[Here is more from Philip Jenkins on how to distinguish real scholarship from mere advocacy] The Monte Verde Principle May 15, 2015 by Philip Jenkins I have been discussing fringe or marginal theories that run contrary to the scholarly consensus in a given field, and why we need to be very careful about rejecting that mainstream opinion. Just because an idea seems bold or iconoclastic does not make it right. You may at this point be thinking that I am... Read more
Tom Doyle has spent a lot of time in predominantly Muslim countries ranging from Egypt to Afghanistan. And what he has noticed repeatedly is that Jesus has found a back door way into the heart of Muslims whose country is basically closed to Christianity, or worse, martyrs any Muslims who become followers of Jesus. When I say back door, I don’t mean undercover missionaries or secret shipments of Bibles, though that can be involved as well. I mean direct divine... Read more
(This is a re-post of a piece I wrote for Beliefnet many years ago, back by popular demand. BW3) Most of you who know me, know that I did my doctoral thesis on women in the NT with C.K. Barrett at the University of Durham in England. My first three published scholarly books were on this very subject. One of the reasons I did that thirty some years ago was because of the controversy that raged then over the issue... Read more
The Emperor Tiberius died in Italy in A.D. 37, leaving mad Caligula in charge of a massive Empire. Though Caligula never visited Jerusalem (contra the portrayal in the last couple of episodes of A.D.) he did nevertheless want his visage displayed in the temple in Jerusalem– a sort of in your face use of his face. Caligula only ruled from A.D. 37-41, and it was in A.D. 40 that he cooked up the idea of having a statue placed in... Read more
Here is a second excellent post by Philip jenkins about the nature of real scholarship vs. pseudo-scholarship, reposted by his permission. See what you think. BW3 Outliers and Iconoclasts May 8, 2015 by Philip Jenkins 2 Comments I have been writing about mainstream and fringe scholarship, and defending the sometimes unpopular idea of mainstream orthodoxy, or the scholarly consensus. Blogging on any religious topic invites wacky comments and responses. As one example of many, I had a commenter not long... Read more
Yes, this is a real T shirt, given to Conrad….. and bless his heart, he wore it at a Jesus festival where he was asked to speak. Kudos to Philip Richardson for discovering this and passing along the news. Read more
[Picture courtesy of You Tube] Today, May 30th, exactly 80 years ago in 1935, Babe Ruth hung up his spikes. Here is a picture of him in his final uniform, and ironically he standing with his old Yankee teammate (I’ll let you guess who that is). Ruth was indeed a figure larger than life, and sometime if you can manage it, you should see ‘The Babe Ruth Story’ and older film about his life, which I saw at the YMCA... Read more
[This is a repost by kind permission of Professor McGrath of an article he wrote that appeared in a Keble College website…..BW3] An Unknown Photograph of C. S. Lewis By Professor Alister McGrath C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) is one of the best-known Oxford dons of all time. He gained a “Triple First” while an undergraduate at University College, gaining First Class Honours in Classical Moderations in 1920, First Class Honours in Greats in 1922, and First Class Honours in English... Read more
[The Next Few Blog posts come courtesy my friend and colleague Philip Jenkins. See what you think. BW3] I Want to Believe May 4, 2015 by Philip Jenkins Last year, Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson published an impressively dreadful book called The Lost Gospel: Decoding the Ancient Text that Reveals Jesus’s Marriage to Mary the Magdalene. The Lost Gospel made much of an ancient novel called Joseph and Aseneth, claiming (on no vaguely convincing grounds) that the characters in it... Read more
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