Isaac Arten
@drisaacactually.bsky.social
Theologian and cultural historian of theology
Truly, Missouri's junior senator is a doofus for the ages...
October 1, 2026 at 2:07 AM
Truly, Missouri's junior senator is a doofus for the ages...
Oof, no reviewer #2 has ever reviewer # 2ed harder than this reviewer #2
September 30, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Oof, no reviewer #2 has ever reviewer # 2ed harder than this reviewer #2
Oh, FFS, preachers; Marcionism isn't even one of the interesting heresies!
September 27, 2026 at 5:04 PM
Oh, FFS, preachers; Marcionism isn't even one of the interesting heresies!
Today seems a fitting one for this snarky joke:
The Emperor Caligula appointed his horse to the Roman Senate.
The other senators found the horse impossible to work with: he only ever voted "Neigh."
The Emperor Caligula appointed his horse to the Roman Senate.
The other senators found the horse impossible to work with: he only ever voted "Neigh."
July 14, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Today seems a fitting one for this snarky joke:
The Emperor Caligula appointed his horse to the Roman Senate.
The other senators found the horse impossible to work with: he only ever voted "Neigh."
The Emperor Caligula appointed his horse to the Roman Senate.
The other senators found the horse impossible to work with: he only ever voted "Neigh."
Random thought that's been tickling the back of my brain for a while: if the current "Hollywood Chrises" are Pine, Pratt, and Hemsworth, are they a sequel to the original Hollywood Christophers: Plummer, Lee, and Lloyd?
May 29, 2026 at 12:24 AM
Random thought that's been tickling the back of my brain for a while: if the current "Hollywood Chrises" are Pine, Pratt, and Hemsworth, are they a sequel to the original Hollywood Christophers: Plummer, Lee, and Lloyd?
Reposted by Isaac Arten
People who get AI to summarise everything so they can complete their doctorates should get the title ‘[tl;]Dr’
May 14, 2026 at 5:18 PM
People who get AI to summarise everything so they can complete their doctorates should get the title ‘[tl;]Dr’
There's a real beauty in the stuff that holds everything else up!
A #poem for Crewe Station (and other stations of your choice) #train #railway #architecture www.robinince.com
May 14, 2026 at 12:57 PM
There's a real beauty in the stuff that holds everything else up!
With some colloquialisms for "making money" you can make a pretty decent sandwich: "get that bread," "bring home the bacon" plus "lettuce" and "cheddar" as references to cash money... there don't seem to be any condiments, though...
May 13, 2026 at 5:04 PM
With some colloquialisms for "making money" you can make a pretty decent sandwich: "get that bread," "bring home the bacon" plus "lettuce" and "cheddar" as references to cash money... there don't seem to be any condiments, though...
It's *totally* not a golden calf; the court prophets just think King Nebuchadnezzar is a strong leader!
If You Have To Say It's Not A Golden Calf, It's A Golden Calf
By @evanhurst.substack.com, from his side project The Moral High Ground. Do you subscribe to that? You should subscribe to that! Link within!
www.wonkette.com/p/if-you-hav...
By @evanhurst.substack.com, from his side project The Moral High Ground. Do you subscribe to that? You should subscribe to that! Link within!
www.wonkette.com/p/if-you-hav...
If You Have To Say It's Not A Golden Calf, It's A Golden Calf
Mark Burns's 'It's Not A Golden Calf!' T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by his shirt.
www.wonkette.com
May 11, 2026 at 2:52 PM
It's *totally* not a golden calf; the court prophets just think King Nebuchadnezzar is a strong leader!
Reposted by Isaac Arten
The other sort of canned thing I have is my response when students inevitably ask me if I think religion is ultimately good or bad.
“Religion is powerful,” I’d tell them, “and so dangerous. In that regard, it’s like the table saw in my dad’s garage.”
“Religion is powerful,” I’d tell them, “and so dangerous. In that regard, it’s like the table saw in my dad’s garage.”
