This meme image was inspired by a comment left on this blog by Tim, in response to the webpage for a new Bible claiming it is a “word-for-word” translation, in which he wrote, “Trying to read the English translation directly in an interlinear would confuse Yoda.” Read more
The video above features politicians reprehensibly appealing to the Bible as though it can be used to discount the evidence for climate change, or the likelihood that its long-term impact with be catastrophic. It would make more sense to argue from the fact that there never was a worldwide flood, that non-coastal regions will probably survive, than to argue from the mythical story of the flood that flooding can never happen again. But that argument won’t carry weight with conservative... Read more
Jeff Carter wrote the following limerick, inspired by my post “Ascension Deficit Disorder”: It is a part of our Christian creed that our Jesus ascended, indeed, but he ‘aint, to this day, escaped the Milky Way, unless, that is, he’s attained warp speed. Read more
I saw someone use the phrase “pics or it didn’t happen” on Facebook recently. It seems to me that, in our era of Photoshop, simply asking for pictures or other such evidence is not enough. One has to be able to discern the truth in a manner that takes into account the fact that photographs and even our own eyes may deceive us. The Speed Bump comic above seems to me to accompany the point nicely. Read more
Today is Ascension Day. The cartoon above is one that I have shared before. In my opinion, all Christians ought to have “ascension deficit” and it should not be considered a “disorder.” The author of Acts had no notion of light years, of outer space, of the things that are part of our understanding of the cosmos. As someone I know once put it, “The ascension is harder to believe in than the resurrection.” And so each year at this... Read more
A couple of people on Facebook mentioned an article about a new English language Bible translation, the Modern English Version (MEV for short). The website for the translation, quoted in the article, says the following: Every effort is made to ensure that no political, ideological, social, cultural, or theological agenda is allowed to distort the translation. The Scriptures are accurately translated without loss, change, compromise, embellishments or distortions of the meaning of the original text. The claims are nonsensical in... Read more
If the last episode saw the departure of Jo Grant, the episode The Time Warrior witnesses new opening credits (some elements of which carried over into the more famous Tom Baker credits) and the arrival of a new companion who would remain one of the most popular of all time, Sarah Jane Smith, eventually reappearing on the new series in addition to K9 and Company and her own spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures. It also introduced the Sontarans, who... Read more
The pope has now concluded his visit to the Holy Land. My own trip was moved earlier to avoid having places be closed in preeparation for his visit. Apart from the “upper room,” traditional site of the last supper, which is over the traditional site of the tomb of David, we did not experience any closures. The big question now, apart from whether Pope Francis will be able to help with peace talks, is this. The pope was traveling around... Read more
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