I am unusually pleased to be able to publish this guest post by Judith Coyle, one of the most faithfully and deeply committed members of the blog.  Here is her lovely, heart-felt offering, for Platinum members only. ******************************** Even though I am outspokenly adamant against even a thought of trying to make this absolutely perfect blog better, there is no denying now it is indeed better. It offers far more than I could have imagined!. There is a feature left behind though that I miss very much :  for those of us who are already members, that invitation in red to join the blog, giving its purpose and assuring us every penny goes to charity, (part way through each post) is no longer there.  In those invitations. Professor Ehrman managed to come up with something original and often hilarious to keep us focused on the blog's purpose of providing the means for helping those less fortunate.  (Note: the red invitation still does show up for non-members reading the post, who are then not able to [...]

Dear Platinum Members,   It is time to vote for the next Platinum guest post to become a blog guest post!  The winner's post will go to all blog members for reading and comment.   The winner this past month was a big success: Frederick Ackun's post, "The Essence of Religious Literacy" appeared on the blog (a couple of days ago!), and has received very interesting and postive feedback. Now it's the next round.  Do you remember them?  Wanna read them again?  Willing to vote? Here they are in chronological sequence.  If you’re willing to vote, please remember:  I am NOT asking which one you think is the most scholarly.  They are all high quality.  I’m asking: which did you find most interesting and, given what you know about the members of the blog, would best address the interests of most blog members? To vote, please send an email indicating your choice to my assistant Diane Pittman, at [email protected] .    You will have until Tuesday midnight, August 24.  We will tabulate the votes then I"ll announce [...]

It's time for another Platinum webinar; as you know, this is a four-time year event, and our last was in the spring,  so time to go again.  It is on an intriguing topic that I've never give a public talk on before (see below). The date:  August 28; 4-5:15 (Eastern Time).   No need to register; just show up. The topic:  The History of Biblical Scholarship: A Bird’s Eye View. What it's about: This webinar will give a brief overview of how scholars came to approach the Bible critically as an object of historical study rather than confessionally as an object of religious devotion.  The process began with the Reformation and Luther’s insistence that the Bible was to be the only source of authority (sola Scriptura) and that it had to be interpreted *literally* rather than figuratively, to see what it actually said instead of using it simply to support church tradition. But that was just the beginning.  Later, in the Enlightenment, scholars began to realize that it was important to place the books of the [...]

The voting is in on the Platinum guest posts.  Among four options, one is to be published on the blog itself for all members.  I'm pleased to announce that the winning post is the Essence of Religious Literacy: A Christian Perspective. Guest Post by Fredrick Ackun.  The post will appear on August 16, if all goes to plan. I have to say it was an extraordinarily close vote.  We had four outstanding choices and only one could win.  But thanks to all four posters.  And, you the Platinum member, may yourself be interested in reading (again!) these outstanding offerings.  Here they are, once more:   Feb 11: The Essence of Religious Literacy: A Christian Perspective. Platinum Guest Post by Fredrick Ackun   Feb 20: A Christian Is Not Necessarily a Disciple (Monthly Platinum Post: Douglas Wadeson)   Feb 23: The Buddhist Scriptures and the Gospel of Luke: Platinum Post by Steve Sutter   Mar 2: Christian Attitudes toward War, Through the Ages: Platinum Post by Dan Kohanski   In a week or so we will vote on the next four [...]