I do this exercise w/ theology students: imagine in an important area of your life, you can only operate on what you understood at 14. Every other area, you grow in understanding, but in e.g. romance or finances? 14. How’s that part of life going to go? Now when do people stop learning re: religion?
Also I don't know if no one ever told you this or what but you're allowed to keep learning things after high school. A high school education is supposed to give you the basics so you can continue to keep learning things as an adult.
May 11, 2026 at 12:07 AM
The other sort of canned thing I have is my response when students inevitably ask me if I think religion is ultimately good or bad.
“Religion is powerful,” I’d tell them, “and so dangerous. In that regard, it’s like the table saw in my dad’s garage.”
“Religion is powerful,” I’d tell them, “and so dangerous. In that regard, it’s like the table saw in my dad’s garage.”
Heard from the living room, where the other Dr. Arten is learning recital music: "This is so major-key for being corpses!"
May 9, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Heard from the living room, where the other Dr. Arten is learning recital music: "This is so major-key for being corpses!"
If I had tenure, I'd schedule my office hours like this too...
April 23, 2026 at 5:33 PM
If I had tenure, I'd schedule my office hours like this too...
In springtime, the senses of the bee prompt it to its work, pollinating the world and producing honey and wax...Like the change of the season for the bee, the Exsultet calls those who hear it to spread the joy of Easter and renew the face of the world.
My neighbor keeps bees so I love this so much!
My neighbor keeps bees so I love this so much!
April 5, 2026 at 12:47 AM
In springtime, the senses of the bee prompt it to its work, pollinating the world and producing honey and wax...Like the change of the season for the bee, the Exsultet calls those who hear it to spread the joy of Easter and renew the face of the world.
My neighbor keeps bees so I love this so much!
My neighbor keeps bees so I love this so much!
Finally! A real game-changer for research...
NEW: Introducing the Bodleian Whispering Service.
Too busy to read? Our expert librarians can now quietly narrate books, articles, and selected manuscripts directly to you in our reading rooms.
Please note: whispering remains subject to standard library noise regulations.
Too busy to read? Our expert librarians can now quietly narrate books, articles, and selected manuscripts directly to you in our reading rooms.
Please note: whispering remains subject to standard library noise regulations.
April 1, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Finally! A real game-changer for research...
Had a real-life "computers talking to computers" moment today: my phone finished reading me a text as I walked onto the Metrolink platform, just as an automated announcement ended with "Thank you." Siri hears the Metro robot and says "No problem" in my ear. What a world we live in...
March 24, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Had a real-life "computers talking to computers" moment today: my phone finished reading me a text as I walked onto the Metrolink platform, just as an automated announcement ended with "Thank you." Siri hears the Metro robot and says "No problem" in my ear. What a world we live in...
Had a dream last night that I'd locked my keys in my car (a plot point in a larger story, in the genre of "stuck dream"), but my dreaming brand took pains to reassure my conscious brain that this was only happening in the dream, and the real car keys were safely in their bowl by the front door...
March 23, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Had a dream last night that I'd locked my keys in my car (a plot point in a larger story, in the genre of "stuck dream"), but my dreaming brand took pains to reassure my conscious brain that this was only happening in the dream, and the real car keys were safely in their bowl by the front door...
Today I found myself saying, "My frustration has become a barrier to further learning" when I couldn't understand why a small household repair was working, but not the way I expected, and I think I'll hold onto that phrase (and offer it to you as well).
March 12, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Today I found myself saying, "My frustration has become a barrier to further learning" when I couldn't understand why a small household repair was working, but not the way I expected, and I think I'll hold onto that phrase (and offer it to you as well).
Reposted by Isaac Arten
The booke of love ys long & boringe
No folk kan lyft the damned thinge
Crammid ful of charters & lore & rubrics
And ynstructiouns for daunsing -
But Ich? Ich love it whan thou readest to me;
And thee, thou kanst reade me eny thinge.
