Geneva, 1542-1547
Hang out with Calvin, hear him preach, suggest that maybe he rethink his stance on women a little bit, but otherwise just watch the Reformation explode around me.

Bot- wouldn't the idea that religious beliefs are a manifestation of superiority complex (might be exaggerating your point) depend on the religious beliefs? For instance, if I believe that I am utterly immoral and wholly dependent on the self-sacrifice of God render any belief-related superiority moot?

What it's illustrating is what theologians call the "historical salvation precedence" for Jewish people. In essence, the gospel is "first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles" (Paul said that somewhere, can't remember where). You could also, if you were a theologian so inclined, argue that that idea is null and void…

That joke normally starts off "Jesus was Jewish" and says his mother thought he was God, not the Son of God.

"Messiah" translates, roughly, to "Christ" in Greek. "Anointed one" to "anointed one." In fact, "Christ" is actually a less significant title than "messiah," because the Greeks did not have the religious background of the Old Testament as an indicator.

Racist? You mean when he talks about Gentiles?

I find it a little closed-minded of the people on this thread to assume that you need to find a liberal Christian to find a good Christian. I'd recommend Timothy Keller as a high profile and conservative Christian who is decidedly not assholish and who is a reasoned and intelligent person. Beyond that, you could…

That would be lovely.

I'd like to point out that there is an actual doctrinal dispute on that idea. If you're a dispensationalist (generally fundamentalist, not evangelical), you think that an actual, geopolitical power called Israel needs to be involved in the literal rebuilding of the temple in order to trigger the apocalypse. If…

Fair point, rationalist. Fair point.

The main point of the book was not to make an intellectual argument but to propose the idea that emotional blocks are just as effective as intellectual difficulties at keeping people from God- perhaps more so. To that end, he includes people who are, so to speak, "intellectually Christian," but value other things…

Lo siento.

@Warfreak: Not exactly what I'm trying to say, here. What I want is for people to read the Bible while understanding that it is, in fact, a book, with real literary values and techniques. Revelation, for instance (the one with the "mansions in the sky"), is written in the literary genre known as apocalyptic…

Actually, his allegorical version is closer to that sort of thing than his actual beliefs. He repeatedly pointed out in his books that descriptions like that are symbolic. As he said, if you don't recognize symbolism when you see it, you shouldn't try to read "books for grown-ups."

@Space Pope: Amen and amen.

See: The Allegory of Love and The Discarded Image, each of them academic works on medieval and/or Renaissance literature.

Just a thought: you're not the target audience, and no one is going to make you go.

Mr. Pierce
Are you familiar with the real life incidents that inspired this episode? If not, you might be missing the context for the episode- I thought it was more of a B+.

When Joss Whedon killed Book, I understood. "It's okay," I thought to myself, "At least Wash will make it. He won't kill Wash."

I Am A Leaf On the Wind
Watch how I soar.