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James F. McGrath (ReligionProf)

@religionprof.bsky.social

3.3K followers 1.2K following 8.3K posts

Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis

James Frank McGrath is an American scholar of religion. He is the Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University. He is known for his work on Early Christianity, Mandaeism, criticism of the Christ myth theory, and the analysis of religion in science fiction. .. more

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James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 5h

MIT Rejects Proposed Federal Compact

MIT is the first institution to reject a proposal by the Trump administration that would trade preferential treatment on federal funding for far-reaching changes.

www.insidehighered.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 7h

I asked Claude to make an interactive web app about the capabilities and limitations of generative AI. This was the result.

If you won't believe me, will you believe Claude?

claude.ai/public/artif...

Generative AI Capabilities & Limitations Explainer | Claude

Learn what generative AI can and can't do with this comprehensive guide covering capabilities, limitations, and best practices for effective use.

claude.ai

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 7h

OpenAI Gives Us a Glimpse of How It Monitors for Misuse on ChatGPT

gizmodo.com/openai-gives...

OpenAI Gives Us a Glimpse of How It Monitors for Misuse on ChatGPT

The AI company's latest report provides more info on how it detects misuse of its chatbots.

gizmodo.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 7h

How One AI Model Creates a Physical Intuition of Its Environment

www.quantamagazine.org/how-one-ai-m...

How One AI Model Creates a Physical Intuition of Its Environment | Quanta Magazine

The V-JEPA system uses ordinary videos to understand the physics of the real world.

www.quantamagazine.org

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 8h

AI assisting humans as a tool for making discoveries? Of course.

AI accidentally producing something significant and a human recognizing it as such? Possible.

AI making discoveries as though it were an independent agent? Not going to happen.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Will AI ever win its own Nobel? Some predict a prize-worthy science discovery soon

Other researchers question whether autonomous AI scientists are possible or even desirable.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Sara M. Butler, Klaus Oschema

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 8h

#CFP : Star Gazing: Astrology and Astronomy in the Medieval and Renaissance Imagination

cmrs.osu.edu/events/cfp-s...

CFP: Star Gazing: Astrology and Astronomy in the Medieval and Renaissance Imagination

Call for PapersStar Gazing: Astrology and Astronomy in the Medieval and Renaissance ImaginationPopular Culture and the Deep Past 2026

cmrs.osu.edu

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James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 8h

Is this essentially panpsychism?

www.noemamag.com/the-surprisi...

The Surprisingly Lifelike Behavior Of Mindless Material | NOEMA

New ways of studying the origin of life are leading to a better understanding of consciousness and the mind.

www.noemamag.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 9h

Librarian who stood up for first amendment vindicated

www.cbsnews.com/news/wyoming...

Wyoming library director fired amid uproar over books with LGBTQ+ themes wins $700,000 settlement

Terri Lesley was fired amid an uproar over books with sexual content and LGBTQ+ themes that some people complained were inappropriate for youngsters.

www.cbsnews.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 9h

AI as a tool in genetics research

www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...

The AI Genetics Revolution Is Coming

We’re worrying about the wrong arms race with China.

www.thenewatlantis.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 9h

Why Aren't There Any Missing People? www.wesleywellis.com/2025/10/why-...

Why Aren't There Any Missing People?

Late last month, someone left a book on the doorstep of my church called Where Are the Missing People? by Jimmy Evans. It showed up right a...

www.wesleywellis.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 9h

Reviewers for “Four Evangelists and a Heresy Hunter: Investigating the Traditions about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John” jesusmemoirs.wordpress.com/2025/09/25/r...

Reviewers for “Four Evangelists and a Heresy Hunter: Investigating the Traditions about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John”

My self-published book Four Evangelists and a Heresy Hunter: Investigating the Traditions about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John can be purchased in paperback or Kindle editions on Amazon. I have deli…

jesusmemoirs.wordpress.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 10h

Judaism, for Christians scotmcknight.substack.com/p/judaism-fo...

Judaism, for Christians

In correspondence recently with a Jewish scholar, I made the suggestion to him that we need a book about Judaism.

scotmcknight.substack.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 10h

Job Opening on the Corpus Masoreticum Project oldtestamenttextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2025/09/job-...

Job Opening on the Corpus Masoreticum Project

The Corpus Masoreticum project in Heidelberg has posted a postdoc job opening working on editing the Masorah of early Ashkenazi manuscripts...

oldtestamenttextualcriticism.blogspot.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 10h

Is Empathy a Biblical Concept or a New Age Idea? nijaykgupta.substack.com/p/is-empathy...

Is Empathy a Biblical Concept or a New Age Idea?

CHAT GuPTAa: Ask Your Questions

nijaykgupta.substack.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 11h

What Is Leprosy in the Bible? allanrbevere.substack.com/p/what-is-le...

What Is Leprosy in the Bible?

Preparing for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Three Days before Sunday (Year C)

allanrbevere.substack.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 11h

“The Healing Power of Love in a Violent World” drcelucienjoseph.com/2025/09/22/t...

