Religion Prof - Latest Comments

Re: Paul, Mark, and Revelation Within Judaism (Enoch Seminar)

Scurra — Sun, 31 May 2026 15:42:07 -0000

What a fascinating discussion in an area that is way, way above my own level of knowledge. Thank you.

Re: Does AI Write Better Than Students?

Scurra — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 05:18:05 -0000

On your specific question about image use.
Well, the first one (the printing press) is nonsense. I can see the idea behind it, but as with all AI images like this, the details just jar. But most of the time this doesn't matter because people aren't scrutinising an image for inconsistencies. Now, this is definitely a problem when it is used to generate photorealistic images that are passed off as real. But illustrations like this can slide by more easily.
However, it also suffers from the other problem that these systems have, which is that it just doesn't exist in a physical world. All the little details don't really work together (what are the little floating things meant to represent?) but they are quite separate from the big details (how on earth does this printer work?! Why are words already printed? Why are they just nonsense? How is the paper twisted to reach the other hanger by the window? Is the paper transparent or not? Where does the paper go? etc etc.) Having said that, I can sort of admire a tool that can create a complex image like this, sure, even though the picture itself is utterly 'broken'.
Whereas the other image didn't need AI at all. It's just two images from clipart with some text added in a paint program. It's the sort of thing I do when I want e.g. poster images, and I don't use AI tools at all.

Superficially, the images are fine, and for blog posts I am sure that superficially is perfectly OK. But this cuts to the core of the word argument that you make too! Someone writing a "press release" knows that it is superficial. That there are language constructs that we use repeatedly in known forms. Automatic engines have been able to generate things like this for decades and now they have the entire corpus of published work* to access. If I want a quick illustration to go with something ephemeral then I use photo libraries/clip art, and these sort of AI generated images fall into that category. I don't really see how they are better than human-created work, but there is a use-case for them I guess.

I guess my point here is that the pictures are OK. I don't particularly like the style - when I see all of the images used on your posts, they blur together into a bland mush with no distinctiveness. But that's fine for this sort of work. The whole point of the piece though is to argue that writing should be about thinking. So accompanying the piece with images that sort of refute that seems a bit perverse!

Anyway, rant over. I appreciate how you are trying to engage with something that I have been able to take the decision to completely avoid. I still think the whole thing is an illusory bubble that is having profoundly disturbing consequences for how people think and work but right now I can see why you have to deal with it.

*and this is where another problem lies. Having the whole corpus of writing to access just means that the statistics may become less representative rather than more. So you are far more likely to end up with what is called 'hallucination' as a result because the weighting becomes increasingly inaccurate (although the core argument remains the same: all of the output of an LLM is 'hallucination' in the sense that it cannot be interrogated usefully.)

Re: Unscriptural Doctrines of Scripture

William T. Orr, Jr. — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:34:01 -0000

Excellent article. Today, we have people in places of immense power who use the Bible as a weapon without taking the time (or having the capacity for the thought process it takes) to examine the text for real understanding. They just go forward with what they think they learned in Sunday School and how heir minds have processed that as adults. They do not read the Bible (if they do at al) with curiosity and questions. They simply pick verses they believe will "prove" their unexamined and presumed notions.

Re: Reviews of Beyond Deconstruction (and an Easter Excerpt)

Daniel Wilcox — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 23:47:53 -0000

I thought you do think "God vindicated Jesus beyond death".
Im ill, so I must have misunderstood your view. Sorry.

Re: Reviews of Beyond Deconstruction (and an Easter Excerpt)

James F. McGrath — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:24:49 -0000

I'm not sure what the connection is with my post or my views. Could you clarify?

Re: Reviews of Beyond Deconstruction (and an Easter Excerpt)

Daniel Wilcox — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:11:41 -0000

Hmm...it is true that we cant verify a particular miracle back in history such as the sun standing still for Joshua or God raising Jesus from the dead.
However we can do indepth study of facts related to many, many claims of miracles in the present. Ive spent the last 60 years reading about the many claimed miracles including ones by famous Evangelical leaders--person in Africa being raised from the dead by Christian leader, gold dust falling from sky by Airport Vineyard, many charismatic leaders claims of healings, etc.

