From George Kiraz via the Hugoye List-serv: To celebrate the grand opening of its library, Beth Mardutho is holding a symposium on Libraries in the Syriac Tradition. Thanks to the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Rutgers University, you can attend this symposium online: Where: http://rutgersdceo.na6.acrobat.com/hugoye/ When: 05/20/2010 9:15 AM – 6:00 PM Time Zone: (GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US and Canada) Program: Click Here (PDF File) On May 20, around 9:15 AM EST, click on the above link. (You can also... Read more

The Clever Badger has a post on Ken Ham’s post which was a reaction (it can’t be called a response) to criticisms I had offered of Ken Ham and of young-earth creationism in general. Jay also adds to and supplements the criticisms I offered. From Jay’s blog I found a link to another post about Ham’s failure to respond to my criticisms, this one at The Adventures of Skippy the Skeptic. Also related is the post at a time to rend about Answers in Genesis’... Read more

As “The End” of LOST draws near we are still wondering what the parallel universe is about. In thinking about this, we should not forget that the “flashes sideways” we have seen occur soon after Oceanic 815 landing, and so what happens in the years that follow may be very important. But it seems to me that one thing that the parallel universe may do is show Jacob to have been wrong. His mother was wrong about what happens if the island... Read more

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