Tonight’s LOST featured answers. It was bound to, since there is so little time left. SPOILERS AHEAD! In “What They Died For” we learned why Jacob chose the people he did to be his replacement. He felt he had the right to tamper with their lives because they were flawed, because they needed the island as badly as the island needed them. We also saw Desmond to increasingly take on the role of the “Jacob” of the parallel universe, manipulating... Read more

Tonight is the last regular-length episode of LOST, to be followed by the 2 1/2 hour series finale. Since that includes commercials, there are perhaps around 3 hours left in which questions can be answered and loose ends tied up. No one is expecting them all to be tied up – and Damon and Carlton have assured viewers that they will not be resolving all mysteries and answering all questions. But for the show to end in a satisfying way, some... Read more

My Sunday school class has been discussing the topic of homosexuality, and we’ve reached the point where we are ready to take a close look at the New Testament passages that are potentially relevant to the topic. I’ve blogged about this subject here before, but want to offer links to web resources which reflect differing views, which can provide basis for discussion in the class. There are several sites that seek to provide more than one viewpoint:Homosexuality and the Bible... Read more

The National Center for Science Education has released some more videos. Here’s Part II in the series “Listen to the Scientists”, entitled “Inside creationism”: Read more

I received the following message from a reader thinking about doing a PhD. I invite input of any sort that might be useful to him… Hi James, I couldn’t find an email for you on your blog so I’m posting this here. Maybe your readers can help me too. I’m writing really to ask a favour. I’ve been looking to start a PhD and would appreciate some of your insight into this. A little about me: I’m a christian born... Read more

Not surprisingly as the end of LOST draws near, the blogosphere is alive with activity centered on the show. Some of it is enlightening, some is hilarious. Here are some links to explore. IO9 explains why all the answers to LOST’s mysteries have already been revealed on Star Trek.Also at IO9, a piece on how LOST has already given us more answers (and more satisfying ones) than Battlestar Galactica.New Ways Forward has a reflection on LOST and theodicy.The cast of... Read more

Today students and faculty involved in the Butler Summer Institute, a program that funds students undertaking independent research over the summer supervised by faculty mentors, had a tree-planting excursion under the auspices of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful. It rained, and we all got completely soaked, but it was a rewarding experience. If you take the ramp that connects I-70 to Holt Road, you’ll now see not only art but trees. I hope they take root and thrive there! Read more

My op-ed piece appeared today in USA Today. The title is “God, the Devil and TV’s ‘Lost’.” Since it was shortened for publication, I thought I’d share the unedited version. Since everyone is wondering how LOST will end, it seems only fair to share the original ending of my op-ed piece! Religion on LOST: Telling God from the Devilby James F. McGrath Subtlety is not something we usually associate with television or religion. But for the last six years, ABC’s “Lost,”... Read more

Religion Dispatches is starting a series on Doctor Who, to which I’ll be a regular contributor. It is organized by Gabriel McKee, who is also a contributor himself. Take a look! Read more

While you wait for my op-ed piece on religion in LOST to appear in tomorrow’s USA Today, and a fantastic interactive treatment of the subject to appear on their web site, here are some other treatments of the topic from around the blogosphere: There’s a look ahead to the finale from DocArtzThe Lead focuses on LOST and redemptionNik at Nite revisits the episode “Recon”And on the broader topic of religion and sci-fi, Paleojudaica looks at Israel and transhumanism. Read more