Egregious Misuse of Archaeology

Last updated on: April 2, 2014 at 3:13 pm By James F. McGrath

Yesterday I became aware of an article that illustrates the dubious way Biblical inerrantists use (and that is the appropriate word, rather than something like “engage in”) archaeology. It included this: Peterson supports conservative Christians getting involved in archaeology in order to use archaeology as a way to prove the Bible historically. “We interpret the data from the fact that the Bible is inspired, and that it is history. The Bible can be validated based upon archaeology,” Peterson said. Can... Read more

If God Can Do Anything

Last updated on: April 2, 2014 at 8:31 am By James F. McGrath

Ricky Carvel recently posted on the implication of saying that one believes in a God who can do anything. Such a God can make a universe that offers no evidence of a divine creator. A God who can do anything can make a universe that was planned to be exactly as ours is, and bring it about entirely through natural processes. In other words, if God can do anything, then no evidence whatsoever is incompatible with the belief that God... Read more

Burn in Hell, Good and Faithful Servant

Last updated on: April 2, 2014 at 7:43 am By James F. McGrath

You don't need to have read the Left Behind series to appreciate Fred Clark's slow roasting thereof. His combination of insight and sarcasm regularly has me laughing out loud. His most recent post is no exception. And at its core, it tackles a serious issue: the way the death of the character Jaime in Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist exposes Tim LaHaye's view of hell: I understand why a quick and painless death is usually thought of as preferable... Read more

The End Is Near

Last updated on: April 1, 2014 at 7:46 pm By James F. McGrath

Via Marc Cortez Read more

March 2014 Biblical Studies Carnival

Last updated on: April 1, 2014 at 8:35 am By James F. McGrath

Bob MacDonald’s beautiful, musical, artistic Biblical Studies Carnival rounding up a wealth of posts from around the blogosphere over the past month is now available on the blog Dust. Brian Small has a round-up of blogging about Hebrews. Phil Long has some information about upcoming carnivals. I hope this allows you to appreciate that there was something good about this past March, despite the weather! Read more

Verse of the Day

Last updated on: April 1, 2014 at 7:52 am By James F. McGrath

New Testament Transcripts Prototype

Last updated on: March 31, 2014 at 7:21 pm By James F. McGrath

AWOL shared a link to the New Testament Transcripts Prototype of the University of Munster Institute for New Testament Textual Research. If you aren’t already following AWOL – Ancient World Online – then you should be. It highlights fascinating online open access resources, such as the one mentioned above, or the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Preprints. If you don’t know it, and are interested in the ancient world, please do click through and explore, and consider... Read more

Caleb the Surfer

Last updated on: March 31, 2014 at 5:46 pm By James F. McGrath

Today’s Non Sequitur. While Moses seems not to appreciate it, according to the Bible, Caleb was one of the few from the Exodus generation allowed to enter the promised land. And he lived to be at least 85. Maybe surfing had something to do with it? Read more

Judgment and Judgmentalism

Last updated on: March 31, 2014 at 4:44 pm By James F. McGrath

Some seem to think that the basis for their judgment before God will be whether they were as judgmental towards others as they think God also is. Read more

Translating Names

Last updated on: March 31, 2014 at 4:12 pm By James F. McGrath

Charles Häberl has blogged about an issue that translators regularly face, and which we must deal with as we work towards the final version of our translation of the Mandaean Book of John (or as it might perhaps better be called, The Doctrine of John or The Teaching of John). How are names best translated? When the Mandaean text is clearly referring to Jesus, presumably using any rendering other than “Jesus” in English would cause confusion. But doing that will miss... Read more