I just watched the Left Behind movie with Nicholas Cage. I won’t bother summarizing the film since most people are familiar with its premise and plot. Instead, I’d like to offer some observations about what I think the story is trying to accomplish. First, I have to note that the characters who are left behind ask perfectly reasonable questions early in the film about natural disasters and how this relates to faith in God. That is the starting point for what... Read more
Scientists, working within the framework of scientific methods, cannot see that the universe, or processes within it like biological evolution, have a goal or purpose. But there are metaphysical stances which lead some people to view evolution in teleological terms – in other words, as having a goal. Theism is one such perspective. Cat ownership (the status of being owned by a cat) is another. Read more
The publicity material continues to emphasize the 95% job placement rate of Butler graduates, and so is presumably a pun on what students might consider preferable, namely to graduate debt-free. But when I first glanced the signage, I didn’t see the second part, as it was blocked by a vehicle. As a professor in the humanities, I don’t expect students to graduate “doubt-free” in the broader sense. I expect them, as a result of their university education, to be able... Read more
Greg Carey made this image and shared it on Twitter, and a lot of people have found it entertaining. And so I thought I would share it on the blog for more people to enjoy. There is actually serious irony to several of the arrows. Climate scientists invading from Alabama? Evolutionists from Kansas? I suppose the anti-gay legislation in Arizona might motivate gays to begin an exodus – but why would they head for Texas rather than California? Perhaps something similar could be... Read more
Grades were due in today at Butler University, and so this kind of, sort of, marks the beginning of summer from an academic perspective. Actually, I have some administrative, assessment-related activities that I am still involved in. And so think I will just consider my summer – and my sabbatical – to start the week after next. In the meantime, I offer you the chart above, which will help you plot exactly where you are in the summer if you are an... Read more
The image is by Matt Page and has the title “The Faith of Anakin.” I was really struck when I came across this Star Wars akedah on Imgur. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. But I suppose that one reflection that can be offered is that Anakin Skywalker does better than Abraham in their respective stories. When it comes time to sacrifice his son for the sake of his lord, Anakin refuses to go through with it. And... Read more
Or should that be “a case of textbook addiction”? From the webcomic series Cyanide and Happiness. Read more
This cartoon from today’s New Yorker puts a positive spin on opposition to mainstream science, one which might actually be just as honest, when we consider what people want to substitute in the place of scientific conclusions. It is either myth in the classic sense of pre-scientific cosmology, or it is myth in the sense of things people have made up. Either way, it is a problem. Read more
This is an interesting one, because in John 6, the source of the quote which is the basis for this reworked version, the meaning is probably “no one can come to me unless they find their way to me through the Scriptures they already have.” The point is that the hearers of Jesus were grumbling in the wilderness while demanding food, supposedly on the basis of expectations their Scriptures justified, without recognizing that they were behaving just like a previous generation... Read more
I just received notification that Review of Biblical Literature has published my review of Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery?: The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate: Proceedings from the 2011 York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium, edited by Tony Burke. This is how it concludes: I think it is indisputable that this volume represents an extremely important contribution to the study of Secret Mark. We hear from most of the major scholars involved in its study side by side in a single volume... Read more
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