I finally had the opportunity to begin listening to Kristin Du Mez’s book Jesus and John Wayne on the same day a student introduced me to a song about American Christian culture, “John Deere, John Cougar, and John 3:16.” Four Johns. Only one biblical and he is last, and represented by a verse so often taken out of context, and featured often on t-shirts and bumper stickers. That is very interestingly a thread that connects the book and the song. Both... Read more
The bookseller Christianbooks.com provides an opportunity for authors to share additional information about their books featured on the site. Here’s what I wrote: Tell us a little about yourself. I am the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. What was your motivation behind this project? The idea for the book was prompted by a student who approached me about writing an honors thesis, who was interested in exploring the relationship between her... Read more
Call for Abstracts Dune and Philosophy Edited by Kevin S. Decker The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series To propose ideas for future volumes in the Blackwell series please contact the Series Editor, William Irwin, at [email protected] The Dune series of books is often compared to The Lord of the Rings for its scope, depth, and wide influence on speculative fiction. Works focusing on any of the six Dune books by Frank Herbert and thefilm projects by Alejandro Jodorowsky and... Read more
I received a question via email related to my book (although since I address this in the book I am guessing they actually read my summary in a blog post or something similar). When I realized they were going to try to continue the discussion I did what I always do and moved the conversation to the blog, since others may have the same thoughts and questions, and still others may not but may nonetheless find the topic interesting. The... Read more
I have a confession to make. While I like travelling, and appreciate seeing people face to face, I don’t miss in-person conferences the way others seem to, and am not particularly eager for this longstanding academic practice to get back to “business as usual.” This isn’t because I am an introvert. It is one of the most remarkable positive experiences in my life that, for quite some time, when attending in-person conferences, people have come up to me and started... Read more
I had a funny exchange on Twitter, hinting at having a new interpretation of the story about the woman accused of committing adultery found in John 8 in many manuscripts (as I did here when my Biblical Archaeology Review article related to this part of the book came out). This was in response to what I thought was a brilliantly clever tweet (even though I don’t think the expression existed in Jesus’ time) by Traci Rhoades. She said: Remember when Jesus... Read more
Good Friday represents the end of the story a historian can tell about Jesus as a historical figure. He lived, he was executed, he was placed in a tomb. Historians can elaborate on these points and many others in important ways, but cannot take us further. Historians can help us study what early Christians believed about Jesus in the days and years that followed. Historical study is relevant to understanding the earliest Easter beliefs, but cannot give us Easter as... Read more
Here is an edited and expanded version of what I wrote on Facebook the day before yesterday when I shared my blog post: According to classic theism, God doesn’t change. God is omniscient and doesn’t learn. The Gospels are clear that Jesus changed, grew, and learned. Where does that leave us? It is possible to experience an encounter with God in and through Jesus, to be convinced that (as Paul put it) “God was in Christ.” It is even possible... Read more
I am helping to circulate an interesting call for papers, which will be of interest to those who study both science fiction and ethics. Conference: Camps, (In)Justice, and Solidarity in the Americas Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Guantánamo Bay Detention Camps January 28-31, 2022, University of Graz, Austria https://camps2022.com/call-for-papers/ While the 20th anniversary of the detention camp in Guantanamo Bay provides the main impetus for the conference, the conference is “thinking” camps in broad terms and is thus seeking... Read more
Let me start by highlighting that my WFYI radio appearance yesterday is now available on their website for you to listen to. I am in the second half of the show. Next, and directly related, Andy Cassler has voiced some objections to my book or at the very least expressed dissatisfaction coupled with curiosity because I do not address the divinity of Christ in my book. I would point out that the matter of concern is not something that we... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In