Cognitive linguist Dan McClellan yet again puts to rest allegations his theological background compromises his scholarship. This is unfortunately a crude form of ad hominem to which some Christadelphians have stooped.

Definitely a book anyone interested in the religious history of Judeans will want to get.

I have avoided addressing the evolution - creation debate for the same reason I avoid the flat earth debate; it is incredible anyone today denies evolution, much less an old earth. Occasional posts highlighting creationists idiocy are useful though.

Randal Rauser on the poisonous evangelical justification for genocide in the conquest narratives. Add MAGA / Christian nationalism to the mix and you have the possibility of Evangelical defence of contemporary atrocities.

On the relationship between YHWH and Asherah over time.

Missed this when it was announced a month earlier. Anything associatred with Dr Baden is an automatic buy.

More on the divine council and the Bible. Monotheism as we know it today differs from what is in the Hebrew Bible.

"The poems in the Torah are stylistically, theologically, and linguistically different from the prose narratives surrounding them...all of which suggest that they are ancient remnants of earlier Israelite literature." More below.

A concise overview of how the motivated layperson can properly research subjects related to the Bible.

One of the rhetorical tricks of the worst kind of Christian apologist is to argue that because something is not impossible, it could have happened and therefore no contradiction exists. The example of Luke’s reference to the census of Quirinius is an excellent example of this.

Something good appears in Logos.

Logos have recently released a few books (or announced them via prepub). 1. The Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research: Emanuel Tov

Looks good.

The death of a false prophet.

I’ve been emphatic on the need for our community to place a chasm between ourselves and conservative American evangelicals given their regressive social views. This is one of the more egregious examples of what I mean.

This looks very promising: “And now the fourth study Bible to be published by OUP: The Ancient Christian Study Bible: The Bible of the First Millennium AD.”

There’s an apologetics video circulating looking at the question of how much of the NT exists in the earliest manuscripts. As NT scholar C. J. Cornthwaite shows, this video is problematic.

Historian and atheist Tim O'Neill interviews Thomas Schmidt on the Testimonium Flavianum who regards it as substantially authentic.

Legends of giants found in the Bible and other books may come from ancient encounters with fossils.

AI and source criticism.

We are traditionally a community that remains apolitical, a position that I support. Being apolitical does not mean we cannot condemn injustice. Remaining silent is exactly the same as endorsement. Some things are just wrong and should be condemned.

Future generations will rightly denounce the vandalism of higher education and its conversion into technical education to serve the “needs of the economy.”

Healing the Great Schism would be an event far more ground shaking than the Protestant Reformation.

NT citation of the LXX is uncontroversial outside of fundamentalist communities. What many many who accept this overlook is that some theological points are contingent on these LXX translations. The implications for dictation inspiration are considerable.

“Nevertheless, a careful look at some midrashim shows that the rabbis were, in some cases, still cognizant of variant readings and sometimes even made use of them. Even in the rabbinic period, where only the MT was considered authoritative, the influence of LXX variants still made themselves felt.”

Why are young women leaving organised religion. Christine Jolly identifies five reasons. 1. Feeling Unseen and Unheard 2. Unequal Participation 3. Lack of Relevance 4. Perceived Hypocrisy or Injustice 5. The Shadow of Patriarchy

Another TheTorah.com article on the utility of source criticism for understanding the Hebrew Bible.

How disreputable are your bottom-tier apologists? Bad enough to create an AI version of Dan McClellan, which the real Dan McClellan promptly corrects here. This is a classic example of why I find Christian apologists infuriating and embarrassing.

“Our paper sheds new light on the question of authorship of biblical texts by offering interpretable, statistically significant evidence of the existence of linguistic characteristics in the writing of biblical authors/redactors, that can be identified automatically.”

A source-critical understanding of the Pentateuch is important, but we should never lose sight of the canonical books we do have.

Biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann has died. To celebrate his life, here’s / recent article he wrote on LGBTIQ+ outreach and how to read the Bible on that question.

An informative article on the transition from palaeo-Hebrew to Aramaic script.

"This eye-opening collection of essays is essential reading for anyone concerned about the ways that Christian scripture has been used—both in the past and the present—in service of anti-Semitism."

Part 1 of Todd Bolen's weekend roundup is here.

Christianity exists on a spectrum from the sort that lays down its life for its friends to authoritarian fascists that scream for mass deportations. The latter is the one Christadelphians must shun at all costs.

Your first choice as Dan says is a good study Bible. My favourite is the New Oxford Annotated Bible, though the SBL study Bible is also good.

Late Iron Age Lachish ostracon reveals rare name.

This was 1985. Now, 40 years later...we (the Church) still need this reminder—desperately. #ThisIsTheWay

On the American founding fathers, Unitarianism, and just who can call themselves a “true Christian”.

Another Joel Baden book available from Logos? Yes please.

Your regular reminder that Charlie Kirk is a grossly ignorant and offensive Christian Nationalist.

Online instruction in reading hieroglyphics? There's bound to be someone who finds that of interest.

Todd Bolen's latest weekend roundup is here.

The idea that the biblical texts were written as discrete units and then transmitted after hat does not reflect reality.

Here’s a good reason why Christians should use BCE/CE, according to archaeologist / Biblical scholar Robert Cargill.

C. J. Cornthwaite rebuts the common fundamentalist slur that biblical scholar “just make things up”. Actually, that’s what apologists do.

"Ancient Christianities will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and possibly graduate courses on various themes, including the history of Christianity, the origins of Christianity, and literary surveys."

As the concept of a spherical earth was unknown prior to the 5th century BCE, it is hardly surprising that the ancient Israelites believed the earth was flat. They also believed it was covered by a solid firmament.