And a couple more great recent items from PHD Comics: Read more
And a couple more great recent items from PHD Comics: Read more
In a blog post about denialism, Mark Hoofnagle writes: Denialism in most people is a defense mechanism that protects their core values from being undermined by reality. And no matter what your ideology, at some point, you will have a conflict with the facts because no ideology perfectly describes or models all of reality. You are going to come into conflict with the facts at some point in your life no matter where you are on the ideological spectrum. The question... Read more
I just noticed that today is June 6th, 2013. That’s 6/6 in the year 2+0+1+3=6. And yet nowhere have I spotted in the blogosphere or on Facebook someone suggesting that today the world will end, the antichrist will arise, or anything else of the sort. Could it be that most people are finally tiring of the end-of-the-world apocalyptic hype? Read more
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia published in 1915 is very popular among conservative Evangelicals and, being in the public domain, it can be accessed online in quite a number of places. I wonder how many of its users have read the article on “Evolution.” It really illustrates how the modern young-earth creationist stance is not ‘the classic conservative viewpoint’ as it claims to be, and that the view that evolution and Christian faith are incompatible has a long history of... Read more
I've been discussing information literacy in general and Wikipedia in particular not only here, but on Facebook, quite a bit in recent days. One discussion asked about the appropriateness of a scholar citing a Wikipedia article, if only to offer it as a brief introduction to a topic. The question was posed by Joseph Kelly on Facebook: So I’m reading a volume from the LHBOTS, and the second article in it cites a Wikipedia page to orient readers to the... Read more
If you are a scholar or language geek like me, you probably think this post is about writing a homily in Ethiopic. But it isn’t. Geez magazine is looking for people – not necessarily Christians! – who can produce sermons that get away from the tired and painful familiar cliches. You could win up to $500, and I know some readers of this blog might be up for trying! Click through for more details (and see the video below). Since there... Read more
Tyler Francke has a new post up at God of Evolution. In it, he suggests that Christians could do with writing a letter to science along the following lines: Dear Science, We have been unfaithful to you, and we are sorry. Young-earth creationism could never measure up to you — what the heck were we thinking? Please forgive us. Please take us back. Forever yours (for reals this time), Christians While some of us have done so, and some never... Read more
This cartoon reached me via Jim West. It made me laugh, but also caused me to ponder the tendency many of us have to judge those who do not articulate themselves in as polished or grammatically correct a fashion as one might ideally hope. We don't know how much Jesus had learned of reading and writing. There is a depiction of him reading in the synagogue in Luke, but the story is of doubtful historicity. But Jesus was clearly creative... Read more
There is an interesting contrast between the way Paul wrote about the content of his own writings, and the way modern-day inerrantists talk about them. Paul is relatively humble, even while claiming authority, compared with the claims of inerrantists, and he nuances things differently than they do. If we focus just on 1 Corinthians we have ample material to see this. In 1 Corinthians 7:40, Paul offers his judgment on a matter as one who has the Spirit of God.... Read more
Like many mash-ups, this Doctor Who Episode II: Attack of the Sontarans trailer makes little sense. But like many mash-ups, it is still entertaining, and impressive in what it shows about how it is possible to take people from one movie or TV show and weave them effectively into another. Read more
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