Doug’s Is Better…

While I was toying with the idea of posting some clever “April Fools” bit (like how I was converting to Wrightianity or “Emergent-ianity” or some other inanity; or how I had changed my mind to become a maximalist or a pentecostalist), Doug Chaplin has already done it with what really is the most profoundly twisted and disturbing suggestion ever made in the entire history of all humanity. Archbishop Wright… Ghastly. Well played, Doug.

The ‘James Ossuary’ Wins!

What, you ask? Mention in a listing of the top ten science hoaxes of all time! And, here’s the delicious and delightful part, the listing is made by the Discovery Channel- Canada!!!!! You know, the Discovery Channel (of Talpiot Tomb fame) Canada (of Toronto fame and the exhibition of the ossuary where it was fawned over by thousands). Sweet irony! Or, as the kids say, ’sweeeettttt’. (And they hate it when we old folk say it- as though it’s demeaned thereby)(which is, I must confess, exactly why I say it).

Status: How many boxes can one brother of Jesus exist in? “Collector” Oded Golan premiered this sepulchral, limestone box containing bones in Israel in 2002. An inscription in the box read “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus”. After a brief display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the box was revealed to be a fake. In a search of Golan’s dwelling in Israel, other fake artifacts and tools for creating more were found. It is rumoured that a partially finished copy was found sitting on Golan’s toilet. Golan himself confessed the locations of several other fakes under interrogation by local authorities.

But, shhhh…. Don’t tell Shanks or Witherington. They still think it’s the real deal.

You See, My Friends, That Scholars Are Thinkers

Like this one. Failure to write is failure to think. Further, failure to write is failure to open oneself to criticism. Scholars who don’t write are afraid to share their ideas- because they are afraid of being shown wrong.

[Filed under- a random observation].

The Mystery of the Mobile Cave

Stephen Pfann has been, of late, describing Qumran caves. It might sound uninteresting at first but it really is quite intriguing. Especially today when he makes mention of what I’m calling the mystery of the mobile cave- or perhaps the cave that moves around. Caves that move… You don’t get that kind of cool stuff over on the Discovery Channel!

More Ark Stuff

Go ahead, read it, you know you want to. And just to whet your appetite- here’s the conclusion of the ‘essay’:

Scholars may not agree on the fate of the Ark but many of them agree on one thing: it’s discovery could set in motion another event that’s been 2000 years in the making – the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. “Perhaps when it’s time to build the third temple, the second temple treasures will be found. Why? Because in Ezra and Nehemiah the Bible indicated that when it was time to build the second temple, God restored the treasures from the first temple which of course have been carted off to Babylon,” said Rosenberg. “When it’s time to build a third temple, the second temple’s treasures would be found. Wouldn’t that be dramatic?,” he concluded. “It is soon to come, I tell you, I promise you, and you check me. Test me. It will be in our lifetime,” added Salomon.

It just makes me shiver with delighted anticipation…

God Gave us Doctors, Too

These sorts of stories are so heartbreaking. Small children suffering dreadful and yet treatable illnesses because their parents fail to understand that God gave us minds and those minds are capable of incredible accomplishments- including medical accomplishments.

That said, the State really has no right to impose its own standards of religious faith on someone else. Separation of Church and State means exactly that- if you don’t want us praying in your schools, don’t come poking your noses into our family life. And if you don’t want the government prying into your private faith, don’t try to force that faith on others. Even if it’s faith in medical science. The sword cuts both ways, you see.

Carl and Raylene Worthington shouldn’t be prosecuted- they should be pitied.

Now This Prof Got it Right!

Unlike others who have been in the news of late for holding viewpoints at odds with their institutions, Kent Dobson has taken the honorable step and resigned from his position since it “was apparent to both Kent and the board that some of the views expressed on the program were outside of the Statement of Faith of NorthPointe Christian and therefore his resignation was given and accepted.”

