IO9 suggests that it is time for sci-fi versions of familiar Bible stories. That could be interesting. If one ventures outside the Bible slightly, one gets books like 1 Enoch which already fit the genre. Enoch’s “ascension” shows the same sort of pre-modern cosmology I talked about in my last post, although the parallels make it more natural to talk about his “abduction”. Of course, the Left Behind movie also fits the genre – when I watched it (before teaching... Read more

In a recent post I mentioned the distinction Marcus Borg makes between naive and conscious literalism. At heart, the difference is as follows. Naive literalism involves someone (e.g. a Biblical author) treating something as factually true because he or she has no reason to believe otherwise. So, for instance, in the case of the ascension, why wouldn’t Luke depict Jesus as heading straight up into the sky? Presumably, had Luke lived today, he would have either described the scene differently,... Read more

Judy Redman wants to know what you think, so please pay a visit to her blog and participate in her poll! Read more

“The ascension is harder to believe in than the resurrection.” Someone made the above statement in a conversation we were having, and I immediately thought of something mentioned in chapter 5 of Keith Ward’s book The Big Questions in Science and Religion. After discussing briefly some traditional notions of time and space in cosmologies of previous ages, Ward writes (p.107), “We now know that, if [Jesus] began ascending two thousand years ago, he would not yet have left the Milky... Read more

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