This might actually be the best argument against understanding the creation of humans in the “image of God” in terms of our appearance… Read more
This might actually be the best argument against understanding the creation of humans in the “image of God” in terms of our appearance… Read more
A blog reader alerted me that the comments on an older post, “Your Daily Dose of Mythicism,” had gone missing. With the help of determined tech support staff at Patheos, those Disqus comments have been restored. There are hundreds of them, and the discussions are arguably the most valuable feature on this blog, and so I am delighted that what once was lost has now been found. Read more
Rev. Bob Yount’s sermon this past Sunday is the basis for my reflections in this blog post. He emphasized that the church was never supposed to be a place that people are brought to in order to hear the gospel. It is supposed to be a place where Christians are taught and prepared to bring good news, compassion, and help out into the world. As I listened, I was struck by how the misunderstanding he described has probably led rather directly... Read more
Yesterday I discussed one attempted solution to the problem of evil that students wrestled with, taking J. L. Mackie’s classic article, “Evil and Omnipotence,” as their starting point, together with the Book of Job and an excerpt from The Brothers Karamazov. Today I would like to focus in on another, the argument that good cannot exist without evil, since it is only by way of contrast that we perceive things to be good or evil, better or worse than one... Read more
The first blog review of my book has been offered, by Bob Cornwall. Click through to read it. It is a delight to have the first such review be written by someone who shares my love for both theology and science fiction! (Keith was the first to write an Amazon review, for which I am also grateful!) Read more
As I’ve been reading student papers about the problem of evil, several have offered the free will defense, arguing that free will is necessary for there to be love. That seems to me to be correct, but it has some corollaries that should not be missed. If creating free beings who can love you freely is preferable to creating robots who have no choice but to serve you and are incapable of loving you, then what happens when the idea... Read more
I thought it would be appropriate to mention here the compositions of Gabrielle Cerberville, a Butler graduate who composed a work that took the story of the binding of Isaac as its starting point. This was part of a seminar series that is led by Rabbi Sandi Sasso, which gives artists an opportunity to come together to talk about the Bible and use it as a starting point for creative products. Have a listen to her piece “But where is... Read more
I am surprised that Hemant Mehta is so impressed with this exam answer a student gave to a question about the Big Bang: On the one hand, theism doesn’t posit a floating man in the sky. And in context the suggestion is self evidently silly, since by definition, there was no sky before the Big Bang. And no gases. The answer botches both science and theology, badly. But on the other hand, if one anthropomorphizes God as a “floating man in... Read more
This came my way in The Toast some while back, and I have been meaning to share it ever sense. “Behold” is an awkward archaism that Bible translators regularly preserve, because alternatives don’t consistently have the same function in modern English. And so, while this Bible doesn’t always use “Look, buddy” – for variety, it sometimes substitutes other synonyms, like “listen, pal” – it is nonetheless not merely humorous in effect, but also provocative in a serious way about translation.... Read more
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Plagiarism in Commentaries and Commentaries on Plagiarism
Given that I’ve now had my first plagiarism case of the semester, the time seems right to comment on this topic. Let me begin with an infographic that explains different kinds of plagiarism and evaluates them in terms of their severity, since it seems that many people are still unclear on precisely what plagiarism is. The above is by no means the first of its kind. Perhaps a useful exercise for students would be to have them compare plagiarism infographics... Read more