Last night I watched the movie The Incredible Hulk. I really enjoyed the cameos – Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, Stan Lee, and a snippet of music from the classic TV series. But the movie also explores some religious terrain in interesting ways. One is in the reference to the strength that the gamma poisoning gives Bruce Banner and the serum gives Emil Blonsky as “like a god.” The very reference to what Blonsky turns into – “Abomination” – itself has... Read more
A Facebook friend shared this, and it seemed worth passing along. Reflecting on possible alien religious beliefs, and how they might or might not resemble those of human beings, is a great thought experiment. So what do you think? Is the scenario in the cartoon possible, in your view? Would you be happy, or disappointed, or react like the human in the cartoon? Read more
The news is breaking that Ray Bradbury passed away this morning. It is poignant that Bradbury had a short article published in The New Yorker just days before his death today, June 6th, 2012, at the age of 91, which bore the title “Take Me Home.” The article is about the inspiration for one of my favorite Bradbury stories, “The Fire Balloons,” which appeared in some editions of The Illustrated Man and of The Martian Chronicles. It explores the intersection of religion... Read more
The Doctor Who episode “The Space Pirates” is the last of the lost Patrick Troughton episodes, and the next to last episode featuring him as the Doctor. The idea of pirates in space is one that science fiction in general and Doctor Who in particular continuously revisits, to good effect. The episode includes, like so many from the era of the Second Doctor, an element of mystery. The Doctor finds himself in a situation to try to figure out who... Read more
I went with my wife and son to see Venus as it transits across the sun for the last time in our lifetime (at least from the perspective of our planet), at the Holcomb Observatory on the Butler University campus. We got there a little late, in terms of when first contact was, and those who came later still formed a long line which probably means that some will not get up to the telescope in time to see it.... Read more
The Doctor Who episode “The Seeds Of Death” witnesses the return of the Ice Warriors and the introduction of what later on would be referred to as a “trans-mat” device, but which here was referred to as a “T-mat” which stood for “Travel-Mat.” I wonder what the Ice Warriors will look like if they ever return to the currently running series. The Doctor and his companions arrive in what appears to be a space museum. It seemed odd that the... Read more
The theme of yesterday’s service at my church was the story in Mark 2:23-28. My wife referred to it as Jesus taking the disciples on a “field trip” – literally! – since the story is set in a field. The story is often viewed as implausible, being understood to envisage Pharisees hanging around fields in the hope of just possibly catching Jesus doing something inappropriate. But the story’s setting seems less contrived if we envisage a larger group of Jews,... Read more
Commenter Paul Regnier wrote in the 977th comment on a post of mine entitled “Mythicism and other Bunk around the Blogosphere”: Chaps, for a laugh, I just worked out how many words have been written here in reply to Dr McGrath’s original, 200 word post… it’s about 125,000!!!Maybe it’s time we all did something more productive or just talked about something else? Perhaps DrMcGrath could help us along by by posting something thought provoking and controversial about beer, football, or... Read more
The Romanian news outlet Adevărul is reporting that a Romanian citizen has been apprehended attempting to cross the border between Switzerland and Italy with a stash of Dead Sea Scrolls of great value. Which scrolls they are, whether they are authentic, and where they were obtained remain to be determined. Swiss police are said to be investigating. I am puzzled that no non-Romanian outlets appear to be reporting the incident, other than a local news source in Ticino where the... Read more
“Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.” — Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 6.4311 [Quoted in Stephen Cave, Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization, p.275, where he adds, “…we can never... Read more
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