Are Mainline Protestants Christians?

Last updated on: October 6, 2013 at 8:16 am By James F. McGrath

I mentioned in a recent post the ongoing multi-blog discussion around Pathos on the theme of whether Mormons are Christians. A recent guest post by Steve Webb offered a different approach by asking whether Mainline Protestants are Christians, thus encouraging a three-way comparison between conservative Christians, liberal Christians, and Mormons who might be either, or both, or a third entity. Certainly on some things, conservative Christians and Mormons might be lined up against the mainline or liberals. I'm not sure... Read more

Rudolf Bruči – Gilgameš

Last updated on: October 5, 2013 at 7:25 pm By James F. McGrath

Ancient Near Eastern mythology, the epic of Gilgamesh, turned into 20th century music by Croatian composer Rudolf Bruči (also sometimes spelled Brucci). Read more

Jerusalem IMAX 3D Trailer

Last updated on: October 5, 2013 at 2:17 pm By James F. McGrath

I’ve shared it before, but it is worth sharing again, in case anyone missed it. Read more

Another Polite Bribe

Last updated on: October 5, 2013 at 11:35 am By James F. McGrath

I had the chance to finish watching the documentary A Polite Bribe, which I blogged about briefly on a previous occasion, and so now want to say more about it. I honestly cannot think of another single documentary film about the Bible which has such a wide array of the very best and best-known scholars from around the world in it. The movie would be worth watching just to hear those scholars speak, even if they only spoke in the... Read more

SparkNotes

Last updated on: October 5, 2013 at 10:11 am By James F. McGrath

SparkNotes was a major focus in Butler’s student newspaper recently, with articles by Jill McCarter and Rhyan Henson on the subject. The articles asked whether use of SparkNotes summaries is “cheating” according to the university policy on academic dishonesty, or in the rules set by individual professors. My colleague Brent Hege put the matter thus: “It is cheating yourself out of the opportunity to engage in something important and meaningful.” Here’s my own viewpoint: If you think that reading the SparkNotes is... Read more

Just Following the Bible

Last updated on: October 5, 2013 at 8:03 am By James F. McGrath

Stuff Fundies Like posted the following gem: I just follow the Bible. I just follow the obvious meanings of a 400 year old translation of a document written originally in languages I don’t speak, influenced heavily by cultures I don’t begin to understand, and by people who I mistakenly assume looked, acted, thought and dressed just like I do. I just follow the Bible. It’s not only a road map for life and God’s love letter to everybody who isn’t... Read more

Church of Latte-a-Day Saints

Last updated on: October 4, 2013 at 4:32 pm By James F. McGrath

Today's Bizarro is a gem. The irony is that coffee drinking characterizes much of Christianity – some drink good coffee, some drink a weak decaffeinated imitation – but Mormons, whose name is punned in the cartoon, do not drink the stuff at all. There's been an ongoing discussion on the theme “Are Mormons Christians?” at Patheos. Coffee drinking is a distinguishing factor that hasn't come up yet, as far as I'm aware… Read more

We’re All Going To Hell

Last updated on: October 4, 2013 at 9:47 am By James F. McGrath

Fred Clark at Slacktivist has posted some thoughts on the Bill O’Reilly conversation with Candida Moss that I shared here recently. In his post he writes: Moss does not euphemize or equivocate about what the text says that Jesus said or that Jesus said this as a direct assertion of fact. Jesus said that if you don’t give away your wealth to help the poor, then you will go to Hell. Period. As Keith wrote, O’Reilly’s reaction was typical of... Read more

IO9 on Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy

Last updated on: October 4, 2013 at 9:23 am By James F. McGrath

IO9 posted a review of Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy. Here is an excerpt from the section on Year of the Flood, which will be the focus of my class for the next few weeks: In a sense, The Year of the Flood is an extended worldbuilding exercise. We learn about the cultures and experiences that are left out of Oryx and Crake, and we see the pandemic from the perspective of its victim-survivors rather than its perpetrators. Perhaps most importantly,... Read more

Obama’s Faith

Last updated on: October 4, 2013 at 9:19 am By James F. McGrath

Hemant Mehta asked in a recent video whether president Obama is an atheist. TL; DR “No” I appreciate Mehta’s treatment of this topic, on the whole. My biggest disagreement is with his statement that president Obama supports marriage equality in spite of his faith and not because of it. I see no reason to accept that claim. Progressive Christians have a long history of standing for inclusiveness. That story starts from Jesus trangressing boundaries and hanging out with “sinners,” continues... Read more

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