("The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields)
No folk kan lyft the damned thinge
Crammid ful of charters & lore & rubrics
And ynstructiouns for daunsing -
But Ich? Ich love it whan thou readest to me;
And thee, thou kanst reade me eny thinge.
("The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields)
February 14, 2026 at 8:19 PM
The booke of love ys long & boringe
No folk kan lyft the damned thinge
Crammid ful of charters & lore & rubrics
And ynstructiouns for daunsing -
But Ich? Ich love it whan thou readest to me;
And thee, thou kanst reade me eny thinge.
("The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields)
No folk kan lyft the damned thinge
Crammid ful of charters & lore & rubrics
And ynstructiouns for daunsing -
But Ich? Ich love it whan thou readest to me;
And thee, thou kanst reade me eny thinge.
("The Book of Love" by The Magnetic Fields)
At the grocery store, I heard the word "fussopotamus" ("When you're a fussopotamus, I can't understand you!") and I have never wanted to be a parent of a toddler more than I do now that I know this word! College students are fussopotami now and then, but you can't say so to their faces, sadly...
February 15, 2026 at 12:30 AM
At the grocery store, I heard the word "fussopotamus" ("When you're a fussopotamus, I can't understand you!") and I have never wanted to be a parent of a toddler more than I do now that I know this word! College students are fussopotami now and then, but you can't say so to their faces, sadly...
As a theologian, let me say: give me the undergrads earnestly debating the categorical imperative (and being a little wrong about it) over the Thursday street preachers shouting at my students that if they die before spring break, God's going to send them to hell, absolutely any day of the week...
February 6, 2026 at 2:20 AM
As a theologian, let me say: give me the undergrads earnestly debating the categorical imperative (and being a little wrong about it) over the Thursday street preachers shouting at my students that if they die before spring break, God's going to send them to hell, absolutely any day of the week...
@karanslade.bsky.social you mentioned your interest in trains in a post the other day, so I couldn't not send you this video about the English vicar and his train set! www.facebook.com/share/r/182P...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:16 PM
@karanslade.bsky.social you mentioned your interest in trains in a post the other day, so I couldn't not send you this video about the English vicar and his train set! www.facebook.com/share/r/182P...
Reposted by Isaac Arten
My university now provides Microsoft's AI tools to all of its faculty and staff. We're a Jesuit school: we care about formation for the whole *person*. Not a single philosopher, ethicist, or theologian was involved in drafting the new AI usage policies. It's malpractice to promote this nonsense.
November 15, 2025 at 3:56 AM
My university now provides Microsoft's AI tools to all of its faculty and staff. We're a Jesuit school: we care about formation for the whole *person*. Not a single philosopher, ethicist, or theologian was involved in drafting the new AI usage policies. It's malpractice to promote this nonsense.
Reposted by Isaac Arten
Grateful to @truahrabbis.bsky.social for teaching this important classical midrash:
"God created the first human being out of dust from the four corners of the earth [because], every place a person goes, a part of them is from there and a part of them is returning there.”
"God created the first human being out of dust from the four corners of the earth [because], every place a person goes, a part of them is from there and a part of them is returning there.”
![Thanks to @truahrabbis.bsky.social for teaching me this midrash (Yalkut Shimoni 13:2):
God created the 1st human from dust from the 4 corners of earth so “if one comes from the east to the west [near death], the land will not say, ‘The dust of your body isn’t mine. Go back to where you were created!’ Rather, every place a person goes, a part of them is from there and a part of them is returning there.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4eedw4y6ei2dqjgspjeskzlk/bafkreia6rjx3ljwgy6z5jjiqxxk7a3kd24zkt7gf76sdfx7h6q3f36r2hm)
June 13, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Grateful to @truahrabbis.bsky.social for teaching this important classical midrash:
"God created the first human being out of dust from the four corners of the earth [because], every place a person goes, a part of them is from there and a part of them is returning there.”
"God created the first human being out of dust from the four corners of the earth [because], every place a person goes, a part of them is from there and a part of them is returning there.”