Proposition eighteen of John Walton’s The Lost World of Genesis One takes the stance that science education should be neutral when it comes to questions of purpose. A science course should by its very definition “discuss material origins from the perspective of a material ontology” and thus “there is no point at which the Genesis account becomes relevant, because Genesis does not concern material origins and does not have a material ontology” (p.152). What he does consider incompatible and in... Read more

I know that plans are afoot to tweet SBL. But will it degenerate into tweckling? This recent article in the Chronicle may serve as a cautionary note… Read more

Proposition seventeen in John Walton’s book The Lost World of Genesis One emphasizes that the theology of creation that one can elaborate on the basis of his understanding of Genesis 1 is stronger rather than weaker. In support of his point, Walton appeals to an Orson Scott Card novel, Prentice Alvin, which features a dialogue about the nature of reality and the fact that most “things” are mostly empty space. The point is that most things are mostly nothing as... Read more

(HT Karyn Traphagen) There’s also a provocative video aimed at young-earth creationists and their ilk (with entertaining images accompanying its challenge):(HT AIGBusted). Read more

Having posted on Sarah Palin’s views on evolution (the plural “views” seems particularly appropriate), I realized that, if she does run for president in 2012, Saturday Night Live will be able to reuse some material from its 2004 presidential bash with only minor changes. Palin: “I have not flip-flopped. I have consistently upheld evolution to pro-evolution audiences, and I have consistently rejected evolution when addressing anti-evolution audiences. That is not flip-flopping, it’s pandering, and the American people deserve a president... Read more

Scott’s suggestion (in the comment section on an earlier post) that we have a “Candle In The Wind” sing-along at SBL got me thinking. Will there be a piano at the bibliobloggers’ dinner? I’ll gladly provide accompaniment, but we’re going to have to move fast if we want to revise the lyrics so that they’re appropriate. Obviously the first line has to be “Goodbye Jimmy West.” And the chorus could be: Seems to me you lived your lifeLike a friggin’... Read more

Doctor Who fans love episodes in which different regenerations of the Doctor meet up. And so today’s episode features an encounter between two Dr. Jims. Dr. Jim of the thinking shop regeneration has replaced K-9 with a cat, who kindly explains why textbooks cost so much. Meanwhile, that earlier regeneration of the Doctor Jim has shared a video for folks worried they might not recognize him at SBL in New Orleans. Watch this, and you’ll be sure to know him... Read more

I’ve been meaning to post on the NCSE’s entertaining, banana-humor-filled response to Ray Comfort’s tampering with Charles Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species. But Science and Religion Today mentioning it reminded me. The NCSE site is called Don’t Diss Darwin and below is a taste of what is on offer there. Perhaps in response, Ray Comfort is apparently moving forward earlier with his distribution plans. Steve Jones seems like a more reliable person to listen to when it comes to... Read more

This sounds like an opportunity that many scholars will be interested in: Call for proposals for the 2010 Brill Fellowship at the Scaliger Institute The Scaliger Institute and Brill publishers invite scholars and researchers to send in proposals for the 2010 Brill fellowship at the Scaliger Institute of Leiden University Library. Brill, the oldest scholarly publishing house in The Netherlands based in Leiden since 1683, is sponsoring the Scaliger Institute for the period 2006-2011. This contribution provides an opportunity for... Read more

For those looking for free digitized versions of Bibles in original languages, early translations, and other such scholarly resources, I just happened across the site http://www.bibles.org.uk/ It includes Hebrew, Greek, Syriac as well as many other Bibles, and some lexica too. I have yet to actually view the files but the site looks very useful indeed! Read more