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The last ten books I've read since January:

• Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard E. Friedman (Re-read)

A great overview and introduction to the Documentary Hypothesis. 5/5

• A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by Karen Armstrong

Discusses the evolution of the Abrahamic religions through the changing conception of their common deity. 4/5

• David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible's Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman

Excellent discussion on the evolving legends of kings David and Solomon. 5/5

• Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould

A fine, if dated, collection of essays by Stephen Jay Gould. 4/5

• Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins by Carl Zimmer

A full-color and well illustrated introduction to human evolution. 5/5

• Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment? by Tim Callahan

Excellent discussion on biblical, messianic, and apocalyptic prophecies. Needs an editor to fix the misspellings and repeated words. 4/5

• Trilobite: Eyewitness to Evolution by Richard Fortey

  Entertaining discussion on all things trilobite. 4/5

• The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? by Robert M. Price

Brilliant counterpoint to the (unfortunate) bestseller "The Purpose-Driven Life". 4/5

• Skipping Towards Armageddon: The Politics and Propaganda of the Left Behind Novels and the LaHaye Empire by Michael Standaert

Interesting look at premillennial theology and rightwing politics. Sorely needs a spell-checker. 3/5

• Why I Am Not a Muslim by Ibn Warraq

One of the better books on Islam. Doesn't pull back on criticising the "religion of peace". 4/5

Grading system:

1/5 - I hate it!
2/5 - I don't like it.
3/5 - It's ok.
4/5 - I like it.
5/5 - I love it!

Currently reading: From Epic to Canon: History and Literature in Ancient Israel by Frank Moore Cross.

I hold in my hand the very body of Christ Jesus himself! Or, that is, if you believe that the "real presence" of Jesus is somehow contained in a tasteless communion wafer:

So what, you say? One can buy communion wafers by the bagful if you know where to shop for it. But this one is different: it's consecrated! Yep, this poor wafer was blessed by, not one, not two, but three ministers! I attended service with my family this past sunday (still can't fully kick my church habit, I'm afraid). No special occasion, just your normal churchy stuff.

While I don't mind singing crappy religious songs (I was a church choir member myself), I draw the line at receiving communion. Something about ritually devouring the (symbolic) body of a once-living human being rubs me the wrong way. I may be a carnivore, but I'm no cannibal.

But this past sunday, my better judgement got the better of me and I found myself going towards the altar to receive "host". I had consumed communion wafers when I was a Christian (don't worry, you're not missing much). When it was my turn to eat Jesus, I faked eating the wafer but instead "palmed" it (thank you Penn and Teller!).

So now I have a consecrated communion wafer. What do I do with it? Sell it on eBay? Nah, it's just a plain wafer, no curvy lines that could be mistaken for a "virgin". Now that would've fetch me a pretty penny.

Maybe I can do an experiment. According to scriptures, God would not allow the body of the "Holy One to see corruption" (Psa 16:10, Act 2:27, Act 13:35). If this is true, then a consecrated host ought to be immune to molds and the like. Sounds like a Sacrilicious plan!

Hat tip to No More Hornets for exposing the truth about Mike Huckabee, presidential hopeful and baptist pastor:

Add up all the letters in:
"Go Huckabee for President of the United States, Two Thousand and Eight."

"Go Huckabee" = 78, "for" = 39
"President" = 110.
"of The United States" = 211
"Two Thousand and Eight" = 228

Take the total: 78 + 39 + 110 + 211 + 228 = 666!

Wow, I was already wary of this reconstructionist wingnut, but this puts the icing on the cake: he's a spawn of the prince of darkness! Since the bible itself supports the use numerology (the bible forbids other forms of occult practices but conspicuously omits numerology), I think this evidence about Huckabee should be of concern to his Evangelical supporters.

Maybe we can find similar coincidences in the other candidates. That's the great thing about numerology, it "works" for everything.