Ethics Daily reports

A Bible scholar and son of a prominent evangelical pastor resigned from his teaching job at a Christian school over his role in a Discovery Channel program, “Jesus: The Missing History.” Kent Dobson resigned from his job at NorthPointe Christian High School…
for the reasons stated above.

Kudos to him. Kudos for his ability to put the needs of the institution above his own. I hope he gets a better position and writes a book about it all and makes 80 gazillion dollars.

[P.S.- It must be the week of the theological clashes].

Heads Will Roll

Peter Enns isn’t the only person in hot water for a viewpoint at odds with his institution’s (whether perceived or real). Two faculty members at the fundamentalist Cedarville University, professors David Hoffeditz and David Mappes, were let go – evidently because they have ‘emergent’ leanings (though it might also be possible that they were let go because they DON’T have emergent leanings- according to an email I received a bit ago. Either way- it’s oddddddddd). The Dayton Daily News reports

The firings stemmed from an intense theological debate that appeared to divide Bible department faculty and raised concerns and questions about the university’s theological base. Observers say Cedarville is caught up in a debate within evangelical Christianity over whether or not it can know for certain that scriptures in the Bible are true. Fundamentalists take a historical view of the Bible’s truth and apply its statements literally, for example holding firm to the book of Genesis explanation of the Earth’s creation, that God created Earth in six days. But less literal followers, known as the Emergent Church, put the Bible into the context of the modern world, deconstructing and reconstructing Christianity with other faiths to arrive at an assurance the Bible is true.

Oh it’s a mess there. Students secretly recording conversations and investigations by accrediting agencies and all manner of issues springing forth. Nonetheless, as is true of any institution- Cedarville has every right to employ whomsoever it will and if it feels that the profs have wandered from the fold- they are free to dismiss them.

UPDATE: More information is presented here (though it is by Baptist Press and thus must be taken with a huge slab of salt). With thanks to Charles Savelle for it.

Sodom Was Wiped (Out) By An Asteroid

According to a report in the good old Daily Mail.

A clay tablet that has baffled scientists for more than a century has been identified as a witness’s account of an asteroid that destroyed the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah 5,000 years ago. Geologists have long puzzled over the shape of the land close to the town of Köfels in the Austrian Alps. But now researchers claim to have finally found the answer. They say the tablet’s symbols give a detailed account of how a mile-long asteroid hit the region, causing thousands of deaths and devastating more than one million sq km (386,000 sq miles).

Neat huh? Now Steven Collins can verify his findings at Sodom. Finally- concrete historical proof of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. But there’s more:

The theory is the work of two rocket scientists – Alan Bond and Mark Hempsell – who have spent the past eight years piecing together the archaeological puzzle. At its heart is a clay tablet called the Planisphere, discovered by the Victorian archaeologist Henry Layard in the remains of the library of the Royal Palace at Nineveh. Using computers to recreate the night sky thousands of years ago, they have pinpointed the sighting described on the tablet – a 700BC copy of notes of the night sky as seen by a Sumerian astrologer in one of the world’s earliest-known civilisations – to shortly before dawn on June 29 in the year 3123BC.

Minimalists… your theories are undone with this neat little trinket. Rejoice, ye maximalists. Thou standest vindicated…. (And it’s not April Fool’s till tomorrow- but maybe they jumped the gun and published this too early).

UPDATE: And just so you know how idiotic people can be (and are)- the same tablet is being described as also pointing to the same piece of space junk smashing into a site in Austria. With thanks to Jan Pieter van de Giesen for pointing it out.   That’s some magic asteroid!

Bummer, Rats, and What a Ripoff

I was really hoping the underdog Davidson would wipe the floor with Kansas. But alas, as has happened with every other team in the NCAA tournament I have rooted for, they lost, 59-57. Bummer, rats and what a ripoff.

Still, there might be some good to come of this curse of calling for the losing team to win. If I root for Obama, McCain, and Clinton to win- maybe the country will luck out and they will all lose. So, in the spirit of my failure to call the winner- I’m officially rooting for Obama to win. And Clinton. And McCain! Go team!!!!

[n.b.- I sure hope the curse holds].