Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4576 )

• Transparent

  

  With its endless versatility, gold is many things to many people. Already at the dawn of civilization, both in the old world and the new, it was a valued... Read more

  Posted on 31 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The One That Got Away

  

  While looking for reviewers for a book proposal on Jonah, I had a strange realization. Few mainstream biblical scholars are interested in the book. Or at least... Read more

  Posted on 30 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• 31 Flavors

  

  Princeton Theological Seminary, nestled next to its Ivy League sibling university, has never welcomed my advances. Although I’ve long ceased keeping the myriad... Read more

  Posted on 29 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Back to School

  

  “We want to make certain that we view culture through the eyes of faith, that we don’t view our faith through the eyes of culture. Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Saints and Serpents

  

  Santa Barbara feels like paradise.  To a guy who grew up under the gray clouds and sometimes cruel winters of the northeast, the sun-washed placidity of the... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• The Price of Flags

  

  As a child, Memorial Day signaled the start of summer. Most of the time it announced that the obligations of school were nearly over and that was sufficient... Read more

  Posted on 26 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Buttons and Bows

  

  I don’t remember what year it was, but I remember precisely where. On one of my countless trips out back—to or from school, to burn the paper garbage, pet the... Read more

  Posted on 25 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• How We Got Here

  

  Perhaps it’s because the Steampunk World’s Fair is still on my mind, or perhaps because I’m increasingly curious about the way we came to be how we are, I read... Read more

  Posted on 24 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Double Blind

  

  When I read Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics as a child, I assumed that I’d not live to worry about them in real life. What we don’t know can indeed hurt... Read more

  Posted on 23 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Greece Lightning Rod

  

  Eds and op-eds are popping over the Supreme Court decision to allow sectarian prayer at Greece, New York town council meetings. Some citizens complained that th... Read more

  Posted on 22 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Akedah

  

  Violence, in its most basic form, is to be blamed on evolution. Not the theory of evolution, but the fact of it. More precisely, violence is a reflex of the... Read more

  Posted on 21 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Future Shock

  

  The Jehovah’s Witnesses are nothing if not persistent. Unemployed and huddling fearfully at home during the day a few years back, I answered the door and had a... Read more

  Posted on 20 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Gorilla Whale

  

  Monster Boomers grew up with Godzilla. Among the many monsters on offer on a Saturday afternoon, Godzilla was one of the most obvious fakes, but also among the... Read more

  Posted on 19 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• In Our Own Backyard

  

  That monk walking towards me looks a little suspicious. Perhaps it’s that guy with a top hat and weird gun strolling next to him with a waxed mustache and... Read more

  Posted on 18 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Genizah Bible

  

  Overproduction is a survival strategy among many animal and plant populations. Just consider the number of acorns under one oak tree, or “propellers” under a... Read more

  Posted on 17 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Real Life

  

  The brain, it seems to me, holds all of the cards. After all, what we call “reality” is actually a perception of what’s “really” there mediated by our brains. Read more

  Posted on 16 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Sacred Education

  

  A recent story in the New Jersey Star-Ledger describes the dynastic culture of some of the newer evangelical colleges. Presidents of such “universities” as Bob... Read more

  Posted on 15 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Underwater Zombies

  

  One of the (many) benefits of blogging about zombies from time to time, is being sent books to read on the subject. Just as I cracked open The Zombie Bible... Read more

  Posted on 14 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Nothing to Do with Pigs

  

  Pseudepigrapha is not a word that flows mellifluously off the tongue, and the first time reader stops to give pause over its awkward beginning and several... Read more

  Posted on 13 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Witches in History

  

  In a rationalistic society, the concept of witches has no place. If only we knew what witches were. Sadly fascinated by the unfortunate—evil would be the more... Read more

  Posted on 12 May 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY