Acts 7:48 literally says “the Most High does not dwell in that which is hand-made.” Often a word like “temples” is added to make the sense clearer. But the statement itself is broader, and was a typical term used to refer to idols. The statement seems to me to apply as much to Bibles as to buildings and statues. Human beings thought the words, uttered them, and wrote them down. Human beings copied them, compiled them, and decided which ones... Read more
Today is the first day of classes at Butler University, and so a meme image seemed an appropriate way to mark the occasion. Read more
Via Brad Matthies on Twitter. And meanwhile, in the freezer, this was happening: Read more
I responded to a comment on a recent post about the historical Jesus, and thought I’d share what I wrote in a separate post, to see if it generates more discussion. There is a common misunderstanding about the plurality of “Jesuses.” This simply shows that there are a lot of people working in the field – nothing more. When a field of history is vibrant, scholars, needing to come up with something new and worthy of publication, will try to... Read more
Aric Clark has a very useful post about approaching ancient literature – in particular the Bible. Things we read there may tend to startle, surprise, or shock us, or disappoint us, or seem like nothing out of the ordinary. It is important to look into the context, to really grasp it. What seems disappointingly conservative to a modern reader may have been daringly progressive then. What we take for an emphatic statement of principle may have simply been a widely-held... Read more
My article “Revisiting the Mandaeans and the New Testament” has appeared today in The Bible and Interpretation. Read more
I understand the cartoon is mainly about the “coincidence” that it is the two beavers who are pulled out of the security line. But since beavers would be a risk to the ark mainly due to their use of their teeth, I’m not sure how scanning them with metal detectors would help… Read more
Via George Takei on Facebook Read more
Via StumbleUpon, an old IO9 post came to my attention, highlighting a number of free online courses. One of them is a history class offered by UCLA on “Science, Magic, and Religion,” and the lectures are available on YouTube. Here is the first one: Read more
Doug Chaplin has a post in which he mentions my attempt to engage mythicists. He writes: Of course, in any topic under the sun, but especially those to do with Jesus, even almost indisputable facts get disputed, even down to his actual existence. The latter seems to be giving a few North American writers a little frisson of naughtiness and an illusion of intellectual courage in their frequently fundamentalist culture. Some scholars – such as James McGrath – do their best to... Read more
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