Book Review: McGrath, The Only True God
30 October 2009Vlad Todor
There are two ways to appraise James McGrath’s The Only True God: Early Christian Monotheism in Its Jewish Context, a treatise on the theology proper of Judaism and primitive Christianity: its scholarship and its writing. Writing a popular work brings special challenges not faced when writing only to the academy, and McGrath struggles to write [...]
A Response to “Invocation Provocation”
28 October 2009Mel Tillar
[An open critique of Michael's previous article.]
You are quite eloquent and make a valid point. However, there is another point of view. The speaker had several options. He could have prayed for himself, prayed according to a specific doctrine, prayed specifically for the event or prayed relative to his audience. Apparently his prayer was relative [...]
The Merits of My Grandmother
28 October 2009Kyla G. Bingham
Matriarch to us all you are.
Amid the darkest night, the brightest star.
Mischievous humor and twinkling eyes,
A smile to rival brightest skies.
Nor can I forget that rapier wit,
Enough to chop you down to size, or make you stop—and ponder life a bit.
Will I one day be someone like you? Strong and wise, in control and caring, [...]
Evaluating Intelligent Design
23 October 2009Vlad Todor
I want to discuss the scientific status of Intelligent Design, but please note the specificity of my purpose. This is not about whether or not it should be taught in public school, or academic discrimination, or the origin of bacterial flagella. And when I say “Intelligent Design,” or ID, I don’t mean the Discovery Institute, [...]
Problematic Words: Facts, Theories, and Proof
22 October 2009Vlad Todor
“That’s an interesting theory, but do you have any proof?” But what’s a theory, and what is proof? Does a lot of proof turn a theory into a fact? Do lots of facts prove a theory? Can you theorize facts into proofs? Before wading into some deeper waters tomorrow, I want to do some ground [...]
Keeping the Lamps Trim
20 October 2009Ezra O'Leary
Mainstream Christianity could do well to re-establish a greater claim over this virtue.
I feel like mainstream Christianity missed a trick when it came to the financial crisis. Imagine the chord that might have been struck with the greater public had there been someone front and centre in visible televangelism ranting about keeping the lamps trim [...]
Numerical Veracity and the Media
19 October 2009Vlad Todor
Numbers don’t lie, we’re told, but they lie all the time. Ok, in and of themselves they may be innocent, but numbers are open to such variegated interpretation that they shouldn’t be completely trusted. I’m somewhat suspicious of the widely reported article in Reproductive Health, a peer-reviewed medical journal, last month. What the press reported, [...]
I’m Out (For Me and My Girls)
19 October 2009Kyla G. Bingham
Your proclivity toward duplicity does not meet with my complicity.
I can’t and won’t deal with this turbulence—I’m seeking synchronicity.
You tell a million lies every minute—I’m sick of your multiplicity.
Don’t try to sell it cuz I ain’t buyin’—don’t even attempt to solicit to me.
Your predilection for deception is no way to gain my affection.
Though you think [...]
Concrete Question
16 October 2009Concrete Academic
Prescience or politics? Liability or leverage? Take our poll and pontificate poetically in the comments.
What Do You Think of President Obama’s Nobel Prize?
(polls)
More Atheist-Bashing
15 October 2009Vlad Todor
Philosopher of science Michael Ruse is quoted on the cover of Alister McGrath’s The Dawkins Delusion as saying that Richard Dawkins’ eponymous book made him “embarrassed to be an atheist.” I was reminded of this when I heard of a more recent book ‘answering’ the current secular movement, The Last Superstition, where Dawkins is again [...]