Biblical imagery draws richly from the world of the ancient Middle East, including its hills, waters, arid stretches, and wildly diverse animals — domestic and not. Trees “clap their hands” and the beloved is likened to a swift, graceful gazelle. These days, as I wander out to examine my new garden, trying to diagnose yellowing […]
Creation’s Cacophonous Chorus Read More »
By collecting the wise words, beautiful and true, of all sorts of people from any time or place, and then packaging them in a way transparently “biblical,” the atheist philosopher A. C. Grayling reveals not only an indebtedness to religion but also a propensity to trip in the same pitfalls as the religious people he so doggedly criticizes. That’s
The Irony of Grayling’s Atheist “Bible” Read More »
Despite a common assumption that the Bible is all sweetness and light, filled with upstanding moral models for individuals today, it doesn’t always translate so neatly. After Adam, the next father is one who murdered his brother. There’s Noah’s drunken nakedness whose story involving his sons ended up endorsing the slavery of Africans, Abraham’s near sacrifice of
May Your Father’s Day Not Be Entirely Biblical Read More »
Alternatively: “On Not Reading the Bible”; but then I must hastily add that I’m not against reading the Bible… not exactly. But when it comes to the Bible, reading and knowing about it can be quite different things. Some time ago (if you read here regularly, you may remember), I was a bit put off
The Perils of Bible Reading Read More »
The eunuchs especially got my attention this time — a little plump, double-chinned, and very dignified in their ancient, stone-carved representation. I’ve visited the Oriental Institute in the past but am each time struck by something different. What a gem — a small museum in a beautiful old building on a tree-lined street in Chicago’s South Side, it houses
U Chicago’s Oriental Institute Read More »
Referring to the Cyrus Cylinder, Ahmadinejad is reported as saying that it represents the kind of foundation on which people can build a highly developed civilization. So far, so good, as it goes. But he reputedly went on to note the relative lack of such a foundation for the “Zionist regime” — meaning Israel?, Judaism? Let’s see… the Bible?!
In the Game of Cultural Background: Iran vs. Israel Read More »
What a great event — the 2nd annual B.I.O. conference in DC last Saturday! Thanks to Charles Shields for introducing me to the organization and to him, James McGrath Morris, Barbara Burkhardt, and many others for putting together such a bang-up event. Only a couple hundred attendees, so it felt both intimate and professional. Lively reception Friday
Click here for quick and easy voting.* I’m honored that Bible Babel is in the company of excellent nonfiction books short-listed for the Library of Virginia’s 14th annual “People’s Choice” literary award. Thank you for following the link to cast your ballot. Please tell your friends and family, too! Each year the Library of Virginia recognizes authors from the state
Bible Babel for Lit Award — please vote! Read More »
“The mother of all living,” a slave-mother who despairs of saving her son, a mother who unapologetically favors one son over the other, a mother-in-law more beloved than her daughter-in-law’s own people, old mothers, young mothers, and a mother who conceives by the Holy Spirit — for as little as we know about them, the Bible’s
Mothers of Old and Mothers Today, Happy Mothers’ Day! Read More »
CNN published an essay I wrote but with edits that got it wrong. Unintentionally, I’m sure, but it says exactly what I’ve been arguing against. I disagree with both the title and the final sentence, arguably the most powerful parts. Neither of them are mine. Nevertheless, the essay concludes with the mandatory disclaimer that “The
“My Take” on CNN Not My Take Read More »
