Texts as Symptoms

Last updated on: October 9, 2014 at 7:33 am By James F. McGrath

Jonathan Bernier has made a nice analogy between illnesses and historical events – more specifically between tumors and the crucifixion. His point is that doctors, like historians, deal indirectly with underlying causes, at least in the first instance. Eventually a team of surgeons may make incisions and see for themselves what lies at the heart of someone’s symptoms. But at the start, what a doctor has to go on are symptoms, and they must deduce what the most likely cause of those symptoms are.... Read more

Franco Alfano – Symphony No.2

Last updated on: October 8, 2014 at 7:33 pm By James F. McGrath

If you like the above, here’s a bonus piece from the same 20th century Italian composer: Read more

Religion’s Future and the Future’s Religions Through the Lens of Science Fiction

Last updated on: October 8, 2014 at 3:04 pm By James F. McGrath

If you have $1,200 to spare, you might be interested in this forthcoming multi-volume work, to which I contributed the chapter “Religion’s Future and the Future’s Religions Through the Lens of Science Fiction.” In fact, it is available for pre-order on Amazon.com for a mere (!) $874.32. Considering that it is five volumes, less than $875 for 3932 pages with 869 illustrations is actually not quite as outlandish as it first sounds, at least not when compared with other academic... Read more

Using Jesus to Get Votes

Last updated on: October 8, 2014 at 9:58 am By James F. McGrath

I spotted some conservative organization’s voters’ guides in the room where a very conservative member of my church leads a small Sunday school class. I was struck by the way the pamphlet tries to hijack conservative religious concerns to garner votes. A couple of points seem worth noting. First, there is a consistent record of Republican and other conservative candidates featuring in scandals that show they do not actually practice what they claim to stand for. And so that ought to have made unambiguously... Read more

Too Old

Last updated on: October 8, 2014 at 7:45 am By James F. McGrath

A student sent me this e-mail recently: Dr. McGrath, Sorry about the multiple emails. I’m not sure if we went over this or not but I was wondering what your thoughts were on about how far back we should go when deciding which articles to use? I have all mine set, but one is from the nineties and I didn’t know if that was too old or not. If you can just let me know whenever you get the chance that’d... Read more

Lunar Eclipse

Last updated on: October 8, 2014 at 6:52 am By James F. McGrath

I didn’t get a very good photo, but I got a wonderful view of the lunar eclipse this morning. Now I just have to make sure I get outside (if the sky is clear) on Friday night to see the ISS pass overhead, since I neglected to last night. Did you see the eclipse this morning? Read more

Jesus Fish

Last updated on: October 7, 2014 at 10:51 pm By James F. McGrath

IO9 shared some scenes from medieval manuscripts, turned into gifs. This one is particularly striking in what it does with a scene from the Bible: Read more

Homeopathy Mart

Last updated on: October 7, 2014 at 12:08 pm By James F. McGrath

The Bible: Humbled By Distance

Last updated on: October 7, 2014 at 7:58 am By James F. McGrath

I’ve been meaning for a while to share something that Samantha Field wrote on her blog, speaking about the Bible and how her view of it changed compared to the conservative approach that she grew up with. Here is a long excerpt: It’s taken me a long time to really wrap my brain around the fact that I am just as removed from the culture, tradition, and ideologies that the writers of the New Testament were operating with as I... Read more

Stars and Sand

Last updated on: October 6, 2014 at 7:35 pm By James F. McGrath

Two short compositions by American composer Mary Howe. Read more