Evelyn Barish’s The Double Life of Paul De Manhas received mixed reviews. The NYTBR review cataloged minor errors to build a case against Barish’s reliability. Robert Alter’s review in The New Republic finds Barish’s case compelling. The case is moral and . . . . Continue Reading »
Ronald Osborn’s Death Before the Fall is two books in one, as the subtitle suggests: “Biblical Literalism and the Problem of Animal Suffering.”Part of the book is a critique of “literalism,” especially as expressed in young-earth creationism, the other part . . . . Continue Reading »
Carlotta Gall spent 12 years in Afghanistan, and spent much of her time investigating the sources of the Taliban resurgence. She traced it back to Pakistan, and discovered that the Pakistani intelligence service (ISI) was secretly supportive of both the Taliban and al Quaeda.Gall writes, . . . . Continue Reading »
Gall again, reporting on Pakistan’s cozy relationship with bin Laden:She found evidence of “regular correspondence between Bin Laden and a string of militant leaders who must have known he was living in Pakistan, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a . . . . Continue Reading »
Every morning Venus lights up in the sky before the sun rises - a speck of light before the sun.Jesus is the morning star (Revelation 22:16), who shines before the light of the Father is revealed. Jesus is the morning star that announces a day where there will be no night, a day with no Sun except . . . . Continue Reading »
With characteristic gleeful verve, Rodney Stark assaults secularization theory in his Triumph of Christianity.Secularization theory revived, he says, a charge brought against religious pluralism by “monopoly religions: that disputes among religious groups undermine the credibility of . . . . Continue Reading »
Latin America was supposed to become Protestant by now. In one of the major non-developments of the past quarter-century, it didn’t.Catholics didn’t take predictions of a Protestant Latin America lightly, and responded with renewal efforts of their own. Rodney Stark (Triumph of . . . . Continue Reading »
Revelation 3:1-2 is organized in a new chiasm:A. Thus saith He who has seven Spirits, even the seven starsB. I know your deeds (erga)C. You have a name that you are alive, but you are deadD. Wake up and strength the remainderC’. Which is about to dieB.’ for I have not found your deeds . . . . Continue Reading »
Jesus searches the entrails and hearts of His people (Revelation 2:23), but then judges everyone “according to your deeds” (erga).Why does He need the internal inspection when he’s going to judge by behavior in the last instance?That question highlights what might be called one . . . . Continue Reading »
Carol Wilson’s For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Foodis a well-researched and illuminating piece of social-scientific scholarship on the New Testament.Picking up on recent work that places Matthew’s gospel in a Greco-Roman imperial context (e.g., Warren Carter), Wilson focuses . . . . Continue Reading »
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