Jeff Carter noted on his blog that the claim (in wake of their recent spoof Djesus Uncrossed) that Saturday Night Live picks only on Christians and Jesus is simply untrue. As evidence, he shared the above clip from their spoof trailer from a number of years ago, Gandhi II. “No more Mr. Passive Resistance.” Actually, Gandhi’s approach to resistance was non-violent, but not at all passive. Read more
That’s the conclusion Fred Clark draws in a recent post. Here’s the conclusion: God is not a jerk. God does not want you to be a jerk. So if you ever feel like God’s will, or God’s commands, or God’s rules are compelling you to act like a jerk — to betray your conscience, to be unloving, unjust, unkind, unfair — then that’s not God. Click through to read the whole thing. Read more
In the wake of the hullabaloo over Beyonce lip-synching at the presidential inauguration ceremony, the public has now been shocked to learn that the members of the United States Congress have also been lip-synching their debates which have been keeping the budget in deadlock. When House Speaker John Boehner met with the president determined not to reach a deal, and then left the meeting reporting that no deal had been reached, few were surprised. But the American populace is reacting... Read more
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In my class on the Bible on Friday, we discussed the Book of Ruth. And as it happened, I discovered that it was possible to encapsulate the three main topics/themes that I wanted to make sure got attention under three headings with alliteration. One topic (the first “r”) was romance. My students were fairly sure that there isn’t really any in the book – certainly not in the sense that we find it in the Song of Songs. As I... Read more
I spoke recently with a reporter from the local paper The Indianapolis Recorder about pastoral qualifications. The article that resulted has now appeared, and I am quoted quite a bit in it, saying things like this: Those who say the Bible is important to them, very often don’t actually read the things that scholars within their own denomination have written about the Bible. We cultivate in many of our churches a strong instinct to respond with ‘amen,’ oftentimes because we have... Read more
OK, from a political perspective as well as that of science fiction fandom, is this a gaffe, as some have claimed? I do not think so. The poster gets the fonts right for the Star Wars and Star Trek references. And so I think there is a deliberate use of science fiction's greatest example of a partisan divide to depict president Obama as not partisan. That seems quite brilliant. But perhaps I am just the victim of a Vulcan mind... Read more
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The Biblical Studies Carnival for February 2013 has been posted at Delving Into The Scriptures. Lots of interesting stuff to enjoy – thank you to Drewe for hosting this month’s carnival! Read more
HT Jim West Read more
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