Today the third of the three classes I’m teaching this semester met for the first time. It’s an upper-level course on the Gospel of John, which most people know is a longstanding interest of mine. That’s not entirely unrelated to the fact that this is apparently “international de-lurking week.” If you are a lurker on this blog, this week you are supposed to gather up your courage and leave a comment. How does that relate to teaching? Well, almost every... Read more

I’d like to express my gratitude to the scammers behind Presidential Who’s Who for sending me an e-mail today and thus giving me this opportunity to warn others about them. The e-mail below contains a link that supposedly leads to the web site of this “prestigious organization.” But the link takes you to a different site first – if you just type in the address yourself, you’ll find the site is a dud. So be warned – like every other... Read more

The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Stephen Settles the Debate – Science vs. Faith www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy HT Ben Witherington Read more

If the sound had been working properly in the classroom today, this is what students would have heard: Read more

Here’s yet another identification of parallels between Avatar and another story – in this case Pocahontas. What seems to be missed by many is that, when we can identify so many parallels with so many stories, this suggests that the issue is not with Avatar but that many of our stories follow similar patterns and motifs. In the case of Star Wars, this was at least somewhat intentional on George Lucas’ part, as he drew consciously on Joseph Campbell’s work... Read more

Brian LePort points out that Ekaputra Tupamahu is blogging again, and his most recent post provides links to all Dale Martin’s lectures on Introduction to New Testament History and Literature. Two of my three classes met for the first time today. My religion and science fiction class meets in a smart classroom, and although there seem to be technical issues relating to the sound in that room (which I hope will be solved before I need to show clips in... Read more

Just in time for my religion and science fiction class, which will meet for the first time when classes start at Butler tomorrow, TheoFantastique has posted an interview with David Whitt and John Perlich about their new book Millennial Mythmaking: Essays on the Power of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Films and Games. Read more

Here’s the plot of Avatar and Dune summed up in less than a minute: HT IO9, which also shared that the Doctor’s TARDIS may be getting a makeover this season: Read more

How did I not realize sooner that the character of Edgar on Heroes is played by Ray Park, who also played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace? Well, I suppose the make-up does obscure his identity a little… Read more

Although I was among the first to spread the news of Jim West’s returns, I am finding my scholarly skepticism kicking in. The blog that is so claimed contains no evidence of felinophobia, no photos of people at Wal-Mart, and very little sarcasm. My theory is that a Zwinglian redactor recovered some fragments of the works of the original Jim West and has edited them for publication in this new format. How many sources do you detect at work on this... Read more