This trailer for an upcoming IMAX movie about Jerusalem gives an aerial view of a number of major sites. I hope it will generate enthusiasm among students for the Israel trip I’ll be leading in May! I definitely recommend clicking the “full screen” button! Also potentially of interest is the video blog, The Jerusalem Experience, which Joel Willits shared: Read more
There was a letter to the editor written by Tim Huggins, responding to my own op-ed piece in the Indianapolis Star recently. Below I will include the text of that letter, interspersed with comments and responses from me: In his Jan. 21 My View, Butler University professor James McGrath presented his argument that young earth creationism involves “poor, and at times deceitful, biblical interpretation.” However, the ramblings in his letter were confusing if not outright untrue. Unless Huggins’ letter is itself... Read more
Exploring Our Matrix is one of several blogs that is participating in the Pete Enns blog tour, which means this week we will be reviewing Peter Enns, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2012). Visit the blog tour hub page to find out which other blogs are participating, and to enter to win some books yourself. Since there is a lot that is worth saying about and highlighting in the... Read more
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That mythicism is selectively critical, and selectively applies rigorous skepticism to sources, is easy to illustrate. Take Couchoud’s treatment of John the Baptist as summarized in a recent post on the blog Vridar. There is no skepticism expressed about the words and views attributed to John the Baptist in the New Testament, no suggestion that the information in Josephus might be an interpolation, and no hesitation to use Mandaean sources from many centuries later to provide information about the Baptist... Read more
Many will consider the answer to the question posed in the title of this post obvious, as indeed do I: The Bible does not contain superior medical knowledge, or indeed anything that we might consider medical knowledge in the modern sense at all, because it was written before there was any medical knowledge, much less advanced medical knowledge. But I ask the question anyway to highlight this point for the benefit of young-earth creationists and others who claim that the... Read more
I received this e-mail from the NCSE, which I assume the author will not mind me reproducing here in order to get the word out as quickly and effectively as possible: Dear Indiana NCSE members and friends, As you probably know Senate Bill 89, which would permit the teaching of “creation science” in Indiana science classes was approved by the Senate Education and Career Development committee last Wednesday on an 8-2 vote. The bill is now on the agenda for... Read more
The blog Unreasonable Faith shared this cartoon, a Bible/Back to the Future mash up: It would presumably have been worth posting just for its humor value, and because it brings together two major themes of this blog – religion and science fiction. But I think it could actually lead nicely to some interesting and at least semi-serious discussion. If you had a time machine, what parts of the Bible would you go back and suggest be rewritten or perhaps omitted... Read more
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Review of Roberge, The Paraphrase of Shem
My review of Michel Roberge’s book The Paraphrase of Shem (NH VII,1): Introduction, Translation and Commentary has been published in Review of Biblical Literature. Click through if you’d like to read it. Read more