A Thinking Reed

  • On the theology of the cross

    Canadian theologian Douglas John Hall is well known for his exposition and advocacy of a “theology of the cross”–that “thin tradition” (as he calls it) that was first named by Martin Luther, but which represents a minority report throughout Christian history. In short, it’s an anti-triumphalist ethos that serves to puncture the pretensions of the…

  • Friday Metal: Anthrax in London edition

    “Madhouse” and “Indians” from the Live at Hammersmith concert (1987).

  • Scandal of particularity

    There were some good comments on the previous post, moving away to some extent from the value of John Dominic Crossan’s work in particular to the relevance of “historical Jesus” scholarship more broadly. Christopher‘s and Derek‘s comments in particular have got me thinking that there is a tension here. On the one hand, it’s true…

  • Second thoughts on John Dominic Crossan

    I had put J. D. Crossan in a kind of mental “bad liberal” box and so had mostly avoided reading him. (By which I mean I thought of him as someone whose project was strictly one of “debunking” traditional Christian claims.) But then I read Crossan and Marcus Borg’s The First Paul and liked it…

  • The invisible poor

    Good post here from Matt Yglesias. The “welfare reform” of the 90s has been widely hailed as a success for replacing welfare with work, but as Yglesias points out, this success is premised on a strong labor market, which we manifestly don’t have now. And yet you don’t hear anyone calling for us to re-think…

  • This will either be really terrible or kind of awesome (possibly both)

    This is news to me: 2010: Moby Dick is an upcoming film adaptation of the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. The film is an Asylum production, and stars Barry Bostwick as Captain Ahab. The film takes place in the modern day, and follows Dr. Michelle Herman (Renée O’Connor), who has recently joined a submarine…

  • Friday Metal: Conducting From the Grave, “Marching Towards Extinction”

    These guys just came out with a new album, Revenants, which I like quite a bit so far. This track is from last year’s also excellent When Legends Become Dust: On MySpace.

  • Election fallout – animals & the environment

    Obviously the big news from this week’s election is the G.O.P.’s takeover of the House and seats it gained in the Senate, neither of which bodes well for meaningful action on climate change or other environmental issues. (As was pointed out in various places, all the G.O.P. Senate candidates disputed the global warming consensus and…

  • Pedantry

    I don’t like to be that guy–the one who airs his grammar or usage pet peeves. But this one’s been bugging me for a while. It’s the use of “myself” in place of “me.” As in: “Let Jane, Bob, or myself know if you have any questions.” The practice seems rampant in corporate America and…

  • Meet the new boss

    Right-wing Utah congressman Jason Chafetz is poised to become the new chair of the committee for overseeing D.C. affairs. On his agenda: overturning same-sex marriage in the District and curtailing District autonomy more generally. Really makes the whole “no representation” thing stick in your craw.