Ward’s chapter 4 deals with a perennial issue at the interface between religion and science: miracles. Ward rightly points out that laws of nature are mathematical descriptions of aspects of the universe and not “laws” in any usual sense in which that word is normally used. Indeed, one might note the irony that such language seems to imply reference to a Creator, or more precisely, a Legislator. As for whether miracles break natural laws, they need not do so any... Read more

Since I know lots of academics in different fields read this blog, I thought I’d ask a question of particular interest to us. How do (or would) you list publications on your blog that are aimed at a general readership but are not for that reason lacking in academic value or scholarly content? Many of us write such books and articles at one point or another. It is rather straightforward to distinguish between peer-reviewed journal articles and other articles, be... Read more

This chapter begins by noting that many religious worldviews take for granted that things are getting and will continue to get progressively worse, not better. Ward then moves on the the view in the medieval epoch that the cause of anything must be greater than the thing caused. It took the Enlightenment era’s newfound openness to the possibility of historical change and progress to foster the exploration of evolutionary ideas. Unless one is committed to taking some parts of the... Read more

Thanks to Bad Astronomy for making me aware of the Ironic Sans blog, full of amusing stuff, from this poll, to campaign materials like the following: And to help you prepare for the real election on November 4th, there’s this useful tool: Read more

Chet Raymo has begun blogging about Ken Miller’s book Only a Theory. Brian Switek surveys reactions to Darwin’s Descent. Clashing Culture hosts the Carnival of Evolution. Jessica Palmer asks if you are sure the earth is round. April de Conick blogs about early Jewish and Christian polytheism. John Drury ponders what happens to funerals if Wright is right. Jim West and Mark Goodacre highlight the return of Bible and Interpretation. de-Conversion asks how much doubt is too much. Dan Messier... Read more

It is blog action day, with the theme of poverty. One way people and societies attempt to address poverty is through revolutions. One type of revolution that fits with the theme and title of this blog is…Matrix Revolutions. The concept behind the Matrix films is a fascinating one. If one treats the matrix as a symbol of society, what is suggested is that this human creation in fact also turns around and enslaves us. And when we think we are... Read more

Today is Blog Action Day 2008, and this year’s theme is poverty, so I thought it would be interesting to blog about “Biblical economics”. There is a long history of appealing to the Bible to justify economic practices, such as the notion that the commandment not to steal places a divine stamp of approval on the notion of private/personal property. And of course, were it not for such arguments, the alliance between conservative Christianity and Republican values would be completely... Read more

Another classic work on the Mandaeans has been made available on the Internet Archive: Henri Pognon, Inscriptions mandaites des coupes de Khouabir. Read more

http://www.collegehumor.com/moogaloop/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1830262&fullscreen=1 See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor. HT Targuman Read more

Last night’s episode of Heroes raised a lot of interesting subjects with its God-talk. First, there was Angela Petrelli mentioning that those who were involved in the attempt to give abilities artificially were “attempting to be better than God”. The whole notion of “playing God” is double edged, but one rarely hears talk of trying to “outdo God”. On the one hand, this series suggests that evolution in its divine beneficence endowed some people with remarkable, god-like abilities. On the... Read more