Two kinds of people don’t get why we study religion: people who think religion is bad and not studying it will make it go away and people who think religion is good—but just their own—so keep your critical hands off it. Both are wrong about what religious studies is. (See first comments on op.)

“It is a hallmark of failing societies, I’ve learned, this requirement that one always be in possession of a valid reason to exist.” -Omar El Akkad

Voor de CS Lewis - fans: in november verschijnt "Between Interpretation and Imagination C. S. Lewis and the Bible" van @lesliebaynes.bsky.social www.eerdmans.com/978146746970...

Body-clipped my horse for the third time ever today. The first time I was afraid the other horses would make fun of him. Today he looks almost decent.

Berger's three laws of chatbotics: 1) The bot should never express emotions. 2) The bot should never praise the user. 3) The bot should never say it understands the user's mental state. There's no use case for these things, and they're obviously problematic. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/08/t...

You know how people called women hysterical for predicting the right wing would take down Roe v. Wade (which they've done) and then attack access to birth control (which they're doing)? Hear me when I say that women's very right to vote is next. www.npr.org/2025/08/09/n...

A chief executive publicly cheering for the firing of a critical media personality is a common feature of authoritarian states. I hate to break it to everyone, especially since it’s been evident for a couple of months, but… America is an authoritarian state.

It is really really sinking in for me the degree to which LLMs are the ultimate expression of right wing anti-intellectualism. Its proponents are literally mocking the idea that anyone would ever want to learn anything, know anything, develop any actual skill, or have a thought of their own.

Yes, and my inner George Tyrrell, who anticipated Bultmann in his 1910 Christianity at the Cross-Roads. C. S. Lewis attacked Tyrrell on the Ascension to poor effect in his essay "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism," which I critique in my book on Lewis and the Bible (I hope to better effect).

Its wonderful to see my forthcoming book on C. S. Lewis and the Bible (Eerdmans, Nov. 4) already sitting at #43 in Amazon's "Best Sellers in Religious Literature Criticism"! Go take a look, check out the great endorsements, and pre-order!

Some sad confirmation from @bcgl.bsky.social while I was at UW last week—the National Digital Newspaper Program—which builds Chronicling America—has been shut down Historical newspapers are probably the archival material most used by the general public—for genealogy, local history—it’s such a loss

“And so the Greeks send me this horse, we’re talking about one of the most beautiful horses you’ve ever seen. So big. So strong. Normally they keep this kind of horse for themselves but they were such big fans they said sir, please take our big wonderful horse we’ll even bring it to your house”

The cost of the 4 F-18 planes lost in the Red Sea ($240 million) is now greater than the 2025 NEH Budget ($200 million)

Having zero clue what the Declaration of Independence means, Trump told ABC’s Terry Moran it stands for “unity and love.” No. It’s the exact opposite. Here’s an actual excerpt from the document. Who does it remind you of? #NoKings #Voices4Victory

Just a reminder that most of Trump's executive orders are nothing more than press releases. After he ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to pull funding for NPR and PBS, the CPB responded that it is authorized and funded by Congress and is not subject to the president's authority.

I think the worm in RFK’s brain is planning to make sure we all have brain worms via food borne illnesses. This is an invasion.

DHS has admitted in court it doesn’t have authority to terminate student non-immigrant status, even when it changes or terminates their SEVIS status, contrary to the info provided by unis to affected students. This admission, a tactic to evade a lawsuit, is grounds for schools to defend students.

I urge faculty members to join the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). We have few organizations that represent us and offer us collective power. #Yale has a new chapter. You can start one if your campus doesn't have one yet. And you can join now too. www.aaup.org/membership/d...

Other countries are fully targeting US academics with social media ads now, basically of the form "we still have inclusive liberal democracy and academic freedom here"

Absolute must read. Wired kicking so much ass.

Spotted on campus this morning. Thanks to the person who posted this.

