I thought I should turn the paraphrase, or rather reworking, or 1 Corinthians 13 that I shared in my previous post into an image. Feel free to share it with students and educators you may know! Read more
I thought I should turn the paraphrase, or rather reworking, or 1 Corinthians 13 that I shared in my previous post into an image. Feel free to share it with students and educators you may know! Read more
Let me begin with a paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13, reworked for students: If I learn to speak in Latin and/or in Chinese, but do not have love, I am only a fire alarm going off in the middle of the night in a student dorm. If I am able to ace organic chemistry exams and can fathom the mysteries of classic literature, and have a GPA of 4.0, and but do not have love, I am nothing. If I... Read more
This cartoon came my way on Facebook today: While it is just a bit of silly humor, it can be the jumping off point for a reflection on something more serious and timely. A lot of religious believers make it a point of dogma to affirm that miracles happened as described in the Bible. But miracles, as depicted in the Bible, were never a dogma to be affirmed. They were experiences treated as God demonstrating power. No faith was required... Read more
Ken Olson recently had a guest post on the Jesus Blog, about the Testimonium Flavianum. Olson’s chapter on this subject, “A Eusebian Reading of the Testimonium Flavianum,” is online on Academia.edu. Jim Davila and Richard Carrier also discuss this topic. Olson’s argument is summed up as follows: “The most likely hypothesis is that Eusebius either composed the entire text or rewrote it so thoroughly that it is now impossible to recover a Josephan original” (p.100). As Olson points out (promising that he will... Read more
I came across this on Pinterest: This obviously reflects, for the most part, the literalistic and contextless approach of fundamentalism. But now that religious viewpoint is treated with hostility – yet without in fact questioning its underlying assumptions. Those who are willing to read into the text ideas that were not formulated until much later, such as the Trinity, will probably not find there to be any problem. They will envisage one person of the Godhead speaking when the others... Read more
Would it be inappropriate for me to add to my syllabi that, if a student informs me of the death of a relative, hoping that this excuse will justify an absence to attend the funeral, I will excuse them, but will also send a card to their family offering my condolences? If you are an educator, have you found better ways of walking the fine line between being compassionate without being gullible, when it comes to students excuses? Read more
Cliff Kvidahl blogged recently about an accusation of encroaching liberalism that he encountered. What, you might ask, prompted the accusation? Something to do with the virginal conception? Failure to use the word inerrancy? Suggesting that everyone should get free healthcare? It turns out it was none of the usual bugbears, but merely the affirmation of Markan priority. If you are not familiar with the term, it refers to the scholarly conclusion – held by most conservative scholars and not just... Read more
Via Gizmodo, I was reminded of a web site that was created recently, BibViz, attempting to map the Bible's contradictions. While it tends to circulate among atheists, and to meet with adamant denials from conservatives, liberal Christians were among the first to point these sorts of things out – and even before us, there were people like St. Augustine, who was not exactly a liberal, talking of the Bible's absurdities. Click through to explore the contradictions – and if they... Read more
So apparently there isn’t just a variation on the strip “Coffee With Jesus” that is “Coffee With Dr. Zaius.” There is also “Coffee With Doctor Zaius With Jesus.” And since it touches on evolution and the humanity of Jesus, how could I not share it? Read more
On Wednesday, Butler University hosted its start of year faculty workshop. I presented on my experience of teaching online in the breakout sessions. In the first plenary session, we were compelled to write about, and then share with others sitting at our table, one thing that we find challenging or that makes us insecure. I could have written “Having to talk about what makes me insecure with my dean” – since he was sitting next to me, and would soon... Read more
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