I had an online resource come to my attention recently, called Materializing the Bible. It is a collection of those places where an attempt is made to take some element of the Bible an recreate or reenact it in the present day. Another resource that was drawn to my attention is The Virtual World Project, which features online recreations of archaeological sites. See also the article in the Arkansas Times about using virtual reality to immerse students in the past. In a... Read more
The entire episode “Before the Flood” is about the bootstrap paradox, something that comes up sooner or later in every science fiction story, and is nothing new to Doctor Who. But this episode tackles it explicitly – indeed, so explicitly that the opening segment prior to the credits is essentially a PSA about the bootstrap paradox. What is the bootstrap paradox? Radio Times has a great article about it, focused on this episode of Doctor Who. It is the question at the... Read more
VHMML has added a range of resources to its website, including a school for learning to read Syriac manuscripts. Byzantine News shared news about the summer school HMML and Dumbarton Oaks will be holding this summer. Tony Burke blogged about the critical edition of the Syriac Infancy Gospel of Thomas that he has been working on. Of related interest, see also the conversation about Late Antiquity involving Ellen Muehlberger, Anthony Kaldellis, and Philip Rousseau in Marginalia. There is a wealth of material that... Read more
C. Drew Smith has written a post, highlighting his new book, Reframing a Relevant Faith. In the post, he writes: Critically thinking about the faith is not equivalent to criticizing the faith, as some may think, although that may be part of critical thinking. Rather, thinking critically about the faith is to continue to ask questions, to inquire about the history of the faith, its present relevancy, and its future hopes. It is also to admit its flaws and weaknesses with honesty... Read more
Via Mike Bird, I became aware of Alex Ramos’ Star Wars icons. Click through to see more of them. Read more
This quote from Carl Sagan sums up well a point I have tried to make on this blog many times, about the two poles of scholarship. If one just has openness to new ideas, one is liable to end up embracing all kinds of nonsense. If one just has skepticism, one is liable to be unwilling to change one’s mind in light of new evidence. It is the combination of the two that is what gives scholarship – whether in the sciences... Read more
It’s Thursday, and so don’t forget to get your card stamped… Read more
When I shared David Hayward’s depiction of the temple incident, suggesting that it happened because Jesus hadn’t had his morning coffee, Brian Le Port pointed out that it reminded him of one of those Snickers commercials. It seemed worth actually making it, and so I did. In case it needs to be said, I don’t think that the above depicts what actually happened. But I trust it can still be funny, despite or perhaps even because of that. Indeed, perhaps my attempt at... Read more
Given my longstanding interest in the temple incident, I felt I had to comment on David Hayward’s cartoon above. The action of Jesus in the temple, as depicted both in the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of John, seems to be a deliberate, well-planned symbolic action, and not an example of someone losing their cool because of a lack of sufficient caffeination or for some other comparable reason. Those interested in my own thoughts on the story as... Read more
There was an article by Sarah Bessey just recently in Christianity Today about Doctor Who, and it included a mention of the book that I co-edited, Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith: Religion and Doctor Who. Bessey blogs quite a bit about Doctor Who, and so it is great to see that turn into an article aimed at connecting with a host of possible new fans-to-be. I am always happy when the intersection of science fiction and religion/bible/theology is explored, but am always... Read more
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