John Haberle was an artist in the late 19th century who engaged in what was called ‘fool the eye’ art (or in French tromp l’oiel). The problem was, he rendered coins and bills so perfectly, that the U.S. government suspected him of counterfeiting money and asked him to stop producing such paintings! Here is one of his best ones….. Read more

Dictator is the third of Robert Harris’ three volumes in the Cicero trilogy. You can buy the volumes separately, but once you read one of them— you’re hooked, and you’ll want to read them all. Harris is a brilliant writer, much better than some of the others who write about ancient Rome, and there are some very good ones indeed— McCullough, Saylor, and the always fun volumes of Lindsey Davis. Harris tells the story of Cicero and the demise of… Read more

Here’s a very interesting article about Francis Collins, pandemics, COVID-19, Christian faith, and other things. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/interview-francis-collins-nih/608221/?utm_source=BioLogos+Primary&utm_campaign=98056ada34-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_12_30_04_19_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_17bb4843ae-98056ada34-419388193 Read more

Charles Wesley fighting the corona virus while writing another lyric for a hymn. Egged on by certain high ranking officials, various frustrated Americans have taken to the streets (and largely ignored rules about social distancing) to demand that the country’s businesses open back up so we can all sing ‘God bless our standard of living’ one more time. There are numerous problems with this whole approach, and my concern in this post is that many of these oblivious people are… Read more

BEN: On p. 248 you stress that Christian marriage is not a private relationship in which you have all your love concentrated and all your love needs met. As you say, Paul sees marriage as exhibit A of the larger relationship Christ has with his body, his bride, the church. “The primary location for love is not the nuclear family but the community of the church.” I agree, but this is not what most people mean by a family church… Read more

BEN: I like the way in your discussion of Ephes. 5.21ff. you point out how Paul is busily renovating the traditional patriarchal orientation of the extended family in his day, not merely baptizing that structure and calling it good. The exposition of ‘submit to one another out of reverence for Christ’ is helpful, and it shows the direction Paul is pointing the family in. I have a doctoral student who has done a detailed study of Paul’s use of isotes… Read more

BEN: Gal. 5.6 is a remarkable claim— the only thing that counts is faith working through love. Why should we not see this as typical hyperbole by Paul in a letter full of hyperbole (like ‘you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me!!!’)???? PATRICK: Yes, it’s remarkable and I liked it so much that I made it the strapline of the book. The danger of making it hyperbole is that it becomes too easy to downplay… Read more

BEN: It seems to me that 1 Cor. 13 is perhaps the most abused text in the Bible when it comes to love. The passage is not about marriage or marital love, but rather about the manner in which all Christians should use their grace gifts. It does not say that love is a gift, rather elsewhere in Gal. 5 it is called part of the fruit of the internal working of the Spirit. It’s clearly not a discussion of… Read more

There have been a recent spate of English classic ‘period’ films, including a Bronte movie, and of course Downtown Abbey. This movie is yet another. It is beautifully filmed at Firle Place in Sussex among other locations. The film is about the trials and tribulations of women in Georgian England, both women of station and working class women as well. The costumes are gorgeous, the hairdos impressive, and the etiquette and customs, including dancing the gavotte fascinating to watch. So… Read more

The DVD is now out, not only with a detailed dramatic presentation of the book’s main theses, but also with an extensive Q+A between Mike Heiser and myself. Read more