No religion will live up to its full potential until it succeeds in the most basic practice of all—treating all people with respect and dignity. — Steve Wiggins, “Without a Hitch” on his blog Sects and Violence in the Ancient World Read more
No religion will live up to its full potential until it succeeds in the most basic practice of all—treating all people with respect and dignity. — Steve Wiggins, “Without a Hitch” on his blog Sects and Violence in the Ancient World Read more
The Doctor Who episode “The Sea Devils” covers ground very similar to other Doctor Who episodes featuring “Silurians” (in this episode the Doctor remarks that it is a misnomer and they really ought to be called Eocenes). Homo Reptilia of a different but related species are emerging from a self-induced slumber. They hid away in the hope of surviving an imminent catastrophe, the impact of a large object with Earth. Instead of colliding, however, it ended up in orbit and... Read more
Someone I know shared this “joke” on Facebook. I left a comment expressing my disappointment that they had shared it, since it seemed to me to have racist overtones. Let me share it and see whether others get the same impression, before I say more. Flying on Air Force One, Obama looked at Oprah, chuckled and said, ‘You know, I could throw a $1,000 bill out of the window right now and make somebody very happy. Oprah shrugged her shoulders... Read more
I confess that I have often wished there was a cartoon depicting magi bringing gold, Frankenstein, and myrrh. And so I am glad that Facebook brought this my way! Read more
Why do I find this cat so funny? Read more
It was recently suggested to me that it might be useful to put together an index of mythicist claims, and the answers and responses to those claims from the perspective of mainstream historical study. Although it can be said that every claim by mythicists has probably been addressed at least implicitly in scholarly monographs and articles at some point, there is a need for those points to be collated and summarized online for the benefit of the general public. It... Read more
I just watched the movie Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. It is a great movie to start the year with. It has Steve Carrell in the lead role, and is billed as a comedy. It does have amusing moments. But I would not classify it as a comedy. It is about the meaning of life, and is profoundly serious and moving. The movie focuses on two people who live in the same apartment building, but have... Read more
Miguel Conner has an article in The Examiner highlighting the various mentions of and views about John the Baptist in Gnostic sources. In it, he links to one of the chapters I translated from the Mandaean Book of John! There is a need for a detailed scholarly treatment of this topic. When G. R. S. Mead wrote The Gnostic John the Baptizer (which can be read online for free, since it was published in 1924), that was before we had... Read more
My colleague Marshall Gregory passed away a couple of days ago, and I thought it would be nice to mark his passing by drawing readers’ attention to some of his many articles which are available online. Himself an English professor, “Greg” (as he was know) was a champion of the Liberal Arts and passionate about pedagogy. His pedagogy seminar not only helped many of us who teach at Butler University to reflect and develop our teaching skills, but also forged... Read more
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