{"id":11057,"date":"2012-12-01T18:02:57","date_gmt":"2012-12-01T23:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=11057"},"modified":"2012-12-01T18:02:57","modified_gmt":"2012-12-01T23:02:57","slug":"welcome-to-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/welcome-to-advent.html","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Advent!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>This marks the start of the season when a small remnant of liturgically-minded Christians (including some of us American Baptists!) mark the countdown to Christmas \u2013 and a comparable number of Doctor Who fans <a href=\"http:\/\/doctorwhotv.co.uk\/2012-advent-calendar-announced-42439.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">count down the days<\/a> to the Christmas special. Either way, the symbolism relates to the arrival of something or someone long awaited. And those who are interested in the intersection of religion and Doctor Who, recalling the jumbled history of Christmas vaguely understood and remembered by people aboard the space ship Titanic, will also ponder whether one day in the future this tradition of waiting in eager expectation might disappear, or find itself transformed into something which retains little of its original meaning.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11058\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2012\/12\/countdown-to-Doctor-Who.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"420\" height=\"291\"><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This marks the start of the season when a small remnant of liturgically-minded Christians (including some of us American Baptists!) mark the countdown to Christmas \u2013 and a comparable number of Doctor Who fans count down the days to the Christmas special. Either way, the symbolism relates to the arrival of something or someone long [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,133],"tags":[397,2765,12667],"class_list":["post-11057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity-religion","category-doctor-who-science-fiction","tag-advent","tag-doctor-who","tag-titanic"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Welcome to Advent!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This marks the start of the season when a small remnant of liturgically-minded Christians (including some of us American Baptists!) mark the countdown to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/welcome-to-advent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome to Advent!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This marks the start of the season when a small remnant of liturgically-minded Christians (including some of us American Baptists!) mark the countdown to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/12\/welcome-to-advent.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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