I’ve just had my second major experience of giving an interview for a journalism student who, when the time came for an article to be written based on the interview, came up with a string of “quotations” (in quotation marks both because the student actually called them this, and because they don’t resemble anything I could imagine saying). This has happened to me twice and to other colleagues, and it has reached the point where I am considering refusing interviews... Read more

To get a sense of just how much has changed in the past half century, just watch these bloopers from the original Star Trek series. The part that made the biggest impression on me is the way Capt. Kirk and others keep walking into doors. The automatic door Star Trek led us to hope for has become so common that we easily forget that, when Star Trek originally depicted the idea, someone had to pull the door open to simulate... Read more

How long can oral tradition preserve information? The available evidence shows that, while the idea of preserving a complete story, word for word, in all its details and in order over even relatively short periods is all but impossible without the aid of writing, small pieces of information and tradition certainly can be preserved. One need not only think of the jokes, nursery rhymes, children’s games and assorted customs that have circulated and been passed on from one generation to... Read more

I have posted before (twice, in fact) on the question of how Mark’s Gospel originally ended, but without really discussing in depth what I think or why I think it. I am persuaded that the original Gospel of Mark did not end abruptly in 16:8 (as our earliest evidence would suggest). The ending is awkward, and no amount of postmodern literary criticism will make it seem better. It promises that the disciples will see Jesus but the women at the... Read more

“I think the “Pro-Life” movement has little interest in what happens to people after birth” (Ian Ramjohn). Another blog I read regularly, Notes From Off-Center, also discusses this issue and the article that sparked the above quote. Read more

In student papers, I regularly read that things are supposed to be ‘taken on faith’. In terms of what they mean by this, there is simply no such teaching in the Bible. Neither is what they are proposing a good idea. The closest one might get to it is the story of Thomas in the Gospel of John. There, however, he gets to see, and his skepticism is not particularly surprising given what he was being asked to believe. Those... Read more

The Ancient Hebrew Poetry blog has posted a ‘map of the world of Bible bloggers‘. It is remarkable just how many there are. It is also remarkable to consider how posts by scholars, students, clergy and others are instantly available to readers from every corner of the globe. I must admit I was pretty happy when I saw my blog had been visited by someone in Azerbaijan! On the other hand, when one considers the million visitors the Pharyngula blog... Read more

Now that I’ve been banned from Uncommon Descent, presumably I can now confidently talk about pots and kettles and things like that whenever I hear proponents of Intelligent Design whine about censorship. I disagree strongly with Richard Dawkins about a number of things, but I will say this – I posted something critical of his views on the Richard Dawkins forum and, while of course there were many who disagreed with what I said, I wasn’t banned. From now on,... Read more

“identifying the designer can’t be done by science. It is a strictly theological question” (Casey Luskin of the Discovery Institute) I just had to make this my “Quote of the Day” today. Not only did the Discovery Institute respond to my accusation of dishonesty, but they were kind enough to illustrate it! Luskin goes on to state that “while biological structures may be scientifically explained via intelligent design, the structures themselves have no way of directly telling us whether the... Read more

Apparently I’ve been banned from posting on the Uncommon Descent blog. Disagreement and questioning is apparently unwelcome there. Although my aim was to point out problems in their arguments and hopefully prevent some people who were as yet undecided from being deceived, this too says something about that blog. I don’t think I was ever rude (although I was sarcastic at times, as always). I just articulated a different viewpoint and tried to engage in intelligent discussion (perhaps that was... Read more