Mixing things can be good.   Put a little lime in your ice tea, and it can enhance its flavor.   Hot fudge sauce on ice cream is a great combination.  On the other hand,  mixing orange juice with milk just doesn’t work— it curdles the milk.   What then should one say about a mixed genre movie like Cowboys and Aliens? On the one hand, it comes with the star power of both Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, and they don’t look… Read more

While it may come as a surprise to many,  the mass murderer  Anders Breivick claims to have been inspired by Islamophobic  fundamentalist Christians in America.   And indeed, his 1500 page rant of a manifesto does indeed show considerable influence from jingoistic Americans who have wrongly equated terrorism with the faithful practice of Islam in general.  This is like equating Christianity with the violent actions of  Anders Breivick himself.  What’s wrong with this picture?  Are both Islam and Christianity religions that… Read more

Here is a helpful post by Larry Hurtado about the importance of historical inquiry for Christian faith. (BW3) Historical Inquiry & Christian Origins larryhurtado | July 15, 2011 at 4:00 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pYZXr-aw Hurtado writes: I’m currently in Vancouver teaching a summer course in Regent College.  My course, “Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity”, draws upon my research and publications over the last 20+ yearas. It’s interesting, yet again, to lead students in focusing on historical… Read more

Readers of this blog will be well aware how much I have enjoyed reading the medieval murder mysteries of Paul Doherty about the 14th century clerk/sleuth known as Hugh Corbett.  The 17th volume I have read in the series (of  17 total thus far) is entitled Corpse Candle and it is a doozy of a mystery.  What is perhaps most interesting about this particular novel is that it becomes a cautionary tale about closed or cloistered Christian communities.  In this… Read more

This picture was taken in Silverton Colorado in 1992.  Apparently this mob was seen sneaking around the cowboy graveyard there and readin’ epitaphs particularly the following: “Here lies the body of Lester Moore, Shot in the back with a 44, No Les,  no more.” If you can identify these bad hombres and know their whereabouts, please make it known at this blog site by responding to this post.    That guy posin’ as a sheriff looks especially mean. Read more

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of meeting Hal Holbrook while I was in Malibu.  He had come to the Christian Scholars Conference and asked to perform Mark Twain on Religion.  I hear it was a classic.  I unfortunately was in my own session discussing one of my books.  But in any case,  it was a pleasure to meet him and I thanked him for all the wonderful roles he has played. His most recent role is at… Read more

My friend and colleague Larry Hurtado has now posted the following on his blog: More on Manuscripts: Longevity and Other Matters larryhurtado | June 24, 2011 at 12:10 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pYZXr-af In a recent posting, Craig Evans sumarizes some ideas from a paper that I read some time back, and in which he pointed me to the interesting article by George Houston about the longevity of ancient Greek manuscripts.  There are also some interesting comments, esp…. Read more

Ethos, Behavior, and Credibility: What Made the Words of Early Christ-Followers Persuasive? A Response to Ben Witherington’s NEW TESTAMENT RHETORIC: An Introductory Guide to the Art of Persuasion in and of the New Testament (Wipf & Stock, 2009) S.  Scott  Bartchy Professor of Christian Origins & the History of Religion Department of History UCLA. Abstract Witherington wrote this book to persuade its readers “to do proper rhetorical analysis of the NT, and to stop disregarding, or belittling such a form… Read more

Isn’t it time you finally took that trip to the Lands of the Bible?  Won’t you come and join us next May as we tour Jordan and Israel for two weeks?   By request of various of you we have revised our itinerary since the situation in Egypt continues to be unsettled, and we have lowered the cost to accommodate more of you.   We have exactly 40 spots total on our bus, and already a good number of people have… Read more

Pepperdine has a nice little art gallery on its main campus which I had occasion to visit.  The current exhibit is of a local artist’s impressionistic style paintings from his visiting of the Channel Islands off the coast of L.A.  Here are some samples of his nice work. Read more