Existential Comics has once again depicted philosophers playing Dungeons and Dragons. It was the dragon’s quip about the gods he’s met that made me decide it was worth sharing here… Read more
Existential Comics has once again depicted philosophers playing Dungeons and Dragons. It was the dragon’s quip about the gods he’s met that made me decide it was worth sharing here… Read more
From The Sacred Sandwich. Read more
I’ve appeared on the online show Talk Gnosis before, speaking about the Mandaeans. In this week’s episode, they talked with me about the historical figure of Jesus and mythicism. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed recording it! Read more
My colleague at Butler, Chad Bauman, recently wrote a piece for Religion Dispatches, on the perception he has encountered among Hindus in India that “Americans hate Muslims, too.” Here’s a sample: Still today, when I travel in India, Hindus presupposing my agreement frequently make off-handed and derogatory comments about their Muslim neighbors. For those concerned about the effectiveness of the United States’ advocacy for religious freedom around the world, the perception that “Americans hate Muslims, too” should be a matter... Read more
The Times of Israel has an article about the volume I contributed to, Touching the Face of the Cosmos. The article focuses on the chapter by Rabbi Barry Schwartz. The contribution by the president of his shul, Lance Strate, also gets a mention. Click through to read the article. See also Molly Vozick-Levinson’s blog post about her own contribution to the volume. Read more
I didn’t manage to blog these on April 1st, but they are still worth sharing. Eisenbrauns has a long history of advertising spoof products on their website on April 1st. This year they continued that delightful tradition with the following: Eisenbrauns Announces Fairshare Festschriften™ Posted April 1, 2016 Get the recognition you deserve, today! Experiencing Festschrift envy? Your colleague down the hall has two Festschriften and you have only one—and it’s still in editorial! Covet not longer! Eisenbrauns has the answer... Read more
ArtsFest is an exciting time at Butler University. In April, we essentially have a marathon of artistic events, many of which are marathon-like in their own right. We’ll have performances of works by Eric Satie and John Cage which will more-or-less compete to see which can be played over the longest period of time. We’ll have guest artists and Butler faculty. And alongside the artistic productivity, there are also lectures and talks that relate to the theme of this year’s ArtsFest. I’m... Read more
I’m always surprised at how much rancor is directed toward “creationists”—those who deny that evolution, whether on the macro or micro level, is the best explanation for the diversity of life on our planet. I’m also surprised at how certain many biologists are that evolution occurred (Jerry Coyne, to give a prominent example). Yet although I am the first to admit that I have no formal training in science, I think I’ve read enough to know that there is no credible evidence for the reality of... Read more
After the pastor of my church resigned, my Sunday school class discussed what the role of a pastor is. I highlighted that the term comes from “shepherd” and that it is (apart from Ephesians 4:11) not used as a title for a Christian leadership position in the New Testament. We then turned to the comparison between believers and sheep. Often the focus is on the tendency to lead and to follow. But being a city boy myself, I wondered how much of... Read more
“If Donald Trump was a scientist” was created by Matt Crawford and shared on Facebook. Hope you enjoyed it! Read more
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