Michael Heiser indicates that his mind is changing about the matter of the authenticity of the James ossuary, because of a photo of the ossuary, with its full inscription, dated prior to the discovery of the Talpiot tombs. The photo has apparently been authenticated by someone from the FBI. If this is correct, it seems unlikely that someone in the 1970s could have fabricated the inscription, with lexical details that I do not believe were even readily available then (many... Read more
A few items relevant to understanding introverts have come my way over the past few days. I’ve already shared them on Facebook but thought they deserved to be shared in a blog post as well. First, there is this poster (which seems to have started life in a much simpler format): UPDATE: Click here for the original source of the image above. There is in fact an article devoted to the topic as well from The Atlantic. And if you... Read more
IO9 reported (and apparently not as an April Fools joke) that Darth Vader’s helmet is one of several unexpected images sculpted on the Washington National Cathedral. To me it makes perfect sense that Darth Vader should be depicted on a cathedral – the story of Anakin Skywalker is about redemption more than anything else! Read more
A fragment of what some believe may be the original copy of the Gospel of Mark has been brought to light by a collector of antiquities. This breaking news seems destined to trump the announcement earlier this year of a first century fragment of the Gospel of Mark. The fragment is written on papyrus and is in Elizabethan English. The identification of the text as that of the original copy of the Gospel of Mark is based on a post-it note... Read more
I was looking around for ways to create comic strips using online templates, and actually found a site which even has pre-prepared characters, including Jesus and a redshirt. The combination was too much of an anomaly to not try to do something with it… At this stage, I’m not expecting this to be a regular feature on this blog. But then again, when you get a Starfleet crewmember and Jesus talking, anything could happen… Read more
It was a clear indication of Jesus’ genuine humanity that he didn’t always know when he was taking a joke too far… Read more
Jim West has posted the latest Biblical Studies Carnival, with a round up of lots of interesting things that have been blogged about Biblical studies over the past month. Click through and check it out! Read more
It is a common claim of young-earth creationists that they are looking at the same data as mainstream scientists, and merely interpreting it differently. But in actual fact, reality, with its hard facts, has a way of changing our minds even when we are determined to interpret things differently. And so I share this more accurate depiction by David Hayward of how facts and data relate to our preconceived notions, unless we glue them immovably in place. Read more
“Delta and the Bannermen” is another Doctor Who episode from the Sylvester McCoy era that seems to be unsure what sort of story it wants to tell. Doctor Who has always combined the serious and terrifying with the comical, but “Delta and the Bannermen” only rarely seems to achieve and effective balance. Some love it, some hate it. My initial impression was that it took the silly and campy elements too far. But then a quick glance at some other... Read more
From The Far Left Side. The official stance of the Catholic church is that evolution occurred, but there are certainly promoters of pseudoscience among Catholics (think Denyse O’Leary). And so this seems like a rather complimentary cartoon about Catholicism, depicting the church going to such great lengths to promote mainstream science and convince skeptics among their ranks! 🙂 Read more
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