Fred Clark is continuing his series that takes apart the unintentionally comical character of the Left Behind books in slow motion. His latest post on Nicolae: The Rise of the Antichrist is a gem. It includes wonderful statements like this: Tim LaHaye wants his readers to recognize that he, Tim LaHaye, is uniquely correct about the meaning of the Bible and of “Bible prophecy,” and so his story includes Moses and Elijah as characters who stand around preaching that Tim... Read more
And now, God’s justice has been manifested apart from the Bible (though the Bible testifies to it): God’s justice through the faithfulness of Christ Jesus to all who trust. For there is no distinction: since all have sinned and lack God’s glory, all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption accomplished in Christ Jesus, whom God presented as a sacrifice of atonement, accomplished through Jesus’ faithfulness unto the shedding of his own blood. God’s justice was demonstrated through... Read more
Young-earth creationists claim that the being who made the Earth and humankind is neither trustworthy nor honest. Their concept is of a God who makes the universe look like it is a particular age, and the Earth look like it is a particular age, even though they were created much more recently, and then condemns people for believing that evidence. Young-earth creationists do not believe the Bible's testimony (in particular in Romans 1) that the Creator can be known through... Read more
Via Joel Watts (who thinks the guy in the last frame is the Tenth Doctor) Read more
I had a request for lead sheets (lyrics and chords) for the three information literacy songs I shared here recently. The request came from a teacher who wanted to use them in a high school – to be performed on the ukulele. I would love to have a chance to hear how that sounds! Anyway, having put the lead sheets together, I thought I would share them here. If you perform them or use them in some educational context, I’d be... Read more
This is a quick translation of this passage from the Great Treasure (Ginza Rba), the Mandaean sacred text. It relies heavily on Lidzbarski’s German translation, cross-referenced with the online Ginza concordance mostly when either the German was ambiguous, or I was curious what the underlying Mandaic was. In most instances when I looked because the German was puzzling, Lidzbarski’s rendering of the Mandaic was problematic, and I sought to offer a better rendering. I didn’t have time to work through the... Read more
This classic episode of Doctor Who, “The Time Monster,” is arguably one of the best for discussing the show’s interaction with religion. It has points at which ancient Greek mythology, Buddhism, and Christianity are in view. The story focuses on the attempt by the Master to summon Kronos, the Greek god who apparently really exists as a dangerous chronovore in interstitial time. Here, as in The Daemons and many other episodes which intersect with classic mythology, the answer about the... Read more
Brian Mubaraki has kindly shared some more photos from the Mandaean community in Australia. I’ve made a gallery below, so that you can click on each image to see it larger, and a second time to see it full size if you wish to. Brian shared this information about the photos: The pictures are of the Mandi which was built according to traditional means and methods was erected in time for the Panja of 2008 at the property of Majid... Read more
Here are the three songs that I and my colleague Chad Bauman created and performed recently, trying to convey some key points about information literacy: Which is your favorite? I’m thinking the market for humorous songs about information literacy is now saturated. And so what should be next? How about funny songs related to the academic study of religion? I’ve got a few ideas. Any requests, or suggestions for future topics? Read more
“What if Jesus was Real?” is the title of Joel Watts’ new article in the Huffington Post. Here’s the conclusion: The real Jesus was a Jew, one nearly unrecoverable in the present — but this doesn’t mean he didn’t exist. It just means we have to live constantly with the doubt we may never really find him. As a Christian, this doesn’t bother me much because I have the guidance of Tradition. As a scholar, however, there are times I... Read more
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