Yesterday I started discussing George Orwell’s 1984 in my First Year Seminar class. To illustrate the way information about us is less than private in our time, I had them Google themselves, and also me if they wished to. One student found this: Apparently that James McGrath is J. J. Abrams’ father-in-law. It isn’t me. But I still like the fact that I have a namesake who has been in Star Trek movies, and that it is possible for someone to mistakenly think... Read more
The publicity for Ken Ham’s latest book, Six Days: The Age of the Earth and the Decline of the Church, says the following: Today, most Bible colleges, seminaries, K-12 Christian schools, and now even parts of the homeschool movement do not accept the first eleven chapters of Genesis as literal history. They try to fit the supposed billions of years into Genesis, and some teach evolution as fact. Our churches are largely following suit. What fantastic news! Read more
Given the interest generated by Maurice Casey’s book and Richard Carrier’s blogging about it, I thought I should turn my 2013 SBL conference paper on mythicism and academic freedom into an article quickly. And so I am pleased to say that “Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom” is now available on the Bible and Interpretation website. It focuses mainly on the broader question and on the specific example of Thomas Brodie’s work. In other news,... Read more
Mythicists sometimes assert that an account like the Gospels, which features angelic interventions and other such details, ought to be set aside as fiction, rather than setting just the miracles aside and then sifting the rest for potentially useful historical data. As I prepared to touch on the books of the Maccabees in my course on the Bible yesterday, it struck me that the same objection could be made about those works. They too feature angelic interventions and miracles. There... Read more
Which of these corresponds to your view of where LEGO people come from? Images from God of Evolution and The Brick Testament Read more
Take an internet minute to read the above chart, that is. But what happens if you read it on the internet at the end of your workday? HT Marc Cortez Read more
The image was apparently created by an atheist. But contrary to what some claim, there is no particular reason why its viewpoint ought to be considered inherently atheistic. If we look at the Biblical literature, rarely if ever does anyone in it claim that it requires special divine revelation for human beings to tell right from wrong. Rather, the prophets, the wisdom teachers, the apostles, and many others appeal to what they believe their audience can safely be assumed to... Read more
Mention was made in a Facebook conversation I had recently of Paul’s reference (2 Cor. 3) to the Scriptures being read while veiled. Many refer to it as though it were about the inability of people to understand Scripture without supernatural assistance. But it doesn’t mean that, despite what is so often claimed. It is echoing the story of Moses’ face being veiled after he spoke with God face to face, to hide from people that the glory faded with... Read more
A website which bears the running title “A Brief History of Time…In Advance” was drawn to my attention by a student. It includes gems like this: “The Einstein Method reveals that Daniel received words from outside time-space through the Archangel Gabriel.” Since the website claims to be based on a book by someone named John Zachary, Gabriel’s Faces: Voice Of The Archangel, I can only presume that he is also the author of the site. I’m pleased that the student... Read more
Bob MacDonald has mentioned the upcoming Biblical Studies Carnival, to be hosted on his blog Dust. Apparently it is already stuffed full of ordinary Biblical studies blogging goodness. And so he has requested that further stuffing be provided, but of a particular sort. Can you find some academic Biblical studies blog posts connected with parts of the world not regularly represented in the monthly carnival? If so, please let Bob know about them! Read more
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