Space for Comments

Last updated on: July 22, 2013 at 10:14 am By James F. McGrath

HT Hemant Mehta. Those familiar with the academic study of the Bible will know that people have been leaving comments on the commandments for as long as we can trace. We find them embedded in literature which does not present them without comment. And then we have the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the discussions and commentaries practical, devotional, allegorizing, or academic stretching from antiquity down to the present day, and showing no sign of stopping. Yes, there is room for... Read more

Evidence from Ancient Texts

Last updated on: July 22, 2013 at 9:49 am By James F. McGrath

How do we know things about the past? Whether in history or in the natural sciences, it involves working with surviving data and using deductive reasoning and logical inference. Dennis Venema has been blogging about “Genomes as Ancient Texts.” In the latest installment, he provides diagrams illustrating how scientists deduce that two organisms are related in a particular way. Here’s one example: Anyone from my own area of expertise who has studied textual criticism will recognize the line of argument... Read more

“God”

Last updated on: July 21, 2013 at 4:26 pm By James F. McGrath

All Christians and all atheists do not disagree about everything. For instance, I agree very strongly with Hemant Mehta that this church needs to learn how to use quotation marks correctly: There are in fact whole blogs and web sites dedicated to the misuse of quotation marks. It is cases like these, when people seem to think they indicate emphasis, that the results tend to be unintentionally hilarious. Read more

The Hermeneutical Mini-Roundabout

Last updated on: July 21, 2013 at 1:45 pm By James F. McGrath

Another gem from TheologyGrams. Read more

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

Last updated on: July 21, 2013 at 8:30 am By James F. McGrath

It was interesting watching The Three Doctors again recently. As a classic episode I have seen several times before, it struck me just how inadequate the special effects were for expressing the concepts the writers wanted to integrate into the story. A singularity that Omega had managed to harness looked like a flow of steam. Compare this image from “The Three Doctors” with one from “Journey to the Center of the TARDIS” and our glimpse of the Eye of Harmony... Read more

God Doesn’t Suffer, So Why Should We?

Last updated on: July 20, 2013 at 11:10 pm By James F. McGrath

In my Sunday school class last weekend, the discussion quickly moved from a discussion of the atonement to a specific focus on whether God suffers or can suffer. A number of interesting observations were made, but one seemed particularly worth sharing. Following a discussion of why some consider it better to be above suffering (and the connections with other persons that cause us suffering) than to suffer (and be connected and in relationship), a retired pastor in the class suggested... Read more

Ancient Israelite House

Last updated on: July 20, 2013 at 7:34 pm By James F. McGrath

Photos of a replica of an ancient Israelite house from the Houses of Ancient Israel exhibit at the Semitic Museum at Harvard University. Via the Ancient Art Tumblr Read more

The Call of Wisdom

Last updated on: July 20, 2013 at 7:03 pm By James F. McGrath

This choral composition by Will Todd is a setting of Biblical texts from Proverbs 8 with some additional words. HT Methoughts, Mefeats, and Medefeats Read more

Interest in the Bible

Last updated on: July 20, 2013 at 3:54 pm By James F. McGrath

Fred Clark recently noted how odd it is that some will make an issue that is of at most tangential interest (pun intended) to the Biblical authors a litmus test of religious identity, but ignore things that are emphasized repeatedly. One obvious example is the Bible's prohibition against charging interest (at least when lending to others who are also part of God's people). It says this clearly, on numerous occasions. Here's Exodus 22:25: If you lend money to one of... Read more

Progressive Progress

Last updated on: July 20, 2013 at 11:31 am By James F. McGrath

A couple of article have come to my attention in recent days, both relating to religious progressives (mainly in the political and economic sense of that term). First, Jack Jenkins wrote an article for Think Progress suggesting that progressive religious people will soon outnumber conservatives. Second, Robby Jones wrote in The Washington Post that progressive religion has more appeal with young people. The Huffington Post also has an article about this. All of this is the result of a survey that suggests... Read more