Remembrance of the Daleks: Thus far in the Sylvester McCoy era, this is the episode that has made me feel most like the show I am watching is still Doctor Who, and the character played by Sylvester McCoy is still the Doctor. Bringing the classic enemies back, the Daleks, was a good move, as was returning once again to 76 Totters Lane where it all began, within years of the first Doctor’s departure. I think this was probably the first... Read more
Via Michele Stopera Freyhauf on Facebook. I have the sense that I may have seen this before, but if it has been so long that I am no longer sure, then it is worth sharing again! Read more
A lot of discussion about Easter, the resurrection, and afterlife focuses on surviving death. Did Jesus return to life? What sort of life? Will other human being do the same? Where do we go when we die? Can a person really hope to live forever? Does the evidence support it? All of that focuses on individuals and their survival, the number of days, hours, moments in the span of a life. We can debate that subject ad nauseam, even if... Read more
Eruesso shared this, and since it sits squarely at the intersection of religion and science fiction, here it is! Read more
Since the book and documentary promoting the view that Talpiot Tomb B is connected with the earliest Christians was timed to coincide with the Easter season, it is unsurprising that the attention to it is growing. And it seems appropriate to blog about the Talpiot tombs on a day which is all about Jesus’s body not being found in a particular tomb. Here are some key links and videos. First, you can visit the place where Jesus most likely was... Read more
Tonight (actually, yesterday by the time I am posting this) I went to hear a concert at the Hilbert Circle Theater featuring the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. The centerpiece of the concert was the world premiere of Stephen Hough’s mass, “Missa Mirabilis,” as arranged for choir and orchestra. The composer was present, and in fact was the soloist on the final piece of the concert, Mendelssohn’s G minor piano concerto, which he performed phenomenally. Also on... Read more
I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a few days. I received notification that the paper I proposed, “Revisiting the Relationship between the Mandaean Book of John and the New Testament,” has been accepted for the 2012 Annual Meeting program unit Nag Hammadi and Gnosticism. Several other bibliobloggers have also shared details about the papers they will be reading. Over the past couple of years I’ve been examining the Mandaean Book of John from the perspective of taking seriously... Read more
I came across this cartoon at The Far Left Side: I am (as most readers know) open to attempts at humor that verge into territory that some might find irreverent. But this one simply didn’t seem all that funny to me. Silly, yes, but not really funny. As I reflected on why that might be, it struck me that perhaps I only appreciate humor that I think makes a useful point about Good Friday, or the historical Jesus, or Christian views... Read more
I am delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the Patheos Book Club discussion of Matthew Levering’s book Jesus and the Demise of Death: Resurrection, Afterlife, and the Fate of the Christian (Baylor University Press, 2012). The introduction indicates the volume’s particular focus clearly and accurately. Within both Biblical studies and theology, there has been something of a move in the direction of recovering (and in some cases reappropriating) the distinctively apocalyptic eschatology of the earliest Christians and of... Read more
Select your answer to see how you score.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In