I didn’t have a lot of howlers in student assignments this past semester. But there was one that made up for it: it said that “satin tempted Job.” I thought that was worth sharing. The image comes from the Bible Exploration website. Yes, I know it is a depiction of Joseph and his coat of many colors. But it seemed to work as a portrait of Job being tempted by satin, too. Or do you think that this one, from Bible History... Read more
Here are links to three interesting posts related to New Testament Christology. In each case, the evidence suggests that the New Testament authors in question did not identify Jesus as identical to, part of, or “included in the divine identity” of the one God of Jewish monotheism. First, Andrew Perriman made the case that Hebrews does not depict Jesus as “the builder of the house” and thus God in Hebrews 3:3-4. Second, Chris Tilling quoted N. T. Wright on the language in... Read more
The episode “The Sontaran Experiment” is an interesting one when treated as a companion to “The Ark in Space.” While in the latter the story of Noah was from mythology, in this one, Space Station Nerva has become a legend, and thus viewed like Atlantis. And so Doctor Who, as so many times before, both relegates traditional tales to the realm of mythology, while also pointing out that sometimes stories about real things can become mythologized. New details about the... Read more
The quote from Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, comes from an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Wikipedia Founder Discourages Academic Use of His Creation.” The same can be said of the dictionary – I find it hard to believe that I get students starting essays with “Webster’s Dictionary defines…” – or worse still, “Dictionary.com defines…” The reason, in both cases, is that encyclopedias like Wikipedia, and dictionaries, are repositories of information which are the conclusions drawn by experts on... Read more
Doctor Who had explored the scenario of humans sending an ark into space to survive the possible destruction of our planet, in the episode The Ark from the era of the First Doctor. In that episode, the stories about Noah and the ark have been completely forgotten. In this episode, the leader of the humans on the ark, Lazar, has been nicknamed Noah as an amusement, saying it is a name from mythology. Symbolism of resurrection is poignantly present, not only... Read more
The quote comes from Rev. Stan Duncan’s article in the Huffington Post, “What God’s Role in Tragedy Really Is.” Read more
Tonight, my wife finished the Doctor Who scarf she has been making me, and so I had to show it off. Read more
I am teaching a class this semester which focuses on speaking about religion. It will focus on integrating (1) effective communication, (2) the skills that pertain to finding accurate information about religion, and (3) navigating the controversies about religion in the present day. The “readings” for the course will all be recordings of people speaking. And I also want to start the course off on the first day with some short examples of people talking about religion in different ways, to address... Read more
Tom Baker’s time as the Doctor is arguably the most iconic in the show’s history, and the length of his run as the Doctor is not only a result of but also a contributor to that fact. The first full episode with Tom Baker as the Doctor is simply called “Robot.” The robot looks very unimpressive by today’s standards. But the story is one that continues to be told and explored, as we get closer and closer to that imagined... Read more
Richard Beck wrote the following in a blog post on why being “biblical” means being doctrinally tolerant: People who claim to literally interpret the inspired and inerrant Word of God do not agree on what the bible says… The problem at the heart of Protestantism is that the bible is unable to produce consensus. This isn’t a theological claim. This is an empirical fact.Sola scriptura produces pluralism. The “bible alone” creates doctrinal diversity. Biblical literalism proliferates churches.And five-hundred years of... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In