I watched the movie Angels & Demons today, having read the book some years ago. As with The DaVinci Code, I felt the movie turned out better than the book in some ways in both cases. When I read the novel, I remember not only being annoyed that an excellent speech on religion and science had been placed on the lips of a character who turned out to be a psychopathic murderer, but feeling as though Dan Brown had waited until the... Read more

Because pi day is coming… Read more

Matthew Montonini discovered a treasure trove of video lectures made available on YouTube by Villanova University, celebrating the approximately 2,000 years since Paul’s birth. Here are two samples. E. P. Sanders on whether Paul’s legacy remains relevant today: David Aune on what happened to Paul on the Damascus Road: Other videos include Joseph Fitzmyer, Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, Mark Nanos, and others. Read more

Those interested in exploring the religious themes and mythology of LOST will want to check out this video podcast (HT DocArtz) featuring an interview with Matthew Fox, exploring Jack’s character as both man of science and man of faith: Those looking for something less weighty and serious may enjoy this LOST meets Baywatch video (HT IO9): Read more

I’m grateful to Eruesso for pointing out that a show I watched sometimes when I lived in the UK, “Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends,” can be watched on Google Video. Here’s the episode in which he visits the US Bible belt. Read more

Thanks to Michael Bird, Jim Davila and Mark Goodacre for drawing attention to Richard Bauckham’s new home page. It includes unpublished lectures, essays and sermons, including an investigation into the Pooh community and a piece on “The Johannine Jesus and the Synoptic Jesus.” But perhaps the most interesting for those of us who interact with his publications on monotheism and Christology is an essay entitled “Orthodoxy in Christology.” On a related note, the Early Jewish Monotheisms blog has a report on the... Read more

John Walton will be giving a talk at Butler University on March 18th at 6pm, in the Johnson Room in Robertson Hall. The talk will be entitled “The First Sunset: Cosmology in the Ancient World and Genesis One.” There is more information on Facebook. This event is open to the public and all are welcome to attend. Walton just published an article in The Bible and Interpretation entitled “Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology” which may give a foretaste of what... Read more

HT Why Evolution Is True Read more

I just received an e-mail from Biblical Archaeology Review indicating that they have produced a free e-book for the Easter season, entitled Easter: Exploring the Resurrection of Jesus. Not surprisingly, the book doesn’t actually try to connect archaeology and the resurrection directly, but it does look like it has some interesting contributions about Easter and history, art and culture, among other things. And since it is free, I don’t think anyone will complain that it wasn’t worth its price! 🙂 Read more

If my calculations are correct, The Only True God has already sold about half the number of copies in the first print run. If the first print run sells out within the first three years, the book will be re-released as a more affordable paperback. And so I thought I’d update readers, since I know that some of you are eagerly awaiting a paperback edition. We’re making good progress! Thank you to everyone who has bought the book, reviewed it... Read more