I have a student in my course on the Book of Revelation this semester who is interested in investigating the background to the warning at the end of the book (Revelation 22:18-19) pronouncing curses on anyone who tampers with it. I am aware of funerary inscriptions and curses used in those sorts of contexts, but am not aware of any literary tradition that might be in the background at this point in Revelation. I know that this blog has readers... Read more

A lot of insightful, thoughtful and provocative blog posts and videos have appeared on blogs I read in the past day or so. Here are two videos featuring homosexual Christians speaking honestly and powerfully about their own life experiences. Arni Zachariassen shared this video from the “It Gets Better” series, made by Brite Divinity School professor Stephen Sprinkle: http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/ROqzzokkKnc?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0 And here’s a video that came via a post at The Lead that touches on the subject of homosexuality, bullying, suicide,... Read more

The first almost 200 pages of Don Quixote is one of the readings for my course on “Faith, Doubt and Reason.” Here is some brand new and slightly older music on this theme: Richard Strausshttp://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/P4r_xHVPc84?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0 Coldplayhttp://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/Y_U6S6Z6APw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0 Read more

It seems that men and women have perspectives on sex that are more different than anyone previously realized. This is from today’s Indianapolis Star (the print edition; the online edition has corrected the typo): About 85 percent of men reported that their partner had an organism during their most recent sexual event. About 64 percent of women, however, reported having an orgasm. Read more

“Can a blog be used for serious academic writing?” is the question posed in the title of a blog post on the blog Publishing Archaeology. It is also important to the topic I and other bloggers will be talking about in the session about blogging and other electronic media at SBL in November. Have a look at the post. How would you answer the question? Read more

There’s a post by David Opderbeck at Jesus Creed today on a topic of continued interest to me: theology and extraterrestrials. Even if you don’t find that post’s approach to the topic helpful, the picture of ET meeting Jesus is alone worth the effort of clicking through… Read more

There’s an old story that tells of a man who went to a Christian counsellor about his marriage. When it was emphasized to him that the Bible tells husbands to love their wives, the man replied that he and his wife hardly speak any longer or do anything together – it is like they are strangers. In response to that, the counsellor flipped in his Bible to the passage that says to love your neighbor. The man then responded that when... Read more

Having discussed a number of times on this blog the story of Abraham’s binding of Isaac and near sacrifice of his son, as well as issues of how we depict some of the more troubling parts of the Bible for children, I obviously have to share this: At least Abraham isn’t smiling. HT Storied Theology Read more

A blogger who shall remain nameless (but whom we shall call by the fictional name Jacobus Zwinglius Occidentalis) wrote recently about a “Professor McChewy” who mentioned their own publications but not those of other bibliobloggers. If he had said “Professor McChewie” it would have been a Star Wars reference and clearly an allusion to me (since no one in the biblioblogosphere mentions sci-fi more than I do, I think). But since he didn’t spell it that way, and since I’m tough... Read more

It isn’t open access, but those who have a subscription (or access through an institution that has one) can read the September issue of the Bulletin for the Study of Religion online. It includes an article by me entitled “Biblioblogging Our Matrix: Exploring the Potential and Perplexities of Academic Blogging.” Read more