Category: Status

Dr. Thomas Whitley and the Rev. Sam Harrelson are joined by David Allen Jr., a Morehead-Cain Scholar at the University of North Carolina, to cover the first few matches of the Thinking Religion Bible Bracket Challenge. David brings his own unique understanding of sports to help Thomas and Sam make the tough calls that must be made.

Sponsored By:

• Sam Harrelson Consulting: Get a free estimate for your church or nonprofit’s website redesign or social media campaign from the experts at Sam Harrelson Consulting this summer. Promo Code: Hermeneutics

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Links:

• David Ray Allen (@davidrallenjr) | Twitter
• David Allen, Jr. | Be passersby.
• Thinking Religion Bible Bracket Challenge – Challonge
• Book of Leviticus – Wikipedia
• Book of Zephaniah – Wikipedia
• Bel and the Dragon – Wikipedia
• Habakkuk – Wikipedia
• Epistle to the Philippians – Wikipedia
• Book of Tobit – Wikipedia
• Apocryphon of John – Wikipedia
• Book of Micah – Wikipedia
• Acts of the Apostles – Wikipedia
• Books of Samuel – Wikipedia
• Book of Joel – Wikipedia
• Books of Chronicles – Wikipedia

Dr. Thomas Whitley and the Rev. Sam Harrelson discuss the upcoming Thinking Religion Bible Bracket Challenge (starts next week!), generational views on gay marriage, and whether the moral arc of the universe bends towards justice.

Sponsored By:

• Sam Harrelson Consulting: Get a free estimate for your church or nonprofit’s website redesign or social media campaign from the experts at Sam Harrelson Consulting this summer. Promo Code: Hermeneutics

Support Thinking Religion

Links:

• Thinking Religion Bible Bracket Challenge – Challonge — The first annual Thinking Religion Bible Brackets Challenge… which text from the Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Pseudepigrapha, or Apocrypha (or kinda sorta associated with what we’ve received in the tradition up to this point) is the best?? 
• Poll shows a dramatic generational divide in white evangelical attitudes on gay marriage – The Washington Post — According to Pew, 47 percent of Generation X/millennial evangelicals (those born after 1964) favor gay marriage, compared with 26 percent of boomer and older evangelicals (those born between 1928 and 1964).
• The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, But It Bends Toward Justice | Quote Investigator

Dr. Thomas Whitley and Rev. Sam Harrelson break down the problem with Paul's authorship of Colossians and Ephesians, head shaving, Gospel forgery, Matthew and the Q Community, the Gospel of Thomas, and infancy gospels.

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Links:

• Bryson Smith on Twitter: “Could any of my fellow religion nerds take a stab at what the phrase “all things” in Colossians 1:15-20 is referring to??? #unrelatedness”
• Epistle to the Colossians – Wikipedia
• The New Interpreter’s Bible: Matthew – Mark (Volume 8): Leander E. Keck: 9780687278213: Amazon.com: Books
• The Gospel of Thomas Collection – Translations and Resources
• The Community of the Beloved Disciple: The Life, Loves and Hates of an Individual Church in New Testament Times: Raymond Edward Brown: 9780809121748: Amazon.com: Books
• Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: R. Alan Culpepper: 9780800620684: Amazon.com: Books
• The Infancy Gospel of Thomas
• My Eight Dollar Flight Upgrade Trick
• The Gospel of Peter, translated by Raymond Brown
• Eutychus – Wikipedia
• The “Strange” Ending of the Gospel of Mark and Why It Makes All the Difference – Biblical Archaeology Society
• David Skelton on Twitter: “@thomaswhitley @samharrelson @thinkingfm Luke or go home! (though if you asked me in HS it would have been John)”

Dr. Thomas Whitley and Rev. Sam Harrelson discuss Wonder Woman's mythology, new Twitter, and whether you should "Friend" your Pastor on Facebook… or even pay them.

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Links:

• Wonder Woman (2017) – Rotten Tomatoes
• (SPOILERS) 15 Crazy Little Details In “Wonder Woman” You 100% Missed
• Ladies, I Know We’re All Wonder Woman, But Don’t Put Swords Down Your Dresses
• Twitter’s latest redesign makes the iOS app look more like Android – The Verge
• Your Rabbi? Probably a Democrat. Your Baptist Pastor? Probably a Republican. Your Priest? Who Knows. – The New York Times

Dr. Thomas Whitley and Rev. Sam Harrelson discuss Trump's faith statements and relationships with Evangelicals (and the how things change all of sudden).

