The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) have launched a YouTube channel. Here’s a sample of the sort of thing you can find there: HT AWOL Read more
The American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) have launched a YouTube channel. Here’s a sample of the sort of thing you can find there: HT AWOL Read more
Robert Holmstedt normally blogs about Hebrew grammar. But the nonsense Answers in Genesis spouts about the Bible and not just science has irked him enough to comment. Here’s a taste of what he wrote in a recent blog post: If a person’s view of the authority rests on reading Genesis scientifically and so his or her faith crashes against the wall of science, the teachers and preachers that taught that poor person in the first place will answer to God for... Read more
I saw this on Facebook: It reminded me of an analogy I’ve often used, of two cells in a human body talking about their place in the grand scheme of things, and the meaning of their existence. One says that it looks around and says “Cells are all there is – we’re born, we die, there’s no meaning to it all.” The other says that it thinks maybe we’re part of one big cell. The second one is not able... Read more
Hemant Mehta recently shared this video response to Ray Comfort’s deceitful movie about evolution. It makes some excellent points, including highlighting the irony of Comfort saying “Just look at this banana! Proof of God!” and yet complaining, when scientists have so much evidence for evolution they can point to, “Sorry, that’s not good enough!” Mehta will also apparently be interviewing Comfort on his blog, and has asked for readers of his blog to suggest questions! Read more
This came my way today via Facebook: How would you say “That's boring” in your field of expertise? (To see the range of ways this is said in my field, just have a look at the recent reviews of Reza Aslan's book Zealot…) Read more
“John the Baptist” is the way one particular John is known to history. But there are two ways that phrase could be understood. One, which is probably the most common, views John as having developed a distinctive ritual immersion, and that creation of his led to him being nicknamed “John the immerser.” A problem with this view is that it fails to explain how, with all the different sorts of immersions that people practiced in this time period, John’s ritual,... Read more
I stopped by on Wednesday, before the official start of GenCon, to pick up badges and event tickets from will call at the Indianapolis Convention Center, thinking that it would be less busy then than on the day I'm attending. That is presumably true, but it was incredibly busy even so, with impressive lines, but also impressive organization as volunteers and employees kept things moving. I managed to get hold of a program book (they were in short supply), and... Read more
Princeton Theological Seminary has made a large number of digitized volumes available online, in its Theological Commons. If you have never explored its holdings, I'd encourage you to click through and do so. While it obviously consists primarily of older materials, they are particularly useful ones for academics studying ancient religion or history, Biblical studies, theology, hymnology, and a number of other related topics. Several people on Facebook and blogs mentioned this today, including Larry Hurtado. Read more
I returned to the public piano in front of Indianapolis’ Central Library today, this time with my son, who plays the violin. We played “Berceuse” by Ottorino Respighi, one of our favorite pieces for violin and piano, and also did some improvisation together. I also played and sang “You Raise Me Up” and my son played the violin solo. I only put the two pieces of sheet music with his solo part up on the piano, but keeping even those... Read more
This was spotted somewhere in my neighborhood. I have a funny feeling that the CIA would be the least likely to name their network “CIA Surveillance.” But as a way of freaking out neighbors, and hopefully getting them not to try to use your wi-fi, it is a great idea. In fact, the full name probably says “CIA Surveillance Van” since I have actually seen a meme on the internet suggesting renaming your wi-fi network to that, in order to... Read more
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