There’s a quote, attributed to James Barr, which is popular among young-earth creationists. Here is the quote: Probably, so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1–11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that: (a) creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience. (b) the... Read more
I found the image at Political Graffiti. It seems to me that there is a more serious parallel that one can draw between Christian discipleship and education in general. Traditionally, Christianity has been characterized by the vast majority of its devotees thinking in this term, so that even its teachers have ended up “teaching to the test.” What will we be judged on? What will we be held accountable for? But the real test of religious faith, and of any sort... Read more
A friend drew to my attention a piece of Doctor Who history which will soon be released as an audiobook. Masters of Luxor (Doctor Who Lost Stories 3.7) was originally intended to be the second story in the serial, but it was never made, being replaced by The Daleks. And while the Daleks helped turn Doctor Who into a phenomenon, as a scholar of religion, I can’t help but wonder what might have been – and take an interest in this... Read more
A recent comment got me thinking about what it means to be a progressive or liberal Christian, and in what ways it is fundamentally different than being a conservative. I am not sure whether there is in fact more or less diversity among liberals than conservatives as far as beliefs and practices – I would expect there to be, but I don’t have data. I suspect that liberal and progressive Christians will probably agree on at least some major things... Read more
Here’s a new trailer released today for the upcoming season of Doctor Who, which will begin to air on September 1st. And even sooner we’ll have Pond Life, webisodes about Amy and Rory when not traveling with the Doctor. That premieres online on August 27th on the BBC Doctor Who web site. Read more
It illustrates the selective literalism of young-earth creationists, that they never seem to realize the ludicrous conclusions they end up drawing could be outdone by still more bizarre ones if they were consistent in their literalism. As an example, consider the repeated references in Genesis 1 to God speaking. For speech – literal speech – to be transmitted, there has to be a medium to carry it. That’s why “in space, no one can hear you scream.” On Earth, the... Read more
I am grateful to Gavin of the blog Otagosh for pointing out the genealogical gem that BBC News recently shared. Jesus almost certainly was descended from David – because it is likely that everyone among the Jews in his time was descended from David. Read the article for the genealogical logic behind this statement. Of course, that’s assuming you don’t think that Matthew and Luke were giving a factual account in their early chapters… Read more
In the first meeting of my “Religion and Science” class, I had a slide with a Matrix connection, and I asked whether that was still meaningful. It was, but I wonder how long it will be before “Exploring Our Matrix” only means “Exploring Our Setting/Context” and does not have science fiction overtones as well. If I needed to update the name, I wonder what I would call it… I could go for timeliness and contemporary popularity and call it “Exploring... Read more
My first class of the semester, a core curriculum “Texts and Ideas” course on the Bible, was set to begin in about five minutes. Then the fire alarm went off. We got the all clear some fifteen minutes later. Class went OK even so, but was slightly rushed. I am guessing that it was a fire alarm pulled by some student – or professor – who just didn’t feel ready. Hopefully the same won’t happen in my next class… Read more
Ture Rangström, Symphony No.2 in D minor, “Mitt land” (1919) Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In