I am quite happy to say that it occurred to me recently that Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees – that they tie burdens on the backs of those who learn and follow their teachings – might apply to me. One of the things I love about the discussions in my Sunday school class at Crooked Creek Baptist Church is that I have a range of people with different backgrounds and interests, including four ordained ministers in various degrees of retirement.... Read more
I watched the movie Passengers quite some time ago, and regret having taken so long to blog about it. The movie surprised me with its ethical depth, as well as its impressive special effects. Why do I say that the story is ethically profound? Because it forces us to ask questions about motives and circumstances, about actions, intentions, and consequences. The ethical issue at the heart of the story can be summed up very briefly in terms of the concrete details... Read more
As we wait for Doctor Who to return to our screens (with a new logo and new incidental music as well as a new Doctor), it is about time for me to return to blogging about the classic series. I only have a few posts left before I will have blogged about every single one, and so it is inexplicable why it has taken me so long to return to this. Then again, if there is one thing that is... Read more
Call for Papers: Regional Late Antiquity Consortium of the Southeast Meeting (ReLACS) October 25-26, 2018 The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, invites paper proposals from graduate students for the annual Regional Late Antiquity Consortium of the Southeast (ReLACS) meeting to take place October 25-26, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. This conference will meet for the sixth year in 2018 and is a workshop for scholars working on any aspect of Late Antiquity held on a rotating basis at the University of Tennessee, the... Read more
I am delighted at the prospect that, as I teach my course on the historical figure of Jesus next semester, I will also have an opportunity to supervise a student’s work on an honors thesis asking about Jesus’ teaching in relation to current movements epitomized through well-known social media hashtags. It immediately struck me that “#timesup” conveys much the same message as the words “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Not that the specifically religious focus is... Read more
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/foxyfolklorist/when-youre-too-fatigued-to-feel-violated/ In the blog post above, a colleague of mine (who is also a fellow Patheos blogger) shares her distressing account of a recent experience. I recently visited with an immigrant community in the United States that perpetuates the notion that women need to conform to some notion of modest dress, because men are apparently unable to control themselves. Ironically, they were obsessed with the sexualizing of women in relation to clothing that didn’t seem to me at all provocative,... Read more
I was very interested to learn that John and Philosophy: A New Reading of the Fourth Gospel by Troels Engberg-Pedersen (p.69) advocates for identifying two key moments in the Gospel of John as one and the same, or two sides of the same coin. When the Gospel of John says that the Spirit descended upon Jesus and remained on him, there is no fundamental difference in meaning to what is said in the prologue, namely that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among... Read more
I’ve been meaning to share the cartoon below since Gretchen Koch shared it almost two years ago: The cartoon relates to quite a number of theological, political, social, and moral matters. I suspect that the only reason that the Emperor Nero, back in the first century, was able to blame Christians for the fire in Rome in his time, was because Christians had been heard speaking about divine judgment, and more specifically fire, being in store for Rome. Christians most... Read more
I’ve received some additional information about the ΘeoCon event that will be held in September, which I blogged about yesterday, and want to share it, since the more I find out, the more it seems like an event that will be worth attending! I am good friends with a couple of faculty members at Virginia Theological Seminary, as well as with one of the keynote speakers who is lined up: Chuck Robertson, the canon to the presiding bishop of the Episcopal... Read more
I apologize for sharing this call for papers on such short notice, but I only just became aware of it. The details in the images above and in the text below can also be found on the conference website. Despite what it says, I understand that the deadline has been extended until May 15th – which is today! But if you really want to present, I am sure you can come up with something before the end of the day…... Read more
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