I have just learned that Robert Kysar, renowned scholar of the Gospel of John, has passed away. Books like John, the Maverick Gospel have become required reading on the subject. My condolences to all his family and friends, as well as the wider academy of New Testament scholars who may not have known him but will nonetheless have a sense of loss at his passing. Read more
I wish I’d come across this political cartoon by Kevin Moore about Obama as the antichrist when it was made in 2008. But better late than never, and even if it is not as politically timely now, its point about Biblical interpretation remains as relevant as ever. Read more
The term “fundamentalist” is a controversial one, mainly because few want to be labeled with it on the one hand, and its overuse on the other makes it vague and meaningless. One recent suggestion offered on Facebook (as something someone else had once said) is that fundamentalism is “the belief that the Bible is easy to read, and that it consists primarily of prohibitions.” The term originally comes from The Fundamentals, a series of tracts published a little more than... Read more
IO9 shared details from the BBC press release about the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special documentary, “Adventures in Time and Space.” Below is a sampling. Click through to read the rest! (Yes, it is during the AAR/SBL annual meeting…) DOCTOR WHO’S FIRST DOCTOR REGENERATED IN BBC AMERICA’S AN ADVENTURE IN SPACE AND TIME PREMIERING NOVEMBER 22 The story of how it all began stars David Bradley, Jessica Raine and Brian Cox What do you get when you mix C.S. Lewis with... Read more
The location and other details about the gathering of AAR and SBL bloggers has been provided on Brian LePort’s blog. Spread the word! Alright, I have a time and place for the 2013 AAR/SBL Bibliobloggers (SBLAARggers) Gathering. TIME: 7-9pm (though you can stay later) on Monday, November 25th PLACE: Pratt Street Ale House I have notified their events manager that there will be a crowd of us. It has been decided that at this point they will aim to set us all... Read more
We discussed the story “Mortal Gods” by Orson Scott Card in my class on religion and science fiction class recently. The Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal cartoon below addresses its underlying question: is subjective immortality a blessing or a curse? There is a chapter in Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith that tackles this topic too. Read more
Academics in the field of religion who are also fans of Doctor Who are finding themselves torn. The major conferences in our fields, the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion coincide with the broadcast on television – and showing in theaters in 3D – of “The Day of the Doctor,” the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who. I have a ticket to see it at the theater nearest Baltimore that I could... Read more
David Hayward’s latest cartoon illustrates an important point about interreligious dialogue, as well as about cross-cultural interactions. It is easy to see the oddness in the beliefs and customs of another, and very difficult to see how equally odd our own seem to others. Decking a status with flowers may seem bizarre and pagan, while pulling a dead tree (or stranger still, an imitation of a dead tree) into one’s house and decking it with garlands seems perfectly normal. I... Read more
Greg Jenks has shared his essay “The Quest for the Historical Nazareth” on Academia.edu. It deals with the subject in a manner that the apologists for Christianity and Jesus-mythicism do not. Also of interest is Matthew Ferguson’s impression of the Gospels as a student of Classics (linked to by Richard Carrier). Like many mainstream New Testament scholars, Ferguson sees similarities to the novels of that period which were a popular form of historical fiction. And like them, he says (as many other... Read more
I was delighted to discover the blog of Scott Paeth, religious studies professor at DePaul University, and even more delighted that the discovery was of posts related to Doctor Who! There was an older post, “The Gospel According to Doctor Who,” which has now been followed up with a post “Religion and Doctor Who” interacting with something I wrote here recently. For all the Tweets about the Doctor Who and Religion conference at the University of Manchester, check out the... Read more
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