I had the privilege of participating in worship at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Indianapolis this evening. My pastor Tom Bartley was invited to preach, and brought our church music team (of which I am a part) with him. The church has a fascinating history – for instance, it was a stop on the Underground Railroad. I am so delighted when (as Tom talked about in his sermon) churches come together to collaborate, rather than viewing one another... Read more
A student shared the above with me. All these years teaching the Bible, how did I miss the bestiality? The depiction of it as a novel, as though the entire thing were a single piece of literature in a single genre, is also well off target. But presumably the point (however much one may criticize the details) is the contrast between the graphic contents of the Bible and the reading to children from its pages. I've discussed before the fact... Read more
A friend drew my attention to the above video which, starting around the 3:37 mark, is about the Mandaeans in Sydney, Australia. The video is from the BBC documentary series, Around the World in 80 Faiths. On the BBC documentary’s web site, you can also see many other video clips, including about the Samaritan Passover. Read more
Brian LePort has continued to focus his blogging attention on the topic of student blogging. In one post, he sought to gather names/blogs of doctoral students who blog – or blogged when they were students, for those who’ve since graduated. In another, he asked about the possibility of blogging later interfering with attempts to find employment. Then Robert Holmstedt posted on his own blog his opinion that students should not blog. It includes a bit of “discovered” correspondence related to 19th-century... Read more
An interesting conversation between Tom Thatcher, professor at Cincinnati Christian University, and Tyler McKenzie, teaching pastor at Northeast Christian Church. Whatever you think of some of the details of the conversation, it reflects a dialectic approach that progressive Christians can embrace: On the one hand, recognizing that doubting and even disbelieving the Bible is not only acceptable but part of a normal, healthy response to the Bible that takes its contents seriously (i.e. in a way that Al Mohler doesn’t). On... Read more
A video interview courtesy of EerdWord, the blog of Eerdmans Publishing Company. Read more
Bob Cargill tweeted that he likes to give students at least one easy question on the exams he gives. And he showed what that looks like: I dread to think what Bob would do if a student actually picked “B”… Read more
There have been several blog posts – and many more discussions not posted publicly on blogs – on the question of whether students should blog. The issue arises in particular for those studying subjects like Biblical studies. Will your thoughts that you post get you into some sort of trouble, for instance with your denomination’s gatekeepers of orthodoxy? Could they affect future employment? My own view is that the risks involved in blogging – putting your thoughts out there for... Read more
Someone shared this status update on Facebook: The devil is using the same trick that he used in the garden by getting people to second guess what God has already told them. Has not God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Has not God said that marriage is between a man and a woman? Has not God said that Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father? Has not God said come out from among... Read more
There are several posts of interest that I want to mention here. Jeremy Smith shared powerpoint slides about theology and Star Wars, as the first post in a series with the title “Theological Science Theater 3000.” John Morehead shared thoughts on religion in the Planet of the Apes franchise. Rod at Political Jesus shared some thoughts with pictures on “Stormtrooper Christology.” Read more
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