I’ve just been catching up on some of the TV shows I like to follow. New seasons have begun, but I’ve only just managed to watch the Heroes season premiere and that of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which has already aired its third episode). Both seasons began with an increase in God-talk, all the more noteworthy since such language and imagery was already present to a significant degree in seasons past. My first reaction was to suspect that religious... Read more

Iyov memed me and so I have to tell you six unspectacular things about myself. 1) In my first “band” (yes, the quotes are necessary), the drummer didn’t actually have a drum set and used to bang on a chair. 2) As a child my sister’s pet turtle ate my pet goldfish. 3) I’m the only person in my department who has performed in Butler’s Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall (I accompanied my son on the piano for one of his early... Read more

First, a quote from Steve Hammer, who writes for our local free newspaper NUVO: “The only logical rationale I can see for supporting the Republican ticket is if you belong to the subset of the population that wants to see the Book of Revelation come true in their lifetime and a vice president who can take over and lead us to her Alaskan refuge after the Rapture.” That sentiment seems to match that depicted in this poster (HT Shuck &... Read more

I’ve been recommending to friends for a very long time that they see the movie Harrison Bergeron, but I’ve regularly heard from them that they couldn’t get hold of a copy. That will no longer be an issue. As was recently pointed out at SF Signal, one can now watch the movie online. (If the embeded player doesn’t work, click here) For those who’ve never heard about it, the movie is set after the second American revolution, when people have... Read more

I just happened across Eric D. Reymond’s site Introductory Lessons in Aramaic. I know from keyword statistics that some people have found their way to this blog looking for just this sort of resource, so I thought I’d pass it on! Read more

I’ve posted a clip on YouTube that recaps a key point that came up in our Sunday school class this past weekend, as well as in a recent blog post, namely that no one simply “believes the whole Bible” and “takes it all literally”. Read more

My book The Burial of Jesus: History and Faith has received its first review on amazon.com. The review is in mediocre English and gives the book a mediocre rating. 🙂 I’m still waiting for copies from the publisher to send to a few people who asked for review copies, as well as to some journals and RBL. You can now search inside the book at amazon.co.uk, but their keyword search feature doesn’t seem to be working yet. The one at... Read more

I’ve been hesitant to dive into this particular subject. I want to keep my blog at its PG rating. At any rate, here is a post for those more reserved readers who wish to give my previous one a wide berth. I’ve posted on same-gender relationships before (more than once), most recently in conjunction with discussions around the biblioblogosphere (see e.g. Metacatholic and Lingamish – the latter, ironically enough, sounds like it could be the Sanskrit for “sorta phallic shaped”.... Read more

I’ve been hesitant to dive into this particular subject. I want to keep my blog at its PG rating. Yet just about every day someone finds their way to my blog searching for “hermaphrodite sex“, so this post shouldn’t change things, I guess. I’ve posted on homosexuality before (more than once), most recently in conjunction with discussions around the biblioblogosphere (see e.g. Metacatholic and Lingamish – the latter, ironically enough, sounds like it could be the Sanskrit for “sorta phallic... Read more

Although the actual keyword search does not appear to work yet as of my posting this, my book The Burial of Jesus is now part of the Search Inside program, which means that you can see the book from cover to cover and browse it before making a decision about whether to buy it, recommend it to friends, or whatever else. Take a look. You know you want to! Read more