Monthly Archives: March 2016

Links and Comments: Historical Jesus; God’s Plan; Sagan on religion v science

Posted on Thursday 31 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Relevant to some of my current reading, and the recent Easter holiday: Salon from last year, Valerie Tarico, 5 good reasons to think Jesus never existed. Most antiquities scholars think that the New Testament gospels are “mythologized history.”  In other … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Religion, Science | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Historical Jesus; God’s Plan; Sagan on religion v science

Links and Comments: Terrorists and Threats

Posted on Thursday 24 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Cartoon by Mark Fiore: Thank You. Love, ISIS. Why? A piece by Nicholas Kristof in today’s NY Times explains. It’s called Overreacting to Terrorism? online and “Terrorists, Tubs and Snakes” in the print paper. The basic problem is this: The … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Evolution | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Terrorists and Threats

Reading Around the Bible, 3: Mark

Posted on Wednesday 23 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Some of these comments apply, of course, to Matthew as well. All maladies are due to spirits or demons. It’s been noted by critics that the Bible contains no knowledge that was not known to its writers; that is, though … Continue reading →

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Allen Steele, ARKWRIGHT

Posted on Monday 21 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve read three recent 2016 novels in the past couple weeks, and am reading them faster than I take the time to key in notes and post summaries on my blog. But I will! First up is the last one … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, science fiction | Comments Off on Allen Steele, ARKWRIGHT

Reading Around the Bible, 2: Matthew

Posted on Monday 21 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Having finished the Old Testament a couple weeks ago, and passing over the Apocrypha for now, I decided to proceed with the New Testament by not only reading *around* it via commentaries by others, but to in parallel read the … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Trump; Democrats v Republicans; American exceptionalism; government regulations

Posted on Saturday 19 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

As Donald Trump seems to be on the path to claiming the Republican nomination for president, Republicans who are appalled by him are increasingly expressing misgivings. Salon has this fascinating article about how some Republican pundits admit that the crude … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Politics, Religion, Social Progress | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Trump; Democrats v Republicans; American exceptionalism; government regulations

Links and Comments: Trump; Magic; Scalia and science; Cruz; God of the gaps

Posted on Sunday 13 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Partly because I’ve had a cold, or a couple different colds, for much of the past month, I’m behind on links and comments. So relatively briefly, here’s what I’ve collected. In reverse order, from most recent date. \\ Slate: “How … Continue reading →

Posted in Cosmology, Politics, Religion, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Trump; Magic; Scalia and science; Cruz; God of the gaps

Reading Around the Bible, 1

Posted on Wednesday 9 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

I have never read any version of the Bible (or any other holy book), but over the years I’ve accumulated a couple versions of it, and several books about it. My parents were nominally Presbyterian, my mother sang in the … Continue reading →

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Rereading HOW TO READ A BOOK

Posted on Tuesday 1 March 2016 by Mark R. Kelly

Is this book anywhere near as commonly known as, say, THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE? I have the impression it was widely known at some point, and my 1972 revised edition is subtitled “the classic guide to intelligent reading” – the … Continue reading →

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