Krista Tippett and the daVinci Code

Krista Tippett just had an interesting episode of her show this afternoon, “Speaking of Faith,” on issues surrounding the popular conversation with the daVinci Code. I was particularly pleased to hear one of my former teachers, Bernadette Brooten, talk about the many leadership roles women played in the earliest Christian communities. Krista’s website points off to a number of useful links, including: a fairly comprehensive set of early Christian writings, that Feminist Sexual Ethics project that Bernadette directs, and the Nag Hammadi writings. The site also has a good basic bibliography, and links to some of the more popular Time and Newsweek articles. While you’re there, you might also listen to the episode she aired a couple of weeks ago on the “Soul in Depression” — another excellent exploration of the issues (including an interview with Parker Palmer).

One final note on this afternoon’s show: I disagree with Luke Timothy Johnson’s characterization of certain technologies as diminishing vigorous exploration of ideas. I think a great case can be made that the Internet, in particular, contributes to MORE such exploration, rather than less.