A Christian doctor did an indepth study of miracle claims by Christian leaders--didnt find a single one based on facts!
All were hearsay, placebo, even fraud!
ETC
Other Christian organizations have shown many miraculous claims to be untrue.

Since it appears that despite multimillions of devout Christians believing in miracle claims of the present which are shown to be false, its likely that back 2000 and 3000 years ago claimed miracles were most likely also not true.

Re: Paid AIgitators

Bob Shiloh — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 21:18:43 -0000

Time will tell. Thanks for releasing the comment.

Re: Paid AIgitators

James F. McGrath — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 20:47:20 -0000

Not sure why it was automatically marked as spam, but I released it.

In a recent local protest, I saw a handful of professionally-made signs associated with a group that seems to be Communist and have ties to Singham. I also know protestors who made their own signs and have no such ties. I'm not sure what conclusion that will lead you to.

Re: Paid AIgitators

Bob Shiloh — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 16:49:31 -0000

I tried to update my answer but it is marked as "spam." Not sure you can see it?

Re: Paid AIgitators

Bob Shiloh — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 12:18:14 -0000

Re: Paid AIgitators

Bob Shiloh — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 11:36:33 -0000

As I learn more I will respond.

Re: Paid AIgitators

James F. McGrath — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 11:03:38 -0000

Thanks for sharing that. I see indication that Singham may have given to support organizations, but not that those organizations were using the donations to pay people to protest. Do you have any evidence of that, since that is what my post is addressing?

Re: Paid AIgitators

Bob Shiloh — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:58:29 -0000

As to the claim that these protests are not organized and paid for, apparently Neville Roy Singham is doing exactly that. Mr. Singham is an American living in China who is alleged to be funding these protests. Bill O'Reilly broke the story and it has been reported by Newsmax, Fox and News Nation.

Re: Breaking the ICE with Jokes

Sebastian — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 04:57:34 -0000

It’s wild how a single acronym can trigger tension before the context even shows up. Halfway through reading these, I kept thinking how “ICE” now carries so much baggage that even satire lands differently. Funny enough, I was at a show where someone shouted “ICE is here!” and everyone panicked… turned out he meant ice-cold beer 😅. I recently also stumbled across something called a Chief ICE Officer , and it turned out to be about ice baths and cold exposure, not enforcement at all.
Humor really exposes that contrast.

Re: Beyond Deconstruction Interview

John MacDonald — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 22:56:32 -0000

Hey James. I haven't stopped by here in a while. I hope you're well. Your new book on Deconstruction sounds interesting.

One example/illustration of deconstruction I like is you are going along in life cherishing the traditional definition of marriage when suddenly you realize the figurative violence it does to LGBTQ rights, and so you experience wonder and it inspires you to deconstruct your traditional view of marriage and reconstruct it in a more inclusive way. Another easy example is enjoying a delicious plate of chicken wings when a video comes on about animal rights and abuses. Derrida's word deconstruction is his translation of Heidegger's word destruktion in Being and Time which in turn is Heidegger's interpretation of Plato's allegory of the cave

I took courses on Derrida's Deconstruction and have been blogging about him recently. Here is a link to the landing page for my recent blog series

Jacques Derrida and Martin Heidegger on The Philosophy of Death

Re: Minneapolis Temple Tantrum

David N. Gray — Sat, 24 Jan 2026 15:46:25 -0000

Simple fact: Jesus never told his disciples that they should flip tables too, and none of the epistles cite the cleansing of the Temple as an example for us to follow. Jesus was asked "by what authority are you doing this?". We know that he acted by the unique authority of the messiah. I can't think of anywhere in the Bible where he delegated that particular authority to his followers. I feel that some people have become too enamored with the exciting idea of flipping tables instead of staying focused on doing what Jesus did tell us to do.

Re: Neither Conservative Nor Christian

Glen B Smith — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 19:00:14 -0000

I chance sitting down in the chair because I believe it will support me. The proof that I believe is in sitting in the chair. Christian faith may likewise be evaluated by a Christians actions. For me, I use "believer" for your term "students of Jesus."
A "believer" in Christ will act according to their understanding of what the Lord Jesus expects of His disciples. I use Christian to mean those who only confess faith in Jesus but do not practice the behavior taught by Jesus.

