There’s been even more blogged and discussed about the “Jesus’ wife” Coptic fragment since my last round-up. Most of what I have seen on blogs I read regularly have been wise, balanced, scholarly perspectives. Don Burrows clarifies the difference between absurd media claims and what Karen King and other scholars are saying. Craig Evans offers thoughts on the meaning of the word for “wife” in Coptic both generally and in this context. Chuck Grantham provides a useful list of other... Read more
This video by John Cleese is right on target. HT Carson T. Clark. Read more
Joel Watts shared a cool Star Trek version of the famous Beatles Abbey Road photo. That led me to the web site of an artist who goes by the nickname “Rabbittooth” who has done a number of photomanipulations to place a very large number of different actors into StarFleet uniforms. I particularly liked these, because they involve faces familiar from one sci-fi show being shifted into another. Click through to see more. The above are not contradictory – when 900... Read more
The announcement by Karen King about the Coptic fragment which has Jesus mentioning “my wife” is, unsurprisingly, continuing to get much attention and generate much discussion. Rather than keep updating yesterday’s post on the topic, I thought that a follow-up post would be more appropriate, rounding up the blogging and media reporting of the “Gospel of Jesus’ Wife” since then. Hence my calling this post “2 Jesus’ Wife” – following the Biblical mode of reference in tongue-in-cheek fashion. NBC offered... Read more
Someone managed to combine video footage of Steve Hackett playing live with the recording of the original album version of the Genesis song “Blood on the Rooftops” from the album Wind & Wuthering, together with images that (for all the corniness of some of them) manage to convey the meaning of this classic song to a contemporary audience, to good effect (click the links I've embedded to get to the separate sources). The song focuses on a subject that both... Read more
The New York Times, the Harvard Gazette, The Huffington Post and other media outlets are breaking the news that Karen King, a scholar well known for her work on the phenomenon usually referred to as “Gnosticism,” has come into possession of and has been studying a Coptic papyrus fragment which is likely to be authentic, dates from around the 4th century, and has Jesus mention his wife. UPDATE: King has posted online a pre-publication version of an article she has... Read more
David Hayward drew and shared the above cartoon, and also some wise words on the topic: We must agree…that the Mystery, the Source, the All-in-all, is certainly beyond the limitations of what we believe. Assuredly! If your god is trapped within your ideas and words then you have nothing more than an idol. Period! Read more
It has been observed that some science fiction stories seem to make the opposite point to the one made in the classic cartoon series Scooby Doo. This image highlights the contrast well, using Doctor Who as the specific example: We can all appreciate stories that explore scenarios in which aliens visited our planet in the past and/or continue to do so in the present and future. The issue seems to be treating such entertaining storytelling options as though they are... Read more
Ismail Mohamed, a religious scholar and former an imam, is quoted in today's New York Times as saying, “We don’t think that depictions of the prophets are freedom of expression. We think it is an offense against our rights.” I don't think anyone has the right to never be offended. Indeed, I think the claim that one has the right to never be offended is just an attempt to avoid saying what is really in view: a claim to have... Read more
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