Review of Just Immigration

Last updated on: January 15, 2018 at 7:10 am By James F. McGrath

My review of the book Just Immigration: American Policy in Christian Perspective by Mark R. Amstutz has appeared online on Reading Religion. Here is an excerpt: I think that most readers, irrespective of their specific viewpoints, will appreciate Amstutz’s call for churches to prioritize their role as moral teachers. Some of the deadlock that hinders immigration reform results from public contentment with superficial appeals to justice, insufficient engagement with different ideas of justice, and their varying prioritization by different individuals and... Read more

The X-Files: “This”

Last updated on: January 13, 2018 at 3:56 pm By James F. McGrath

The second episode of season 11 of the X-Files is simply called “This.” There are lots of criticisms that one could make of it – people involved in a global conspiracy that Mulder previously spent countless years trying to penetrate now seem to leave their locations surprisingly accessible. But perhaps that is a quibble, since the thing that Mulder was looking for on this occasion was something that looked relatively ordinary: a computer server. From the outside, no one would know... Read more

Was Jesus a Wesleyan?

Last updated on: January 8, 2018 at 9:18 pm By James F. McGrath

As a Baptist, you are probably surprised that I would even ask a question like this, or alternatively, you might assume that I’d ask it only to answer quickly in the negative. But I’d rather take a bit more time to get beyond the obvious surface-level response – “no, of course not – Wesley may have been a Jesusian, but the reverse makes no chronological sense whatsoever!” Sure, but when Richard Beck posted about Jesus and the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, he... Read more

The Future of Blogs and Blogs of the Future

Last updated on: January 8, 2018 at 9:21 pm By James F. McGrath

Esteban Vázquez wrote a blog post not long ago, reflecting on a decade of biblioblogging on his part: Biblioblogdom, as it once was, has ceased to exist. Which isn’t to say that no one is blogging about the Bible and theology—far from it! (Witness the monthly Biblical Studies Carnival, ongoing since 2006, and hosted this month by our old friend Jason Gardner.) But the community, with its vigorous exchanges across all levels so often chronicled in “round-ups,” seems to have disintegrated in favor... Read more

#CFP Diversity in the Religion Classroom

Last updated on: January 11, 2018 at 6:51 am By James F. McGrath

I thought this call for papers was worth sharing for at least two reasons. One is that the topic itself is an important one: diversity in the classroom. Here is an excerpt from the call for papers: A key principle of global citizenry is recognizing the power of diversity. As educators and learners, we understand that “Students should develop a delicate balance of cultural, national, and global identifications” (Banks, 2004), if they are to succeed as individuals and global citizens.... Read more

False Shepherds

Last updated on: January 10, 2018 at 6:20 am By James F. McGrath

Steve Wiggins wrote in a recent blog post: The modern Evangelical movement no longer adheres to the teachings of the carpenter from Nazareth. The issues on which he spoke plainly and repeatedly have been relabeled as “liberal” and therefore evil. If you can keep the Jesus brand, eviscerated of its core beliefs, you can gather a bloc of dupes who’ll flush their own healthcare and financial wellbeing simply because sheep will follow any shepherd. Ironically, the Bible itself warns of the... Read more

Star Trek: Discovery – Despite Yourself

Last updated on: January 9, 2018 at 6:53 am By James F. McGrath

In the episode “Despite Yourself,” the USS Discovery finds itself in a different universe. The captain mentions that the possibility that the mycelial network connects to other universes was something that he and Stamets had discussed, once again suggesting that Lorca may have hoped they could reach a parallel universe. When the captain enters the sick bay, the Dr. Culber says, “Speak of the devil.” The doctor blames Capt. Lorca, accusing him of wanting what happened – which is interesting, given... Read more

Mistaking Fear for Faith

Last updated on: January 8, 2018 at 7:47 am By James F. McGrath

If your faith is so fragile it cannot handle questions, doubts, and honest inquiry, if it is so threatened by the full engagement of your heart & mind it runs from potential challenges, that’s not faith; it’s fear. — Rachel Held Evans (@rachelheldevans) January 6, 2018 The quote above from Rachel Held Evans deserves to circulate widely. Of related interest, see my posts ”The Opposite of Faith,” “Mind Changing as Religious Imperative”, ”Testing Faith,” and ”Fear of Doubt (Truth and... Read more

Yale Journal of Music and Religion #cfp

Last updated on: December 11, 2017 at 9:55 am By James F. McGrath

https://relcfp.tumblr.com/post/167170916190 Special Issue CFP: Music, Sound, and the Aurality of the Environment in the Anthropocene: Spiritual and Religious Perspectives Guest Editor, Kate Galloway (Wesleyan University) Yale Journal of Music & Religion (http://ism.yale.edu/yjmr) invites articles examining connections between music, sound, aurality, and the environment in global expressions of spirituality and religious activity. Examining how environments, places, and nature are approached as sites endowed with spiritual and religious significance, this issue focuses on the intersections of music, sound, religion, and the environment. Possible... Read more

Can an AI Write a Better Bible?

Last updated on: January 8, 2018 at 8:09 pm By James F. McGrath

The author of a recent article was much more impressed than I was with an AI’s vaguely biblesque-sounding blather. Here is one example of what the AI mentioned in the article came up with: And let thy companies deliver thee; but will with mine own arm save them: even unto this land, from the kingdom of heaven. It will take much more than that to create a new religion, never mind become its God. But ultimately, even if an AI can produce scriptures that... Read more