Brian Ribeiro (Tennessee): The Problem of Heaven. From Review of Biblical Literature, a review of The Gospel "According to Homer and Virgil": Cento and Canon by Karl Olav Sandnes; and a review of The Bible in/and Popular Culture: A Creative Encounter. Is the Bible a reliable moral guide? (and a response).No Christian should ever have a least favorite book of the Bible — all Scripture is God-breathed — but it is perfectly permissible, and even desirable, to have a favorite book of the Bible. An interview with John Shelby Spong, author of Reclaiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World. Why did Jesus talk in parables? What Jesus' unique (and often confusing) ministry shows us about our own stories. Fringe view: James F. McGrath on the world of Jesus mythicism. An interview with Miguel De La Torre, author of The Quest for the Historical Satan. Ronald Dworkin on Einstein’s worship, faith and physics, and religion without God. From The Pomegranate, a review of Sacred Terror: Religion and Horror on the Silver Screen by Douglas E. Cowan. Why is religion still alive? Elaine Pangels investigates. Julian Baggini sets out on a pilgrimage towards the truth, picking his way past the noisome swamp of New Atheist controversies, and skirting the forbidding crags of fundamentalism. A review of Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion and Naturalism by Alvin Plantinga. From New Humanist, a review of The God Instinct: The Psychology of Souls, Destiny and the Meaning of Life by Jesse Bering; some secularists believe that any communication with believers amounts to collaboration — Paul Sims isn’t so sure; and social scientist Olivier Roy has been tracking religion for three decades — Caspar Melville talks to him about his new book Holy Ignorance.
