As a former coffee shop owner and coffee snob, I’m here to report some alarming news. Of 124 distinct types of naturally grown wild coffee, 75 are in danger of extinction thanks to: 1) climate change, and 2) deforestation, and 3) pests attacking sickly bushes and trees in the area (caused in part by the pollution weakening the bushes and trees natural resistances). A detailed study in Science Advances has shown this to be a fact, and if we allow… Read more

On any given day, you can go to the Itunes store online and find out what the top 10 or so downloads of the day are. Alas, on those same days rock n’ roll is largely notable only for its absence. Or you can go and look at the Grammy nominations for 2019 for best album, best new artist, etc and once again rock n’roll is MIA. Larry Norman said it long ago ‘rock n’roll may not be dead, but… Read more

Here’s another interesting post by my friend Larry Hurtado—- see what you think. BW3 Martyrs/Martyrdom in Early Christianity: Paul Middleton’s Contributions by larryhurtado It’s always a pleasure to see one’s former PhD students making their own contributions to scholarship, and one of my most productive former students in Paul Middleton, now Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity in the University of Chester. From his PhD thesis completed here in Edinburgh onward (published as Radical Martyrdom and Cosmic Conflict in… Read more

Whilst reading an excellent recent article by Thomas Kidd on the Gospel Coalition website about the famous African American poet of the 18th century, Phillis Wheatley (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/evangelical-history/phillis-wheatley-evangelical-first-published-african-american-female-poet/ ) I was reminded of how often people have badly misread the Bible in regard to the issue of slavery. First of all, slavery is of course reported and described as an extant, even pervasive fact of ANE and Greco-Roman life. The first and most important point to make about this is that… Read more

Here is an interesting story about the recovery of 2,000 year old seeds for date palm trees from the archaeological site at Herod’s winter palace in Jericho and the attempt to revive this particular species by planting 2,000 year old seeds. Thanks to James for the link to this story. https://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/extinct-tree-grows-anew-after-archaeologists-dig-ancient-seed-stockpile.html Read more

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“I saw the G.O.A.T attack the Ram furiously, striking the Ram and shattering his two horns (i.e. Goff and Gurley). The Ram was powerless to stand against him; the Goat knocked him to the ground (i.e. sacks and knock downs) and trampled him, and none could rescue the Ram from the Goat’s power.” Daniel 8.7 (BMV– the Ben Modified Version). Read more

Although I certainly could expand this list exponentially, I’m settling for lamenting these ten things, not because they are necessarily the worst things I can think of, but because they keep irritating me. 1) Our culture of entitlement— “so what if you only got a scratch on your fender in an accident? You are entitled to $50,000 or more because who knows what emotional damage that did to your poor little ole pitiful psyche. I’m also tired of students thinking… Read more

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One of the arguments you hear repeatedly in discussions about the #MeToo movement and also in discussions about the morality of same sex sexual activity runs as follows— ‘behavior involving two consenting adults is not abusive or immoral’ as opposed to manipulative or coercive behavior by one party on another, whether it’s someone in power position in a company who manipulates an employee to do his or her bidding because they fear if they refuse, they are in danger of… Read more