I have loved every single one of Rachel Held Evans’ books. I have never been as moved as I was by listening to the audiobook of her latest and presumably last, the posthumously published Wholehearted Faith. Audiobooks are not all the same. Some are read by the author. Some are read by professional narrators. This audiobook is unique in that it has a different reader for just about every chapter. Who are those readers? Rachel’s friends, and in the case of... Read more
I was made aware of this call for chapter proposals (via H-Net and Call for Papers) which I will resist the temptation to pursue, but I am sure others I know will jump at: What Writing is Like: The Many Worlds of Russell T Davies edited by Anindya Raychaudhuri Russell T Davies has been one of the foremost voices in British television for the last three decades. The range of Davies’s work is formidable – from his early work on children’s television such... Read more
Richard Beck has begun a new series on Paul’s theology, after reading (among other things) Gabriele Boccaccini’s book Paul’s Three Paths to Salvation (currently available for only $5 for Kindle!). Here is a taste from Beck’s first post: Paul thought judgment was imminent. So this time of “holding fast” wasn’t going to be very long. It was a doable proposition. Hang in there, be faithful, the time is short. But as generations have passed, the lag time between justification and... Read more
Now that some details and arrangements have been finalized I can finally share details about my plans for the 2022-2023 academic year, when I will be on sabbatical to work on a book project related to John the Baptist. First, I have the opportunity to spend time in the Holy Land this summer so that I can visit locations that have a connection with John the Baptist, who is the focus of my project for the coming year. The connections... Read more
I mentioned in a previous blog post that I will present a conference paper in the Society of Biblical Literature’s “Q” program unit about John the Baptist. I have now learned that I have also had a paper accepted by the American Academy of Religion’s Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity program unit. The title is “Late Antique Texts and Earlier History: The Case of John the Baptist and Mandaean Sources.” Here is the abstract I submitted: There is a noticeable... Read more
While my focus during 2022-2023 will be on John the Baptist, I will continue to tinker away at my collaborative effort on the intersection of computer programming and ethics. This is a roundup of recent news on artificial intelligence and related topics. First, here is my appearance on the Souls in Soles podcast: Due to my sabbatical I probably won’t be able to present at Starbase Indy this year – but you should! (The link goes to the form to... Read more
In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was... Read more
If you are at all interested in astronomy you have undoubtedly come across reference to the possibility of a “Planet X” that lies beyond Pluto, a 10th planet (assuming one counts Pluto as has traditionally been the case). Attempts to spot a planet in our solar system beyond the orbit of Pluto have thus far been unsuccessful. One possible explanation for this is that there is no such planet. Yet the behavior of other planets, and even more so of... Read more
I’ve been notified of the acceptance of a conference paper I proposed, and so I’ll be presenting a paper on John the Baptist in Q at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in November, in the SBL program unit with the shortest name (“Q”). Here is the summary of my paper: Q as a Source of Knowledge about John the Baptist In her groundbreaking study Baptist Traditions and Q, Clare K. Rothschild argued that in the Q material in... Read more
Laurențiu Ganea is a Romanian composer whose work was pointed out to me by a fellow New Testament scholar, and whose musical exploration of biblical texts should be of interest to those who (like me) are fascinated by this intersection. Below are a couple of examples of his works. Let me preface them by offering an English translation of an excerpt from an article which features comments by the composer about his setting of the Song of Songs, including his... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In