Religious Futurisms #CFP

June 23, 2021 By James F. McGrath

This call for papers came to my attention and seemed worth sharing: Religious Futurisms: A Call for Papers We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a forthcoming collection of essays on the broad topic of Religious Futurisms, to be edited by Sumeyra Buran Utku and Jim Clarke. Religious Futurisms derives its intellectual inspiration from the emergence of Afrofuturism and other Alternative Futurisms as ideological and analytical frameworks in recent years. Religious Futurisms can manifest as ideology, criticality,... Read more

Mandaeans in the News

June 22, 2021 By James F. McGrath

As I shared on Facebook yesterday, an article I wrote for The Conversation about the Mandaeans has now been published. It is a real privilege to be able to study the texts and traditions of this fascinating community, and to count some of their number among my friends. Mandaean Artist Yuhana Nashmi has brought together 100 stories in a new book that will launch later this month: 100 Souls 100 Stories 100 Tiles. I had the privilege of meeting Yuhana when... Read more

The Bible and the Bots

June 16, 2021 By James F. McGrath

When people are asked what distinguishes a robot from a human being, they will often point to the potential of the latter to act freely, and thus to surprise you. And yet human beings – at least when considered in larger groups – act in ways that are repetitive, traditional, and thus often predictable. For this reason, when it comes to the question of how historic human religious traditions will respond if artificial intelligence in the fullest sense is developed,... Read more

New Book: #WhatIsGodLike by Rachel Held Evans and Matthew Paul Turner

June 15, 2021 By James F. McGrath

There was one person who was immediately at the top of my list of possible endorsers for my book What Jesus Learned from Women when I began working on it: Rachel Held Evans. By the time I finished the book, my sadness at her untimely death was compounded with the thought that I would not have the chance to find out what she thought of the book. Recently, I began to see the at once thrilling and heartbreaking news that... Read more

Can Religions Make Room for Robots?

June 14, 2021 By James F. McGrath

A while back Eboo Patel encouraged students to pursue degrees in the liberal arts for a reason that I had not heard used before: because of robots. His argument is that robots will replace most manufacturing and other skill-based jobs, and it will be those who have mastered the creativity and other thinking skills that humans can offer, but machines cannot, who are most likely to retain their usefulness in the technological future. This may or may not be good advice,... Read more

#CFP Theology and Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale and Other Worlds

June 13, 2021 By James F. McGrath

This is an exciting call for chapter proposals for an edited volume on theology and Margaret Atwood, which reached me via the Theology and Popular Culture blog as well as RelCFP: Theology and Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale and Other Worlds (Call for Papers) Since the recent success of the TV series The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood—who has always enjoyed an enthusiastic “fan base” and coterie of admiring readers—has gained a renewed prominence and her work has entered into a kind... Read more

What What Jesus Learned from Women Learned from Archaeology

June 12, 2021 By James F. McGrath

There is a letter to the editor in the Summer 2021 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review about my article there (“The Writing on the Floor”) based on my chapter in What Jesus Learned from Women about the woman accused of adultery: The Trial of Bitter Waters I GREATLY APPRECIATED James McGrath’s article “The Writing on the Floor” (Spring 2021), which did so much to explain the story in John 8:2–11. The author describes the woman in this story as a young, betrothed virgin who was... Read more

#CFP: Antisemitism in the Fourth Gospel (Book Anthology)

June 11, 2021 By James F. McGrath

From GCRR Press GCRR Press is currently inviting papers for a themed article collection relating to the Gospel of John for inclusion in a proposed scholarly volume. Topics should preferably explore the Fourth Gospel in regard to the origins of Christian anti-Judaism/antisemitism, though other exegetical treatments from a Jewish frame of reference are welcome. By exploring this topic across time and place, this collection aims to provide an historical context for understanding not only the Jewish Jesus but the specific... Read more

Bible Music by Philip Moody, Robert Nathaniel Dett, Florent Schmitt, and Jonathan Pease (Plus Nightbirde and More)

June 10, 2021 By James F. McGrath

YouTube introduced me to Philip Moody’s “Laguna Concerto,” and as with all music I enjoy, I looked to see what else was on YouTube. It offered me (among other things) this setting of the Lord’s Prayer: It also shared “Prayer” which is a title that always leads me to have a listen/take a look, since the text sometimes is biblical and sometimes is not. In this case it is Kyrie Eleison together with Psalm 23 in a beautiful work: Of... Read more

#CFP Theology and LOST

June 9, 2021 By James F. McGrath

Okay, I am really excited about this call for chapter proposals, even though I really shouldn’t take anything else on. Those who have read my blog for a long time will know that I avidly blogged about the show when it was on, and then again rewatching it from start to finish with my son. The show has so much depth to it, that I’d be delighted to return to it. If you never watched or rewatched it, I highly recommend... Read more