Mark Goodacre offered a comparison between the finding of lost Doctor Who episodes and the discovery of important ancient manuscripts. Both happen, but rumors of such things are more frequent than the actual occurrences. He related this to the recent rumors of a first-century fragment of the Gospel of Mark having been found. Chuck Grantham decided to take the analogy further, with inspiration taken not only from Mark’s post but also the brief Doctor Who Children in Need video Time... Read more
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The lost Doctor Who episode “The Macra Terror” features that classic sci-fi trope, which had already appeared in Doctor Who prior to this, of a society that seems too perfect, and which in fact conceals a dark secret, as well as inevitably using mind control to keep people content. The scenario will likely also bring to mind George Orwell’s 1984, with its vision of a society with mandatory contentedness, omnipresent fake figurehead, and brainwashing. The Macra are crab-like creatures who... Read more
Someone drew my attention to a post at the blog The Gospel Coalition written by Kevin DeYoung, entitled “10 Reasons to Believe in a Historical Adam.” Since the reasons are not good ones, I thought I would quote them and then comment on them briefly. 1. The Bible does not put an artificial wedge between history and theology. Of course, Genesis is not a history textbook or a science textbook, but that if far from saying we ought to separate... Read more
Wisam Breegi, a Mandaean whom I know, forwarded me a link to a petition, asking the United States government to do more to ensure that Mandaean refugees from Iraq can resettle here, and do so in such a way as to help preserve this unique culture and its heritage. Please consider signing the petition. Here’s the link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/12/save-the-mandaean-refugees/ For those who’d like more information, here’s Wisam Breegi himself talking in the U. K. about the situation of the Mandaeans: Read more
In the episode “The Moonbase” the Doctor visits the result of Newt Gingrich’s promise. The episode witnesses the return of the Cybermen (the first time I saw part of this episode, I wasn’t aware of just how recently the Cybermen had appeared, and that for the first time). The moonbase is the location of a gravitron which is used to control Earth’s weather. We so much take for granted that people have been to the moon and will be again... Read more
The episode of Fringe which aired this past Friday, “Making Angels,” explores religious themes in interesting ways. The starting point of the episode is the death of the father of Astrid in the parallel universe. That Astrid, who is autistic, comes to our universe to meet her parallel self who does not suffer from autism. Their conversation will touch on relationships with parents and the significance of the death of a parent it had seemed impossible to please, in a... Read more
I am impressed by Miley Cyrus’ grasp of that central Christian principle, the Golden Rule. Here’s an excerpt of something she wrote recently (defending a tattoo she got symbolizing that “all love is equal”): Imagine finding someone you love more than anything in the world, who you would risk your life for but couldn’t marry. And you couldn’t have that special day the way your friends do—you know, wear the ring on your finger and have it mean the same... Read more
This is the latest cartoon from David Hayward, aka Naked Pastor. I find it makes rather effectively the important point that alleged belief in the authority or clearness of Scripture does not prevent enormous differences of interpretation and disagreements. Read more
A recent article in Tablet Magazine challenges the religious message of Star Wars in interesting ways (HT The Lead and Religion Nerd). On the one hand, the article makes some good points about the superficiality of some Star Wars spirituality, or the attempt to let “following one’s bliss” be a guide to life. Yet on the other hand, the Star Wars movies themselves seem at times to offer a more profound vision than much of the popular religiosity and philosophy... Read more
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