Longing for Magic and Miracle (Is Science Fiction Simply Fantasy?)

Last updated on: October 16, 2011 at 10:48 pm By James F. McGrath

A question to which I keep returning is whether science fiction is fundamentally different than fantasy. Both have worlds very different than our own, battles between good and evil, monsters, heroes, and usually even energy weapons of some sort. Obviously the difference is that there is at least a pretense of scientific basis in science fiction. But if we are honest, is there anything obviously more scientific about Rose’s raising of Jack Harkness than Jesus’ raising of Lazarus? Is there... Read more

Quote of the Day (From a Review of Jesus Potter Harry Christ by Bob O’Hara)

Last updated on: October 16, 2011 at 10:38 pm By James F. McGrath

Bob O’Hara has written a review of Jesus Potter Harry Christ: The Fascinating Parallels Between Two of the World’s Most Popular Literary Characters, a mythicist book by Derek Murphy, for The Guardian. Here’s a taste: I really enjoyed reading the book. But there it suffers from one large flaw: the argument is a load of Taurus. It simply doesn’t hold together. The logic is so flawed at times it makes you want to take the opposite site, and argue for... Read more

Prayers for Parking Spaces and the Problem of Evil

Last updated on: October 16, 2011 at 2:37 pm By James F. McGrath

A post at imago*futura got me thinking about just how reprehensible American Christians make God out to be when they attribute their finding of a parking spot to answered prayer (and this post on the topic from about a month ago by Randal Rauser). The belief that God micromanages the universe for the benefit of people could in theory be correct or incorrect. But the belief that God micromanages the universe for the benefit of American Christians asking to be... Read more

If God Were Up For Re-Election

Last updated on: October 15, 2011 at 4:24 pm By James F. McGrath

College Humor has some posters for a challenger for the job of God Almighty, which are definitely amusing. Since I have been grading assignments about the problem of evil, I found this one particularly worth sharing: Click through to read the rest. HT Hemant Mehta. Read more

More of Your Brain on Inerrancy

Last updated on: October 15, 2011 at 1:43 pm By James F. McGrath

As a follow up to the last post and the video I shared in it… Read more

This is Your Brain on Inerrancy. Any Questions?

Last updated on: October 15, 2011 at 7:08 am By James F. McGrath

It has been a while since I’d seen this video, and so thanks to John Byron for reminding us about it! Read more

Doctor Who: The Novelization of the Daleks

Last updated on: October 15, 2011 at 12:08 am By James F. McGrath

As I have mentioned before, one of the ways I am going back to “rewatch” Doctor Who from the very beginning is taking advantage of the opportunity to listen to these classic episodes in the car as audiobooks. Yet other than the lost episodes, the recordings of the actual soundtracks of Doctor Who episodes generally lack narration, meaning that unless the episode is fresh in one’s mind or familiar, some portions may simply be eerie music or sounds that it... Read more

Doherty Mythicism?

Last updated on: October 14, 2011 at 11:02 pm By James F. McGrath

Commenter Dave Burke has shared some thoughts on the hurdles that would confront any attempt to quest for a historical Earl Doherty. Would it not be simpler to conclude that he is a myth? I quote three comments here, but I encourage you to click through and read them in their original context. Doherty claims he is ‘generally considered to currently be the world’s leading Jesus mythicist’ and that ‘my books and website have had a huge impact on this... Read more

Together Again (Op-Ed in The Bible and Interpretation)

Last updated on: October 14, 2011 at 1:09 pm By James F. McGrath

An opinion piece I wrote for The Bible and Interpretation has appeared on their web site. Read more

Respect Steve Jobs’ Buddhism!

Last updated on: October 14, 2011 at 12:50 pm By James F. McGrath

Having shared several of the cartoons depicting Steve Jobs in a traditional Christian sort of heaven, it seemed appropriate to share this response as well… By Matt Bors Read more