Is (Evangelical) Christianity Irredeemably Patriarchal?

Last updated on: May 4, 2021 at 10:09 pm By James F. McGrath

I was really struck by a phrase that is used in Jill Hicks-Keeton’s insightful review of Beth Allison Barr’s book The Making of Biblical Womanhood. She suggests that “evangelical Christianity might be irredeemably patriarchal precisely because of its biblicism.” The precise wording of this phrase (typical of Hicks-Keeton’s remarkable ability of nuancing things with amazing precision and eloquence that eludes most of us scholars) seems to get things precisely right, and to sum up what I consider key points in the... Read more

Happy Star Wars Day!

Last updated on: May 4, 2021 at 4:42 am By James F. McGrath

May the Fourth Be With You! I hope regular blogging will resume tomorrow on the Revenge of the 5th… Read more

Summer Plans

Last updated on: May 2, 2021 at 6:27 am By James F. McGrath

Classes are over. The semester is winding up. Last assignments to grade continue to flow in. But the end is not merely in sight, not merely nigh in some vague apocalyptic sense that might force later reinterpretations to justify it not materializing even millennia later. It is only days away, and nothing can stop it. There is still frantic work to do in the time remaining. But hope for what comes after can often help sustain us through a final... Read more

Science, Technology, and Ethics Update

Last updated on: April 30, 2021 at 8:53 pm By James F. McGrath

Time for another collection of articles and other links related to the intersection of technology, ethics, and religion. I suppose the recent Tesla crash and whether any human was driving is the place to start. Free article from Giulia Evolvi: “Religion, New Media, and Digital Culture” Katharine Hayhoe on Evangelicals and climate change Pure mathematics and writing come out of the same creative space https://luthscitech.org/covalence-for-april-pseudoscience-is-not-new-but-it-is-still-making-news/ https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/04/22/in-our-hurry-to-conquer-nature-and-death-we-have-made-a-new-religion-of-science/ Microsoft’s recent military contract French military uses robot dog New York Police Department Deploys... Read more

Mike Bird on Adoptionism

Last updated on: April 29, 2021 at 7:55 pm By James F. McGrath

I won’t present my discussion of Mike Bird’s book Jesus The Eternal Son: Answering Adoptionist Christology as a review, since I am less interested in summarizing the book with a view to help people decide whether or not to buy it (it is $2.99 for Kindle and so if you have the slightest inclination to buy it you probably already own it) than in getting a conversation started about its subject matter and addressing some of its key points and arguments.... Read more

Jesus Flips the Script/Tables

Last updated on: April 29, 2021 at 6:16 am By James F. McGrath

The new theme in my Sunday school class is an exploration of “doublets” in the Bible, i.e. stories that are told more than once or events that are depicted in distinct ways by different authors. We began “in the beginning” with Genesis 1 and 2. The following Sunday we turned our attention to the story that is usually referred to as the “cleansing of the Temple” or sometimes Jesus’ “Temple tantrum.” I explained why I don’t think either designation is... Read more

Multiverse Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention #CFP

Last updated on: April 25, 2021 at 1:34 pm By James F. McGrath

Multiverse Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention Event Date & Location: October 15-17, 2021, Westin Atlanta Perimeter North Deadline for Submissions: June 30, 2021 Name of Organization: Multiverse Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention Organization Website: https://www.multiversecon.org Contact Email: Rhonda Jackson Joseph,[email protected] CONVENTION THEME: Multiverse Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention was formed from our belief that great stories don’t only come from the books and comics we love to read. Each fan is their own universe as well, with their own unique story to tell. Added together, these infinite stories create... Read more

What Jesus Learned from Women: More Conversations

Last updated on: April 27, 2021 at 8:23 am By James F. McGrath

I had the privilege of having a conversation with Prof. Sara Parks, author of a superb monograph on the gender pair parables in Q, hosted by Jonathan Stewart on the online podcast and video talk show TalkGnosis. Have a listen in audio format or watch the video below (or both)! Bart Ehrman kindly gave me the opportunity to write some guest blog posts for his blog about my book What Jesus Learned from Women. The first one has appeared and it... Read more

No My Goodness!

Last updated on: April 25, 2021 at 1:48 pm By James F. McGrath

Thinking more about the language used in the two texts from Mark’s Gospel that were the focus of my post yesterday, I was struck by the broader implications of what is said about authority and goodness. God has given authority to human beings. No one is good but God. Others have power, even if to a limited degree. We can do things that God also does, even if on a smaller scale. We do not possess innate goodness in a... Read more

God Alone (Twice)

Last updated on: April 25, 2021 at 6:25 am By James F. McGrath

Working on an article about monotheism in early Christianity, I was struck as I hadn’t been before by the contrast between two statements in the Gospel of Mark, one on the lips of others who are complaining about Jesus, the other on the lips of Jesus complaining about how someone else has characterized him. Mark 2:7: “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Mark 10:18: Jesus said to him,... Read more