The following post is free for anyone who wants to look.  Most posts on the blog are only for members.  The good news is that it’s easy and inexpensive to join.  You get five posts a week, for less than 50 cents.   And every cent goes to charity helping those in need.  So why not join???

In my previous post I indicated that I will be doing a short thread that introduces the New Testament very broadly, with the ...

On December 3, at 7:00 pm., I will be holding a new kind of blog event in Durham NC: a fund-raising dinner.  It will be at a nice restaurant to be named later.  We will have a maximum of seven places at the table (along with me, making eight).

For the fund-raising:  the event is $100 per plate, the money to be donated directly to the blog.    Each person will also pay for his or her own meal.

There will be no ...

Are you having a difficult time, losing your faith?  Having doubts, but still trying to hold on?  Or not sure if you want to hold on any longer?

A couple of days ago I mentioned the “Clergy Project” the organization for clergy (“religion professionals”) who have lost their faith and no longer believe in the supernatural.   One of the founders of the project, Linda LaScola, has reminded me that she edits a blog that is completely public (for anyone interested) for ...

Thanks to the incredible ongoing generosity of members of the blog, I am happy to announce that there are still a limited number of free one-year memberships available.   These have been donated for a single purpose: to allow those who cannot afford the annual membership fee to participate on the blog for a year.   I will assign these memberships strictly on the honor system: if you truly cannot afford the membership fee, but very much want to have full access ...

As I announced a few weeks ago, I will be going on a tour to Rome and other sites to the south, including Pompeii, Heraculum, Bay of Naples, Amalfi Coast on April 14-24, 2020 (six months from now!).   If you haven’t been to these places before, this would be a great opportunity!  And even if you have been before this would still be a great opportunity!  It is a very impressive itinerary.  Every informed and interesting person on the planet ...

This is the second guest post by Judy Siker, who last week explained about her upbringing as a Christian in the south and then her move into the academic study of the Bible from a critical perspective.  If you recall, Judy was my student in the (very secular!) graduate program in New Testament/Early Christianity here at UNC, where she did both a Masters and PhD in the field, focusing, in her dissertation, on the socio-historical background to the Gospel of ...

I am pleased and regret (at the same time) to say that the table for the blog dinner in Chicago for October 18 is now full.  I have a waiting list that I have started, and have notified everyone who contacted me (both those at the table and those on the waiting list.)

But I’ll be doing others this coming year in a few other places!  Hopefully others can come to these.

On Friday,  October, 2019, at 7:00 pm, I will be hosting a Blog Dinner for blog members (members only, I’m afraid) in Chicago.  Well, kind-a.  I’ll be in Oak Brook to give a paper the next day, so it would need to be near there.  The table is limited to eight.  I’m one of them.  That means that seven spots are available.  First come first served:  please do NOT response here on the blog, but send me a private email, ...