The Babylon Bee is a great source for Christian satire. Just recently they posted a list of 23 Christian movies that need to be made. Here’s a sample of what they suggest: I also particularly liked #19: A NASA astronaut is stranded on Mars. Every Christian on earth comments, “Praying!” on NASA’s Facebook post announcing the dire situation, but no one actually prays for him or sends help. He dies after running out of Martian-grown potatoes. Click through to read more.... Read more
This cartoon by David Hayward seems like a suitable updating of the parable of the wheat and the tares from the Gospel of Matthew. What do you think? Read more
Diana Butler Bass shared this image on social media: All-purpose, go-to question: Can you imagine if President Obama had done this? (Whatever it is that he is doing….) pic.twitter.com/BroLVDTdp8 — Diana Butler Bass (@dianabutlerbass) May 22, 2017 I’m very curious to learn about the actual ceremony, but I think it will be more fun to invite caption suggestions. Read more
Here’s how Abdul Saltagi’s essay, which won this year’s Kristi Schultz Broughton Liberal Arts Essay Contest, begins: “It’ll be okay mom,” I lied, trying to comfort my distraught mother. She had just heard the news that her nephew, my cousin, was captured by the Syrian Government and her sister hadn’t heard any news of him for days. This was not the first time my family had heard bad news rom Syria, but this time, it hit close to home. A few years prior... Read more
Something I said a while back has been turned into a meme and begun to circulate on Twitter: https://twitter.com/xalmightyblog/status/865988589103980544 Read more
The story begins with the Doctor at an execution for Missy, a long time ago, at which he is supposed to pull the lever, but apparently finds a way to save her. And so we find that she is the one in the vault. It is a planet and order of people dedicated to ending life, serving as executioners for all people. We also learn that the Doctor is able to check his email despite his blindness using his sunglasses.... Read more
A special issue of the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, exploring the intersection of the Hebrew Bible and science fiction, is now available in print form as a book from Gorgias Press. The title is Not In The Spaces We Know, and I mentioned the online edition here previously. You can read the blog post that the volume’s editor and contributor Frauke Uhlenbruch wrote on the Patheos blog “Religion Now.” Here is the blurb for the book: This volume explores themes at the... Read more
The review I wrote of Nina Henrichs Tarasenkova’s book Luke’s Christology of Divine Identity has just been published in Review of Biblical Literature. Here is a brief snippet to whet your appetite: Unfortunately, from early in the book readers will realize that they are dealing with the kinds of special pleading that have long characterized conservative evangelical writing on matters such as Christology…Henrichs-Tarasenkova’s treatment of the concept of “divine identity” fails to offer the elucidation that she had earlier indicated was needed (22–23). Once... Read more
A recent post on the blog “History for Atheists” (which critiqued the meme above) highlights the reason why I felt the need to develop Canon: The Card Game: there is a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation on the subject. The challenge for a professor teaching a one-semester course on the Bible is when and how to cover material related to the formation of biblical canons. There is a long history that led up to the collection of works into compilations that we refer... Read more
Hemant Mehta shared the above cartoon by Kristian Nygård. Despite being a somewhat silly attempt at humor, I think it actually highlights issues related to how people sometimes talk about God causing and/or permitting things in the universe. What do you think? Is it the kind of thing that can actually be a jumping-off point for useful discussion? Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In