“The Healing Power of Love in a Violent World”

“The Healing Power of Love in a Violent World” War will never bring peace to estranged peoples, communities, or nations. Retributive violence, though often justified as justice, is the most destruc…

drcelucienjoseph.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 12h

Un récit sur Jésus dans les Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyā’ de Rabġūzī damienlabadie.blogspot.com/2025/10/un-r...

Un récit sur Jésus dans les Qiṣaṣ al-Anbiyā’ de Rabġūzī

Les Qiṣaṣ al-’Anbiyā’ (Histoires des prophètes) de Rabġūzī , achevées en 1311, constituent un réservoir inestimable de traditions ...

damienlabadie.blogspot.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 12h

Scientists Spot Two Black Holes Caught in a Deadly Orbital Dance for the First Time gizmodo.com/scientists-s...

Scientists Spot Two Black Holes Caught in a Deadly Orbital Dance for the First Time

The images of the two cosmic beasts, locked in orbit around each other, prove that such binary systems exist.

gizmodo.com

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James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 12h

'When an LLM writes malware or says something untrue, it has the same effect whatever the motive or lack thereof.'

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

AI models that lie, cheat and plot murder: how dangerous are LLMs really?

Tests of large language models reveal that they can behave in deceptive and potentially harmful ways. What does this mean for the future?

www.nature.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 13h

An attempt to explain the current surge of populism

www.persuasion.community/p/its-the-in...

It’s the Internet, Stupid

What caused the global populist wave? Blame the screens.

www.persuasion.community

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 13h

Current Research in Egyptology 2024: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium

ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2025/09/curr...

Current Research in Egyptology 2024: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium, Jointly Organised by the University of Liverpool, Swansea University, University of Birmingham, University of Oxford, and University of Wales Trinity Saint David, 2–6 September 2024

Current Research in Egyptology 2024: Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Symposium, Jointly Organised by the University of Liverpool, Sw...

ancientworldonline.blogspot.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 13h

The Boomer Archaeologist www.biblicalarchaeology.org/reviews/the-...

The Boomer Archaeologist

Explore the life of acclaimed archaeologist Thomas Levy in The Boomer Archaeologist, a graphic memoir blending comic-style storytelling with groundbreaking archaeological discoveries, personal…

www.biblicalarchaeology.org

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 14h

Hungry for Hope: Letters to the Church from Young Adults (Jeremy Paul Myers & Kristina Frugé) - Review api.follow.it/track-rss-st...

Hungry for Hope: Letters to the Church from Young Adults (Jeremy Paul Myers & Kristina Frugé) - Review

A blog about Christianity, theology, religion and public life.

api.follow.it

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 14h

This article misrepresents the ability of AI to do things. There is so much hype that many mistakenly think we are on the cusp of artificial persons. AI, understood and used correctly, has much to offer.

3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily...

The Alien Mirror: Humanizing Artificial Intelligence - 3 Quarks Daily

by Herbert HarrisArtificial intelligence has emerged not as a single technology but as a civilization-transforming event. Our collective response has

3quarksdaily.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 14h

Free eBook: Reading Mark www.bibleexposition.net/2025/10/free...

Free eBook: Reading Mark

Wipf and Stock is offering a free eBook copy of Reading Mark by Kelly Iverson . Act quickly because the deal ends on 10/17. Here are the ...

www.bibleexposition.net

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 15h

Charlie Kirk’s Memorial Was a Warning www.pcnbritain.org.uk/blog/post/ch...

Charlie Kirk’s Memorial Was a Warning

Caleb Lines and Mark Sandlin, co-executive directors of the Center for Progressive Christianity, reflect on the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's death.

www.pcnbritain.org.uk

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 15h

New magazine issue on AI and the future of work

www.eclasproject.org/eclas-joins-...

ECLAS joins call for national conversation on AI and the Future of Work – ECLAS

A new call to engage in the future of work shaped by AI

www.eclasproject.org

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 15h

Congratulations to Martin Doblmeier!

mailchi.mp/journeyfilms...

Television Academy Honors Martin Doblmeier

Last Saturday filmmaker Martin Doblmeier of Journey Films was inducted into the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences - National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter. The regional...

mailchi.mp

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James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 1d

As so often, the Republicans who predicted this were projecting their own desires

rollcall.com/2025/10/09/w...

Where are those ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flags now? - Roll Call

Now that the nightmares of tea party patriots have come true, where is the outrage and where are those darn flags?

rollcall.com

James F. McGrath (ReligionProf) @religionprof.bsky.social · 1d

If there's a new religious movie featuring Nicholas Cage you know it's going to be ___________ [please fill in the blank].

gizmodo.com/carpenters-s...

The Full Trailer for Nicolas Cage's Jesus Horror Movie Is Here, and... Holy Hell

'The Carpenter's Son' is written and directed by Lofty Nathan, and co-stars FKA twigs, Isla Johnston, and Noah Jupe.

gizmodo.com