Note what Earl Doherty says in the next sentence after the one I quoted in my previous post: Great. Finally something that will give mythicism a shot in the arm. After all, if someone like Bart Ehrman feels the necessity to take it on, that implies a certain degree of legitimacy. It can no longer be dismissed as a fringe crackpot theory not worthy of mainstream scholarship’s attention. Maybe I’ll finally get my “peer review.” I look forward to the... Read more
As many of you will be aware, Bart Ehrman is working on an ebook about mythicism. If you would like a foretaste, here is a radio interview on YouTube with Bart Ehrman on the subject, in which the host Reginald Finley tries to suggest mythicism might have some plausibility to it, and digs himself deeper and deeper into a hole as Ehrman shows up Finley’s ignorance on the topic and refuses to allow him to simply raise doubts without addressing... Read more
I noticed that the link to my round-up of blogging about mythicism was wrong in one of my early posts on the topic here. Rather than just make a change there so long after posting, when it probably would not be noticed, I thought I would share the correct link here. Round-up of blogging about mythicism as of January 2011 Round-up of blogging about mythicism as of May 2011 Round-up of the first part of my blogging about Earl Doherty’s... Read more
I got an honorable mention in the category of “alternative smartass answer” in a competition that Jen McCreight held on her blog. I think I am more pleased by this than I would have been if I had won! 🙂 Read more
The blog Questioning Answers in Genesis posted about the fact that there is a need for presentations of the evidence for evolution which treat those who do not yet accept it with respect, and do not merely present the evidence but also address the objections that circulate among such detractors, patiently explaining why such objections are wrong or off target. I know that scientists doing just that were instrumental in changing my own mind from being an adherent of young-earth... Read more
I recently had the experience of someone who reads and comments on my blog regularly – and who understands what it means to be a Christian and a variety of matters related to that differently than I do – acknowledge that they have no actual church connection. I probably should not have been surprised by this as I was. The idea that being a Christian means believing certain things and defending those beliefs against challenges is widespread today, and it... Read more
I don’t understand the argument that everything in the Bible should be taken literally. I see that argument used to support many ideas that lots of people have. I don’t hear it used to support ideas that few people have and that have become unmentionable, from burning adulterous women to having slaves to the difficulty of rich people getting to heaven, as Jesus is supposed to have said. I see people who claim to take the Bible literally adopting very... Read more
Chris Heard has begun blogging about a new book, Bible Made Impossible, The: Why Biblicism Is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture. And Randall Rauser has several, including “How fundamentalists undermine the authority of scripture” and “Should we really interpret the Bible literally when possible?” In other news, Scott Bailey shares an account of his journey to the fourth heaven (not to be confused with the third heaven, where really entertaining things go on). Read more
Being a technophile, perhaps it was inevitable that I would decide to give Google Plus a try. If you are on there, now or in the future, then put me in a circle. It’s what Dante would do. Jim West shared that last image, but he didn’t share a mock-up of the circles Dante would have put you in, had he had Google+ – but fortunately that can be found online too: Hopefully I have set it up correctly so... Read more
As I mentioned in an earlier post, one of the topics of discussion in our car ride to and from Holiday World yesterday was great rock musicians. Those in the car with me were at best vaguely familiar with some of the keyboardists that immediately came to my mind, in some cases in spite of being aware of the bands they are associated with. And so this post is aimed at sharing some names that anyone should know, and sharing... Read more
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