How to Determine the Queen and King of the Biblioblogosphere

Last updated on: July 10, 2011 at 3:09 pm By James F. McGrath

There have been major struggles for dominance in the biblioblogosphere, as bloggers have sought to attain the coveted #1 rank, and debated and introduced new methods of evaluation – from Alexa rankings to voting. I would like to propose a different method. The queen and king of the biblioblogosphere should not be based on something as ephemeral or untrustworthy as statistics or popular opinion, whether during a particular month or over a longer period. I propose instead that the rank... Read more

What is a Biblioblog?

Last updated on: July 10, 2011 at 2:19 pm By James F. McGrath

What is a biblioblog? That is the question which Scott Bailey asked and which Jim West, Joel Watts, Rod of Alexandria, Steve Caruso and James Bradford Pate have each sought to answer. I am due to host the Biblical Studies Carnival in early September with a round-up of posts from August. So hopefully we can all figure it out by then, if not sooner, so that I know what to include! 🙂 My own view is that, for the purpose of a... Read more

Creationism and Bad Science Education around the Blogosphere

Last updated on: July 10, 2011 at 1:48 pm By James F. McGrath

P. Z. Myers shared the excellent cartoon below (Jim Getz also mentions it) as well as information about a secret Intelligent Design conference. P. Z. Myers also has a post at The Panda’s Thumb explaining a recent article in Nature and another on a study that uses young-earth creationism’s own dubious methods to demonstrate evolution. Dennis Vennema has posted part 6 of his series on evolution and the origin of biological information. Scott Bailey tries reading the tower of Babel... Read more

Bob Cargill on the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Last updated on: July 10, 2011 at 10:52 am By James F. McGrath

Bob Cargill recently discovered the “Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.” I particularly appreciated this thought of his on the topic: if this group had the word “Islamic” in it, and all of the members were citing the Qur’an and the women pictured were in burqas or veils, I’m guessing the members of this same CBMW group would condemn it as Sharia Law fundamentalism suppressing the rights of woman. But somehow, because it’s a Christian organization and they’re citing the Bible, this group... Read more

Debunking Christianity Debunking Mythicism

Last updated on: July 10, 2011 at 10:44 am By James F. McGrath

I hope to return to blogging about mythicism soon. In the mean time, I can share that the atheist blog Debunking Christianity has once again turned its attention to mythicism, that infamous source of embarrassment for atheists and freethinkers. Take a look at what Tommy Baker has to say over there, and then either leave a comment there, or come back here to discuss it, or both! Read more

June 2011 Top Ten Biblioblogs

Last updated on: July 10, 2011 at 9:34 am By James F. McGrath

There’s a new #1 biblioblogger in the Top 10 by vote. Congratulations to Suzanne McCarthy and her blog, Suzanne’s Bookshelf! Thanks as well to everyone who voted for Exploring Our Matrix, which came in #2. Read more

Patheos Blogs in the Biblioblog Top 50

Last updated on: July 10, 2011 at 9:26 am By James F. McGrath

In the past, blogs on sites such as Patheos which host multiple blogs have been left to the side in the rankings, as a result of Alexa and other statistic sources not ranking blogs separately but only the site as a whole. Then along came Steve Caruso. Not only has he created the Biblioblog Reference Library and taken over the job of ranking the blogs, but he also developed a tracker to enable blogs like this one to participate. He... Read more

Submissions for July/August Biblical Studies Carnival

Last updated on: July 9, 2011 at 11:15 am By James F. McGrath

Dan McClellan has put out a call for submissions for the next Biblical Studies Carnival. I personally think that the carnival name ought to reflect the month covered by the carnival, not the fact that it is posted early in the following month. What do others think about this? On a related note, Chris Brady has posted on why he will not be hosting the carnival in the future, leading Jim West to whine and carp about “whining carpers.” Read more

Home

Last updated on: July 8, 2011 at 9:28 pm By James F. McGrath

Back home from the summer’s extensive travels. Regular blogging will resume shortly… Read more

Review of Jerusalem Testament

Last updated on: July 8, 2011 at 9:18 pm By James F. McGrath

I took several books and bits of work with me on my recent trip by placing them on my iPad, but I also took a print book, of which the publisher kindly sent me a free review copy: Melanie A. May’s Jerusalem Testament: Palestinian Christians Speak, 1988-2008 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010). It is perhaps more appropriate to think of May as the volume’s editor rather than author. She provides introductory and concluding thoughts as well as other explanatory comments along... Read more