Navigating the Intersections of Faith, Knowledge, and Reason.
The start of Hanukkah coincided this year with the Christian Advent. I love the Advent season. The four weeks leading up to Christmas Day are reflective and a centering time of faith. I found it very enlightening to reflect on the Hanukkah tradition during this time of faithful reflection. We lit the Menorah on Sunday…
The third meeting of the Oxford Interfaith Forum Discussion Series met to share different religious views about the Messiah. Two scholars presented historical and biblical traditions from Jewish and Christian perspectives: Dr. Benjamin Sax, Scholar at the Institue for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (Baltimore, MD), and Rev. Dr. John Goldingay, David Allan Hubbard Professor…
The novel Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro was only recently published in 2021. The book is very well done and reads easily. The author holds back just enough information to keep the reader hungry for more. This style can feel a little disorienting at first, but curiosity is sparked and I found the…
This week I am traveling through Texas. On Wednesday, I flew into Austin and visited with family a couple days. Then, on Friday, I arrived in San Antonio for an annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the Institute of Biblical Research (IBR). This conference is a great time to connect with…
Jump directly to Seeking Understanding of Violence in the Bible Dr. Erica Mongé-Greer interviews Rev. Dr. Helen Paynter, Director for the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence Bristol, about her research that seeks an understanding of violence in the Bible. Rev. Dr. Helen Paynter founded the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence…
Jump directly to Theological Ethics of Sexbots Podcast In an age of quick-paced technological developments, it’s no surprise we are seeing tv-series and films address ethical issues surrounding human interaction with robots. Even though Artificial Intelligence (AI) still has a ways to go before a synthetic being may be able to interact fully and free…
Read or Listen Oxford Interfaith Forum launched a Psalms reading group to explore the Psalter from multifaith and multidisciplinary perspectives. Rev. Dr. John Goldingay, David Allen Hubbard Professor Emeritus at Fuller Theological Seminary, opened the inaugural session with a commentary on Psalm 1. Introduction to Psalm 1 Psalm 1 introduces the Psalter with a reminder…
Oxford Interfaith Forum presents a series of discussions on biblical topics from multifaith and multidisciplinary approaches. This series is organized by the Oxford Interfaith Forum, co-hosted by the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies: The Creation Story – 14 September 2021, 7:30pm (BST) Welcome address: Lord Alderdice, Patron of Oxford Interfaith Forum.Chair: Revd Nevsky Everett, Chaplain of Keble College,…
This month, I attended a virtual conference on Christianity & Science Fiction. The conference featured academic presentations on religious connections in science fiction literature. The two-session forum was hosted by the Michigan Center for Early Christian Studies in partnership with the Department of Middle East Studies (University of Michigan). Religion in science fiction is a…
Read or Listen [SPOILERS WARNING: Do I really have to say this? It’s a review! Read ahead at your own risk.] Several years ago I read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova as a commuter novel. Then, this past summer, I picked up a used copy of the same book at a charming bookstore in South…