Steveawiggins
MY BLOGS
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Sects and Violence in the Ancient World
http://sawiggins.wordpress.com/
A blog that tries to find intelligent things to say about religion and related subjects.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 4522 )
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Frozen Few
It’s that time of year, neither winter nor spring, when ambivalence is in the air. Gray skies with just the first damp aromas of a change in the season, followe... Read more
Posted on 18 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Wee People
Whence we come influences our outlook. Sometimes invisibly, at other time quite consciously. I remember as a child, wanting to be honest about the wearing of th... Read more
Posted on 17 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Today’s Truth
I spend a lot of time on Amazon. My job is one of those where it is a legitimate form of research—finding authors, seeing what’s already available on any given... Read more
Posted on 16 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Credo Universitas
“I am a Christian gentleman and I teach my course as a Christian gentleman.” The quote was made to me by a colleague at a state university, regarding a former... Read more
Posted on 15 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Backyard Archaeology
Among safe topics for discussion among strangers and casual acquaintances, the weather tops the list. It affects each and every one of us continually, and... Read more
Posted on 14 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
High School All Over
“Jungle calls around the corner!” This shout was followed by hoots, grunts, and squeals as the bus turned, intended to madden the driver of infamous bus 18. Read more
Posted on 13 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Any Witch Way
It’s easy to feel smug over the past. At every moment of human civilization we deem ourselves higher than those who came before. Read more
Posted on 12 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Weathering Qohelet
Over the weekend I finished the initial formatting of Weathering the Psalms, my long-suffering book on the weather terminology in the Psalter. Read more
Posted on 11 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Royal Reading
Post-Christian America still reads its Bible. One of the perks, such as it is, of working with Bibles is getting such vital news early. Read more
Posted on 10 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Star Tracks
Long ago in a galaxy far away—1979 in rural western Pennsylvania, to be precise—the local inhabitants were surprised to learn that James T. Kirk was now an... Read more
Posted on 09 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Varieties of Biblical Experience
Working with Bibles can be a heady experience. I mean, the sheer numbers are staggering. A whole herd of cattle must be slain annually just to manufacture the... Read more
Posted on 08 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
The Cthulhu You Knew
The word “fan,” an apocopated form of “fanatic,” is a word borrowed from the realm of religion. Most often associated with sports, it can refer to any overly... Read more
Posted on 07 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Baptizing Virgil
Dante Alighieri was curious as to Heaven and Hell. Like most mortals, he wasn’t sure of his way around and so he needed a guide. Descending to the nether... Read more
Posted on 06 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Bread Line
“Her smoke rises up forever,” apart from describing the fall of Babylon the Great, can also describe our toaster. The thing has been with us for many years now... Read more
Posted on 05 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
10 More Questions
I don’t watch television. This is not some moralizing, high-brow stance—it’s just the fact that it isn’t cost-effective with the little time I have for the tube... Read more
Posted on 04 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Shining Meaning
Writing with the hopes of eventually being included in the Western Canon, I suspect, is often somewhere in the back of an author’s mind. We want our efforts to... Read more
Posted on 03 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Prehistoric Steps
Britain has always had a share in the great events of the past (speaking strictly from a western hemisphere point of view). Not only did the ten “lost tribes” o... Read more
Posted on 02 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Raptor Attention
Comments on internet sites are quite revealing. Not that many comments ever make their jolly way to this blog, but, like many people I spend too much time on th... Read more
Posted on 01 March 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
No, Uh
“Give me any two pages of the Bible and I’ll give you a picture.” The words belong to Cecil B. DeMille, according to Stephen Whitty’s weekend write-up about... Read more
Posted on 28 February 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY -
Holy Hollow
Everyone wants to belong, to fit in. Growing up, I seldom felt I managed it. When you’re very young you don’t know enough to notice that you are more... Read more
Posted on 27 February 2014 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY
