Even though I am a unabashed atheist, many of my heroes–my virtual mentors, if you will–are believers. In many ways, Krista Tippett’s (who calls herself “a person of faith”) Public Radio program Speaking of Faith sets the bar for the new Mind on Fire. Every time I listen to her interviews, she challenges my preconceptions [...]

[Read more →]

If you’re interested, several of the MoF faithful will be going to see Amazing Grace early Sunday afternoon in central OC.¬† If you’d like to join us, email me (I have a gmail account, the prefix is “fierymind” ) or leave a comment indicating interest (that way you can privately leave your email address for [...]

[Read more →]

I promised some posts on Bury the Chains, and I’m so glad that several of you have purchased the book. It’s well worth the investment–Hochschild is not only a fine historian and journalist but a master storyteller. Even if you don’t plan to read it, this question may interest you: When do we choose to [...]

[Read more →]

This an excerpt from a post by Quaker blogger, Imperfect Serenity, that sums up why I would like you all to read Bury the Chains: Joe [Volk of Friends Committee on National Legislation] noted that this spring is the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and said that the people who [...]

[Read more →]

This post is a convergence of concerns elicited by Johnny’s guest post on atheism’s negative PR and my reading of this month’s Mind on Fire book selection, Bury the Chains. I may be conflating too much history here, but this was a time of revolution and radical egalitarianism. It’s interesting to me that during a [...]

[Read more →]

I skipped Quaker meeting to worship at Mind on Fire today. We took the family to watch Amazing Grace Friday evening. The movie follows one British MP’s efforts to outlaw the British slave trade around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. I highly recommend it to MoF regulars. In fact, I’d love to [...]

[Read more →]

the Copyists of the Early Christian Writings In this chapter, Ehrman discusses the problems inherent in the system of copying sacred texts by hand and explores some of the reasons behind changes we know or guess exist (with examples & humor). Spoilers follow

[Read more →]

Elise has posted her pithy summary of Chapter Five of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus. She then posts a personal response on modeling Christ’s character that is definitely worth reading. It’s an excellent example of faith negotiating modern secular scholarship. Once again, you needn’t have read the chapter (or the book, for that matter) to contribute [...]

[Read more →]

Jeff has completed his commentary on the Conclusion of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus at his site. In case you missed it, we broke with the order a couple posts back, but each chapter stands on its own and is meaty enough to be handled separately. Also, it’s not a thriller, so there’s no spoilers. (Jesus [...]

[Read more →]

Johnny now has his commentary of chapter three of Bart Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus up at The Fire Sermon. Bored in Vernal alerted me to the following LDS discussions of the book: Jeff analyzes, from an LDS perspective, Ehrman’s assertion that later scribes added Jesus’ bloody sweat to Luke’s narrative. Dave reviews the entire book, chapter [...]

[Read more →]