This Week in Word from the Bird
The genius of Jesus. Gnostic Origins. Autism and the sanctity of life. The seductive power of Nazism. The weirdest verse in the Gospel of Thomas.
Another big week ahead with much to rant and rave about!
Monday: The Surprising Genius of Jesus: A Review (Free Sign-Ups)
Peter Williams has a thesis that Jesus is just as much a genius as Aristotle, Mozart, or Einstein.
Tuesday: Where did Gnosticism Come From? (Free Sign-Ups)
New video about the origins of Gnosticism!
Wednesday: Autism and the Image of God (Free Sign-Ups)
How we define the image of God matters. Because, on some definitions, it denies or reduces the image of God in autistic people. Also, the Netherlands and Canada intend to open up euthanasia to people with autism.
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Thursday: Gazing Into the Abyss: Trying to Understand the Nazi Worldview (Paid Subscribers)
Nazism was seductive precisely because it promised an immediate fix to parliamentary gridlock, an end to economic chaos, and a refusal to bow to the crushing indemnities and humiliating conditions imposed upon Germany by the western powers after the First World War. For many Germans, the Nazi party was an alternative and perhaps even the answer to the trauma, divisions, and poverty after the First World War.
Friday: The Gospel of Thomas Goes Weird - Salvation By Sex Change? (Paid Subscribers)
The final verse of the Gospel of Thomas, saying 114, on a plain reading, teaches something like salvation by sex change for women. It’s weird, but there is some interesting stuff going on behind it!