This episode starts with a close-up of an eye – this time Boone’s. Boone is unhappy with the relationship that is developing between Sayid and Shannon. This episode focuses on the hatch – which seems impossible to open. Locke says that Michelangelo’s father had failed to recognize the divinity in his son. Michelangelo stared at a block of marble for months, “working.” When Boone insists that he wants to tell Shannon about the hatch, Locke hits him on the head... Read more
A student pointed out to me that, if you ask Google “Who wrote the Pentateuch?” you get the answer, in big, bold letters, “Moses.” I decided to click the “feedback” button and indicate that this is incorrect. Here’s what I wrote as explanation for why I thought so: There has been extensive research on this topic. The Pentateuch depicts Moses as writing laws. It does not depict Moses as writing the work which depicts him as writing. It includes references... Read more
I love this cartoon from the New Yorker. This is precisely the problem with predictive prophecy. If it were to be specific about the distant future, it would be incomprehensible. But because it consistently lacks such information, it is unimpressively vague. There is no way things could be otherwise, is there – regardless of whether you think predicting the future prophetically is possible? Read more
IO9 featured some Star Wars fan theories from 1980. It is interesting to see the role that religion played in some of them. A popular theory was that Obi-Wan was a clone name – O.B.1. One person suggested that Obi-Wan Kenobi was a thousand years removed from “O.B.” who was “the Jesus” of the Jedi movement. There were speculations about who that figure was, and whether he was a religious fanatic or a scientist. Fascinating stuff – and if some... Read more
Claire returns but doesn’t remember anything after getting on the plane. Ethan finds Charlie and threatens to kill one person every night until he brings Claire to him. And so they set traps and post sentries. But someone named Scott Jackson is killed, even so. In flashbacks, Charlie copes with the apparent death of Driveshaft and the need for drugs by trying to find an opportunity to steal something from a rich family. When talking to the father in that... Read more
Bart Ehrman shared the above video of a talk that he gave about Jesus and Brian at the recent Life of Brian conference. Read more
I laughed when I saw this meme, but I immediately also began to wonder whether it might not also lead to serious reflection. Are there religions which focus primarily outward, and others which focus primarily on the self? If so, would “dog religion” and “cat religion” be convenient shorthand for the distinction? Read more
In an assignment, I had students set forth in search of reliable online sources on a given subject. Some of what they found was so helpful, that I blogged about it. Later students sometimes found my blog post. Something similar has happened again. A student this semester found LaMar Adams’ work on the unity of Isaiah – but also found my blog post about that subject. I’ve also had students cite the blog posts of other scholars who blog in... Read more
This episode starts with another eye close-up, as Michael is looking for Walt. Walt is learning to throw a knife from John Locke – and after missing frequently, when asked to picture it in his mind’s eye first, the knife is right on target. I’m pretty sure this is supposed to remind viewers of Star Wars: A New Hope, and Luke Skywalker’s aptitude. Michael finds Walt and gets angry – but Locke insists that Michael needs to stop treating Walt... Read more
Via Pinterest. And as a bonus, from the same source and on the same theme: Read more
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