Today I feature a guest post from my friend Sam Friedberg. He wrote a response and commentary on the following email which was sent out by the president to supporters, and which has fortunately found its way to others: Sam Friedberg writes, “I’ve been a PERFECT PRESIDENT” I’d like some input from those who are more mature in their discipleship than I am please. I fully understand that the majority of practicing Christians support Donald Trump, and I understand the... Read more
Now that the finale to the series The Good Place has aired, there is so much reflection that deserves to be offered. I hope this will be a series we’ll continue to talk about, because it has real depth to it, both philosophically and emotionally. I might be biased. I’ve watched many recent episodes, and watched the series finale, together with my son. And so that may have primed me to react in certain ways. But I think I would have... Read more
I decided to combine my blog post about the latest ReligionProf Podcast with Matthew Korpman and some existing draft post content I already planned to blog about, for a good reason, I think – one of the links already included was to Korpman’s blog on Patheos, which he hasn’t been keeping up but which hopefully he’ll return to. Our conversation begins with and remains focused on Korpman’s recent book, Saying No To God, but is of interest even if you haven’t read... Read more
The choice of name for this episode of Doctor Who is striking to someone who studies ancient Christianity. Tertullian wrote a famous treatise “Against Praxeas” which was a pseudonym for a bishop. It has been suggested that the actual bishop Tertullian is writing about might be none other than Irenaeus. The nickname means something like “busybody.” And so why did the writers of Doctor Who choose as the title of this episode and the name of the alien pathogen that... Read more
BioLogos has an incredible wealth of resources that it offers to churches on a daily basis. Among recent ones that caught my attention is a sermon by Rev. John Ortberg on whether science disproves faith. I decided to turn a brief snippet into a meme to draw attention to it, but do read the rest. See also Jim Stump’s piece on whether belief in God is reasonable. I think the key point to emphasize is that, while it is indeed... Read more
Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity American Academy of Religion Program Unit Traditions of Eastern Late Antiquity is seeking paper proposals for four sessions for the annual meeting in Boston in November 2020. 1) Middle Eastern Christianity and Others in the City of the Late Antique East (co-sponsored with Middle Eastern Christianity) The Middle Eastern Christianity and the Traditions of the Late Antiquity East Units invite paper proposals that analyze Middle Eastern Christians in the city. This call is open to broad... Read more
Initially I had thought that I might not have much to say about “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror.” At least, not about religion. The episode has plenty of interesting elements, but I didn’t initially think that there was much to connect it with religion. Then I realized that inventors and prophets are essentially in the same category, visionaries. I began To explore this by thinking of prophets as inventors of worlds. But even then I realized that I was introducing... Read more
Here are recordings of the Brown Bag talk that my colleague Frank Felice and I recently gave at Butler University on the subject of a book that we’re writing together, Theology and Progressive Rock. I’ve shared both a video and a Powerpoint version, since I wasn’t sure which was likely to be preferable. If you enjoy them, let me know, and please share one or both and/or this blog post. And please do let me know what you found particularly interesting,... Read more
This fellowship opportunity at the University of Cambridge came to my attention via jobs.ac.uk: Gonville & Caius is one of the oldest and largest Colleges of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1348, it combines the best of Cambridge tradition with twenty-first-century teaching and research. Caius’ beautiful Old Courts are located right in the heart of Cambridge. The College is home to an academic community of around 780 undergraduate and postgraduate students, together with 110 Fellows and almost 200 staff. Gonville &... Read more
A sermon at Crooked Creek Baptist Church by Rev. Joy Amick got me thinking about the story of Job’s wife in different ways than I had before. Job’s wife has an extremely brief role in the story, and typically we have understood her in an entirely negative way. This is partly due to assumptions we make about her and about Job, partly due to things we neglect to consider, and partly due to how a crucial word in the story... Read more
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