Big game last Saturday — Florida State University against #1 ranked University of Florida, led by quarterback Tim Tebow whose illustrious career will make him the darling of NFL draft picks after he graduates this year. Tebow’s Christianity isn’t news, but the text in his eye black, “Hebrews 12:1-2” had them guessing… at least until they’d located the verses …
Tim Tebow Takes the Field, or When Hebrews Meets Football Read More »
Doing some research on images of angels in biblical texts, I came across the captivating icon painted by Russian Andrei Rublev around 1410. Men, angels, or God? The peculiar story of Abraham and Sarah’s visitors in Gen 18 uses a constellation of Hebrew vocabulary that has intriguing theological implications. For Rublev, it afforded an opportunity to meditate on the Christian …
It’s a gray day in New Orleans, and rainy. No, not THAT rainy, but enough to keep the biblical scholars to their session… till nighttime, that is. The Society of Biblical Literature is meeting right now in downtown New Orleans, just off the French Quarter. This annual meeting, which gathers in a different place each year, is …
One of the most iconic images of western art is Michelangelo’s “creation of man” in the Sistine chapel. You know the one — a stirring painting depicting an impressive old man God reaching from the clouds to touch the outstretched hand of a young Adam. But just what, exactly, is that image based on? Genesis tells the creation …
In this time of the proliferation of Bible versions, translations, and packaging, there’s yet another. The Word of Promise Audio Bible (Thomas Nelson) produced over near four years and based on a modern (1982) King James Version is 98 hours long and spans 79 CDs. The real selling point will likely be the stars who lent their voices to …
I’ve just begun (re)reading Milton’s “Paradise Lost.” Truth is, I don’t remember ever reading the whole thing through before. Snippets here and there for lit classes over the years but never from the beginning to the end. What a ride it is! And to think that Milton wrote it blind. Contemplate that, for a minute. …
Modern believers are frequently encouraged to treat their Bible’s with a little less care. Use it! read it! don’t worry about marking it up, dog-earing pages, or wearing it ragged, they’re advised. A tired-looking Bible is a good sign. Its user is, well, using it. Sometimes, though, the thing itself, that particular copy, really matters. …
As I work my way through the Buffy tv series (“work” is too severe a word here — I’m having a blast), I’m struck by how bilbical themes, language, and images lend themselves to the science fiction imagination. This isn’t earth-shattering news, I know. What’s striking is how the Bible is translated into this medium. Appreciating the wild and wacky …
I happen to agree with Thomas Jefferson’s assertion that “the Bible is the cornerstone of liberty…students’ perusal of the sacred volume will make us better citizens, better fathers, and better husbands,” but I doubt I’ve taken the same logic to arrive at that conclusion… or maybe even mean the same thing by it. (Oh, and one obvious caveat: I …
Halloween, when ghosts, demons, and (judging from my neighborhood anyway) a lot of pirates walk the streets unrestrained and with an insatiable sweet tooth. All Hallows Eve (Halloween) inaugurates the celebration of All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1), which commemorates the especially righteous dead who are privileged in heaven to behold God immediately (an idea developed out of biblical …
On Halloween, Do Demons Really Come out to Play? Read More »
