Jesus Monotheism Volume 1

Last updated on: July 21, 2016 at 7:32 pm By James F. McGrath

I’ve been looking forward to blogging about Crispin Fletcher-Louis’ book Jesus Monotheism: Volume One – Christological Origins: The Emerging Consensus and Beyond. Having finished reading it as I prepared my paper for the Enoch Seminar meeting about John’s Christology in Italy this month, the time has finally come. First, let me say that I appreciate Crispin’s interaction with my own work, and his efforts to engage both those he largely agrees with, and those with whom he largely disagrees, in a... Read more

Doubt is a Wide Open Space

Last updated on: July 21, 2016 at 7:32 pm By James F. McGrath

I’m due to read and blog about Crystal St. Marie Lewis’ book of “doubter’s devotions” called By The Waters of Babylon. In the meantime, let me share this sample from its contents, which Crystal shared on her blog a while back: We think of our churches as houses of faith, and we do so as if faith exists apart from the human experience. The truth, however, is that there could be no faith without the human experience, and human experience is a... Read more

A Baptist Approach to Science Fiction

Last updated on: July 21, 2016 at 9:58 pm By James F. McGrath

I saw the above meme on Facebook, and was struck by several aspects of it. First, the treatment of allegiance to sci-fi franchises as comparable to religion caught my attention. And then I started thinking about this “Baptist” approach which emphasizes that adherence is a choice that one should make when one is able to decide for oneself, and should not be imposed by parents or others. But then I also found myself reflecting on the fact that one does... Read more

Revelation: A Rock Opera

Last updated on: June 7, 2016 at 6:27 pm By James F. McGrath

Have you heard about Mike Doughty’s rock opera based on the Book of Revelation? I love this sort of thing. Others have alluded to Revelation (see “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis, for instance), but to my knowledge this is the first complete rock opera setting of the book. And interestingly it begins with John 1:1 and a discussion of inerrancy! Read more

Sweet Air of Freedom

Last updated on: July 21, 2016 at 9:58 pm By James F. McGrath

From Cindy Brandt’s post, “The Fight for Unfundamentalist Christianity.” Read more

Clinging to One’s God

Last updated on: June 5, 2016 at 6:25 am By James F. McGrath

When sharing a blog post not too long ago, I wrote the following on Facebook: Any god that you have to cling to in order to keep from losing it is by definition an idol. I used literal physical idols in the background to the image above. But I hope it is clear that I have in mind in particular the theological systems that are the most common modern idols, ones that are all too often clung to by people who... Read more

Bible Odyssey T-Shirt

Last updated on: July 21, 2016 at 9:57 pm By James F. McGrath

I brought along my Bible Odyssey “I Love Josephus” t-shirt on my trip to the Holy Land, thinking it would be perfect to wear to Masada (and of course also to Qumran, as seen in the photo above). I was pleased that several people noticed the shirt and were struck by it enough to mention it. Well done, Bible Odyssey! The point of the shirt was undoubtedly precisely to generate conversations ones that promote not just this specific SBL... Read more

Penn Libraries Holy Land Collection

Last updated on: July 21, 2016 at 9:57 pm By James F. McGrath

I learned not long ago about the Penn Libraries Holy Land Collection. Here’s the address, so that you can explore it further: http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/holyland/index.html Read more

Andre Gagne on the Gospel of Thomas

Last updated on: June 4, 2016 at 5:15 am By James F. McGrath

Here’s Andre Gagne talking about the Gospel of Thomas on the show Talk Gnosis. Enjoy! Read more

Gethseminary

Last updated on: June 3, 2016 at 6:16 pm By James F. McGrath

For some reason, just as I was waking up one morning some weeks ago, I had the mash-up between “Gethsemane” and “seminary” that is the title of this post pop into my head. And then I read a piece in the Chronicle about the educational power of discomfort. It was not specifically about seminaries, but about the struggles involved in learning and in being confronted with the challenges to our views and preconceptions that are part of anything worthy to be called... Read more