In a conversation about mythicism I had recently, some points came up that I want to share here. In addressing the claims of mythicism, I think a key point is to get the criterion of embarrassment right. I do not think anyone has ever said, as mythicists sometimes claim, that the principle is “this makes me feel embarrassed, therefore it must be historical.” The point of the criterion is that people do not normally invent beliefs and practices which are at... Read more
The image comes from Stuff Fundies Like. I’m working on developing a course on the Bible and music. I’ll have to figure out how to work in this image at some point. Read more
Via Episcopal Church Memes on Facebook Read more
People in White Coats shared the above cartoon. It highlights a number of important things, including the fact that Leviticus mandates a great deal that Christians simply do not follow, or even try to follow, but also the character of a deity envisaged as “zapping” those who do not observe the laws. Read more
There was a version of this circulating about a year ago, which I shared. But this one with the added pop-up message is better, I thought. I wonder whether Windows 10 will have that annoying pop-up. If there were icons on my desktop that I didn’t want there, I would delete or move them…Sheesh! Read more
I’m not sure why it never occurred to me before to combine the two sayings about Jack: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” and “Jack of all trades, master of none.” But now that it has, it seemed meme-worthy. There is nothing dull about constantly learning new things. And to achieve mastery in a particular domain requires a dedication of time and effort, which again is scarcely dull. And learning can be made fun if we approach it in the... Read more
Yesterday I went on a tour of the new Latter-Day Saints temple in Carmel, Indiana. It was my first ever visit to a Mormon temple, and it was quite fascinating. The architecture and artwork are all customized for the local context, and so it is not a coincidence that the top of the temple will remind you of the war memorials in downtown Indianapolis. While talking to the colleague who invited me to the tour, I learned that a “ministry” from... Read more
This meme came to my attention on Facebook, and of course I had to share it, since it explores the intersection of Star Wars and Christianity. In Star Wars, the original plan was for lightsabers to all be the same color, but this was changed to make things more interesting. But the notion that someone’s stance on good or evil can be determined by their lightsaber color is problematic – as Star Wars on the whole seems to recognize. Anakin Skywalker... Read more
I’m not sure how I missed it, but a few years ago, Catholic apologist Jon Sorensen came up with a very clever title for a post about alleged Jesus-Horus parallels: Horus Manure. Whatever you think of the post, that’s a pun that was too good not to share. More up to date, Gakusei Don (who is a regular commenter here) updated his review of Richard Carrier’s book, On the Historicity of Jesus. Also of interest, Matthew Ferguson proposed the Certamen... Read more
If your appeal to prioritizing love for God over love for neighbor would have justified the priest in the parable of the Good Samaritan not stopping to help the robbery victim by the side of the road, then you are not applying what Jesus said were the greatest commandments in the way Jesus taught us to apply them. This seems to me the best way to respond to what a commenter wrote here recently, claiming that love for God trumps love... Read more
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