From the Dept. of Followups: On space aliens and abiogenesis
This electrifying scene from Mel Brooks‘s Young Frankenstein wins the prize for best comedic abiogenesis scene ever. Image source: American Movie Classics We just came across a couple of interesting stories at Science & Religion Today that remind us of previous posts here at psnt.net. The first has to do with the data coming in [...]
Dinosaurs in church? We’re for that
Photos by Andrea Tintori. The small inset box is not in the correct location; it should be under the rail on the far right side. The measuring rod and the fossil itself are visible in the larger photo. The image was taken from discovery.com; this is obviously not Mr. Tintori’s mistake A small-town cathedral in [...]
On peanut butter and the origin of life
Some weeks ago, Alert Reader Ron Taylor brought this gem to our attention. At the time we could think of nothing but snark in the way of response. However, in revisiting the video we’ve found there’s a really interesting — and vital — point to be made about it. Before we get to that, though, [...]
Science envy is alive and well in old Kentucky
A trilobite, Ceraurus milleranus, found in Maysville, Kentucky. Whence this delight? There are two options here: (1) Ceraurus milleranus lived during the Ordovician, a period that lasted from about 488 to 444 million years ago and all its trilobyie cousins went extinct by the end of the Permian (250 million years ago); or (2) Ceraurus [...]
Too late for today, maybe, but still. Next time you vote, please don’t vote intelligent design
One intelligent orangutan. Image source: latrola.net Just a moment ago it struck us that there are no posts on intelligent design (ID) here at psnt.net. There is a manuscript of a presentation that addresses ID, but no posts. Therefore we said to ourselves, “Ourselves, this must be remedied.” So here we are, 2 Novemvber 2010, [...]
On the social value of weird animals
Not the weirdest in the sea, perhaps, but pretty weird nonetheless: Murray’s abyssal anglerfish, Melanocetus murrayi. Source: Wikimedia Commons My Dear Alert Readers, thank you for being so very alert. I am but a small soul adrift in cyberspace, and cyberspace is big. I cannot even for a moment achieve anything close to a global [...]
What we have here is a failure to disbelieve
This jolly fellow is Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. He was the first to write serious commentaries on the work of Pseudo-Dionysius, who himself (whoever he was) was perhaps the first true advocate of what has come to be called negative, or apophatic, theology. In negative theology, one builds [...]
Christine O’Donnell: what is truth?
Hieronymus Bosch, Christ Before Pilate, c. 1520. Jesus talked about the truth, but Pilate wouldn’t have it. Instead, he washed his hands of the affair, asked What is truth? and promptly subjugated truth to politics. We sigh: There is nothing new under the sun. Source: Wikimedia Commons Politics does not make a big splash at [...]
Two apologies for apologetic
Raphael Sanzio da Urbino, Study for St. Paul Preaching in Athens, 1515. Source: raphaelsanzio.org. This work shows St. Paul atop the Aeropagus in Athens, defending Christianity to a bunch of cranky philosophers I must apologize. Twice. Just last week I began my third and final year of seminary. Which means I’ve been reading all kinds [...]
Some Baptists just can’t keep their heads
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Salome with the Head of the Baptist c. 1609. Source: caravaggio-foundation.org In the last month a friend of mine at church has sent me some interesting stories provided by the Associated Baptist Press. Both have to do with statements made by faculty and administration of the once-great Southern Baptist Theological Seminary [...]
