It is a famous analogy which has been used by both sides in the evolution debate: If you give one or more monkeys typewriters and an infinite amount of time, supposedly they will eventually produce the works of William Shakespeare. The necessary rationale for that is of course infinity: in an infinite amount of time, randomness will (it is believed) produce every possible circumstance. But since evolution doesn’t have an infinite amount of time, and is not completely random, those... Read more
On the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, of the eleventh year, because of the eleventh Doctor… Silence will fall… Read more
Although proponents of both young-earth creationism and intelligent design typically show signs of great (and unwarranted) confidence in their viewpoints, when it suits them, some of them will happily say that they are dealing with the same evidence as mainstream science, and it is only their presuppositions (which they assume are correct) and their interpretation (which they assume is equally valid) that differs. They sound a lot like the viewpoint expressed in this cartoon, which appeared today on the blog... Read more
This is the PBS NOVA documentary about the Dover trial related to Intelligent Design. HT Jerry Coyne Read more
A friend of mine has begun looking into the subject of rhetorical questions in Paul’s letters. He is interested in both the background in ancient rhetoric – might Paul have been familiar with what earlier rhetoricians had said on the subject – and in what is involved in translating such rhetorical questions when translating the Pauline epistles today. Does anyone have any thoughts on this subject, or recommendations for reading on the topic? If so, please do share them in the... Read more
Thanks for Bob Cargill, the time and place for the bibliobloggers’ dinner at SBL has been set: Saturday, November 19, 2011 from 7PM to 9PM, right after the Blogger section. It will be held here: The Press Club 20 Yerba Buena Lane San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 744-5000 Map: http://g.co/maps/tajxz http://www.pressclubsf.com/ I still think that all religion bloggers at either AAR or SBL ought to consider themselves welcome! Read more
The Doctor Who episode The Myth Makers witnesses the TARDIS and its occupants arriving near ancient Troy, which had been at war with Greece for ten long years. Achilles and Hector are fighting and after Hector insults the gods of Greece including Zeus, and so when the Doctor suddenly emerges from the TARDIS, he is mistaken for Zeus by both of them! This is an episode from which all parts are missing, but the audio has survived and can be... Read more
Jeff Carter made this picture, which he called “The Sacred Heart of Vader.” It definitely represents an intersection of religion and science fiction. Apart from that, I’ll just ask what you make of it (and/or what the Jedi Street Preachers would make of it), how you would caption it, and how it compares to other religion and sci-fi icons that you’ve come across. If you’ve never come across any others, here are a couple to set you Googling and searching... Read more
My op-ed piece, entitled “Unity, Diversity, and Information Literacy in Biblical Studies,” has now appeared on the site of The Bible and Interpretation. Read more
In a discussion with a young-earth creationist here on this blog recently, it was illustrated once again how those with such a perspective are willing to simply make things up to try to bolster their viewpoint. One example is the evidence for the age of the earth provided by chalk deposits. Chalk is formed through the death and deposit on the ocean floor of the remains of microorganisms. The rate at which this ooze of dead microorganisms’ remains can turn... Read more
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