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Links:

• God and the Don – CNN.com — “I did very, very well with evangelicals in the polls,” Trump interjected in the middle of the conversation — previously unreported comments that were described to me by both pastors.

  They gently reminded Trump that neither of them was an evangelical.

  “Well, what are you then?” Trump asked.

  They explained they were mainline Protestants, the same Christian tradition in which Trump, a self-described Presbyterian, was raised and claims membership. Like many mainline pastors, they told the President-elect, they lead diverse congregations.

  Trump nodded along, then posed another question to the two men: “But you’re all Christians?”

  “Yes, we’re all Christians.”

• Covfefe.net
• The Seat of Satan: Ancient Pergamum | CBN.com
• Calvinism – Wikipedia
• The TULIP of Calvinism – SBC Life
• Trump’s Tweet on Russell Moore and Evangelicals — .@drmoore Russell Moore is truly a terrible representative of Evangelicals and all of the good they stand for. A nasty guy with no heart!

Dr. Thomas Whitley and Rev. Sam Harrelson discuss that sickening feeling you get when you realize that adults are all just faking it.

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Links:

• Trump’s biggest conservative opponents all love the same theologian
• Google I/O 2017: what to expect from the big developer conference – The Verge
• Family Guy – Peter Griffin drinks from fire hose – YouTube
• Km (hieroglyph) – Wikipedia

Dr. Thomas Whitley and Rev. Sam Harrelson discuss the death of the Old Testament and whether biblical literacy matters to contemporary Christians and cultures.

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Links:

• Rob Bell takes back the Bible | Religion News Service
• Huffduffer
• Brent Strawn – The Old Testament is Dying — OnScript — Overcast

Thomas and Sam debate renewing Evernote Premium and discuss Donald Trump's Christianity, Evangelical logic, and whether Generation Z is growing up in a "Post-Christian" America.

Support Thinking Religion

Links:

• David Lewis on Twitter: “@samharrelson What is Christian (or in sync with the teaching of Jesus) about @realDonaldTrump’s lifestyle or policies?”
• Clinton: ‘If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president’ – CNNPolitics.com
• Jerry Falwell Jr.: ‘Evangelicals Have Found Their Dream President’ | Sojourners
• Forget millennials. How will churches reach Generation Z? | Religion News Service
• White House aims for Thursday signing of religious liberty executive order – POLITICO
• Thomas Whitley on Twitter: “A God that wants you to discriminate against others is not a God worth following. https://t.co/4w2TcHPHk3”

Thomas and Sam discuss life changes, beard growth, corporate philosophy officers, existentialism 2.0, and whether the Canon should remain closed or be thrown open.

Support Thinking Religion

Links:

• Cremo Beard & Scruff Softener, Astonishingly Superior 30 Second Beard Softener, 4 Ounce Bottle : Beauty
• Thinking.FM
• The Minister and The Mystic Episode 1: The Reveal
• Harrelson Agency
• D R E W (@drewtaggart) • Instagram photos and videos
• Diogenes of Sinope | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• The Emperor’s Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations: Marcus Aurelius, David Hicks, C. Scot Hicks: 8601401057475: Amazon.com: Books
• “Today at Apple” bringing new experiences to every Apple Store – Apple
• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto): Nassim Nicholas Taleb: 9780812979688: Amazon.com: Books
• After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene: Jedediah Purdy: 9780674368224: Amazon.com: Books
• The Ways That Never Parted: Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Adam H. Becker, Annette Yoshiko Reed: 9780800662097: Amazon.com: Books
• God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now: John Dominic Crossan: 9780060858315: Amazon.com: Books
• The Limits of History: Constantin Fasolt: 9780226101248: Amazon.com: Books
• Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History, 20th Anniversary Edition (9780807080535): Michel-Rolph Trouillot: Books
• Hypsistarians – Wikipedia
• The Lost Gospel of Judas–Photos, Time Line, Maps–National Geographic
• The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance (9780198269540): Bruce M. Metzger: Books
• Should MLK’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” Be Added to the New Testament?

Thomas and Sam discuss generational gaps in worldviews and the God-shaped hole at the heart of current American culture.

Support Thinking Religion

Links:

• What Would Jesus Disrupt? – Bloomberg
• OnFaith: Crossing The Faith Divide, With Technology, Explained
• Coming Out Christian in the Roman World: How the Followers of Jesus Made a Place in Caesar’s Empire: Douglas Ryan Boin: Bloomsbury Press
• Crucified man had prior run-in with authorities – The Washington Post
• Places You’ll Pray
• Thinking Baptists 2009 – Google Docs