The site IO9 posted an article today about the James Ossuary. It shouldn’t be necessary to emphasize that the finding of an accused forger not guilty is not the same thing as the genuineness and authenticity of an artifact being adequately demonstrated. Unfortunately, as a result of cleaning and other things to which the bone box was subjected, we may never be able to answer that question to the satisfaction of experts. And in the absence of such test results, the... Read more
A variety of traditions, including Christian mysticism and modern existentialist theology, have spoken of the “God beyond God.” This is the very ancient idea that, beyond any sort of anthropomorphic deity that we may think of and tell stories about, there must be an even greater reality that transcends our ability to comprehend and describe. For many atheists, that question is often pushed aside or that ultimate reality is said to simply be the laws of physics. For ancient Gnostics,... Read more
A blog commenter as well as someone on Twitter drew my attention to the #SciFiXmas hashtag that had been trending on Twitter. There were some clever mash-ups of science fiction names and titles with Christmas carols and other such things. One of my favorites was “Away Team in a Manger.” Not surprisingly, there have been several Star Trek themed nativities. Here’s one example: It is worth mentioning once again that a manger is a feeding trough, and so this does not... Read more
Without the courage to doubt, Christians (and the same applies to many other religious believers) cannot do what we are called to do. In times of suffering, people doubt not merely the existence of God, but their entire worldviews. We are called to comfort those who suffer. But we cannot do so with the confidence of Job’s friends, sure that our theologies are correct and that our role as comforters is to make sure the sufferer’s theology does not change... Read more
SPOILER ALERT The final episode with Matt Smith in the leading role, “The Time of the Doctor,” is the first time that the entire run of a particular actor as the Doctor has had such a unified arc, with elements that came into view in the first episode (“The Eleventh Hour”) being finally brought to conclusion, with details from “The God Complex” through “The Impossible Astronaut” and many other episodes being brought back for resolution as well. While there is... Read more
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It doesn’t feel like Christmas without the Bucharest Madrigal Choir singing Romanian Christmas songs like “O Ce Veste Minunata.” My family performed what may be the first bluegrass-influenced rendition of that carol at the Christmas Eve service at our church yesterday. Read more
The odds are slim that Jesus was born on December 25th. But sometimes we commemorate the birth of someone on a day other than the one on which they were actually born – it isn't a big deal. And others' birthdays really do fall on this day, such as Isaac Newton's. And so whoever's birthday you celebrate today, I wish you a happy one. You can envisage Jesus as guest of honor or host in the picture above, as necessary.... Read more
Johnny Walker drew attention to one view of the Christmas stories in the Gospels that is heard about less often in churches: that they were an attempt at damage control, to cover up or distract from stories about Mary having been raped by a Roman soldier or simply having gotten pregnant without being married. Michael Halcomb also blogged about the former possibility, as part of his reposted Christmas series, and Phillip Long has addressed the broader question of authors' motivations... Read more
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