It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts and history and science, all of which are thoroughly modern concerns. If we look at what Jesus is depicted as saying about Genesis 2 in the Synoptic Gospels, he points to the story about God making two people out of one, and then goes on to talk (as Genesis does) about two becoming one flesh. Not literally... Read more
Another rock mass has been brought to my attention, this one by a French progressive rock band called Offenbach, not to be confused with the earlier composer of that last name. The above is one part of it. Read more
The notification below came via e-mail from the American Academy of Religion (it did not include the logo, which I added just for fun, because I did not previously know that this was another thing that “AAR” stood for): PAPERS DEADLINE EXTENDED – SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS NOW MARCH 6, 2013 Dear AAR Members, The Program Administration Proposal, Review, Evaluation, and Submission System (PAPERS) server went down from 10:50 pm to 12:22 am EST last night. As a result, hundreds of... Read more
I think that one reason some people insist that Adam in the Bible was a literal historical individual, and the genealogies in the Bible are literally factual, is that they understand sin as some sort of genetic defect. This is a terrible distortion of the Bible, not only because its ancient authors did not understand genetics in anything remotely like the modern sense, but also because there is nothing that ancient Christian sources claim Jesus accomplished for humankind that remotely... Read more
When I saw yesterday’s Non Sequitur cartoon, it reminded me of something that I run up against regularly in class: For today’s students, the Ten Commandments have always been ten “recommendations” or “suggestions.” No matter how strongly they were ingrained in them from an early age, they have not had the status of law – apart from those universals on which human legal codes consistently overlap, prohibiting murder and theft, for instance. But it is typically a challenge for students, and indeed... Read more
Here's another song I wrote, this one inspired by a segment in the Doctor Who episode “The Power of Three.” But you don't need to be a Doctor Who fan to appreciate the song, I hope! Thoughts and feedback are appreciated, as always! Read more
This is a recording of a song I wrote, giving musical expression to the view of faith advocated by theologian Paul Tillich. Let me know what you think! Read more
A certain stream of Christianity focuses a lot of attention on people being left behind by Jesus, in a concocted event that actually bears no resemblance to anything one finds in the New Testament. And so David Hayward’s cartoon “The Real Left Behind” shows the more pressing issue: that Christians and Christianity are prone to march on and leave Jesus and his teachings behind. Read more
Apparently Academia.edu has evolved to the point where it no longer waits for us to add our scholarly content. Like Google Scholar, it is now able to track down our publications and add them to our profiles. And since there were several items that I had yet to add or update, I think this is a pretty nice feature! Click through to my Academia.edu profile to see which book chapters, articles, and book reviews are available to be read and... Read more
I was delighted to see David Bailey quote a recent article by Joshua Moritz, in which he points out that the Bible uses the same verb to refer to God creating or making the lightning, or a baby in the womb, as for making sea creatures, and beasts of the field, and human beings, in a variety of passages. No one who is not completely deluded and/or ignorant of the relevant evidence would deny that there are explicable natural processes involved... Read more
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