Everyone is Liberal to Someone

Last updated on: August 24, 2013 at 7:37 am By James F. McGrath

Cliff Kvidahl blogged recently about an accusation of encroaching liberalism that he encountered. What, you might ask, prompted the accusation? Something to do with the virginal conception? Failure to use the word inerrancy? Suggesting that everyone should get free healthcare? It turns out it was none of the usual bugbears, but merely the affirmation of Markan priority. If you are not familiar with the term, it refers to the scholarly conclusion – held by most conservative scholars and not just... Read more

Mapping Bible Contradictions

Last updated on: August 23, 2013 at 3:53 pm By James F. McGrath

Via Gizmodo, I was reminded of a web site that was created recently, BibViz, attempting to map the Bible's contradictions. While it tends to circulate among atheists, and to meet with adamant denials from conservatives, liberal Christians were among the first to point these sorts of things out – and even before us, there were people like St. Augustine, who was not exactly a liberal, talking of the Bible's absurdities. Click through to explore the contradictions – and if they... Read more

Coffee with Jesus AND Doctor Zaius

Last updated on: August 23, 2013 at 2:45 pm By James F. McGrath

So apparently there isn’t just a variation on the strip “Coffee With Jesus” that is “Coffee With Dr. Zaius.” There is also “Coffee With Doctor Zaius With Jesus.” And since it touches on evolution and the humanity of Jesus, how could I not share it? Read more

Reciprocal Discomfort

Last updated on: August 23, 2013 at 11:33 am By James F. McGrath

On Wednesday, Butler University hosted its start of year faculty workshop. I presented on my experience of teaching online in the breakout sessions. In the first plenary session, we were compelled to write about, and then share with others sitting at our table, one thing that we find challenging or that makes us insecure. I could have written “Having to talk about what makes me insecure with my dean” – since he was sitting next to me, and would soon... Read more

Stop Making Stuff Up

Last updated on: August 23, 2013 at 10:17 am By James F. McGrath

Just because some made up stuff has been around a long time, doesn’t automatically make it better than stuff that was made up more recently. And thus XKCD tackles the widely-held but mistaken idea that people in Columbus’ time typically thought the world was flat, while Columbus was a lone voice insisting that it was round. Unfortunately, this idea had a long opportunity to circulate widely, before the advent of Snopes. But while it is bad to make stuff up... Read more

A Skeptic’s Wisdom

Last updated on: August 23, 2013 at 9:22 am By James F. McGrath

The consistently thought-provoking Sabio Lantz posted this image on his blog: I could respond with a Venn diagram of my own, one that depicts the intersection of liking the image and feeling I’ve understood it. I am not sure that I truly am in the overlap of the two. I instinctively like it. But what does it mean? Is the point that wisdom involves exploring the limits of knowledge and the limits of doubt, and balancing and clinging to both?... Read more

Isaiah in Philippians 2

Last updated on: August 23, 2013 at 8:36 am By James F. McGrath

Abram K-J mentioned today on his blog the experience of noticing for the first time that, in the hymnic passage Philippians 2:6-11, Paul quotes a monotheistic text from Isaiah. Here they both are: Philippians Isaiah 45:23 ἵνα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ... Read more

Eldad Keynan on Jesus’ Burials

Last updated on: August 22, 2013 at 10:13 pm By James F. McGrath

Eldad Keynan has a new article on the Bible and Interpretation site, about the burials of Jesus. While my book is about The Burial of Jesus in the singular, it does discuss the possibility that there could have been more than one. And my use of the plural in reference to Keynan's article is intentional, and accurate. Keynan suggests that the Gospel of John's depiction of the disciples' initial reaction, assuming that the body had been moved, was correct. I... Read more

The Biblical-Monastic @ Sign

Last updated on: August 22, 2013 at 6:14 pm By James F. McGrath

Via IO9 I learned that Wired has an interesting piece about the probable monastic scribal origin of the @ sign, as a way of indicating “at” (whether in English or another language). It seems th@ monks beg@ this bit of shorthand – in the Biblical sense. Read more