As someone who is fascinated by new technology, including robots, and who thinks that ancient technologies now taken for granted have a lot to teach us about the present and future when it comes to the current and potential impact of new technologies, this article about the impact of oxen in the ancient world fascinated me. Here’s a lengthy excerpt: If it sounds silly today to lament that oxen were taking the jobs of people 7,000 years ago, it is... Read more
Barton Breen wrote the above as a comment on Facebook, and I asked for permission to share it, since it sums up a point I’ve often made, but does so succinctly and memorably. Of related interest is the Sojourners piece on the fact that not everything “biblical” is Christlike, as well as this one on Patheos about whether the red letter are merely suggestions.    Read more
A while back, Richard Beck pointed to Johnny Cash’s song “Belshazzar” as an example of the currency that certain stories or just phrases from the Bible once had, but largely no longer do. Being “weighed in the balance and found wanting” is the particular example in mind here, but there are obviously many others. Here’s the video of the Johnny Cash song: Georg Friedrich Haendel composed an oratorio around the story: Jean Sibelius and William Walton both composed works with... Read more
Bruce Gerencser shared something that a proponent of young-earth creationism recently said. Bodie Hodge of Answers in Genesis claims: Where Did a Young-earth Worldview Come From? Simply put, it came from the Bible. Of course, the Bible doesn’t say explicitly anywhere, “The earth is 6,000 years old.” Good thing it doesn’t; otherwise it would be out of date the following year. But we wouldn’t expect an all-knowing God to make that kind of a mistake. God gave us something better.... Read more
Those who know me personally or through my blog know that I love language learning, as well as having a passion for gamification. You also know that I’m teaching a course that includes a unit on China this semester, and that I’ve been increasingly enjoying audiobooks. And so you won’t be surprised to learn that, putting all of the above together, I looked to see what language-learning resources my public library has for those who want to learn Mandarin. One... Read more
To the extent that the point of this cartoon by David Hayward is that spiritual growth hurts, I agree – it can hurt. Surely that is the reason why many prefer to remain immature, not merely childlike (which can be positive) but childish. Spiritual growth, like any growth, is a painful process. However, I suspect I am not the only one who also has qualms about the depiction of God kicking someone off a cliff. That, I think, is part... Read more
I’ve been thinking more about the dogs or puppies in the story about the Syrophoenician woman. One aspect that is rarely discussed is the likelihood that the conversation – even if the woman was a “Greek” – that a Galilean and a Syrian or Phoenician would have had their conversation in Aramaic. The Syriac New Testament simply uses the word “dog” in its version of the story, even though Aramaic had a diminutive form of the word. Interestingly, the New... Read more
Here’s an interesting call for papers from an organization in Spain, the International Congress of Fantastic Genre, Audiovisuals and New Technologies, which is an academic wing of the Elche International Fantastic Film Festival – FANTAELX, in collaboration with the Miguel Hernández University. Some of the English is a bit garbled, but I’m sure that calls for papers for conferences in the English-speaking world regularly make it into other languages in comparable form. See their website (and Facebook page, Twitter account, and YouTube... Read more
Bob Cargill shared this meme that illustrates the problem with the so-called paradox of tolerance nicely: As you may recall, Ankur Gupta and I use precisely this illustration in our article about the need to prioritize various ethical commitments that we have. Here’s the relevant part of our article: [W]hen the United Federation of Planets claims to embrace the Vulcan ideology of Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, and yet fights against the Borg, it is not showing that inclusivity is... Read more
Call for proposals for Strange Novel Worlds? Star Trek Novels and Fiction Collections in Popular Culture Since James Blish published his novelizations of Star Trek episodes (Bantam, 1967sq), over 840 tie-in novels, anthologies, novelizations, and omnibus editions have made their way to fans eager to follow the continuing adventures of their favourite Starfleet officers and aliens. Though none are to be considered canon, Star Trek tie-in books have supplemented the franchise, providing more stories starring favourite and original characters, furthering plotlines... Read more
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