The above photo was kindly taken by Ryan Eller on the recent trip I led to Israel. He gave me the strangest look when I told him that you never know when a photo of oneself exiting a first-century tomb will come in handy. The tomb in the photo is a replica at the Nazareth Village open air museum. When I shared the photo on Facebook, I got some funny comments, among which one that suggested I should get out... Read more
While I was traveling recently, lots more appeared in the blogosphere related to the historical Jesus in general, and Bart Ehrman’s book on Christology in particular. Larry Hurtado had a review of the latter published. Jonathan Burke blogged about whether Jesus existed. Cassandra Farrin discussed Jesus’ unique voiceprint. Bart Ehrman has had a series of posts on his blog related to Craig Evans’ objections to Ehrman’s view that Jesus’ corpse was probably never buried. The posts about crucifixion nails and Josephus deal with what... Read more
Believing in inerrancy doesn’t make you a fool for Christ anymore than believing the world was flat contra Galileo made the Catholic church fools for Christ. Resisting injustice, sacrificing your life for others, showing solidarity with the oppressed, selling your goods and embracing poverty – these are the sorts of actions that make one a fool for Christ. — Aric Clark Read more
This modern oratorio by Robert Livingston Aldridge, “Parables,” uses texts from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, originally setting out with the intent to highlight similarities between the three traditions, but ending up highlighting differences as well in very striking ways. See the composer’s interview with Ronnie Reich and a piece by Minnesota Public Radio for more information, as well as this document with notes by librettist Herschel Garfein as well as the composer. Read more
I am pretty certain at this stage that Ray Comfort is someone who is intentionally trying to make Christianity look bad. Just look at this Facebook post of his, which P. Z. Myers shared on his blog: Ancient people often thought that the dry earth is situated above the chaotic waters from which they were caused to emerge in creation. That is what ancient readers understood Job 26:7 to mean. But Comfort is not happy to merely twist the meaning... Read more
I came across the book F this Test: Even More of the Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers in Butler University’s bookstore yesterday. It includes this gem:   Read more
I came across the image above on Facebook, not long after sharing an article about what you should use your cell phone for at church. And so I found myself envisaging the above family as doing something very devout: looking further into what they were hearing from the pulpit. Anyone who says that you should accept what they say – including what they say that the Bible says – “on faith” is clearly afraid of what you will find if you... Read more
The cartoon above was shared on the Internet Monk blog. It got me thinking. A church having an informal, conversational atmosphere, beverages, and even opportunities for karaoke seem to me to potentially be good things. Why can’t we combine that with high standards, not in the sense that we become rigid and dogmatic, but that we have a common commitment to personal integrity and social justice? Would one good model for at least some churches be “a saloon with high... Read more
I saw the image above on Facebook, and thought that playing on the similarity was a cheap shot. But then someone added the “Were you there…?” quip, and that made it even funnier.   Read more
The quote comes from Benjamin Corey’s recent post on his blog Formerly Fundie. Read more
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