Longtime readers of this blog will recall that I have an activity that I run in my class on the historical Jesus, in which I get students to reenact what the Jesus Seminar became famous for doing at its meetings. The Jesus Seminar, for those who may not be familiar with it, produced a variation on the classic red letter editions of the Gospels. They voted as a group on which sayings of Jesus they consider authentic – the actual... Read more
Some of you may have seen when I floated a vague suggestion on Facebook about a volume on Theology and AI or Robots in general, or Theology and Westworld in particular. I was delighted and frankly a little overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response, including multiple expressions of interest in participating in the editing of the volume. With so many enthusiastic to do so, and with me already having so many projects that I’m juggling, I thought it best to give... Read more
I am delighted to have Kyle Greenwood as my guest on the latest episode of the ReligionProf Podcast. Most recently, he is the editor of Since the Beginning: Interpreting Genesis 1 and 2 Through the Ages. This is a multi-author edited volume tracing the impact and interpretation of these stories from ancient Israel until after Darwin. I previously reviewed Kyle’s book Scripture and Cosmology and also on another occasion linked to a review of the same book by someone else. One... Read more
I would have been delighted no matter what by the launch of the new Journal of Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies. Here’s the description from the “about” page on their website: JIBS is a peer-reviewed, open access journal dedicated to publishing cutting edge articles that embody interdisciplinary, social justice-oriented, feminist, queer, and innovative biblical scholarship. We welcome submissions that challenge canonical and/or disciplinary norms and boundaries or that query the field of biblical studies’ relationship to the broader investigation of human religion, culture,... Read more
The episode The Tsuranga Conundrum finds the Doctor and team scavenging for something she needs, when they encounter a sonic mine. They end up in a hospital. As they look for the exit, they find General Eve Cicero. The Doctor knows her – she is mentioned in the Book of Celebrants. The Doctor has a volume rather than a chapter about her. It turns out they are on a ship called the Tsuranga, and so they are on their way having... Read more
In a conversation not long ago with colleagues and friends connected with the study of religion, we had occasion to mention Paul Russell’s article about Hume and religion in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – more specifically, his terminology which characterized Hume’s religious views not as perhaps neither atheism or theism, but “thin” theism in contrast to “thick” (or at least “thicker”) varieties of that viewpoint. I immediately found myself making the quip that this ought to be a term... Read more
From the Islam and Science Fiction website: Islam and Science Fiction has been around since 2005. As we are entering out 14th year soon, we are launching a project that we have been thinking about many years – The world’s first magazine focused on publishing Science Fiction inspired by Islamic civilizations and ethos. It will be a quarterly magazine focused on Islamicate Science Fiction. The magazine will be published online quarterly, with the first issue being released on January 1,... Read more
As a fan of progressive rock, you might have assumed this post would be about church music in varying time signatures, alternating between 7/8 and 9/8 with the congregation struggling to keep up. But instead, it is about music crafted precisely for the experience some will have this Sunday, which is not unlike congregational singing in awkward time signatures, namely the changing of the clocks overnight. Cristiano Rizzotto shared this on Facebook: If you ever include it in a service... Read more
A fascinating connection was made in a recent Nautilus article between math and our search for meaning. Here is an excerpt: While we travel through the seemingly random events in our life, we are searching for patterns, and structure. Life is full of “ups and downs.” There are the joys of falling in love, giggling with your child, and feeling a sense of great accomplishment when a hard job is completed. There is also the pain of a crumbling relationship,... Read more
Happy Halloween! In this episode, Anthony Le Donne and I continue our conversation about the historical Jesus and related matters of interest. I shouldn’t need to say anything more, both because I know readers of this blog are interested in this topic, and I know people interested in this topic want to hear what Anthony has to say. And I also am confident that you’ve been eagerly awaiting part two of this conversation because you listened to part 1! Brian... Read more
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