I previously suggested that Thomas Brodie’s work on the composition of the Gospels is problematic because it has no controls, and it is easy to imagine parallels are present where none are likely to have been intended by the author or perceived by ancient readers/hearers of the work. His claim that the entirety of the Gospels results from taking earlier Scriptural texts and weaving words and ideas from them into new stories is simply not supported by the evidence as... Read more
These words emerged in a discussion of God as koan in a comment thread here on this blog. I thought I’d turn them into images that can be shared. Read more
Many readers will know that, in order to be able to have a feed of shared items that others can access (which used to be in a sidebar on the blog before that started causing errors due to slow load times), I moved from the now-defunct Google Reader to TheOldReader, which was basically a clone of what Google Reader looked like at its best. TheOldReader is currently down, and so I suspect that some folks, like me, are wondering what... Read more
It frustrates me that any religious believer thinks that evolution is somehow at odds with the goodness of God in a way that a theism which rejects evolution is not. If one thinks about the birth defects, illnesses, and other things highlighted in this video which Hemant Mehta and PZ Myers both recently shared… …it is in no way depicting God as more benevolent to say that, rather than those things being an inevitable part of the process which was... Read more
Today I learned (sorry, I couldn’t resist using that popular Reddit phrase in this context) that there is a subreddit on Reddit dedicated to matters pertaining to the academic study of the Bible. One interesting discovery there was an article by Greg Jenks, available on Academia.edu, on “The Quest for the Historical Nazareth.” There is also a subreddit dedicated to the exchange of scholarly articles. The internet continues to impact and transform the way scholarship is done, and the ways... Read more
The episode Carnival of Monsters is wonderfully subversive in many ways. It begins with some humanoid but blue-grey aliens on the planet Inter Minor discussing the imminent arrival of “aliens.” Those aliens turn out to look like humans. They are in fact the traveling Lurman entertainers Vorg and his assistant Shirna. (Humans from Earth are referred to as “Tellurians” later in the episode.) The entire episode is about power, how we treat others, dehumanization/depersonalization of other sentient beings, and having... Read more
As a creator of satirical music, I thought I’d share this piece by John Anealio, called “Angry Robot.” The lyrics deserve a close listen, since the song doesn’t just explore the familiar science fiction trope of robots and whether they can be kept from conquering us, but also what might motivate a robot to want to do so. Anealio recently posted on his blog about the frustration of having music that one enjoys making and wants to share with others,... Read more
Several items of interest have come my way today. The Chronicle of Higher Education had an article about flipping the classroom in an introductory course about ancient Rome. And the supplement to volume 16 of Teaching Theology and Religion is currently accessible for free online, with many book reviews focused on technology, pedagogy, and the offering of hybrid and online courses. Read more
The announcement was recently made that princess Kate has given birth to a son. Those interested in the study and interpretation of the Bible ought to follow such things, not out of generic media or cultural interest, but because many of us, living as we are in societies which do not have a monarchy, can fail to appreciate the degree of importance that the birth of an heir to the throne has for the royal family, and for the populace... Read more
The entire movie From The Dust is currently online on YouTube. Read more
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