Reading Time: 9 minutes Hi and welcome back! For a while now, we’ve been exploring the world of 1st-century writers in the Roman Empire. Our goal has been to see what those writers said — if anything at all — about Jesus, early Christians, or the goings-on in Judea during Jesus’ supposed lifetime. And now, we have come nearly […]
Series
Posted inHistory
Thallus: Spinning Straw into Gold (1st-Century Fridays #9)
Reading Time: 8 minutes Today, let’s look at what Thallus wrote — or rather, at what later Christians said Thallus wrote, and why it’s just not convincing as a source.
Posted inGeneral
Christianese 101: Translating Evangelists’ Success Stories
Reading Time: 10 minutes Hi and welcome back! Sometimes, it’s fun to reveal the real meaning of all the Christianese that evangelicals use. Because oh, they use a lot of it. And the more Christianese you see in use, the less the Christians involved have to say that’s real and true. So when I say that evangelism might just be the […]
Posted inReligion
Evangelical Men’s Anger: The Visualization Process That Can’t Heal It
Reading Time: 6 minutes Last week, we touched on the anger of white evangelical men. There sure does seem to be a lot of anger there, and it’s only getting worse as white evangelicals’ cultural dominance dissipates. Their leaders’ conventional wisdom for dealing with anger is worse than useless, however. It’s not just because there’s no god in the middle of things making prayers work and whatnot. Rather, it’s because their vaguely-worded, folksy processes can’t actually help with anything real that’s gone seriously wrong. And today, I’ll show you this inadequate tool that white evangelical men have to help with their vast anger.
Posted inHistory
Three 1st-Century Voices That Didn’t Make the Cut (#8)
Reading Time: 7 minutes This time, our focus centers on some names that often get included in such lists, but maybe shouldn’t be on them. These writers either didn’t write anything that even vaguely touched on religious or philosophical topics, or didn’t write anything that survived. Today, let’s look at some of them: Phaedrus, Columella, and Marcus Servilius Nonianus. And I’ll show you why they don’t make my cut.
Posted inHistory, Religion
The Silence of Pliny the Elder (1st-Century Fridays #7)
Reading Time: 7 minutes Today, our focus rests upon Gaius Plinius Secundus, more popularly known as Pliny the Elder. As he lived between 23/24 CE – 79 CE and was good friends with Emperor Vespasian (who ruled from 69-79 CE), he was very well-placed to know all about this stuff. Let’s see if he did.
Posted inReligion
Why A Redemption Arc Mattered More Than Atrocity Apologetics
Reading Time: 8 minutes Hi and welcome back! Yesterday, we talked about a romance novel by Karen Witemeyer, At Love’s Command. In it, a genocidal war criminal finds peace, healing, and redemption thanks to Jesus Power and the love of a good woman. Many Christians loved this story, but a lot of other folks got very upset with it. […]
Posted inScience
The Asteroid Impact the Bible’s Writers Missed (LSP #203)
Reading Time: 8 minutes Granted, a worldwide slate-wiper genocide like the Great Flood, which we discussed just last week, would have caused even more devastation than the Chicxulub asteroid impact. I mean, that asteroid just wiped out most of all life on Earth — 75% of all plant and animal species, including every four-legged animal that weighed more than about 25 kilograms (55 pounds). That’s kinda small potatoes compared to what would have happened if some petulant man-child of a god had actually suddenly submerged the whole planet in many oceans’ worth of water for a while.
Posted inReligion
The Themes of Seneca the Younger (1st-Century Fridays #6)
Reading Time: 8 minutes Hi and welcome back! It’s Friday, and that means it’s time to meet another writer on our 1st-century list. Today, our lucky winner is Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, aka Seneca. This illustrious Roman lived between 4 BCE and 65 CE and spent his life as a philosopher, statesman, writer, and satirist. People regard him […]
Posted inReligion
Beach Reach: Training the Ingroup to Hate the Outgroup
Reading Time: 9 minutes So, what is the goal of Beach Reach? Today, I’ll show you. I’ll warn you, too: it’s dark, even by evangelical standards.