Via BLT, I learned that, in addition to the well-known Brick Testament depicting scenes from the Bible in LEGOs, on Flickr there is a depiction of scenes from the Protestant Reformation in LEGOs. Here is an example: Read more
Via BLT, I learned that, in addition to the well-known Brick Testament depicting scenes from the Bible in LEGOs, on Flickr there is a depiction of scenes from the Protestant Reformation in LEGOs. Here is an example: Read more
Since Tuesday is Constitution Day, and I will be gathering students from my course on “Religion and Freedom of Expression” soon for the first time to talk about Randall Bezanson’s book How Free Can Religion Be?, I thought I would see if there is interest in discussing the topic on this blog. As a starting point for discussion, here is a video which Hemant Mehta made and shared recently: That there are limits to religious freedom even in a society... Read more
A friend shared this screenshot from the movie Hellbound? on Facebook. I would dispute whether some of these texts clearly belong in the particular category in which they are placed (although if I recall correctly, in the movie the point of the chart was not to say that these prooftext support these views but simply to indicate that each view has prooftexts which seem at first glance to support it). I would also point out that the diversity of the... Read more
I asked recently about science fiction hymns. One response I got via Reddit made reference to Julia Ecklar (science fiction author as well as a singer-songwriter). Looking into her music led me to her new album Horsetamer, and one track on it in particular, “Shai Hulud,” which really is a hymn expressing the perspective of the faith of the Fremen in the Dune novels Frank Herbert wrote. It isn't the only one, but you can actually download the track “Shai... Read more
Hemant Mehta shared some interesting statistics and infographics about what Americans think about Syria, and how events there may be leading up to the “end times.” These statistics also give us in the process a good sense of how many Americans have never consulted a scholarly commentary on the Book of Revelation… Read more
Via IO9 I became aware of the Tumblr Calvin and Muad’Dib. Frank Herbert’s Dune series has some wonderful treatments of religious themes. Combining them with Calvin and Hobbes makes them even better, somehow. Enjoy these examples, and click through to explore more! Read more
Via Rachel Held Evans on Facebook, who got it ultimately from someone who said “We're pretty smug up here in Soviet Canuckistan”! 🙂 I should say that I have not watched the series “Breaking Bad,” but I am aware of the premise, and so am able to understand that this cartoon makes an important point about the way the United States, by being unwilling to adopt legislation, principles, and practices that other developed nations take for granted, forces people into... Read more
Jeff Carter recently mentioned science fiction hymns, providing a couple of examples from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And it got me thinking whether there are others, and if so, what they are. Not long ago I mentioned some hymns in Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood, but the contents of those (as Atwood herself would also emphasize about her novels more generally) lack the characteristic features of sci-fi. And there are the “Jedi Hymns”... Read more
I am delighted to be able to share this research opportunity at the University of Exeter, and am grateful to Daniel Kirk for drawing it to my attention! In addition to it being an exciting opportunity for PhD students, the project itself will result in additional important resources related to the Mandaeans being freely available. The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran are one of the most endangered religious groups in the world. This project aims to preserve as much as... Read more
David Hayward's cartoon above gets at an important issue. I suspect that very few of the Bible's authors actually thought in this way. Most genuinely believed that their dreams, their sense of conviction, indicated that God had appointed them. Some are fairly clear that they are human beings like any others, researching, discerning, and writing in a manner that requires no special divine intervention. But what happens next – and what happens today – are the crux of the matter.... Read more
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