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Some questions begin in Scripture, others begin with a novel, a news story, a movie, or an unexpected conversation. This blog follows curiosity wherever it leads—with intellectual rigor, ethical reflection, and a healthy respect for complexity.
It’s just scratching the surface, but I’ve brought together a few of my favorite Star Trek episodes that deal with religion and portrayals of God. Sci-fi is a fantastic venue for exploring how people interact with religious ideas and concepts. Gene Roddenberry masterfully encouraged exploring the human condition in Star Trek. Star Trek: The Next…
Genre influences how we read and seek to understand a written word. We respond to something written with implicit bias that helps us make informed judgments about what we read and how we should think about the message of a thing. For example, a general news article presents serious content by describing facts or details…
Science fiction has a tendency to confront human nature by dropping familiar views of politics, civil understanding, and religion into a futuristic or otherworldly paradigm. Guess what? No matter what technology is at their disposal, people tend toward the same mistakes and problems. I am particularly interested in how science fiction portrays and wrestles with…
I sit in my kitchen, drinking a double espresso, and thinking about the challenges of transition last year. It’s dark outside as I write this in the week of Epiphany. The wise men have made it to the manger, and people worldwide are taking down holiday decorations. It seems like we are always in a…
This blog post is condensed and reworked from a presentation I made at Society for Biblical Literature, 2022, in Denver, CO (#SBLAAR22) for the Biblical Ethics Section: Panel Review of John Goldingay’s “Old Testament Ethics: A Guided Tour.” John Goldingay is one of the most prolific and influential Old Testament scholars. He has written an…
This weekend, I am giving a presentation about teaching film and religion based on a course I designed and taught approximately one year ago. Even if I knew it before teaching this course, the experience solidified that the public work of theology is being done in open forums through creative media outlets. I mean, I…
Psalm 1 implores its reader to meditate day and night on God’s instructions (Torah). The word ‘meditate’ is often associated with Eastern religions, with fewer ties to Western Christianity. However, the Bible brings the concept to the psalms. Psalm one encourages readers to meditate as a prologue in the 150-chapter Psalter. Even though meditation is…
Jump directly to A Behavioral Economic Reading of Ruth Ruth is a Hebrew Bible book that is easy to read in one setting. With only four short chapters, the narrative details cultural and social practices in ancient Israelite society, including social welfare, harvest production, treatment of immigrants, property rights, legal procedures, and more. Ruth is…
Belief in the future of AI Attention to human prejudices Thought-provoking storytelling Two great factions learning to collaborate Leading ladies Mary McDonnell, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Katee Sackhoff Extinction of the human race at stake Serious ethical discussions about war, work, poverty, abortion, terrorism, religion, healthcare, etc. Technology advancements and limitations that interfere with human…
Even if you aren’t a huge sci-fi fanatic, you have probably heard of Battlestar Galactica. After all, it is a four-season complete apocalyptic sci-fi series made for the post-9/11 world. The 2004 series, sometimes called “The Reimagined Series, ” is also referred to as BSG-TRS. The series won more than 30 awards, more than 50…