Today was the first time that my class on religion and science fiction has met on Halloween, and so I dressed appropriately, and encouraged students to do the same. Few rose to the challenge, as you can see in the photo (the student on the right explained that she was dressed as a muggle). I had planned from before the semester began to talk about Star Trek fandom as quasi-religious phenomenon on this day, and so the readings related to... Read more
via Bill Heroman on Facebook Read more
Darton, Longman, and Todd now has the book Time and Relative Dimensions in Faith: Religion and Doctor Who available for purchase. You can order it through the publisher’s website. Amazon.co.uk is in the process of stocking or restocking the book. Amazon in the United States will be stocking it through Wipf and Stock who are going to be the United States distributor. And so it may be a little while longer until you can get it directly from Amazon.com. If you find... Read more
We’ve started talking about prayer in my Sunday school class. Many Christians use the phrase “prayer changes things.” And some people at my church certainly would. But some in the class last Sunday also had qualms. There is a long history of Christians thinking that God will always do what is best, and so asking God to do something else makes no sense – and even if God listened, it would result in something less optimal! There are also those... Read more
So apparently now you can “like” things not only beyond Facebook, but even on paper. I wonder how many educators will/would use this stamp, and why or why not… UPDATE: Someone asked about a “dislike” stamp. Apparently there is indeed a set of Like and Dislike Stamps and you can buy them from Amazon.com! Here’s a picture:   Read more
Stephen Mattson has written a piece for Sojourners, “Do Churches Alienate Intellectuals?” Here is a sample: By their very nature, intellectuals are curious. They analyze, theorize, and love to ask questions. These attributes are often criticized by church leaders and seen as an attack on traditional and established institutionalized beliefs. Innocent inquires are often met with an “How dare you question what we say?!” type of response, often followed up by cold-hearted exclusion and derision. Many churches stubbornly hold theological,... Read more
I'll share at least one photo of me in costume later today. In the meantime, feel free to share what you dressed as, or what your all time favorite costumes are! Â Â Â Read more
I could have called this post several other things. I considered “What in Samhain is going on at Crooked Creek Baptist Church?” or perhaps “Bring Your Gods to Church Day.” But let me start at the beginning. The text for last Sunday’s sermon at my church was Paul’s speech at the Areopagus. My wife was due to give the children’s talk, and she thought that it might be interesting to bring some statues that I had from when I visited... Read more
Commenter arcseconds put it beautifully: Doesn’t it strike you as remotely strange that the world’s scientists should accept a framework which is so obviously flawed any idiot can see through it? I mean, if it’s really this simple, they’re either a bunch of fools, or engaged in some huge confidence trick. The former seems contradicted by the fact they can build something like the Hubble. The later seems incredibly unlikely. It requires the sort of conspiracy theory normally attributed to... Read more
If you suddenly enjoy the movie more as a result of reading this, let me know…   Read more
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