I received an e-mail today about a new book on theological cosmology, from which the table of contents, preface and first chapter are available online for free. The book is The Garden of God: A Theological Cosmology (Theology and the Sciences) by Alejandro García-Rivera. Given the interest I and many readers of this blog share in the intersection between religion and science, it definitely seemed worth sharing. Read more

Brian LePort has been blogging about whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God (on his blog Near Emmaus). I’ve commented on those posts and we’ve had some interesting discussion, and now Brian has offered a complete post dedicated to addressing some of the points I made in comments, and asking a few new questions. I think the key issue for him is when you stop simply saying that two individuals or groups “worship the same God but have differences... Read more

The textbook I’m using for my class on the Bible refers more than once to “romance” and “falling in love” as elements of the Book of Ruth. This is a common interpretation from the standpoint of many modern cultures, but does it really have any basis in the text? It seems that it is perhaps easier to make a case for something like romantic love between Ruth and Naomi based on details in the story, than it is to make... Read more

I was just talking with someone currently doing research on John’s Christology and Jewish monotheism, and the thought occurred to me that it might be useful for a bunch of us who are interested in this subject to meet up for lunch one day at SBL. Anyone interested? Any specific days that you’d prefer? If so, leave a comment and let’s see what we can organize! Read more

I know some readers of this blog have been following and/or interested in the recent discussions and legal actions related to a blogger who went by the pseudonym Soodo Nym, and who turned out to be Butler student Jess Zimmerman. The faculty at Butler University were notified today that as of yesterday the legal action has been dropped. Read more

Here’s a classic from Chick Corea and the Elektric Band to get your morning started. I saw them live once, and this piece (“Got a Match?”) is one of my favorites from that period. Read more

I finished reading the last of the Harry Potter books with my son this evening. He’d read them all before at some point, although he was younger then and so I’m not sure he got or remembered everything. I’d already heard about some of the religious themes – a quote from the Bible, self-sacrifice and the like – and so I had some idea of what was coming, but it was good to finally reach the end. I enjoyed reading... Read more

I may when I have more time say more about Russ Pulliam’s second piece on evolution and faith. The main thing that disturbs me is that he envisages a hypothetical scenario in which one chooses institutions of higher education based on the grade you’ll get for already thinking as you do. If I didn’t think the point of institutions such as the university where I teach was to educate, so that people know more and reason better when they leave... Read more

For the past few years when I’ve arrived at the Psalms section of my class on the Bible, I’ve shared a couple of examples of psalms in popular music: “By The Rivers Of Babylon” by Boney M and “40” by U2. I usually end the class with a song that segues nicely into the next subject, Wisdom literature: “Turn Turn Turn” by The Byrds. I’m sharing the songs below. Do you have other recommendations for the Bible set to music? Read more

I’ve never understood the appeal of the notion of a multiverse for atheists. It substitutes, in place of an infinite God, an inexplicable mechanism capable of producing an infinite number of universes. Among those universes, presumably one has Jesus spontaneously rise from the dead (in an infinite universe or multiverse, everything however improbable happens eventually). Some evolve a universal consciousness akin to certain notions of God. Some evolve superpowered beings akin to the gods of yet other belief systems. Some... Read more