Tuesday 8 March 2011

The BBC's latest biblical 'find'


If it were not so serious it would be funny. According to an article in The Telegraph, the BBC’s “new face of religion is an atheist who claims that God had a wife and Eve was "unfairly maligned" by sexist scholars.”
Well, everyone is entitled to their scholarly opinion, and this particular scholar apparently also takes the view that the God of the Old Testament had a consort named ‘Asherah’ — nothing there which hasn’t been claimed before, and fine if that’s how you want to approach your Ancient Near Eastern theology.
Of course, there are other views around, and provided they are given a fair go with license-payers’ money, no problem. I know Ken Kitchen isn’t yet pushing up the daisies, for example.
But what’s this? The ‘new face’ is not just on the far left of OT scholarship. It is also a young and strikingly pretty female.
How amazing! A corporation that has already been convicted of ageism with respect to its female presenters finds what is probably one of the best-looking women biblical scholars in the UK, if not the world, to present its latest series. And she’s ‘unorthodox’.
Well all I can say is, “Go, BBC!” First, Brian Cox for astronomy, now Dr Stavrokopoulou for biblical history.
What a find — and how many birds (if you’ll pardon the pun) can you kill with one stone when it comes to fulfilling your usual criteria?
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3 comments:

  1. Rev Dominic Stockford, Chairman, Protestant Truth Society8 March 2011 at 18:31

    The BBC don't even understand that most who use the name "evangelical" would never use the name "Protestant", so it doesn't surprise me that they would appoint an anti-Christian to present a programme on the Bible.

    Maybe they would like to appoint me to present a programme on the Koran? That would provide quite a fair balance in my view...

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  2. Yes, she's easy on the eye all right.
    But I wonder how many potential theology students to Exeter would be put off by the thought that one of the main Bible teachers is an atheist who finds the OT ful of violence, sexism etc - just as Sheffield has a prominent atheist teaching NT. Just wondering.

    I think the idea of an atheist presenting a BBC series on the life and marriages of the Muslim prophet Muhammad is a great one but would be short-lived (the atheist, that is).

    Mark B.

    Mark B.

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  3. John, I have offered a detailed critique of her programmes (not her looks!) here http://www.psephizo.com/?p=742 and http://www.psephizo.com/?p=758 and http://www.psephizo.com/?p=831

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