Two mentions of things to do with the Mandaeans in the blogosphere recently – one exciting, one disappointing. First, today Jim Davila mentioned the Aramaic DNA project, which is seeking to collect DNA data from Aramaic speakers. I had heard about the project from Paul Givargidze, and was and remain excited about the fact that Mandaeans can and are encouraged to participate. (See my article on the Miriai story and Mandaean origins, forthcoming in ARAM Periodical and already available online,... Read more

Whatever one’s gut reaction or more thoughtful reflection on the picture below, whatever one’s attraction or repulsion, or how well or poorly one feels that it makes its point or accurately represents the teaching of Jesus, I suspect that there is one thing everyone will agree on: it is a provocative image. HT Matthew Paul Turner Read more

A friend asked me if I knew of a good DVD or computer program providing an overview of the geography of Israel/Palestine. I don’t off hand, but I know who to ask. Any suggestions? Read more

Since someone recently suggested to me that Liberal Protestantism doesn’t really have a message that it can proclaim that will attract converts, I had to share this bit of news: a scientific study suggests that the brains of mainline Protestants rot slower than those of people of other faiths. Unfortunately, I am guessing from the chart that my life-changing religious experience counterbalances the effects of my connection with mainline Protestantism. Read more

A commenter a while back asked if I knew why Karl Giberson was leaving BioLogos. A new post at BioLogos answers the question: he’s leaving to have more time to write. Read more

At the blog Near Emmaus, Simon Gathercole’s interpretation of Synoptic Christology, and in particular his argument regarding the “I have come” + purpose sayings, are getting discussed. (See too the earlier discussion of Synoptic Christology at Near Emmaus, and the subsequent posts by Michael Bird and Allan Bevere). My own view, akin to that expressed by Andrew Perriman in a recent post on this subject, is that the Synoptic Gospels depict Jesus as a human being vested with divinely-given authority. They lack any explicit... Read more

Yesterday in my Sunday school class we continued our study of Romans, reaching the start of chapter 3. In trying to sum up Paul’s seemingly conflicting points about the advantage of being a member of the Jewish people (yes there is an advantage, no we are not any better off) I used the analogy of gym membership. I wonder whether others find this a useful analogy for illustrating Paul’s point. Paul’s contrast in Romans 2 can be compared to a... Read more

The Bible and Interpretation has an article by Tom Verenna on the lead codices and the role of bibliobloggers in making more reliable information available. Read more

We have reached the end of Part 1 of Earl Doherty’s book Jesus: Neither God Nor Man – The Case for a Mythical Jesus. In assessing the case and claims he has offered so far, I found myself inspired by GakuseiDon’s comment mentioning Michael Shermer’s Baloney Detection Kit (inspired by Carl Sagan’s). I thought I would apply that kit to Doherty’s book thus far, as a way of assessing what it has offered as well as bringing in an additional... Read more