I thought I should reshare this post from almost two years ago, since it is relevant to discussion that took place in my Sunday school class last Sunday. Lately I’ve been wondering what would happen if conservative Christians kept the same notion of a Bible that was verbally inspired, in which God determined precisely what it should contain in every detail, but also took seriously the fact that the Bible contains what appear to be differences of viewpoint, discrepancies, and... Read more

I was a bit perplexed when I saw today’s Candorville comic strip (Date-a-Chick, part 1). I thought Captain Kirk really had a way with the ladies. Or is that the problem – Captain Kirk does not seem likely to be faithful, and is not good material for a long-term relationship? What would a better choice of user name have been? “Captain Picard”? Today in my religion and sci-fi class we watched the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Measure of... Read more

This is happening here in Indianapolis (at IUPUI) and seems worth sharing: Out of this world Wednesdays   March 31st, April 14th, April 28th   asking the big questions about life through the lens of Star Trek   Do we have both good and evil within us? Is religious belief rational or merely superstitious? How should a starship captain solve complex moral dilemmas? Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?  Discuss these and other fundamental... Read more

As is traditional, I’m sharing information about papers I’ll be reading at the Society of Biblical Literature conference in Atlanta in November. First, I’ll be reading a paper in the “Intertextuality in the New Testament” consultation entitled “Intertextuality without an Intertext? Musings on Matthew and Method.” Here’s the abstract: There has been much discussion about the degree of importance of the original context of a Scripture which is quoted or alluded to in the New Testament. Matthew 2:23 provides an interesting test... Read more

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Joel Watts has been giving away free books to commenters, encouraging people to “break his blog” by leaving lots of comments, each constituting an entry to win. The current contest (the third) gives you a chance to win a copy of The Only True God! Read more

The latest LOST Untangled And the latest LOST Slapdown Both offering humorous takes on the latest episode, Ab Aeterno. Read more

Let’s get the worst out of the way first. Scott Bailey found this video: I don’t know what to say about it except that it is clearly at the intersection of religion and sci-fi, and nothing has ever made me want to run screaming from that intersection they way this video did. But there is much that is good in the blogosphere related to religion and sci-fi. For instance, DocArtz offers a recap of the last LOST episode, Ab Aeterno,... Read more

Butler University has been making basketball headlines, but it also issued a press release on “Finding God In Lost.” That press release got picked up and used in an article that pits me against James Cameron! Apparently it isn’t only expertise in archaeology that allows you to take on James Cameron – blogging about LOST can serve the same purpose! Read more

Butler University’s basketball team has been going strong, and today they won against Kansas State and secured their place in the Final Four. Well done, Bulldogs! Download your own tournament poster here.For more information visit Butler’s athletics home page. Read more