Finally, There Will Be a Peer-Reviewed Case for Mythicism

Last updated on: July 18, 2013 at 6:54 pm By James F. McGrath

I’ve long described Richard Carrier as the last, best hope for mythicism. While other mythicists have been content to self-publish shoddy pseudoscholarship online or elsewhere, Carrier has been a voice of sanity, recognizing that a scholarly consensus is not something to be treated lightly, and that, if there is to be a serious case for mythicism, it needs to be made by trained scholars approaching the matter in the appropriate scholarly manner. His book provisionally titled On the Historicity of... Read more

Misotechnophilia

Last updated on: July 18, 2013 at 2:06 pm By James F. McGrath

At a strategic planning meeting today related to technology at Butler University, a colleague mentioned his love/hate relationship with technology. I thought that there ought to be a term for this. Another colleague suggested technoambivalence, but that seems to be different than love and hate. So I suggested “misotechnophilia.” But does that term more readily refer to a love/hate relationship with technology, or to loving to hate technology? I think that anyone who has a love/hate relationship only with new... Read more

Time and Eternity in 20th Century Theology – and Doctor Who

Last updated on: July 18, 2013 at 1:05 pm By James F. McGrath

TheologyGrams shared this gem: I shared another Doctor Who-related diagram from that blog once before. There are several other wonderful items that have since appeared there, and so here are a couple more: Apophatic Theology Explained: How to work out where Mark’s Gospel ends: Read more

Cloud Atlas

Last updated on: July 17, 2013 at 9:17 am By James F. McGrath

On the flight back from the UK, I had the chance to watch the movie Cloud Atlas. It really was spectacular, in many different ways. The story, told in different time periods which turn out to be interconnected, is enthralling, and the imagery of the two very different periods in the future is stunning. God is brought into things very early, by the intriguing question: If God made the world, then how do we know what we can change and... Read more

Fundamentalism and Unfair Mario

Last updated on: July 17, 2013 at 8:17 am By James F. McGrath

Chris Attaway recently suggested that ” Fundamentalism…is when social function becomes so important so as to discourage or even forbid real knowledge.” He compares it to playing Unfair Mario, a Mario game that I was previously unfamiliar with. Click through to try it. I laughed out loud. The point of the comparison is that the game is one of arbitrary obstacles and traps, and one may learn ways of avoiding them, but without there ever being a rationale for why one... Read more

Whovians Already Know What They’re Getting for Christmas

Last updated on: July 16, 2013 at 9:20 pm By James F. McGrath

Via Doctor Who and the T.A.R.D.I.S. on Facebook. Read more

Mandaeism in Antiquity and the Antiquity of Mandaeism

Last updated on: July 16, 2013 at 2:41 pm By James F. McGrath

Charles Häberl has shared an entry he wrote for Religion Compass, “Mandaeism in Antiquity and the Antiquity of Mandaeism,” on Academia.edu. If you are interested in the Mandaeans, then not only this new upload, but many other things he has shared, will be of interest to you. Read more

Are E-Books Unscholarly?

Last updated on: July 16, 2013 at 11:42 am By James F. McGrath

I found myself feeling somewhat dismayed reading Michael E. Smith’s grumpy post about e-books at Publishing Archaeology. One of his complaints is about the inability to cite a specific page number in e-books. He asks “Is it no longer considered important that a reader be able to cite a specific page number in a book?” I think the answer is clearly “no.” If a resource is available digitally, then one can easily search for a phrase and find a reference.... Read more

The Work of Thomas Brodie

Last updated on: July 16, 2013 at 10:38 am By James F. McGrath

In several recent posts at Vridar, the blog has been focusing a lot of attention on Thomas Brodie’s work. One can find there all the tactics one will expect if one is familiar with mythicism. For instance, they bring up Geza Vermes’ suggestion that the reference to Jesus as a carpenter in the Gospels could reflect a misunderstanding of a rabbinic technical term for a learned individual. They ignore the question of whether that suggestion has been found persuasive (including, in more recent publications by... Read more

Doctor Who: 50 Years of Humanism

Last updated on: July 16, 2013 at 9:34 am By James F. McGrath

Hemant Mehta shared the above video. It really does a great job of showing some persistent elements in the outlook of the show, although obviously no show with so many writers and such a long history will be entirely consistent. Fans will enjoy the overview of old and new, and the connections and continuities. But those interested in the philosophy of the show, and its treatment of religious and moral themes, will also find a lot to discuss. Hearing the... Read more

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