The Clergy Letter Project has a new feature on its web site, “Faces of the Clergy Letter Project,” which provides more about those who have signed the Clergy Letter and their perspective on science and faith. The first person listed is Lori Bievenour, a local minister who is a Butler graduate and on the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences board of visitors. Also on religion and science in the blogosphere: Many have drawn attention to a federal judge’s rejection of... Read more

In attempts to relax between working on project budget revisions and other stressful activities, I’ve been working on learning the solos to a couple of pop songs. One is Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is” and the other is “Africa” by Toto. Here’s a first attempt at recording myself playing the keyboard solo. It is still pretty rough, as I have not been working on it for very long (yet). Read more

I just watched the movie Legion. I think it is perhaps best described as a “theological horror movie.” And by that, I don’t just mean that it is a horror movie that explores theological realms, but that it offers a “theological horror,” as it were. What is the horror that it envisages? One that has been seen frequently in the religious and theological literature of humankind. The terrifying idea of a God who is a lot like us. A deity... Read more

Professor Ronald S. Hendel posted a controversial article about why he allowed his Society of Biblical Literature membership to lapse. He is concerned that a certain religious outlook which allows faith to trump or circumvent scholarship is coming to predominate, and that this change in outlook in what is supposed to be a scholarly organization is reflected in a change made to its mission statement. The Society of Biblical Literature has posted a response. Among the bloggers that have responded, reflected,... Read more

HT Rachel Marszalek Read more

Several other bloggers have already mentioned this video from ABC News: Mike Bird, Marc Cortez, and Richard Beck. http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt.swf Read more

The sermon at church yesterday was a “Markan sandwiched double feature,” the healing of Jairus’ daughter and the woman with an issue of blood (Mark 5:21-43). In thinking about the latter, I was struck by the reversal of the normal “flow of impurity.” In a subtle yet striking way, the idea is communicated that holiness can be transmitted and make the impure pure, rather than it always being vice versa. This ran counter to the prevailing assumption (expressed in the Bible... Read more

Today I saw Toy Story 3, and it was fantastic. It is moving, humorous, and thoroughly entertaining. If you enjoyed either of the first two, you should see this movie. I saw it in 3D with my son, and even the trailers and commercials were in 3D. The technology of 3D has come a long way since the early days of red and blue glasses. Amazing! In the blogosphere I’ve seen reviews by Derek Johnson at SF Signal and by... Read more

Ben Witherington is continuing to share photos from his visits to places mentioned in the Bible. His most recent post in this series is on a visit to the cave church of Paul and Thecla. He shared a photo which I show to my “Heresy” class when we get to the Acts of Paul and Thecla. Bart Ehrman (if I remember correctly) shares a photo of the same fresco in one of his books, and points out that Thecla’s “teaching hand”... Read more