#CFP Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations Beyond the Anglocentric Fantastic, 28th-29th May 2020

Last updated on: December 21, 2019 at 4:24 pm By James F. McGrath

Glasgow International Fantasy Conversations Beyond the Anglocentric Fantastic 28th-29th May 2020 In “Surviving Fantasy Through Post-Colonialism”, Deepa Dharmadhikari writes that she grew up “speaking Marathi with my family, and Hindi with schoolmates and neighbours, but the only children’s books I read were in English. Less than a handful were written by Indian authors about Indian characters. . . . I grew up with half a tongue.” Her essay invites us to question our own habits: What language do we use... Read more

The Ethics of the Completed Star Wars Skywalker Saga

Last updated on: December 27, 2019 at 1:03 pm By James F. McGrath

As I said in my review of The Rise of Skywalker, I’ve long seen the outlook of the Star Wars as being about balance, a Taoist vision of light and dark, calm and anger, passivity and exertion, rather than a Zoroastrian one, as it were. I’ve also long said that a major focus is redemption of enemies rather than destroying them, as Luke Skywalker does with his father Anakin. And so I wondered how the Skywalker story would be brought... Read more

Paul APB 6

Last updated on: December 26, 2019 at 7:22 pm By James F. McGrath

This video about Paul’s meeting with James is really interesting, and gets at a key insight that Rob Orlando offers into Paul’s final journey to Jerusalem. To be sure, it is possible to overplay the differences between Paul and James. But the tendency is much more for people to underestimate the disagreements, I think. If Rob is right, I think there may be interesting implications not only for our understanding of Paul himself and the outlook of the Book of... Read more

The Gospel of the Gaps (and the Gaps of the Gospels)

Last updated on: December 23, 2019 at 7:40 am By James F. McGrath

One of the things that mythicists regularly mention is the (in their view) long period between when the events that gave rise to Christianity transpired, and our earliest copies of texts that mention them. They clearly have no sense of what is typical when it comes to ancient history more generally. I can understand their dismissal of and impatience with Christian apologists who seem to think that, because we have relatively earlier copies of early Christian writings than most other... Read more

Mary Did You…? No!

Last updated on: December 24, 2019 at 6:00 pm By James F. McGrath

Merry Christmas! A lot of people have pointed out the mansplaining of the songwriter in the song “Mary Did You Know?” Perhaps one of the funniest reworkings was this short one in a tweet: Joseph: “Mary, did you -“ Gabriel: “No.” (Matthew 1:19-21) — Church Curmudgeon (@ChrchCurmudgeon) December 21, 2019 That seemed better (or at least shorter and more poignant and funny) than this attempt to “fix” the song, which didn’t seem to have made it better: That was shared... Read more

The Bigness of God

Last updated on: December 24, 2019 at 6:16 am By James F. McGrath

I am sure that many people, seeing the title of this post, will think immediately of the Monty Python moment in which a prayer is offered that expounds on how very big God is. For those who don’t know it, here it is: For someone in my field, that comes to mind as well. But I am also led to think about the very useful points that one can make on this subject, perhaps using Monty Python as a starting point –... Read more

Early Christian Hymns

Last updated on: December 23, 2019 at 7:39 am By James F. McGrath

A round-up of posts related to early Christology, some with particular focus on their expression in hymns, seems an appropriate thing for me to offer you as Christmas draws near. Hope you find these interesting. Although I continue to explore a variety of subjects in my academic work, I regularly come back to my “first love,” the place where I began with my doctoral research, namely Christology. And so, for your interest, from around the blogosphere: Early Christian Hymns Early... Read more

The Most Wonderful Time of the Academic Year

Last updated on: December 21, 2019 at 4:17 pm By James F. McGrath

How does a professor blow off steam and relax just a bit before getting to work when everyone assumes we are “off work,” “on vacation,” and other things that don’t correspond to the reality? By making a parody video. The lyrics are included below. Now to get back to writing books that I am working on… The Most Wonderful Time of the Academic Year It’s the most wonderful time of the year When the grading is done No... Read more

The Christ Child

Last updated on: December 19, 2019 at 7:12 am By James F. McGrath

Dan McClellan drew my attention to this fascinating short Christmas movie, The Christ Child, with dialogue entirely in Aramaic. The film’s website answers a number of questions, such as this one: Why was the stable set inside of a home? In first-century Jerusalem, animals were usually kept inside the house. The stable where Jesus was born may actually have been an interior courtyard or even a cave adjacent to the living quarters. It’s likely that Jesus was born in the... Read more

The Rise of Skywalker: Review

Last updated on: December 20, 2019 at 12:17 pm By James F. McGrath

I went with my son to see the latest Star Wars film and the last in this trilogy of trilogies, The Rise of Skywalker, as soon as it was in theaters. I will offer a spoiler-free assessment in this first paragraph and so anyone who wishes to know what I think can read it safely and without hesitation. Once the paragraph ends, only those who don’t care about spoilers or who’ve already seen it should continue reading. But I want... Read more

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