The Carrier Train Wreck Continues

Last updated on: August 29, 2014 at 9:32 am By James F. McGrath

Richard Carrier is continuing to respond at great length to every review of his book, whether largely favorable or not. In his most recent post, about a review by Nick Covington (who has also been commenting here on Exploring Our Matrix about the topic), Carrier wrote the following: The reason Romans cannot be, in any relevant way, using high context discourse (discourse that presupposes the readers have already been fully briefed) is because Paul is there writing to people he has never communicated with before, even some... Read more

Is Your Religion an Idol?

Last updated on: August 29, 2014 at 7:22 am By James F. McGrath

The quote from Henry Sloane Coffin’s book Joy in believingwhich appears in the image, as well as the background image from Olivia Bell, came to me via the post “Faith Without Apologetics” on Kevin Davis’ blog. Here’s a bit of the larger context: To us likewise the prophet [Isaiah] would say that a burdensome religion is a false religion; that a god whom we conceive in doctrines which we force ourselves to believe and which we struggle to safeguard, with whom we... Read more

Things Jesus Wasn’t

Last updated on: August 28, 2014 at 6:16 pm By James F. McGrath

I came across the above image on Facebook. Would you agree with all of these statements about what Jesus wasn’t? Which would you remove, and why? What else would you add, and why? Read more

What Do You Think Of When You Think Of Paul The Apostle?

Last updated on: August 28, 2014 at 2:19 pm By James F. McGrath

I tried something new in the first meeting of my class on Paul and the Early Church this semester. I got students to submit words that they associate with Paul the Apostle to a poll that I had already set up on Poll Everywhere. If more people submitted a word, it became larger, and the result was the word cloud above. Are you surprised by what is on it, what isn’t on it, or the size of any of the words? What... Read more

The Bible – Jerry Sumney’s Interactive Textbook

Last updated on: August 28, 2014 at 10:08 am By James F. McGrath

I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to participate in the Patheos book club about Jerry Sumney’s interactive textbook, The Bible: An Introduction. While focused on the academic matters one would expect, such as situating the text in its ancient context, and clarifying scholarly perspectives on matters ranging from its sources to its meaning, Sumney does not ignore the theological and ecclesiastical concerns that many of his readers have. And so he writes about the creation stories in Genesis, for instance,... Read more

Late to Love

Last updated on: August 28, 2014 at 8:21 am By James F. McGrath

When I heard that Sam Rocha, fellow Patheos blogger, was releasing what he called an “Augustinian soul album,” how could I not be intrigued? And so, when I heard that he was looking for reviewers to listen to and blog about the album before its release, I jumped at the opportunity. The album is called Late to Love, and you can listen to samples on the album website, and it is available for purchase from today on Amazon.com as a... Read more

The Unity of Truth

Last updated on: August 28, 2014 at 7:10 am By James F. McGrath

The quote comes from a blog that I had drawn to my attention for the first time yesterday, and more specifically a post on it with the title “Evil-ution (Part 1).” For those interested in the intersection of science and Christianity, it is a blog that looks like it will be worth keeping an eye on. Read more

I. Kant Even…

Last updated on: August 27, 2014 at 5:35 pm By James F. McGrath

The Doctor Who Kills

Last updated on: August 27, 2014 at 3:27 pm By James F. McGrath

I thought of other titles for this post, but the fact that it manages to include “Doctor Who” in a sense other than as the title of the TV show, while being about that TV show, made me opt for this one. (Does anyone else regularly mistake articles about a doctor who did something, as being about “Doctor Who”?) Fans of Doctor Who know that a major debate about the first episode of the current season, “Deep Breath,” is [SPOILER]... Read more

Good Vibes

Last updated on: August 27, 2014 at 10:01 am By James F. McGrath

I thought I’d send out some good vibes to blog readers, and in particular my colleagues at Butler University – and all faculty and students who are starting classes today. Read more