The news reported recently that perhaps we needn’t throw out the notion of time travel due to the problem of the grandfather paradox and various other related conundrums. As Desmond on LOST told Charlie after hearing it from Eloise Hawking, the universe has a way of course-correcting. In other words, if you go back in time and try to kill your grandfather, something will prevent it. In some ways, that’s more disturbing than the original paradox. As Daniel said on... Read more
I am writing this reflection for the benefit of students in Prof. Maria Doerfler’s seminar on religion and science fiction at Yale, where I will be making a guest appearance, but am also sharing it here since I think it will be of interest to blog readers as well. The theme for the day provides a fantastic opportunity to explore the points of intersection and overlap among a number of interests of mine, which are more directly related that I... Read more
I realize there is significant potential in the punny title of this post. The Gospel of Mark ends abruptly, just as its climactic finale seems to be taking off. The author seems to be on a roll as we say in English, and then suddenly stops. I’ve expressed my view on how the Gospel of Mark probably continued. I am unpersuaded by those who insist that the ending indicates that this premodern author had postmodern sensibilities, inviting us the readers... Read more
Open Theology invites submissions for the topical issue “Women and Gender in the Bible and the Biblical World II”, edited by Zanne Domoney-Lyttle and Sarah Nicholson. This special issue aims to explore, interrogate and reflect on the ways in which women are understood, contextualised and represented in the text of the Bible that has developed, in various ways, a foundational significance for Western culture. We welcome papers that could contribute to this discussion by addressing, for example, gendered relationships between... Read more
There are two new interviews with me that both feature me talking about Jesus. The focus of each is different. First, I spoke with Shirley Paulson for her podcast The Bible and Beyond, about my next book which will be published by Cascade: What Jesus Learned From Women. Have a listen: Sara Parks is one of several people who kindly read a draft of the manuscript for my book What Jesus Learned From Women and provided feedback on it. She wrote the... Read more
I took notes in the Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity session focused on the Silk Road. I apologize for not sharing them sooner, but once again hope they may come at a time when other academics are dismayed at so many conferences being cancelled or shifted to online, that you may take some small comfort from being afforded a glimpse of a session you perhaps missed in San Diego. Before I move on to those papers let me draw attention... Read more
I’ve been interested in the religious themes of Tony Banks’ songs both as part of Genesis and on his solo albums for a long time, well before I began work on a book on theology and progressive rock. (Banks’ keyboard playing, as you may be aware, was what led me to take up the instrument). If there is a particular if unrealistic hope I have in connection with the book project, it is that an opportunity will arise to talk... Read more
I didn’t know the term psephology until I read the article “Psephology in Free Fall” a while back. Here is an excerpt that connects it with the Bible: Psephology comes from the Greek psephos, or pebble; in Athenian democracy, votes were cast by dropping black or white pebbles into ceramic urns. But that wasn’t the only thing the ancients did to their pebbles. The word has a dark twin, psephomancy, divination by pebbles, something far older and vaster, something it can never... Read more
Having wrapped up a number of other writing projects, I return my attention to two that lie at the intersection of religion and music: the Bible and music textbook and the book on theology and progressive rock. For a brief moment I wondered whether I still had anything to say on the topic. Then I listened again. To Genesis, Rush, and ELP. Songs incredibly familiar yet always invigorating to hear again. I listened to interviews as the musicians whose work... Read more
Call for Papers: The Image of Religion & Political Theology in Contemporary Pop Culture The highly popular and widely disseminated picture of a pregnant Beyoncé surrounded by flowers is a strong symbolic embodiment of a religious image and a political theological message. A black “Madonna” as the queen of music. It almost encapsulates her own words. “Who run the world” – “Beyoncé”. This pop cultural picturesque image reveals the high impact popular cultural messages can achieve with the use of religious forms... Read more
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