The more I think about the fact that so many blogs and web sites are speculating about Barack Obama being the antichrist, the more annoyed and puzzled I get. I once used to be part of this apocalyptic-oriented Evangelicalism, until actually reading the Book of Revelation and paying attention to the details persuaded me that the whole approach was misguided. Just think about the following implications, two of which are ridiculous and one of which, though plausible, is unlikely to... Read more

Undeception points out another young-earth creationist claim that can be laid to rest (although if their past actions are anything to go by, the scientific evidence for their claim being false won’t stop them repeating it and believing it). Open Parachute highlights the challenges of coming out as a Christian who is persuaded by the evidence for evolution. Demonbaby explores the creation museum, and Robert Ritchie tackles regime change in heaven (HT Pharyngula). Vridar continues discussing Evans’ Fabricating Jesus. Bay... Read more

Somehow I found myself involved in a discussion of the Genesis creation stories on a blog called The Celtic Chimp. I hope to resume regular posting soon (although I suspect the amount of work I’ve caught up on recently and the lack of regular blogging may be connected somehow). Read more

“Time is the creator, it knows no limits, no one is above it, it has no foundation in anything, it has always existed and will exist for ever, and the wise one asks not ‘Whence comes time?'” (Ulemai Islam, quoted in Svend Aage Pallis, Mandaean Studies (Amsterdam: Philo Press, 1926) p.69). Read more

I recently was made aware of the interesting experience of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, who had a stroke that resulted in an experience akin to that described by Buddhists as Nirvana. There is a web page about her work entitled My Stroke Of Insight, as well as the video clip below. I’m very interested in discussing and exploring the relationship between my own religious experience, psychology, and neuroscience. I am often in two minds (if you’ll excuse the pun) about... Read more

As many readers will know, my second book, The Only True God, is due to appear in Spring 2009. I’m currently filling in the author’s questionnaire for the publisher, University of Illinois Press. For marketing purposes, I need to answer questions about courses that might adopt the book as a textbook, journals and magazines that might usefully run an ad or draw attention to the book, scholarly list-servs and other such venues where it might usefully be discussed, and so... Read more

Some people have been subtly “tricked” into an educational experience. The TV show LOST, for instance, has subtly introduced some viewers into science fiction who thought they hated it. Some still do, but some have had their horizons broadened, and that is what education is all about. Then there are the more obvious references to philosophers and their ideas, which many have gone and explored. Much like the Matrix films, LOST has taken philosophy and packaged it for an audience... Read more

There are some things for which one can pay someone else to do them. Hire someone to clean your home. Pay a driver to drive you somewhere. If your house isn’t clean, fire the housekeeper. If you are not taken to your destination, don’t pay the chauffeur. There are other cases where one pays for an experience rather than a service, and you simply cannot approach matters in the same way as in the aforementioned instances. You can hire sherpas... Read more

Carmen Andres kindly chose me as one of her five blogs that make her think and make her day. Thanks Carmen! Now all I have to do is whittle down my own list to a mere five and pass on the honor…and that’s not easy! But I will choose five, as I must… Thoughts in a HaystackFind and Ye Shall SeekForbidden GospelsPonderings on a Faith JourneyMetacatholic And now, here are the runners up: Chrisendom, Abnormal Interests, A Guy In The... Read more

We had a bad thunderstorm pass through Indianapolis yesterday, and there’s a power line down in my back yard. If I blog, it will be from the office (where I came this morning not first and foremost to blog, but to move the contents of our freezer into our nice new empty office fridge’s freezer). There’s a lot of discussion of LOST around the blogosphere (and presumably in lots of places). Bob Cornwall has blogged about the rise and fall... Read more