Several people in my social media networks have praised Peter Adamson’s (King’s College London) podcast “History of Philosophy without Any Gaps” and I want to join the chorus. Adamson moves slowly and thoroughly through the history of western philosophy. It is very educating, and even funny at times (he is gifted in punnery). I listened to his talks on the Pre-Socratics yesterday and I’m hooked. (See also, Joel Watts’ link to many, many more philosophy related items online.)
Also, for those of you who scour iTunes U for good lecture series let me recommend the lecture series on Hannibal by Patrick Hunt of Stanford University. The first lecture was all I needed to gain interest in the whole course, as Hunt had some very interesting insights into Carthage, the Phoenicians, the worship of Baal, child sacrifice, and how these things were understood by ancient Romans and Israelites. Also, he has an interesting insight into the story of Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac as a sacrifice based on his understanding of the Baal cult that changed the way I understand that narrative.
Finally, some miscellany:
– Lectures from George B. Caird on New Testament Theology at Oxford University in 1979-1982 have been made available online. To listen go here.
– Anthony Le Donne has a question about Jesus’ teachings on divorce.
– Rodney Thomas shares a quotation from Jurgen Moltmann on what Christians everywhere can learn from Black Theology.
– Rebecca Roache explains why our understanding of free will is important.
– Finally, John Byron shares a report indicating that more and more seminary graduates are finding work outside the traditional church context.
the archives near Emmaus 
Re Le Donne:
David Bivin of the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research puts forth that Mark 10.11’s parallel in Luke 16.18 (“Any man who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and a man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.” http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/2756/ and http://www.creatorscovenant.org/divorce%20in%20the%20Bible.htm [search for “Bivin”] ) was directed squarely against Antipas’ divorce of his first wife in order to marry Herodias. He says that it should be translated as “Any man who divorces his wife IN ORDER TO marry another commits adultery, and a man who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.” Hence the question by Antipas whether John had been resurrected.
I see most biblical dialog against adultery (and visiting prostitutes) as, yes against adultery in the immediate context, but also against idolatry. Isn’t leaving God to worship idols equivalent to adultery or visiting prostitutes (see Proverbs 1, 2, etc; Song of Solomon; Ezekiel 16; Isaiah 54, 61, 62; Hosea 2; etc; Ephesians 5; John 3)?
Nice finds here (especially Peter Adamson’s podcast), and I especially like the “Finally, some miscellany ..” I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen ‘miscellany’ used like that. I like it.