This post will be full of all kinds of links related to Jesus. Let me begin with a new review of What Jesus Learned from Women that appeared in The Banner, written by Dr. Mary Li Ma. I am so very grateful for this appreciative and encouraging review, and recommend it to anyone who still hasn’t read the book and is unsure whether they should. There is also another review of my book about Jesus and the women who made an impact on... Read more
Several points come together in this blog post, emerging from the journey of my Sunday school class through the Lord’s Prayer. The petition for forgiveness in this prayer that every Christian denomination utters stands at odds with how some individuals and groups understand the atonement and the significance of Jesus’ death. In short, if you think that forgiveness of sin is only available through the death of Jesus, then you must understand that line (“forgive us our sins/debts”) either as... Read more
In a book discussion about my book What Jesus Learned from Women Elizabeth Raine pointed out that, in a story about Jesus performing a miracle, it says that Jesus made a sound, and the Greek word literally means “snorted like a horse.” She also pointed out that the making of groaning or other theatrical noises of this sort is characteristic of the magical papyri and thus of ancient healers and exorcists more generally. This was perhaps the least expected topic to come... Read more
There has been a flurry of discussion online about the story of the Syrophoenician woman. One great thing about lectionaries is that they not only lead to different churches focusing on the same texts, but different bloggers and other online authors as well. Ian Paul’s approach poses the question in what I think is ultimately an unhelpful way, asking “Did the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 teach Jesus not to be racist?” Many people have struggled with and resisted (whether... Read more
I had another new (to me) insight into a text, one that I suspect will be obvious and old hat to colleagues who study the Hebrew Bible but which I will share in the hope that those with more expertise will chime in and say what they think about this topic. Having started a series on doublets – twice-told stories – in the Bible, we found ourselves working through the Lord’s Prayer. From there a natural doublet to go to... Read more
Friends fans will recognize the format of this post as that which episodes of the series took. I had an idea for a book which could be called Friends: The Ones With All The Theology. The book would undoubtedly be of interest, although unlikely to match even a fraction of the popularity of the show itself. Some will react to the idea by pointing out that the characters aren’t particularly religious, much less overtly theological. That, for me, is what... Read more
Returning to the topic of the Bible and music with some items that are new to me and will likely be of interest to you. First, here is a song sung from the perspective of Rachel’s sister Leah: Next, here is a press release about a new book with accompanying app focused on Psalm 27: CCAR PRESS RELEASES INTERACTIVE MEDITATION AND REFLECTION APP BASED ON OPENING YOUR HEART WITH PSALM 27 New smartphone app, based on the a book by Rabbi... Read more
Spot-on analysis from my fellow Patheos blogger Fred Clark: I still love The X-Files, but the mythology of that show was squarely far off on the Them side of the conspiracy spectrum of paranoia. That wasn’t because Chris Carter was himself a paranoid conspiracist, but because he recognized that the fantasy world of paranoid conspiracists makes for a more exciting story. It provided a host of villains and antagonists to prove the mettle of our heroes. And that, I believe,... Read more
Apocalyptica is an interdisciplinary, international, double-blind peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Käte Hamburger Centre for Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic Studies (CAPAS) at Heidelberg University. The journal publishes incisive analyses and diverse perspectives regarding the end of worlds. We are seeking submissions that actively explore the apocalypse as a forceful figure of thought in order to grapple with the historical experiences, present confrontations, and future possibilities of (up)ending worlds. Article length: 8,000-9,000 words Deadline: 15 November 2021 Contact: [email protected] Thinking with the... Read more
I am getting tired of hearing that online conferences are terrible. If you attended one and it was terrible, that is the fault of organizers and/or participants, not something inherent in the mode of conferencing or the technology used. In-person conferences can be terrible, too. When students say they don’t like (or are not good at) a particular subject, when in fact they didn’t like and had a negative experience with a particular educator or class, we feel frustrated. Yet we... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In