Crossley is biblioblogger of the month

The witty James Crossley is (biblio)Blogger of the Month for January 2007. The interview is great fun to read, one of the questions being: 'Would you agree with the sentiment cheekily expressed which suggests that "Evangelicals are Fundamentalists with a PhD"?'!

Part of his answer to this question was:

Relating this to your question (sort of), there is something problematic going on when certain scholars can talk of doing good history, accuse opponents of doing bad history, and then tell us that someone’s mother was a virgin, people really did bodily rise from the dead, and that God’s hand is working in history. If you believe those latter points and want to argue for them, fine. But it isn’t what historians would call good history so perhaps it is time, at the very least, to acknowledge that the rhetoric is inconsistent. I can’t imagine too many professionals working in history departments coming up with arguments in favour of the miraculous or the divine hand in history

Thought provoking, as was much else in his answers. It's actually kinda inspired me to read his Why Christianity Happened.

James mentions his respect for Maurice Casey, with whom I interact with in some detail in my thesis. My argument, however, develops in a very different direction, refuting, I think convincingly, Casey's take on Pauline Christology. But then I would say that, I suppose.

I'm particulalry looking forward to the Bird-Crossley debate.