This came to me via Bob Cargill and Thom Stark on Facebook. It nicely makes the point that many Christian views of “salvation” are more like “protection” in the sense that word has in protection rackets. The one “protecting” you is also the one they are protecting you from. Perhaps genuine salvation ought to save us first and foremost from imagining God and/or Jesus as being like a human gangster? Read more
From Cartoon Church Read more
I think that everyone can agree that some people are deceived, right? Can everyone agree that some things that have been written and published reflect unconscious biases and even deliberate distortion? Can everyone agree that some people have been exposed primarily to propaganda, and have mistaken the contents of that propaganda for truth? If we can all agree on the above, then there is only one question left to ask, and I will ask it as a genuine question rather... Read more
The latest Biblical Studies Carnival has been posted on the blog Near Emmaus. Many thanks for Brian LePort for hosting it this month! The monthly Hebrews carnival has also appeared, as has the new Septuagint Soiree. I am delighted to say that Exploring Our Matrix is represented in all three! Read more
Via Sarah Pulliam Bailey on Facebook Read more
If the leopard gives a good response, the way the Syro-Phoenician woman did, it might still have a chance… Read more
This is yet another provocative cartoon by David Hayward. What is your impression of it? Sabio Lantz suggests taking it even further, that liberal Christians use Christian identity in the same way. I'm not persuaded, but see what he wrote and then let me know what you think. But I can imagine fundamentalists saying that what is depicted in the cartoon is a good thing – just taking the “whole armor of God” to the next level. How would you... Read more
I have encountered what may be a relatively new fallacy, but is a logical fallacy nevertheless. A commenter attempted to argue that the Intelligent Design book Darwin’s Doubt is weighty because it has more 5-star reviews on Amazon.com than 1-star reviews. That is pretty surprising, to be sure, even given the inevitable turnout of the Uncommon Descent crowd. But it is still a fallacy nevertheless. The quality of literature is vouchsafed by the number of stars a book has on... Read more
Through the Patheos network, it was suggested that I ought to take a look at a new series called Animate: Faith. I glanced, was not immediately excited, and left it at that. But today, Adam Cleveland mentioned another part of the series, Animate: Bible, and included a screenshot which grabbed my attention: That got my attention, and when I took a look at the video by Rachel Held Evans from which this is a screenshot, there was so much to... Read more
Solomon illustrates “Biblical marriage” at its most extreme: patriarchal marriage aimed more at creating alliances between families than at love or relationship in the modern sense. Of course, this doesn't mean that he might not have written the occasional erotic limerick for one or more of them. Read more
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