I am delighted to share the news and help spread the word that Delvyn Case is now a Patheos blogger! His blog will focus on the Bible and music, a longstanding interest we both share, which is what led to us making one another’s acquaintance in the first place. His blog is called Alleluia! Music and the Christian Life, and by the time I realized it was live, it already had several interesting posts on it. Take a look! Del... Read more
It was a pleasure to record another episode of the ReligionProf Podcast, this time with Tony Burke as my guest. Seriously, what better follow-up to my post about Ariel Sabar’s book yesterday, given that Tony and I first met face to face (as I mention in the podcast) at a conference about fakes, forgeries, and fictions in Christian apocrypha? I presented on the Gospel of Jesus’ Wife at that conference. (On Sabar’s book now see also the posts by Dylan Burns,... Read more
I was incredibly excited when I saw that acclaimed journalist Ariel Sabar had a book coming out about the entire Gospel of Jesus’ Wife fiasco, scandal, hullabaloo, and whatever other terms may be needed to encapsulate the events that unfolded within as well as beyond academia. It brought me further delight when Sabar got in touch to say he would be sending me a copy. As you know, my blog was one of the places that there was frantic and I... Read more
A. David Lewis is seeking support for the creation of Kismet, Man of Fate Volume 2. You can contribute through his Patreon page. I interviewed Dave on the ReligionProf Podcast about the first volume. This is such an important and timely comic, and you can not only help ensure the longevity of its revival, but keep yourself in the loop about it, through a small gift. Why do I encourage you to give? This is a Muslim superhero who might... Read more
Heartland: U2’s Looking For American Soul An International Virtual U2 Conference For Scholars And Fans October 18 – 24, 2020 U2 has journeyed – at times uneasily – through an America of pulsating metropolis, rugged heartland and shining sea. It long ago fell under the spell of America, but for just as long has felt it still hasn’t found America. When U2 talks about America, it often describes it in terms of an idea, a dream or an experiment rather... Read more
I have already shared one recent interview I did about my work on the origin of Gnosticism and my Enoch Seminar paper on the Talk Gnosis online radio show. Here is another, the Aeon Byte Gnostic Radio program whose latest episode features me talking with host Miguel Conner about the topic “The Shared Origins of Monotheism, Evil & Gnosticism”, focusing particular attention on how it relates to the subject of evil. I hope you enjoy listening to it half as... Read more
As an introvert who has worked hard at not simply teaching in the manner that feels most comfortable to introverts, this article by an extrovert educator is extremely helpful and challenging. Here is an excerpt: What’s lost in this pandemic classroom? The spontaneity of experiences, the rapport of a community, and vigorous real-time debate will be difficult to produce. The extroverts among us will struggle to thrive. But Susan Cain’s Quiet, a 2012 bestseller that identified and promoted the irreplaceable... Read more
One of the things that I got pushback about in my Enoch Seminar conference paper about the origins of Gnosticism, the Mandaeans, and pre-exilic Israelite traditions, which I shared a recording of here previously, is my use of the term “Gnosticism.” I was happy to get a chance to discuss that topic as well as many others related to my paper in this newly-released episode of the Talk Gnosis show. Here’s the YouTube video of our conversation: Let me share... Read more
Michael Gerson writes in the Washington Post: There are admittedly no physical descriptions of Jesus in the Gospels. Traditions about his appearance, including the beard, arose more than a century after his death. But there is no doubt that he was a Jew from what we now know as the Middle East. The white, European Jesus of Western imagination is a fiction produced by those who could not imagine human perfection in any other form. “Whites simply couldn’t conceive of... Read more
A call for papers from Valerie Estelle Frankel: Hello, everyone. I’m in talks with Rowman & Littlefield to be series editor on a line of academic books critically analyzing elements of Jewish science fiction and fantasy. As such, I’d love some authors with concepts to write about. At this stage, a paragraph-long proposal emailed to [email protected] with a subject of JEWISH SPEC-FIC would be great. Here are some examples: The Secret Jewish Roots of Star Wars (or some other top franchise) Batwoman to Felicity: Jewish... Read more
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