In the final part of the season finale, we catch our first proper glimpse of the smoke monster, followed soon after by an even better look, although we still have no idea what we are looking at. Jack, Kate, and Hurley run at the sound it makes, but Locke goes closer, and soon finds himself being dragged towards and then into a hole in the ground. Jack and Kate throw in a stick of dynamite to free him. The sound of... Read more
Thank you to Nijay Gupta for drawing attention to these two videos of lectures by John J. Collins. The topics of the lectures are “Torah and Jewish Identity in Second Temple Judaism” and “Non-Mosaic Forms of Judaism in Second Temple Judaism.” Read more
There is apparently a blog devoted to Biblical scholars and their lookalikes. This isn’t the first time that someone has suggested that I resemble actor Paul Giamatti: I think mine may be the only one on the site where there’s a genuine resemblance. What do others think? Read more
I am long overdue to blog about several books that IVP has sent me on the subject of science. Scientific illiteracy is a major problem in the United States in general, but among conservative Evangelicals in particular, and Christians in general, that scientific illiteracy, mixed with equal parts of illiteracy about the Bible, its context, and scholarship about it, forms a mix that frequently expresses itself not merely in unscientific views but anti-scientific ones, views that are incompatible with the scientific evidence and... Read more
Part two of the season finale from the first season of LOST begins with a close-up of Aaron’s eye. Moving dynamite out of the Black Rock, Arzt detonates. Hurley blames himself, as bad luck. Kate reassures him that it was an accident. In a flashback, we see Jin confronted by someone who works for Mr. Paik, who has been following him, and knows he is planning to run away. The man tells Jin that he is not free and never... Read more
SMBC has tackled the problem of evil. What do you make of its response? I have this discussion (about the problem of evil – not about fetishes) in my First Year Seminar class regularly. Does anyone actually want to live in a universe in which you get a cookie every time you do something good, and as a result, people do good not because it is good and self-sacrificially, but because of cookies? This isn’t a “solution” to the problem of evil which... Read more
Ancient World Online (AWOL) shared news about a very interesting new open access journal: Entangled Religions. Here is the description: Entangled Religions: Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Religious Contact and Transfer Entangled Religions (ER) is a peer reviewed online periodical that complements the book series “Dynamics in the History of Religions” (DHR) published with Brill.Entangled Religions is dedicated to channeling research on religious contact and transfer in past and present times into a single journal to open up innovative ways of conceptualizing... Read more
“It’s not lost, it’s not a gospel, it’s a very naughty marketing campaign.” — Rev. Arun Arora, speaking about the claims in Simcha Jacobovici’s book The Lost Gospel. Read more
Mike Bird has this recommendation to offer for a session that he and I are both involved in: BIG ALERT! On the Saturday [of SBL], I’m speaking at the Extent of Theological Diversity section where we’re reviewing Bart Ehrman’s book How Jesus Became God featuring Bart Ehrman, Larry Hurtado, James McGrath, Craig Evans, and Dale Martin. If you only attend one session, make it this one! If you see me running out of the above mentioned session chased by the Ehrman fan-club yelling “Crush... Read more
Hemant Mehta pointed out that there is a Kickstarter campaign to make an Emoji Bible. I’m not convinced that it would be intelligible to anyone who doesn’t know the underlying text. And knowing a bit about Bible translation, when someone says they don’t foresee any challenges in such a project, I can only sigh and smile sadly. What do you make of this? What’s the most unusual “translation” of the Bible you’ve come across? Can you come up with some... Read more
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