Tablet magazine has an article about Doctor Who from a Jewish perspective. It includes less well known details, such as the Jewish background of the show’s creator Sydney Newman, as well as more familiar topics such as the depiction of Nazism in the form of the Daleks, and the seemingly ineffable name of the Doctor and how it relates to the ineffable name of God. It is a fairly short treatment, so it does more to raise interesting discussion points... Read more
Since one of the topics this blog explores is the intersection of religion and science, I had to give a mention to the Madonnas of Science by Chris Shaw which an IO9 article recently highlighted, and which are currently on display at the San Francisco Museum of Art. Read more
Today was the Feast of the Ascension. There are two favorite quotes of mine related to the ascension, which I have shared at least twice before on this blog. Here they are again: First, Keith Ward (The Big Questions in Science and Religion, p.107): We now know that, if [Jesus] began ascending two thousand years ago, he would not yet have left the Milky Way (unless he attained warp speed). And second, from James D. G. Dunn’s article on “Myth” in Dictionary of Jesus... Read more
I recently rewatched the double Doctor Who episode “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead.” Having now seen so much of the later interaction between the Doctor and River Song, and having so many questions answered and details filled in, rewatching the episode where they first introduced River reinforces just how impressively the show has dealt with these two time travelers whose lives intersect out of sequence and sometimes in reverse order. The episode hinted that River Song... Read more
From Prof. Gandalf… Read more
In honor of Eugenie C. Scott’s announced retirement from her role as executive director of the National Center for Science Education, the NCSE has made chapter two of the second edition of her book Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction available for free as a pdf on their website. You can buy the entire book from Amazon.com. There is also a Kindle edition. Read more
John Byron posted on Facebook that he has a three-hour class in which to cover Romans. While the text could be read in that period of time, given its rich contents and extensive history of interpretation, doing justice to the text in that period might simply be impossible. John put it thus: Today’s Task: Teach Romans in 3 hours. I can hear the voices of Calvin, Luther, Barth, Cranfield, Barrett, Dunn, Fitzmyer, Jewett and a host of others crying out in pain.... Read more
A recent article by Fernando Bermejo-Rubio in The Bible and Interpretation raised the question of whether Jesus was a “seditionist” – which he defines as “The hypothesis that Jesus of Nazareth and his followers were in fundamental sympathy with the principles of the members of the anti-Roman resistance groups, the use of violence not excepted on principle.” This is a great example to look at in relation to my recent discussion about the historical Jesus, scholarly innovation, consensus, and of... Read more
It is interesting to read the sorts of things one finds on the Answers in Genesis website about sin. There are studies on the topic by the organization’s leaders and members, as well as classic sermons by Charles Spurgeon. For instance, Spurgeon says: “Every man who believes Christ obeys him; believing and obeying always run side by side. Do you not know that Christ does not come merely to blot out the past, he comes to save us from being what we... Read more
In the Biblical story about Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham pleads with God to spare the cities even if just a certain minimum number of righteous people are found in it. Eventually he bargains God down to ten. The story then unfolds that, although there aren’t that many righteous people to be found in the city, God’s angels still spare Lot and his family. I wonder what would happen if God were to declare that judgment was coming on young-earth creationism... Read more
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