This is just to second Taylor Williams’ friendly reminder to submit some of your favourite posts of the month of April to the next Biblical Studies Carnival that will be hosted by yours truly right here at Exploring Our Matrix. In order to allow me to spread the preparations over a longer period, please nominate some posts today (and tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that…) It’s really easy. You have two options: 1. Send the following information... Read more

There are so many interesting posts today that simply adding them to the “Blogs I’ve been reading” sidebar will inevitably leave some out. So here are some highlights… Jeremy Smith asks whether John’s Gospel hates on the other Gospels. Mark Goodacre raised the possibility that the centurion’s exclamation in Mark’s Gospel was sarcastic, to which Josh McManaway adds some further thoughts. John Hobbins explains why no one smiles in the Bible. Douglas Mangum contrasts apologists and Biblical scholars. Chris Tilling... Read more

No scholar of the Bible or the ancient world should miss taking a closer look at the blackboard that Jack was erasing in a Dharma Initiative classroom in the most recent episode of LOST. If you haven’t seen it yet, it isn’t too late to avert your gaze, and most people will probably need to click through to the full-sized image in order to read it anyway. But more about language-learning follows below the image, so please do scroll down!... Read more

It is exciting to learn that a new blog has been created by Alan Lenzi, devoted to the subject of Biblical Scholars and Personal Religion. Take a look! On an unrelated note, I just can’t bring myself to dedicate a post about tonight’s episode of LOST [spoilers alert]. Sure, there was significant religious content, both in the reference to God on the chalkboard in the classroom, which Jack was erasing, and the “evangelical” appeal made to Miles by a mysterious... Read more

James Bradford Pate has written an overview with some analysis and reflections of my own views on this subject. In particular, those who have been engaged in some of the recent conversations on this blog about the Bible, inerrancy, authority and contradictions (and much, much more) may want to pay a visit to James’ blog. He also has a recent post on Evangelicalism and the “Triablogue incident”. Read more

Butler University has obtained permission to make several more of my articles available to read or download from the university web site, via Digital Commons. If you have an interest in the Gospel of John, or in the relationship between the New Testament’s Christology and our own, please do take a look. Several of the articles date back to my days as a graduate student, and so you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of how my thinking and my... Read more

We’ve been talking about faith and doubt on this blog quite a bit lately, and tonight I watched the movie Doubt. Since it is so new I won’t say anything that might spoil it for anyone. But I will offer a recommendation to see it if you have any interest in exploring the themes of doubt and certainty. Read more

Yesterday’s sermon at my church focused on the ending (or lack thereof) of Mark’s Gospel. The pastor compared Mark to a “choose your own adventure” story, particularly when it comes to the ending. In my Sunday school class, we discussed this as well as another possibility, namely that the original ending of Mark’s Gospel could have been lost. Papyrus manuscripts are easily damaged, and most of our ancient manuscripts from this period are significantly damaged. Although we have a great... Read more

The tradition of viewing Easter as the end of disbelief can be traced back to the New Testament itself, to the Gospel of John, where Thomas, being absent when Jesus appeared to the other disciples, expresses skepticism, only to be confronted by the physical risen Jesus himself. The message of these stories, readers of this Gospel are told, is for those who come along later and do not have the benefit of such physical encounters – it is even more... Read more