October Biblical Studies Blog Carnival is Here!

And yours truly gets a few mentions!  Check it out:

http://xenos-theology.blogspot.com/2010/10/oktoberfest-biblical-studies-blog.html

Also, add this blog to your blogroll.  It’s Hella-good!

Photos From the Rally to Restore Sanity/Keep Fear Alive!

These are great!

Check them out here!

Happy Halloween!

On Standing By Silently: Why It’s an Impossibility (via Zwinglius Redivivus)

True words.

Those who stand by silently when untruths are uttered or misinformation spread allow liars to set the agenda and frame the narrative. … Read More

via Zwinglius Redivivus

Truth: Procrastination

The Truth Behind Zombies | National Geographic Channel

Oh, NatGeo… seriously?

NGC travels to Haiti to enter the mysterious, fascinating and creepy world of voodoo magic and discover The Truth Behind Zombies. Explore the zombies’ voodoo roots and discover evidence of real-life zombification. Meet the people preparing for a zombie apocalypse, and the investigators who want to know whether the “Living Dead” are based in reality or simply silver screen fantasy.

via The Truth Behind Zombies | National Geographic Channel.  Well, I hope they plan on going back in time as well!  Since the history of Zombies predate voodoo, going all the way back to Sumer!

How Many Alien Earths? More Than Expected!

And there you have it.  Earth not so unique as far as planets with life go.

There may be a bonanza of Earth-size alien worlds in the universe, scientists now suggest — about one out of every four sunlike stars might have a planet roughly the size of Earth orbiting close around it.The new study found that there may be no shortage of planets with masses ranging from five to 30 times that of Earth, conflicting with previous planet models, researchers said. The findings also suggest that solar systems with Earth-size planets like our own may be common, they added.

via How many alien Earths? More than expected – Technology & science – Space – Space.com – msnbc.com.

Skeleton of dinosaur ancestor unearthed!

No matter how old I get, I will always love dinosaurs.

The first complete skeleton of an early sauropod has been found in China, providing a glimpse of the ancestor of all those colossal, four-legged dinosaurs that came later.

The sauropod, tentatively named Yizhousaurus sunae, lived 200 million years ago on the plains of what is today the Yunnan Province of southern China. Yizhousaurus was 30 feet long and already had the signature sauropod long neck, heavy-duty skeleton and four-legged stance.

But what really makes the case for its pivotal role in the evolution of sauropods is its intact skull, which is an extremely rare find, explained paleontologist Sankar Chatterjee of Texas Tech University.

via Skeleton of dino ancestor unearthed – Technology & science – Science – msnbc.com.

Christians and Creationism

There have been some excellent discussions ongoing by Christians in the biblioblog community on creationism/evolution.

James McGrath: http://exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com/2010/10/ignorance-and-creationism-response-to.html

And Joel Watts: http://thechurchofjesuschrist.us/2010/10/christ-or-creationism-the-churchs-pork-problem/

(Update) See also:

http://exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com/2010/10/creation-and-inerrancy-round.html

http://thechurchofjesuschrist.us/2010/10/the-two-accounts-of-creation-in-genesis-bibliobloggers-arise/

This will be updated as more come about.

Jesus Biographies and ‘Histories’

I was thinking about it today, and I wonder if I would be more content with all of these “biographies” of Jesus if the scholars who wrote them were clear that they weren’t really “biographies” as much as they are metabiographies. At least labeling them as metabiographies would be more honest. A metabiography is the only way to account for the life of Jesus, using current sources, without dipping into the well of historical Jesus scholarship; without projecting ones own modern social constructs into the past anachronistically. Just a random thought, though I will consider this further as a part of my ongoing dialogue with “historicists” to redefine mythicism.