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Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature, Butler University, Indianapolis, USA.
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Exploring Our Matrix

English - Religion, Science Fiction, Theology
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Exploring Our Matrix · 5h ago

Christianity and Same-Gender Relationships around the Blogosphere

Rachel Held Evans wrote a beautiful post on Huck Finn and the need to listen to our conscience rather than texts at times, even when those texts are considered sacred. Richard Beck concurred. Tony Jones and Bob Cornwall were among those who emphasized that it is not only allowable but important that
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Exploring Our Matrix · 10h ago

Happy Super Towel Day!

I got back from my trip to Israel yesterday, just in time for Towel Day, in honor of Douglas Adams. Some are calling this “Super Towel Day” since 5+25+12=42. The trip had a couple of Douglas Adams moments or aspects, such as the fact that one of the books we all read together was A [...]
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Exploring Our Matrix · 1d ago

Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Tel Aviv

We made it through passport control and customs at Tel Aviv airport, in what seems like record time. The early hour of the morning helped. So now I can blog about the day’s events.   We started off at the traditional site of the last supper, in what would have been the upper city of [...]
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Exploring Our Matrix · 2d ago

The Apocalypse is Like…

From Tree Lobsters, solidly at the intersection of religion and science fiction.  
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Exploring Our Matrix · 2d ago

The Importance of Language Learning Illustrated

This morning I had a useful illustration of why learning as much as you can of a language is important. This morning, I left my bag near my room as instructed and went to the elevator. A couple of bellboys passed and I heard one of them say a number in Hebrew. I was fortunate [...]
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Exploring Our Matrix · 3d ago

Old City of Jerusalem

  Today most of our time was spent in the old city of Jerusalem. We started at the Kotel, the Western Wall or Wailing Wall, which is the last remaining wall of the second temple, i.e. the temple that was standing in Jesus’ time and which was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70. [...]
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Exploring Our Matrix · 4d ago

From Bethlehem to Yad VaShem

Today was much less hectic than previous days. Baligh our tour director moved the museum visits to today (although in the end we only had time for one) so that we can have time tomorrow to go early in the morning when the line forms for those non-Muslims who wish to visit the temple mount, [...]
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Exploring Our Matrix · 5d ago

Masada, the Dead Sea, and a Jeep Adventure (Including the Mar Saba Monastery!)

After the camel ride, our next stop was Masada, the mountaintop fortress near the Dead Sea which was created by the Hasmoneans, expanded and developed by Herod the Great, and occupied by Jewish fighters in the war against Rome.     From there, after having lunch, we traveled to the Dead Sea where th
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Exploring Our Matrix · 6d ago

Jericho, Qumran and the Mount of Olives

This morning we traveled from Haifa across Galilee to the Jordan Valley. We entered the West Bank traveling southward along the Jordan river valley. The students were surprised at how imperceptible it was to cross the checkpoint – since we were in a tour bus with Israeli plates, we were simply waved
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Exploring Our Matrix · 6d ago

Readiness to Revise

There are two great cartoons that appeared on David Hayward’s blog recently which can be related to one another. Here is the first: And this second one seems to be related to the same theme inasmuch as such experiences can and should motivate theological reflection and revision, as they did in Job’s
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