Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom

Last updated on: March 25, 2013 at 10:44 am By James F. McGrath

I’ve been meaning to post for a while that my Society of Biblical Literature paper proposal has been accepted by the “Metacriticism of Biblical Scholarship” section, and so will be presented at the 2013 Annual Meeting in Baltimore. Here is the abstract: Mythicism and the Mainstream: The Rhetoric and Realities of Academic Freedom James F. McGrath The rhetoric of concern for academic freedom becomes prominent at different times and in different situations – for instance, when a scholar at an... Read more

Happy Passover!

Last updated on: March 25, 2013 at 7:39 am By James F. McGrath

To those who celebrate it, I wish you a Happy Passover! חַג שָׂמֵחַ HT Bob Cargill for the video. And here are a couple of cartoon for the occasion as well: Read more

Mostly Dead

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 9:28 pm By James F. McGrath

I just saw this on Facebook and had to share it. Every time I talk about the parable of the Good Samaritan, I always throw in a Princess Bride reference along these lines! Read more

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Pauline Eschatology

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 7:58 pm By James F. McGrath

A friend shared a diagram from a blog called “Theologygrams” which has a lot of great stuff on it. Here’s the one that was shared with me: Also don’t miss the theology topic generator. Read more

Friend Request

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 7:31 pm By James F. McGrath

I was recently contacted on Facebook by someone I don’t know, but with whom I share mutual Facebook friends. The individual is a young-earth creationist. Since I don’t see it as appropriate or useful to have a conversation with a complete stranger privately on Facebook, I am inviting the individual to interact here if they wish to. Below is the conversation thus far – I removed the individual’s name and put his words in bold. James McGrath :Do I know... Read more

A Song for a Snowy Palm Sunday

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 5:25 pm By James F. McGrath

You can sing this to the tune of “I Believe in Father Christmas” by Greg Lake (there are also versions by Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and also by U2 that you may be familiar with): I Believe in Snow at Easter They said there’ll be snow at Easter And snow on Palm Sunday too At this moment I hear it falling And there’s nothing that I can do I remember Palm Sunday morning In a springtime not long... Read more

Authorship of Isaiah

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 3:52 pm By James F. McGrath

My course on the Bible focuses a lot of attention on the identification and use of reliable sources. When students try to tackle an assignment on the authorship of the Book of Isaiah, they consistently find LaMar Adams’ online article, produced at Brigham Young University, which uses computer-generated statistics for the occurrence of certain prefixes to argue for unity of authorship. If they read this, without also finding either Radday’s statistical study which draws the opposite conclusion, or another source... Read more

God vs. Science?

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 12:38 pm By James F. McGrath

I want to quote David Hayward’s helpful comments about today’s cartoon before sharing the cartoon, since, as David himself emphasizes, the cartoon depicts a misconception and not the way he thinks things ought to be viewed: This cartoon was inspired by Neil Tyson’s famous quote: “God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance that’s getting smaller and smaller and smaller as time goes on.” You know he said this in response to the naive statement believers often make: “You can’t... Read more

Willing to Learn?

Last updated on: March 24, 2013 at 7:58 am By James F. McGrath

The heart of the matter, when it comes to evolution and young-earth creationism, is this: If you think that young-earth creationism offers cogent and insightful criticisms of mainstream science, then you do not know enough about science to evaluate things that you hear. If that is your situation, then I would encourage you to learn more about biology, genetics, paleontology, geology, and other relevant fields. But there is more learning you should do. because, if you genuinely think that it... Read more

Butler’s Performance

Last updated on: March 23, 2013 at 11:26 pm By James F. McGrath

I only caught the nail-biting final half hour or so of the Butler vs. Marquette basketball game. That was because I was watching another Butler performance. At Clowes Memorial Hall, the Butler Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with a number of other individuals and groups, performed several pieces: Michael Henson’s “We Didn’t See Them As Human,” Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.1, and Maurice Duruflé’s Four Motets and Requiem. The last piece is one of the most beautiful choral pieces of the 20th century.... Read more