As President Trump walked into Congress, Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico, held up a sign that said “This is not normal.” Follow the scene from Trump’s joint address to Congress: wapo.st/4hpeB2V

Boosting

Despite everything I know about my past, it still boggles my mind when I see people I used to think were cool and wise post on social media how Trump is a genius. The way they don't just settle for him, but look up to him, it's like they're under a delusion. 1/4

You know THEY know it's bad because they did it late on a Friday

As long as Missouri State is open tomorrow, this is happening. I'm looking forward to a fun conversation with my religious studies colleagues on C. S. Lewis and the Bible. Spoiler alert: Lewis strongly and consistently opposed the notion of scriptural inerrancy.

We are gathering the real stories of Americans affected by the outrageous actions of Trump, Musk, and their DOGE minions. Send us your story.

Wow! My book A to Z of the New Testament is 33% off and so just over $14 on Amazon at the moment! It is a really fun and readable way to get an introduction to the academic study of the New Testament.

We could just be reading great books, watching good movies, and eating fruit. Instead we have to survive/fight miserable power hoarders. What a waste of limited time.

I just lost my job, along with most of my coworkers, due to the illegal grant freeze. I worked at an organization that -helped veterans who have lost a limb -Assisted elderly and disabled people -Helped hospitals better treat people who have lost limbs

And we have a cover! I can't express how happy I am to share this with you! The book comes out with Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company this June; please share it far and wide! The cover copy:

I’ve been contemplating the parallels for years, but this author wrote it up, and his rewriting of 1 Corinthians 13 is scarily accurate.

"Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Wednesday rolled out the Eliminate Looting of Our Nation by Mitigating Unethical State Kleptocracy (ELON MUSK) Act, which would ban 'special' government employees like Musk from having federal contracts."

I sincerely don’t know why people aren’t physically stopping those dorks. Move shit. Lock doors. Lose the keys. Everyone switch seats. Turn off all the lights. Switch the signs on the elevator lobby. Make the settings all silly. Use a different language. Wear costumes. Fill rooms with balloons

Open access!! www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...

It seems like in lots of areas, including higher ed, our cultural moment should be named “self-sabotage”

My @cambridgeup.bsky.social Element, “The Author in Early Christian Literature,” is officially out and free to download for the next 4 weeks! I hope you enjoy these thoughts on Paul, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Eusebius, and a host of other ancient folks. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

When Musk denies that he did a big ol Nazi salute during the inauguration, remember this, from Jean-Paul Sartre, 1944.

“You will have realized by now that we are drifting towards great catastrophes… it all leads to a new war. I won't bet a penny on our lives. They have succeeded in establishing a reign of barbarity. Do not fool yourself. Hell reigns.” Letter from Joseph Roth to Stefan Zweig, February 1933

It all feels like a family with a genuinely abusive family member choosing to just carry on with the holiday traditions, hoping to create normalcy through sheer will and denial.

Something fitting about all of this being relegated to being indoors. It feels so claustrophobic and also like a funeral

Here's a code for 30% off my book, releasing in February. Want to understand more about the relationship between guns, media, and apocalypticism in America? I spent 10 years thinking about it. Review for a journal or a podcast or a news outlet? Let me know and I can probably get you a free copy.

Students have always been sensitive to receiving constructive feedback, but everyone who teaches is seeing them become ever more so. I'd love to talk about how we're handling it--how do we balance giving loving encouragement with upholding realistic standards of excellence?

I have, I think, read most of the things CS Lewis published, and quite a lot published about him; I am kicking myself that I had not recognised the significance of the passage in Perelandra that Billie highlights here. You should read their essay. It's quite something.

Someday in the not-so-far-future this headline is going to be used as an example in a linguistics class about how language changes can be so considerable that we no longer recognize the meaning of a sentence.

Teapot Dome gas station, Zillah, WA. Built to commemorate the Teapot Dome scandal in which government resources were granted to private companies in exchange for personal monetary gain. Never forget.

Posting a Wordle is SO 2021, but no one’s here this morning to share it with but you all. May the rest of the day continue to manifest the same combination of skill and luck! ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Tip of the week. If your only Greek lexical source is Strong’s, just read it in English.