Antiquitopia

According to a lot of analysts, yes, Stephen King has a strong, sophisticated understanding of Christian theology.  Every horror writer, it seems, contrasts good and evil, but King pushes further according to this article : “People tend to think that Stephen King is anti-religious because he is a horror writer, but that’s completely mistaken,” says Zahl, a retired Episcopal priest who has written about King’s religious sensibility for Christianity Today magazine. “Several of his books are parables of grace in action.” Evidently, some of his influences include C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, both Christians with highly complex symbolism in their novels with Christian themes (perhaps more complex and sophisticated with Tolkien, but that's my bias).  Especially important, according to the article, are the themes of "a child shall lead them," "God can be cruel" (think of Job), and "God chose the weak thin...

The Bible is weird: this could be the subtitle of my introduction to biblical literature class. I have a tendency to point out those parts of the Bible that most people skim over because they are not particularly helpful for one's contemporary faith. There are these passages that, while overlooked most of the time in modern religious communities, when scrutinized and taken seriously shock the reader; remind the reader that these works are products of a different time and place. I have been sort of collecting these passages this semester, and perhaps I will find some time to post some of the earlier ones I have discussed in class (Gen. 6:1-4; Exod. 4:24-26; most of 1 Kings 17-2 Kings 10, etc.). One such passage is for my class this friday. When reading Ezekiel's reasoning for the exile, which it is fruitful to compare to Isaiah's and Jeremiah's warnings, one finds that the problem is that the people have persistently and consistently not walked in God's ordinanc...