Peter Gurry has written an interesting post about variants in the manuscripts of the New Testament. The short version is that one first has to define what one means by “variants,” since we do not have an original against which to compare, and even then it can be unclear precisely what number one ought to come up with. Click through for a summary of the issues plus links to fuller treatments of the topic. And while James Snapp usually blogs about... Read more
Don’t get me wrong. I am delighted that one can use Google Street View to visit the Israel Museum. It is an amazing place, and everyone ought to rush to do this immediately. It really is very cool. But for those who may be wondering, it is still worth actually going to the museum, not least because walking through its collections can be part of a broader experience that involves walking the streets of old Jerusalem. Yes, I know that you... Read more
A timely MOOC was drawn to my attention – Yale University is offering one that relates to the depiction of the Jewish menorah on the Arch of Titus, and so may be worth looking into – or perhaps rebelling against – in this Hanukkah season. Or maybe just plan to take it for one day, and discover it lasts for eight… Larry Hurtado also blogged some scholarly interaction with Anna Collar that touched on the menorah, among other things. And on the... Read more
I like this cartoon, since it takes an idol worshiped by many who claim to be Christians, and relates it to another idol mention in the Bible which they would never worship. Hopefully it will make some such individuals think. But it would be unfair not to point out that there are differences as well as similarities. Worshiping the golden calf didn’t lead to nearly as many deaths. Read more
“Hell Bent” was a nice season finale for what has been, I would say, the best season of the Peter Capaldi era thus far, with some episodes that will surely remain all-time classics. The way the episode begins is mysterious, and makes sense only at the end. The Doctor is in Nevada, and stops by at a diner – it looks like the diner he visited with Amy and Rory. Clara works there as a waitress, and the Doctor tells... Read more
Hemant Mehta is among several who have noted the above video, which features a couple of pranksters in the Netherlands putting a “Holy Qur’an” cover on a Bible and then stopping people in the street, reading parts of it, and asking them what they think. The passages were classic examples of difference between our values and Ancient Near Eastern ones – cutting off a woman’s hand, people being forced to eat their own children, women being submissive, etc. What is... Read more
The quote above comes from a post by Richard Beck. Here’s what follows immediately after: Protestantism was created when Martin Luther was asked to recant his teachings at the Diet of Worms, asked to submit to the magisterium (teaching authority) of the church. There Luther famously declared: “To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand I can do no other.”That’s Protestantism. The elevation of the individual’s conscience over the magisterium (teaching authority) of the church. Click through for... Read more
While it could be argued that anyone will sound like Yoda if you rearrange their sentences in the characteristic way, Tim Suttle still seems to be onto something when he singles out these quotes as having a Yoda-like quality to them: “The mark of spiritual insecurity, anxiety is.” “The most heroic labor and the most difficult sacrifice, peace demands.” “The path to faith reason is; when reason can say no more, takes over faith does.” “More about ourselves than about Him, our... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In