I was looking for images to accompany a talk I will be giving in early May on religion in Star Trek and Doctor Who, and found something that was not what I was looking for, but is definitely worth sharing. An artist took the painting “The First Mourning” – which depicts Adam and Eve mourning for Abel, their son, who in the Biblical narrative is the first human being ever to be killed – and substituted a redshirt. Here is... Read more
A Finnish composer of the 20th century who deserves to be more widely listened to. Read more
This important historical document seems to me to be relevant to something mythicists often say, and so I thought I would share it… Dear mythicists, I, Ned Ludd, am writing to request that you kindly stop using my name as though it provided support for your nonsensical ideas. If you don’t, I expect that I really shall have no choice but to smash up your machinery. Historians differ on exactly who I was. Some think that I was a simpleton... Read more
The episode “The Face of Evil” from the Tom Baker era is famous for introducing Leela as the Doctor’s companion. For those interested in the show’s treatment of religion, it is also famous for its content. It originally bore the title “The Day God Went Mad.” The Doctor lands on a planet where remnants of more advanced technology are valued and even worn as totems connected with the god whom they worship, Xoanon. The episode begins with Leela being tried... Read more
We continued our study of Revelation in my Sunday school class, and while we had some serious discussion of the issues facing the churches mentioned in chapter 2, the main thing that seemed worth blogging about was a misreading. One of the attendees said that at first glance they thought that two of the churches were having problems with the Nicotines. Since I suspect that our church is supportive of Indiana’s new no smoking law, presumably we are more like... Read more
We played and sang this in church today: Read more
Another example of the hauntingly beautiful and melodic symphonic music produced in Sweden in the early 20th century. Read more
The series “How It Should Have Ended” is famous for coming up with amusing alternate endings for movies and TV shows. I couldn’t help thinking about that series when a student shared this amusing experience that someone shared on Facebook: Read more
The Doctor Who episode “The Happiness Patrol” provides a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek exploration of the nature of happiness and of society, at times functioning as a parable, at other times engaging in wicked satire – as when the dictatorial ruler of the colony, Helen A, herself responsible for requiring happiness of the population, speaks of the importance of carrying on and maintaining a stiff upper lip, only to break down and weep at the death of her dog-like pet Fifi. A... Read more
In my class on the historical Jesus yesterday we discussed the burial of Jesus, including some discussion of the Talpiot tomb. Here’s what’s been appearing in the blogosphere since my last round-up on the topic: Mark Goodacre shows problems with the claim that Jonah’s name appears on an ossuary in the Talpiot patio tomb. He also discusses the transformation of a vase into a fish. Bob Cargill took Mark’s point further and added additional images analyzing the marks on the... Read more
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