Zooming Into The Future

Last updated on: May 15, 2021 at 5:57 am By James F. McGrath

My church, Crooked Creek Baptist Church, has announced its plans to resume in-person worship next month. My reaction was one of wordy rather than jubilation. That could easily have been an instinctive reaction based on what has been in the news about various congregations who persisted in holding in-person services, but that wasn’t the reason. This move is appropriate given where we are in the process of vaccination, and appropriate social distancing measures will be observed. No, my reaction with... Read more

Call for Papers: Theology and the Riordanverse #CFP

Last updated on: May 12, 2021 at 8:51 am By James F. McGrath

Call for Papers: Theology and the Riordanverse Editors: Nathan E. Fleeson and Carolyn M. Jones Medine 2020 marked the 15thAnniversary of the publication of the first book in the Percy Jackson series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, as well as what Rick Riordan claims will be the last in the series, The Trials of Apollo: The Tower of Nero. In those fifteen years, Riordan has published an impressive twenty-one books, which have come to be known as the Riordanverse.... Read more

#CFP Belief in the Ancient World and in Biblical Texts: 2021 University of St Andrews Biblical Studies Symposium (July 7-9, 2021)

Last updated on: May 12, 2021 at 9:01 am By James F. McGrath

2021 University of St Andrews Biblical Studies Symposium July 7-9, 2021 – Online only The St Mary’s School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews is hosting this interdisciplinary conference dealing with questions of belief in the ancient world and in the biblical texts. The conference will consist of both plenary sessions and breakout sessions in which both postgraduate students and professional scholars will have the chance to present and discuss their research. Plenary speakers include: Dr. Brent Strawn... Read more

What Jesus Learned from Women: More Reviews

Last updated on: May 11, 2021 at 9:14 pm By James F. McGrath

There is an incredibly detailed, thoughtful, and reflective review by Bob Cornwall on his blog. He writes: If we wish to fully understand who Jesus was and is, we need resources like this to flesh out the nature of Jesus’ person. McGrath’s What Jesus Learned from Women also helps us recognize the role of women in the biblical story, suggesting that Jesus took seriously the teachings and the examples of the women in his life. Now, McGrath’s proposals will challenge... Read more

Noah and Nunc

Last updated on: May 10, 2021 at 4:18 pm By James F. McGrath

YouTube introduced me to the music of William C. White, and whenever I am introduced to a new composer whose music I enjoy and find interesting, as a rule I usually look to see what else they have composed. In addition to this having the potential to lead to the discovery of more new music that I will enjoy listening to, it also offers the possibility of discovering new musical settings of biblical texts, which I am always on the... Read more

Missing Half of God

Last updated on: May 9, 2021 at 2:10 pm By James F. McGrath

It turned out to work perfectly that we were due to continue talking about the Lord’s Prayer yesterday. The “Our Father” on Mother’s Day makes for a great chance to talk about the gendering of God and the appropriateness of addressing God as Mother. We began with the significance of Jesus’ use of the Aramaic word “Abba.” I emphasized (as I have before) that Abba does not mean “daddy.” It is simply the Aramaic word for (the) father. So what... Read more

Mythicism and the Early Christian Band

Last updated on: May 8, 2021 at 8:13 pm By James F. McGrath

The last of my guest posts on Bart Ehrman’s blog about my book What Jesus Learned from Women appeared yesterday. Given that Bart Ehrman and I share an interest in promoting mainstream scholarship over against the misrepresentation of texts and history by conservative Christians and atheist mythicists, I had initially been inclined to start my guest post about Junia on Ehrman’s blog with that as a bridge/intro. If Paul had a relative who was a founding member of the Jesus movement,... Read more

#CFP Participatory Culture Wars: Controversy, Conflict and Complicity in Fandom

Last updated on: May 7, 2021 at 8:38 am By James F. McGrath

A call for chapter proposals for an edited collection on controversy, conflict and complicity in fandom that came to my attention via Facebook. ***Call for papers and contributions for an edited collection*** Participatory Culture Wars: Controversy, Conflict and Complicity in Fandom Edited by Dr Simone Driessen, Bethan Jones, Dr Benjamin Litherland. It has become increasingly clear that fandoms and participatory culture are sites of controversy, conflict and even complicity, complicating earlier assessments that sought to celebrate creativity, collegiality, and community.... Read more

Rage and Race, Intersecting with the Bible and Music

Last updated on: May 6, 2021 at 4:20 pm By James F. McGrath

I’ve been listening to the audiobook of Esau McCaulley’s Reading While Black. In it he offers a wonderful discussion of Psalm 137, musical settings of which I have mentioned here before. After helpfully categorizing the demand for mirth from those one has exiled and imprisoned, whose children and relatives one has murdered, as “psychological warfare,” McCaulley presents the presence of Psalm 137 in the canon as authorizing the oppressed to express their rage and hand it to God. It doesn’t authorize... Read more

Open Call: AcademFic Volume 2 (2021)

Last updated on: May 4, 2021 at 9:25 pm By James F. McGrath

My fellow academics, here is just what you need at this conclusion of an extremely challenging academic year: an opportunity to turn your attention to something that you do for pleasure, namely writing fiction. Having just recently been notified that I had a short story accepted somewhere, I have been eager to share that news, and also to circulate a reminder about the open call for AcademFic. The journal accepts submissions from academics in fields other than creative writing, i.e. academics... Read more