Being a Christian Witness
I wrote some more thoughts for my wife’s devotional list on the same topic as my post Silent Witness. We are works in progress. Imperfection is a fact, but it shouldn’t be an excuse.
Similar Posts
Isaiah 64 in the Orthodox Study Bible
ByhenryI’ve begun using the Orthodox Study Bible in my lectionary reading, which brought me to Isaiah 64 a couple of days ago. It’s been that kind of a week, so I haven’t had time to comment on it until now. First, let me note that having a study Bible with an overtly Christological interpretation of…
Theme for the First Sunday of Lent
ByhenryNot too surprisingly, it’s not hard to find a common theme through the lectionary passages for February 10. This makes a second week in a row, as the Transfiguration texts also displayed many common themes. The texts are: Genesis 2:15-17 (the command about the tree in the midst of the garden), 3:1-7 (Temptation and Fall)….
Bad Reasons for Getting Out of a War
ByhenryI’m an opponent of the Iraq war, but I oppose it on strategic grounds. Even now, I believe that we have gained very little, and are in fact worse off than when we started. After a period of time we will find that Iraq has become another haven for terrorists, perhaps not as bad as…
Origen: Stumbling Blocks in Scripture
ByhenryThe following is from Origen, On First Principles, 4.1.15. All emphasis is mine. (Also from CCEL.) But since, if the usefulness of the legislation, and the sequence and beauty of the history, were universally evident of itself, we should not believe that any other thing could be understood in the Scriptures save what was obvious,…
More on Campaign Finance
ByhenryWhile deploring the hypocrisy of Obama’s switch on the issue (though still preferring him to McCain), I will be very happy if his action is the death-knell of public campaign financing as suggested in this NYT article (via MSNBC).
Trust the Executive Branch?
ByhenryLiberals tend to trust the government to do right in social spending. Conservatives tend to trust the government on security issues. I’d suggest we do neither. It seems some appeals court judges agree. Allowing agents of the executive branch to simply declare someone outside the court system is ridiculous. I have a hard time understanding…