Via Tobias Buckell, I learned that Gizmodo has apparently found out what the big news is that NASA will hold a press conference about later today. Apparently a form of extremophile bacteria has been discovered on Earth which has a different chemical make-up to it’s DNA than all other known forms of life on this planet. It isn’t extraterrestrial life, but it does suggest that Star Trek is right that we need to cast our net more widely than “life... Read more

Jim Linville suggests a crucial topic at the intersection of Biblical studies and science fiction, which definitely ought to be on the program if we have a session on the Bible and sci-fi at SBL in San Francisco next year: The existence or non-existence of Q! Even this photo may not be enough to persuade Mark Goodacre. But this post definitely proves one important point: You don’t need more than a single letter in order to make a bad pun. Read more

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I decided against showing a picture of Revelation 6:1 since it is too graphic. Read more

Here’s a suggestion (inspired by a recent discussion of Greek terminology on Facebook) for anyone who is thinking of starting a new blog or looking to rename an older one: εν αρχη ην ο μπλογος (Loose translation: “in the beginning was the blog” although the word used for “blog” is not the modern Greek word for a blog (which would be Ιστολόγιο), but a combination of letters which is how you would render the sound of the English word “blog” into Greek, which... Read more

Jim West announced that there will be a colloquium on the Biblical Studies e-mail list about “John, Jesus and History.” Presumably most readers will know this, but I suppose I should mention that I contributed a chapter to the second of the conference volumes in the John, Jesus and History series, and of course remain interested in the topic. The “John, Jesus and History” program unit at SBL has continued to bring together a diverse and fascinating range of contributors... Read more

Today my class on the Bible reached the Book of Revelation, and the student who presented used a picture in his PowerPoint that would have been perfect for the discussion yesterday in my class on Revelation about the (lack of) climactic battles in Revelation. The one place we do get an impression that there is an actual battle is in Revelation 12:7, which the Brick Testament depicts as follows: Read more

No not that Calvin, the other one… HT Jim West and Michael Barber Read more

HT Chris Tilling who got it from Host. Read more

HT to NECC for the image. Read more