Recently on the blog Unreasonable Faith, theological arguments were likened to the Kobayashi Maru scenario in Star Trek. For fans, it needs no explanation, but for others, it is a training simulation that is unwinnable. I wonder whether, like James T. Kirk, many of the folks discussing this at Unreasonable Faith (as well as many religious and other people in general) may not have missed the point. Theology is indeed unwinnable, in the sense that it is about exploring the... Read more
Today's New York TImes features an article about students considering e-mail antiquated and not checking it, preferring texting and social media. The articles suggests that perhaps professors ought to adjust and start communicating with students via text instead of e-mail. Hogwash. Texting is simply not a convenient way to receive – or to send, for that matter – professional communication, detailed documents, assignments as attachments, digitized readings, and anything that ought to be kept in an organized way for later... Read more
And as a bonus, here's “Doctor's Eleven” – or should that be “Doctors Eleven”? Read more
One talented vocalist, singing the hymn “I Need Thee Every Hour” in nine part harmony. Enjoy! If you like that one, you’ll probably enjoy this four-part rendition of “Be Thou My Vision” too: Read more
I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to review the Logos version of an incredibly helpful Syriac language-learning tool, Lexical Tools to the Syriac New Testament by George Kiraz. I used the print edition of this book when learning Syriac, and found it very helpful. It incorporates learning aids of a sort that will be familiar to students of other ancient languages – for instance, Bruce Metzger’s Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek which many of... Read more
Sabio Lantz posted this image: In the post, he argues that the Golden Rule is deeply flawed. The post mirrors a discussion we had here a while back, in response to a Sunday Morning Breakfast Cereal cartoon. Many commenters then suggested that the Golden Rule, unless understood in an unnecessarily literal fashion, is really about empathy – not doing to someone else what you want regardless of what their own needs and wants are, but placing yourself in their situation... Read more
The Salis Bible. HT Hemant Mehta. And Allan Bevere shared a cartoon illustrating the limits of literalism – and that one possible interpretation is not necessarily the right one: Read more
I had this short Doctor Who minisode drawn to my attention, and even if it hadn’t intersected with religion, I would have wanted to share it. I wonder how many people who watch it will remember the episode “The Aztecs” from the William Hartnell era, in which a similar issue of human sacrifice and rain presented itself. Read more
My colleague Chris Bungard is one of the performers (the first you see) in the above video, which was made as part of an NEH Summer Institute: Roman Comedy in Performance. It got me thinking. Has anyone done something similar with Biblical texts, acting out and narrating stories in the original languages? Read more
Thanks to Jeff Carter for directing me to the above video (via Christian Nightmares), which uses science fiction as a means of teaching a particular conservative Evangelical perspective on the Holy Spirit and other topics to children. Read more
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