The video above is the first part of an interview I did for the online podcast series Talk Gnosis. In a couple of days, they will release the second part which is for subscribers only. Click through for more details about how to become a subscriber, and let me know what you think of the video! Read more
Sometimes we neglect to explain how to do something, assuming that it should be common knowledge, and then live with constant frustration when others fail to know what we think they should. How to write to one’s professor in an appropriate manner is one such area. Perhaps we should just explain the rules, even if it means putting something like this on our syllabuses? Emailing is a genre with its own rules—very different from the rules of texting—that you need... Read more
The second episode in the new X-Files series is sort of X-Files meets X-Men. On the one hand, it had a very strong feel of the classic “monster of the week” kind of episode, while on the other, the specific case was clearly connected to the new theme that abductions and impregnations are the work of the government rather than aliens. For those interested in the intersection of religion and science fiction, there were a number of very interesting moments. The... Read more
Several bloggers have drawn attention to the cartoon above, including PZ Myers and Gavin Rumney. It is interesting to take a closer look at it in view of the recent attempts at discussion with atheists around a post on this blog. There have been a few individuals who’ve wanted to reduce discussions of “God” to one particular definition used by one particular subset of religious individuals. But the realities of human language, as of human religion, are more complex, and to... Read more
Readers of the Bible are sometimes surprised by the warning not just against being too wicked, but also against being too righteous (Ecclesiastes 7:16-17). The above diagram, which came to my attention on Facebook, seems to me to explain the point well. And it turns out it connects naturally with something that I have said in the past about the idea of the “narrow road” and the “slippery slope.” These phrases are used most by conservatives, about sticking to their (admittedly... Read more
Zack Hunt shared the above image on Facebook. I have not had any real interest in participating in the creation of these stick figure descriptions of oneself, but I have appreciated several of the parodies and attempts at humor around them. And this one, as a response to the endorsement by Jerry Falwell Jr. of Donald Trump as the presidential candidate for conservative Evangelicals, seems to make the existence of the stick figure phenomenon worthwhile. Read more
Jerry Coyne drew attention to a competition with a cash prize, asking people to invent a religion. The Huffington Post has an article about the competition, and the full rules are online. It is actually an interesting competition, precisely because it is a lot harder than some might imagine to come up with something genuinely innovative in the realm of religion, which nonetheless draws enough on the past that it has symbolic depth, and which has widespread appeal and is considered... Read more
Two different people suggested that this quote should be turned into a meme. It is from a blog post which rounded up blogging about the Christology of Mark’s Gospel, in which I also referred to and summarized an article in Christianity Today about how Evangelicals view those who move into academia. Read more
The call for papers for the American Academy of Religion 2016 Annual Meeting in San Antonio is now live on the website. Click through to submit a proposal or browse the calls for papers. Below is the text from the program unit of which I am co-chair, Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity. Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity Group Statement of Purpose: This program unit focused on Late Antiquity in the East aims to provide a home for the study of... Read more
I loved seeing the X-Files make its return to television last night. Here are some thoughts about the episode and in particular religious themes in it. The episode begins with Mulder’s story and perspective. In narrating about the long history of UFOs, he refers to “Biblical references.” At the end of the opening monologue, he says we have to ask ourselves whether they are truly a hoax, or whether we are being lied to. Through much of the episode, a storyline... Read more
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