Carson T. Clark posted on the Gospel not being Jesus’ death. I’ll quote him in full, since it is a short post: Many Christians believe the Gospel is about Jesus dying on the cross for the atonement of sins. I disagree. To my mind that’s like saying Star Wars is about Anakin Skywalker’s final act of redemption in which he threw the Emperor down the ventilation shaft, sacrificing himself to save his son. Is that the culmination of the story arc? Absolutely. Is that what... Read more
Atheist Jaclyn Glenn rewrote “Amazing Grace” and performed it (HT Hemant Mehta): In this instance, I really don't find the new song at all appealing (lyrically speaking, I mean – Glenn sings nicely). I have no objection to “Amazing Grace” being rewritten. And I don't always disagree with atheists, even about their criticism of Christianity. But in this case, the message of the song overall, such as the suggestion that because people have science, all fear vanishes, all tendency towards... Read more
Via Christopher Skinner on Facebook   Read more
The BBC has released two short “sting” videos encouraging people to #savetheday for “The Day of the Doctor,” the 50th anniversary Doctor Who special which will air on November 23rd. Do you think they give too much away? 🙂 HT Doctor Who TV. I think that the official Doctor Who 50th anniversary trailer I shared previously is more interesting than these two videos put together. While some are complaining that this is hype without content, the fact that the BBC... Read more
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
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