Mark Goodacre, Chris Skinner, and Chris Keith all shared the above video and offered some comments on it. O’Reilly seems not to be aware of Luke 14:33: “those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.” I love that O’Reilly doesn’t know the word “anachronistic” and yet thinks he can discuss history. It explains why he can nonchalantly assert that Jesus disliked the Soviet Union. All of the above reflects very much an American perspective on... Read more
A commenter drew my attention to the existence of a parody song, “The New Gnu,” by musician Jon Garvey (based on “The Gnu Song”), about the so-called “Gnu Atheists.” Click through to listen (just have your computer’s sound on and it should play automatically, but there are controls at the very bottom of the page). Interestingly, Garvey also has essays related to Biblical studies and theology on his website, too! Here’s the Muppet rendition of the earlier song the one... Read more
I had this Walter Brueggeman interview shared with me and thought I should pass it on. Read more
There is a comparison between God and a potter on the one hand, and humanity and pottery on the other, in both testaments of the Christian Bible. The analogy is not apt. Pots do not feel pain. And as human beings, we rarely agree that the simple act of creating means that the one who did so has unlimited rights to torment the work of his or her hands. I mention this because I have had students reflecting on the... Read more
This is apparently an official BBC trailer for the 50th anniversary celebration show, “50 Years of Doctor Who.” It looks official, but of course we’ve been fooled before. But it seems to mesh with the Doctor Who TV website for the special. Either way, enjoy! Read more
This is the video that I have been waiting for someone to produce for a long time. I really appreciate Justin Stoney’s videos in the New York Vocal Coaching YouTube channel in general. But as someone who has tried unsuccessfully to learn to roll his Rs, this one I just had to share. Read more
I was struck by the convergence of two cartoons in today’s paper, Family Circus and Speed Bump. Here they are: Both are playing with the familiar question “Are we there yet?” – usually uttered by a child in a back seat of a car. But the “Are we evolved yet?” version reflects – or at least, could reinforce – a problematic understanding of biological evolution. Of course, it could be that these early fish/amphibian steps are just the start of... Read more
I have mentioned before the need for an app that makes Biblical scholarship available to the general public for free. A recently-publicized app called “The Bible Scholar” illustrates why it is needed, rather than actually providing what is needed. The app is the King James Version of the Bible, Matthew Henry's commentary, and many other public domain, out of date, devotional resources that offer nothing remotely akin to Biblical scholarship. I wouldn't have been quite so disappointed if they had... Read more
Richard Beck has asked a great question about the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13. I’ve even heard sermons in which the preacher, on the basis of the equation “God is love,” substituted “God” in place of the word “love” in the passage. But does God really “keep no record of wrongs”? It seems to me that Christians who believe in eternal punishment have two options: to abandon that belief, or to say that the love that Paul is... Read more
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