Why I Quit Trusting Creationist Writers
I’ve mentioned several times before how I migrated from young earth creationist all the way to theistic evolution, and even to the point of objecting to the term “theistic” in front of evolutionist. I am a theist, but the theory of evolution is a scientific theory, and should remain the same whether one is a…
Back in Action
. . . more or less. I had a fairly annoying encounter with the flu, and in the middle of that had an as yet unidentified medical problem that sent me to the emergency room. All in all this combination cut my blogging (and my writing for print) way back for a couple of weeks,…
Thinking about the Servant – Isaiah 50:4-9a
I made a mental connection this morning while reading the lectionary passages for Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday. I’m not certain just how valid this is, but I thought I’d write about it. There are multiple views of the servant passages in 2nd Isaiah. Some see each passage separately, with some being prophecies of the Messiah, and…
Back at It!
If you’ve wondered where I’ve been, see this post on my Threads blog. I’m back at posting again!
Florida and Academic Freedom Follies
The Florida Citizens for Science blog has a post summing up the current situation with creationist bills in the Florida legislature. FCFS communication director Brandon Haught shows how the bill in the Florida Senate is essentially taken directly from the Discovery Institute’s web site. What is the purpose of these bills? Academic freedom is not…
Parsimony of Miracle Assumptions: Matthew 21:1-7
Or I might title this “Was Jesus a Horse Thieving Magician?” I learned this story so long ago I don’t remember just when it was, but I got a Sunday School version that left me with the impression that because Jesus was God, either he knew everything, or his father revealed to him the location…
Why Anti-Evolution Lies?
Earlier I blogged about Dr. Steve Matheson’s use of the term “folk-science” to deal with some creationist writing about science. in that post I struggled with that term, and how to distinguish lies from differences of opinion, viewpoint, and simple ignorance. Well, Dr. Matheson is now dealing with some material he outright calls lies. This…
A Difference in Agendas – John 11:1-16
I noticed a theme in this passage that I think is important. If you look at the response of the disciples when Jesus proposes to go to Bethany (v. 7-8). They believe it’s too dangerous to go there. It appears to me that for the two days that Jesus delayed, the disciples assumed that he…
Health Care Must be Produced
I read this article on CQPolitics.com that deals with some of the issues of handling health care costs, and also suggests to me that my feeling may be right that the types of savings claimed by the candidates as part of their health care programs may be much more complicated to attain than they would…
Enabling Media Bias
Walter Shorenstein is decrying media bias in favor of Barack Obama. The only surprising thing here, in my view, is that someone felt they needed to write a memo–and I favor Obama myself. The question is just how media bias works, and what the bias is. First, while I think there is a natural tendency…
Piper on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit
Adrian Warnock has posted a substantial quote from John Piper on the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I believe that Piper’s illustration–which I think is excellent–is in accord with my view that this experience can happen more than once.
Respecting Elders and Adjudicating Church Property
[Note: I’m fighting the flu, which is why I didn’t post at all yesterday. I’m up to reading again today, and found a few things to comment on.] Peter Kirk posts on the church congregation of which J. I. Packer is a member, which has voted to leave its diocese and join the southern cone….
Totally Restored (I Presume!)
Everything should be back in place now. I found some additional glitches, including several posts with zeroed out dates (that puts them in 1969, which is miraculous!), but I think things are working again.
Hermeneutics Quiz
I scored a 74, progressive, but I object to almost all the questions and answers. The quiz is here. HT: 42
Site Restored (Mostly)
All the posts have been restored, but I tried to get creative, and to put it generously, the results were not quite what I planned. I have some comments to restore yet. If you commented between February 15 and February 26, it’s possible your comment isn’t there. I do have your comment, however, and will…
Christian Carnival #213 Posted
. . . at my Jevlir Caravansary blog. I note that I failed to include a post of my own or one from my wife, so I shall have to go over there and add them!
Site Restored
Well, it was a long couple of days, but the site is back up and working. I believe there should be nothing missing at this point. If there is, please let me know. There were a few things to restore manually, item by item, but not that many. I appreciate your patience–assuming you had some!–and…
A Conservative Christian Republican for Obama
I found this post via if i were a bell, i’d ring, and find the arguments used interesting. Not being as conservative as the the post author, I have less policy concerns with Obama than he does, but I find his arguments very interesting.
The Historical Virgin Mary – II
In chapter 6 of his book What Have They Done with Jesus? Dr. Ben Witherington continues his discussion of the historical Mary, mother of Jesus. In general this is a harmonizing account based on all sources combined, though primarily it works from John and Mark. I have already discussed the issues I have with this…
Christian Carnival #213 Coming
. . . and will be posted here tomorrow. You have until midnight tonight eastern time to get your posts in. Come one, come all (qualified folks!) and submit your posts!
Anointing in the Passages for Lent 4A
For finding lectionary passages online, I recommend Textweek.com, which provides some quite valuable services for lectionary passages. This is just a brief note on this theme which has been very striking to me as I repeatedly read these passages. Anointing has a variety of implications in the Bible, and these passages would allow one to…
Reading from the NIrV
The New International Reader’s Version never got much traction, especially here in the United States, but I do have a copy, and I chose to do my lectionary reading from it this morning. That kind of reading is helpful in getting a quick feel for a version. I can ask myself how I would teach…
Would Jesus Do This?
Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland seems to believe that Jesus would respond to courtesy with violence: On a Sunday when Tarico was present, Hutcherson was preaching on gender roles. During his sermon, Hutcherson stated, “God hates soft men” and “God hates effeminate men.” Hutcherson went on to say, “If I was…
The Historical Virgin Mary – I
After discussing Simon Peter, Ben Witherington, in his book What Have They Done with Jesus? proceeds to deal with the information we have available on the Mary, the mother of Jesus. This continues with chapter 5. (Previous entry in this series is Search for the Historical Simon Peter – II.) I should make it clear…