There is a brand new Society of Biblical Literature program unit focused on John the Baptist, and it will be on the annual meeting program for the first time in 2024 in San Diego. The call for papers is now on the SBL website and so I thought I’d draw it to everyone’s attention now so you can start thinking about a paper you’d like to submit. Program unit description: While there is always a steady trickle of interest in John... Read more
It was an honor to have the chance to speak at the Mandaean Convention in San Antonio. It was a small gathering, and they were incredibly hospitable to me and the other academics whom they invited. They served some of their characteristic treats, including ashure (Noah’s pudding) with date syrup, date balls rolled in sesame seeds, and a few other things. I spoke about John the Baptist as someone who would seem destined to be a cause for division between... Read more
The Giggle is a lot of things, as far as Doctor Who episodes go. I suppose the reason Russell T. Davies cautioned about children watching is precisely that this is an episode that sounds lighthearted and comical because of its title, yet is anything but. The episode takes children’s toys and makes them creepy and menacing, but that’s been true in the past. I’m not sure there’s anything in it that justified more caution than in general. Before watching, I... Read more
Wild Blue Yonder is one of those claustrophobic episodes in which the Doctor and perhaps a handful of others are trapped in some situation in a specific confined location. In this case, having just the Doctor and Donna (and the Doctor and Donna) was delightful (even in this creepy episode), given that this represents a brief return for both actors. For someone like me who is a huge fan of Doctor Who in general but who has a particular interest... Read more
Chevrolet (for those outside the United States, a major car company) released a heartwarming ad for the holidays. If you haven’t seen it, you should. This beautiful heartwarming ad has been co-opted by some in the culture wars, circulating it under a headline that claims it is epic because it is the first “non-woke” ad of the season. I saw someone post it with that kind of commentary and I asked what on earth they imagine is “unwoke” about the... Read more
For the first of the specials that will bridge the era of Jodie Whitacre as the Doctor to that with Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, Doctor Who decided to bring back David Tennant and Donna Noble and to revisit a type of story that it has explored since the era of the very first (televised) Doctor, played by William Hartnell. Spoilers ahead. The episode “The Star Beast” was very much in keeping with recent Doctor Who. There was none of... Read more
Digital Reformation: How AI is Transforming Theology By: Christoph Heilig and GPT-4[1] My work with text linguistics and probability theory has led me into the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI).[2] Large language models like GPT-4 generate texts based on the sequence of most probable words. As a literary scholar, I am naturally drawn to the question of how good the texts are that these models create. What was once science fiction—a theology-debating chatbot—is now reality. This progress requires active participation... Read more
Reviews are starting to appear of The A to Z of the New Testament. Alden Swan wrote on Amazon, ‘This is an outstanding resource for anyone who wants to understand the New Testament, and it’s a very enjoyable read. McGrath is extremely knowledgeable and also has a great sense of humor, and the clever “A to Z” organization makes for a very interesting read as he touches on nearly every topic of NT study that you can think of.’ Also on... Read more
Imagine we have a situation in which there is a coordinated attack by multiple mass shooters in a public place. Countless lives are lost, including children. The police show up. They have been able to determine that the shooters left the area where their crimes were committed and are now back in their own neighborhood. The police surround the neighborhood and begin launching grenades into homes. When some commentators begin to object to this, their response (supported by some but... Read more
I have just signed a contract for my next book. After wrapping up two books about John the Baptist, it was nice to not feel any need to hurry to figure out what my next big research and writing project will be. I still haven’t decided where I will focus my academic research in the coming years, although I have some ideas. But I have been eager for some time to write more for a general audience, and there was... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In