Gentiles, Gays, and Animals

Last updated on: June 2, 2013 at 3:46 pm By James F. McGrath

I had someone comment on a post I wrote about homosexuality, making the tired but nonetheless common non sequitur that, if one views same-sex relations as acceptable, then one must also embrace bestiality. I found myself wondering whether the apostle Paul faced the same sort of ridiculous objection from his contemporaries. I can imagine his opponents saying, “Paul, if you allow uncircumcised men into the people of God, then you cannot logically exclude animals from it.” The objection seems silly,... Read more

Desert Reading

Last updated on: June 1, 2013 at 10:40 pm By James F. McGrath

They always ask what one book or CD you would want to have with you if stranded on a desert island. This scenario involves a desert peninsula, but the idea is the same. Choose wisely, as it will need to provide for puns as well as reading/listening enjoyment. Read more

Matt Smith Will Be Leaving Doctor Who

Last updated on: June 1, 2013 at 8:23 pm By James F. McGrath

The news reached me by way of IO9. Matt Smith has announced that he will be leaving Doctor Who at the end of the year, after the Christmas special. You can read the full statement from Smith on the BBC web site, and more on the story on the BBC Doctor Who blog or in The Telegraph. This is of course one of the things that makes Doctor Who at the same time so sad and so wonderful. It has... Read more

Assuming a Circular Religion

Last updated on: June 1, 2013 at 12:13 pm By James F. McGrath

I thought I would follow up after reposting my “Assuming a Circular Bible” cartoon with a post on assuming a circular religion. The reference of course is to the attempt to deal with things by addressing an abstraction that is much simpler than the complexities of reality – like the famous joke about a physicist coming up with a solution to a farming problem that only works for spherical cows in a vacuum. The impetus for my post is a... Read more

Welcome Back My Friends to the Carnival That Never Ends

Last updated on: June 1, 2013 at 11:53 am By James F. McGrath

Jeff Carter has posted this month’s Biblical Studies carnival – click through to see it! Here’s the song by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Karn Evil 9, that his title (and thus mine) alludes to: The post-apocalyptic overtones are ever so appropriate. But Jeff’s carnival is full throughout with different carnival-themed music. You definitely want to check it out. See too this month’s Hebrews carnival, which includes some of my “ramblings” and “musings.” Next month’s Biblical Studies Carnival will be at... Read more

Fundamentalists Treat Christianity Like It Is Just Another Religion

Last updated on: June 1, 2013 at 8:23 am By James F. McGrath

It is often interesting to note the disconnect between the explicit claims a group makes and what their stances and attitudes imply in practice. Take for instance the viewpoint (widely held among fundamentalists) that their Scripture, understood to be inerrant divinely-revealed truth, can be taken as the starting point, an assumption to which everything else must be subjected. They think that in doing so they are defending Christianity, in the conservative form that they understand it. But they are doing... Read more

Mandaean Resources Online

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 at 9:59 pm By James F. McGrath

In one of those interesting internet convergences, two blogs I subscribe to offered links to web resources related to the Mandaeans in the past couple of days. First, Hieroi Logoi highlighted several online resources, in particular the Mandaean Book of John project that I am involved in. And then shortly after, Ancient World Online shared the Mandaic.org website created by my project collaborator Charles Häberl, as well as some related links. Many thanks to Paul Dilley and Charles Jones for... Read more

Is Claiming the Holy Spirit as Author of the Bible an Unforgivable Sin?

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 at 6:27 pm By James F. McGrath

I have been having a Facebook interaction with someone who claims that the Holy Spirit is author of the writings in the Bible. On the one hand, this claims does not seem to make sense, since the same person also claims to accept that there were human authors as well. But what does it mean to say that Paul authored or composed Romans (Tertius wrote it), and at the same time that the Holy Spirit wrote it? If Paul did not... Read more

The Context of the Context of Jesus’ Words

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 at 9:48 am By James F. McGrath

It is not infrequent to hear self-centered pseudo-Christians justifying their lack of concern for the poor by appealing to Jesus’ statement, “The poor you shall always have with you.” The full statement, as those concerned about context know and emphasize, is “The poor you shall always have with you, and you can help them anytime you wish; but me you shall not always have with you” (Mark 14:7). In its immediate context, therefore, the point is not about poverty being... Read more

A Low View of Scripture

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 at 8:44 am By James F. McGrath

Mike Beidler posted this as his status update on Facebook and I asked for permission to quote him: To say that if any part of the Bible is of the myth genre, so goes the rest, is to present a blatantly false dichotomy. Disregarding the fact that Genesis contains etiological literature (i.e., origins myth) is actually a “low view” of Scripture. It disrespects the text(s), outright censors the ancient voices that produced the text(s), disregards authorial intent, and is guilty... Read more

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