise the Lord (of the Rings)” at Davar Akher. The post begins by highlighting something I didn’t know before, namely that J. R. R. Tolkien played a minor role in the production of the Jerusalem Bible translation. The post then continues with some discussion and comparison of various... Read more

Fox sci-fi action series Dollhouse is back and as good as ever. This second season got off to a strong start tonight as loose ends and new revelations from towards the end of last season have already begun to be explored. At the end of last season, we learned that Dr. Saunders is, in essence, and Active named Whiskey programmed largely based on the personality and memories of a real Dr. Saunders who worked at the Dollhouse and whom Alpha... Read more

I received a request to post something on prooftexting, and I’m not sure I have much to add beyond what has already been said in the recent post from Jeremy Smith arguing against memorizing verses from the Bible (in turn inspired by a post by Matt Cleaver). The principle is well known: “A text taken out of context becomes a pretext.” But few of us think that we are guilty of doing that when we quote a verse – we... Read more

A blog I read shared a cartoon from a series called The Far Left Side, and I found several related to religion, including this one: this one: this one: and this one: There are even more that relate to health care and insurance. There are some that are offensive (probably to just about anyone and everyone who might read them), but there are enough that are amusing and of potential use for educators talking about topics in religion, that I... Read more