Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4573 )

• Interior Theodicy

  

  Photo credit: Richard from Canton, Wikipedia CommonsSpeaking of theodicy, I have a dentist appointment today. Now, if you were raised with the Protestant guilt... Read more

  Posted on 01 April 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Deal

  

  Intellectual property is a concept that only arises where thought can be monetized. Think about that. (But don’t charge me, please!) It is a strange idea, when... Read more

  Posted on 31 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Crossing Beowulf

  

  Beowulf, from Wikimedia Commons.Slaying dragons is costly. In much of the western hemisphere the ultimate metaphor for the perils that await humanity in a... Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Scofield Connection

  

  While reading about Cyrus Scofield recently—and that book has stayed on and played with my mind for some reason—I ran across the conferences that he held in... Read more

  Posted on 29 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The One Who Seeks

  

  Academics and social media are, at times, an uneasy fit. In my work as an editor I come across many of the professorate who have virtually no web presence at... Read more

  Posted on 28 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Classic Fiction

  

  The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the ancient documents still widely recognized, at least by name. Many introductions to literature, or the western canon, refer t... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Basic Training

  

  I recently sat through Sexual Harassment Prevention training. Not because of anything I’ve done, mind you, but because organizations have long realized that if... Read more

  Posted on 26 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Non-Lending Library

  

  One of the hidden benefits of the coming societal collapse is the chance for the resurgence of print books. Since I’ve spent most of my life surrounding myself... Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Such a Happy Place

  

  I fear anyone named Ronald. Being named’s something a kid can’t help, I know, but associations run deep and irrational fears are the flavor of the day. Read more

  Posted on 24 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Direct Address

  

  For a man as amazingly influential as he was, Cyrus I. Scofield hasn’t been the object of much curiosity. In the venerable academic tradition of ignoring those... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Terms of Interment

  

  In an early episode of The Simpsons Marge is commissioned to paint a portrait of Montgomery Burns. Angry with him because of his constant treatment of others... Read more

  Posted on 22 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Animal Fights

  

  What does it mean to be human? The answer’s not as straightforward as it might seem. Reading Robert Repino’s Culdesac, that question came back to me time and... Read more

  Posted on 21 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Informed Deceit

  

  I sign a lot of petitions. That’s because the job of prophet doesn’t pay well enough to support a family any more. What it does mean is that I get a lot of... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Who Knew?

  

  Reading about Jesus is an occupational expectation for an editor of biblical studies. Not that this is anything new for someone who grew up thinking of him... Read more

  Posted on 19 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sell-by Date

  

  Labels give us the information we need to enact our prejudices immediately. Having been on the receiving end of great cruelty by “conservatives,” for example,... Read more

  Posted on 18 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Childhood’s End

  

  I believe it was C. S. Lewis who wrote that in reading autobiographies he always found the earliest years the most interesting.. Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Strange Worlds

  

  The Bible can lead you astray sometimes. Don’t worry, it’s unintentional, I’m sure. It has less to do with the Bible itself than with the way it was compiled. Read more

  Posted on 16 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Alt Bible

  

  A friend recently sent me a story from Anonymous titled “Why Did The Vatican Remove 14 Books From The Bible in 1684?” This piece reminded me of just how... Read more

  Posted on 15 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Blizzard Warning

  

  The dangers of prognostication were well known in antiquity. Most prophets, who didn’t so much tell the future as warn about probable outcomes, weren’t the... Read more

  Posted on 14 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Neologism

  

  I like a good neologism as much as the next guy. Oxford English Dictionaries recently released a covey of new words added to the famed lexicon. Read more

  Posted on 13 March 2017 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY