I give the Jesus mythicists a lot of hassle. But theirs is nowhere near to being the most ludicrous claim about Jesus one can find on the web. All Mesopotamia pointed out an article which mentions a view found among Hungarian nationalists: the Hungarians are in fact Sumerians – just like Jesus! I recently learned that there is a whole blog dedicated to debunking geocentrism. Do we need one to tackle the Sumerian Hungarian Jesus hypothesis too? Read more
Let me offer a round-up of the latest Bart Ehrman and Christology blogging. Ehrman shared the first and second parts of his interview with Dale Tuggy: Greg Carey writes: Most Christians, however, have no idea that Ehrman’s book represents a genuine conversation among informed scholars. This is unfortunate. Nothing Ehrman is saying would surprise a biblical scholar at even the most conservative theological school. This knowledge gap constitutes a failure of educational ministry in the churches. We Christians should be... Read more
It is always particularly disappointing when those who classify themselves as freethinkers and skeptics share nonsense. This image is making the rounds again in precisely those circles: Candida Moss has a great article on what is problematic both with such claims about Easter being borrowed/stolen in this way, and with the reverse, namely Christian claims that everything about Easter is unique, unprecedented, and unparalleled. The gullibility that allows one to fall for a meme like the one above without fact... Read more
Talking about George Orwell's 1984, and the book within the book, is always interesting. But this semester the discussion took some turns that seem to me worth sharing. The book by Emmanuel Goldstein, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, is an intentional parody of Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto. It represents a plan to bring about something less like what Marx and Engels idealistically envisaged, and more like what Communism ended up looking like in Eastern Europe. Orwell's analysis,... Read more
OK, so I admit that this gif made me laugh: But with the recent eclipse, I am reminded of something nonsensical that I heard a preacher say once, it was around the time of a total solar eclipse, and the individual said that the eclipse was a supernatural event, because if it had been natural, it would have become dark and continued that way, without ever becoming light again, I am confidentbthat readers of this blog will recognize that assertion... Read more
Via George Athas. I haven't seen the distinction between canon and cannon illustrated quite this pictorially before! Read more
It is hard to find one title that summarizes what Dan Hernandez's art incorporates and focuses on. So here is an example. Click through to see more of his series “Genesis 2014.” HT Gizmodo. Read more
Fred Clark continues his insightful and entertaining review of Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist in the Left Behind series. Here is a key point in his most recent post on the subject, after noting a major blunder in the story's consistency: For the fans of these books, though, the stakes are even higher. They have to believe that this story makes sense because this story is a vehicle for the theology they rely on to make sense of their own... Read more
A commenter pointed me to a web site which suggests that Lot’s wife may have been caught in something like a Star Trek transporter beam, a “pillar of vanishing” rather than being turned into a “pillar of salt.” If you are going to bring in Star Trek, you could also have Lot’s wife become a Salt Vampire. (It will be no surprise that the approach on that website is indebted to Zecharia Sitchin). The interesting thing is that such approaches... Read more
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