Re: Neither Conservative Nor Christian

Glen B Smith — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 18:06:50 -0000

After skimming the article on Phil Christman's latest book Why Christians Should Be Leftists, here are comments. Historical economics reveals capitalism can best provide for all the people, but left unregulated, capitalism will result in monopolies and economic depression for the masses. Capitalism is business, and the purpose of business is to make decisions which increase profits without regard for the effects on consumers and customers. Decision are based upon what is best for the investor.

To separate charity from government is to separate citizens from the ability to ameliorate most if not all suffering. To significantly ameliorate suffering in society requires financial resources that can only be generated by government. From the start of the first 13 states, it was experienced that without the ability of the federal government to tax, the federal government could not fulfill the role assigned to it. The states and individuals would not voluntarily contribute to the national cause which at the time was the Revolutionary War. The efforts by individuals and locales to ameliorate suffering impacts those most who are willing to serve and give.

Re: Neither Conservative Nor Christian

Glen B Smith — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:33:26 -0000

The Christian political influence in the final decades of the 20th century included the 1972 Presidential candidate George McGovern who was a well-known for his Christian faith, and in 1978 both candidates, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford were committed Christians.
Some might consider Edmund Muskie too politically liberal, but his faith was that of a conservative Catholic Christian. The 1980’s was the aera when politicians used their pseudo-Christian faith and rhetoric to attract the “MAGAgelical” type pseudo-Christian vote.

By pseudo-Christian, there is not the intent to claim they do not believe in the fundamental tenets of Christianity. Pseudo-Christian means their secular, self-serving political perspectives have not been changed to be like that of a disciple of Christ. Although, this seems like an oxymoron; that is, to believe in Christ but act like the self-centered world.

Re: Neither Conservative Nor Christian

Glen B Smith — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 17:25:45 -0000

In the context of the Christian faith, “sold their souls” is a figure of speech that means forsaking discipleship and the associated teachings of Jesus, so as to gain something that is opposed to being a disciple of the Lord Jesus.

Re: Neither Conservative Nor Christian

Roger McKinney — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 10:13:49 -0000

You are very lacking in love to those who merely disagree on politics. No one sold their souls. Evangelicals had ignored politics for over a century then in the 1980s recovered the Biblical view of government that self government is a precious gift from God that we should steward well. Do you really believe anti-Christian politicians govern better?

The principles on which the US was founded came from theologians during the Reformation. They were unique to Christianity for centuries and by our founding were embraced by atheists and deists. That doesn't make them less Christian. Socialism was created by atheist perverts in early 19th century France.

BTW, charity is not socialism.

https://rdmckinney.blogspot.com/2025/10/why-christians-should-not-be-leftists.html?m=1

Re: How Evangelicals View God as Like Donald Trump

Argaman — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 18:45:21 -0000

Judaism is the religion of the US? What are you talking about?

Re: Neither Conservative Nor Christian

EarthGrowl — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 17:26:31 -0000

U.S. Conservatives Christians as they call themselves, have made all Christians look bad.
I see Evangelical websites reporting on the rise of persecution of Christians around the globe, with a sort of twisted excitement. US conservatives seem to think violence that occurs on the other side of the globe gives them a license to behave badly.

Those same Conservatives never once think about the consequences of their actions and their online speech. The hateful rhetoric spread by US Christians might just trigger violence in other countries. Non-Christian are frightened by the fear and hatred spread by the US and they react by attacking local Christians. It's guilt by association.

Conservatives are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. They think the world hates Christians but the behavior of Conservatives is causing the world to really dislike Christians.
Conservatives fear the collapse of their culture, but their behavior is chasing people away.

Maybe liberal Christians do need a new identifier, because no one wants to associate with anyone who openly claims to be "Christian." Students of Jesus would be a good name. It shows they are willing to learn.

Re: How Evangelicals View God as Like Donald Trump

sneaker2015 — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 05:05:12 -0000

Judaism is the religion of the US. The teachings of Jesus????? What do you know about the New Testament anyway?
Follow the news and learn something!

Re: How Evangelicals View God as Like Donald Trump

None — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:53:43 -0000

To be frank, this is simply known as idolatry. All the more that Trump affirms that the only limit to his power is his own morality, or lack thereof.