Heather Wax has posted some more information about Sarah Palin’s views on evolution and creationism. It sounds like they are more nuanced than what some have been reporting. Read more

There are a few posts around the blogs on subjects of interest. Scot McKnight discusses going beyond the Bible…biblically. Martin Shields touches on inerrancy. Nathan MacDonald asks if Genesis 1 is a polemic. Jared Calaway looks at variations of creation in Genesis 1. Science and the Sacred discusses barriers to acceptance of evolution among evangelicals. Steve Wiggins blogs about demoted angels. Read more

“Jesus did many other signs that were not written in this book. But these things have been written that you may, when you live in a culture in which stories of miraculous births are no longer told about everyone who is considered significant, you may believe that it happened nonetheless in the case of Jesus, and in his case alone; and that believing this and many other seemingly unbelievable things you may have life as a result.” — NOT John... Read more

As many of us gear up for the Society of Biblical Literature conference in New Orleans, I did want to mention that my paper will be as scheduled in the online program, which differs at this point from the printed programs sent through the mail: Intertextuality in the New Testament (22-223a; originally listed as 21-322)11/22/20091:00 PM to 3:30 PMRoom: Rhythms Ballroom 1 – SHTheme: Exploring Methods: Hearing, Remembering, and Contextualizing the IntertextB. J. Oropeza, Azusa Pacific University, PresidingJames F. McGrath,... Read more

As the Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting approaches, blogging has had to take a back seat slightly to preparations for that. Apologies for the lull. I also learned in the past few days that for most of the first part of the conference (Friday through Sunday) my Butler e-mail account will be unavailable, since they will be working on our mail servers and other Butler computers during that period. If anyone wants to reach me during that period, they... Read more

This is a test. If you are reading this, congratulations – you passed! Read more

There are several posts that I’ve read recently that seem unrelated. But perhaps some reader can connect the dots. First, there is a post on the Doc Artz blog about the experience of rewatching episodes from season 1 of LOST. The post admires the ways in which things that were once simply details the significance of which was unclear, were later revisited and connected up with other aspects of the storyline. Any and all LOST fans should read it, and... Read more

This really needs no commentary (HT Wheat Among Tares)… …but just in case you can’t make out the caption, it is “Oh, I am so blogging about this.” Read more

It never fails to amaze me how, time and again, conservative Christians will, in the name of “the Judeo-Christian tradition,” “Christianity,” “faith,” or even the Bible itself, repudiate things that the Bible in fact says, and says in places quite clearly. The most recent case in point is Steve Kellmeyer who says that Islam is popular because in Islam, God can change his mind, whereas according to Kellmeyer, “With Judeo-Christianity, no such possibility exists. God will never change His mind... Read more

I continue to be amazed at how much excellent scholarship is available for free online. There are some I’ve mentioned in the past, but among those made available (or about which I learned) very recently are the following: The 2009 SBL papers (thanks to Michael Halcomb)Tyndale Press MonographsA lengthy list of open access journals in ancient studies To those who might be inclined to just trust whichever web page comes up first when you search via Yahoo! or Google, or... Read more