An updating of Matthew 5:41 by Jessica Kantrowitz. Click through to her blog to read her further thoughts about that text against the background of its original context, and its application today. Read more
An updating of Matthew 5:41 by Jessica Kantrowitz. Click through to her blog to read her further thoughts about that text against the background of its original context, and its application today. Read more
I saw these two cartoons related to Easter among those on the Redjaw Cartoons site, and thought I would share them. Read more
The title of this episode is interesting, since the phrase refers to a game. Locke (in fact, the smoke monster) has taken over as leader of the others in the present day. He also wants to eliminate Jacob as leader. And the title also highlights the risks of creating a role of authoritarian leadership that people are taught to obey, since the wrong person in such a role can have disastrous consequences. As the episode begins, crouched in the bushes,... Read more
Having blogged on Friday about my book The Burial of Jesus, which talks not just about the crucifixion and the burial but also the rise of resurrection faith, let me share another quote from the book, one more relevant for today, Easter. Certainly an empty tomb is not crucial to the Christian faith, since it has nothing to do with what Christians have traditionally meant by resurrection. Imagine ancient Romans burning the bodies of Christian martyrs and scattering their ashes into... Read more
Take a look at the Easter page on the Patheos website for verbal reflections on the subject. The video above features a brief excerpt from Latvian Baptist composer Ēriks Ešenvalds. Read more
It isn't actually an attack on religion. But that is surely how it will be depicted by some, and misconstrued deliberately by others, when the ad below appears in the New York Times tomorrow, sponsored by an organization whose name says it is seeking freedom from religion. The cause of keeping religion and state separate is a religious one historically advocated by Baptists. I wonder whether an ad like this placed by Baptists, rather than atheists and agnostics, might... Read more
A friend drew the Product Placement Bible to my attention. It is an attempt to show what the insertion of advertising looks like when taken too far, by doing so in the Bible. Below are a few that I thought actually kind of worked well. Click through to see more. Yes, I did decide to share that last one even despite the lack of apostrophe. Perhaps we also need the Apostrophe Placement Bible? Read more
The episode begins with Desmond being taken to the hospital after Ben Linus shot him. Eloise Hawking is there and says that it is her son’s fault that Desmond was shot. Then, thirty years earlier, Daniel Faraday arrives on the island then comes to see Jack. Dan tells Jack that his mother was wrong, it wasn’t his destiny to come there, and in fact he doesn’t belong there at all. In a flashback of Dan’s childhood, we see him playing... Read more
Aric Clark offered this helpful list of four things the Bible is not, and I thought it worth sharing. The Bible is not a text book. It does not concern itself with biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, psychology, sociology, or even really, history. Mostly it is narrative, poetry, letters, and advice/commands. We should not be using the Bible as any kind of authoritative guide to natural history. The Bible is not an oracle or any other kind of “magic” book.... Read more
Happy Passover to all of you who celebrate it. The Passover Seder parody version of “Let It Go” came to my attention via Stephen Cook. Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In