Featured Posts
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What Is Biblical Literacy?
We complain about it, write about it, claim it’s important or even critical, design programs to create it, but what is it? I don’t mean that none of us know what we mean when we say “biblically literate” or “biblically illiterate,” but do we all mean the same thing? I don’t think we do, and…
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Fences: Mending or Rending
The following is a sermon I presented at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Pensacola on September 11,2005 and originally posted here on September 13, 2005. I’m reposting it because when I went to look for it, I found that the original post had somehow been truncated, and also because there is a one word at a…
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Experiencing the (Baptism of the) Holy Spirit
This is a topic where I tend to make just about everyone uncomfortable. Long time readers may recall a previous discussion of speaking in tongues, and my own experience of it. Those who expect me to be intellectually oriented and rational are uncomfortable with mystical experiences, and many who are comfortable with the mystical experiences…
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Healthcare and the Church: But What is the Church?
[Since I have readers from a variety of viewpoints, let me note that the following is written from within the Christian tradition and to those in that tradition. It’s OK to read, of course, but it’s unlikely to be of great interest to non-Christians.] Mark at Pseudo-Polymath has started a discussion on health care and…
Curriculum Chaos Bill in Florida
The Florida legislature is considering an Academic Freedom bill. This one has been done to death, and you can find a great deal of information about it on the Florida Citizens for Science Blog, with the most recent update here. I’ll let you get the details via the many posts there. I want to add…
UC Admissions Case Update
Since it’s my day to link to Ed (not really, but he has some good posts, here’s an update on the UC admissions case.
Freedom from (not of) Expression
Ed Brayton notes that the UN Human Rights Council has endorsed an anti-religious speech code proposed by the Organization of the Islamic Conference. I could write about this with the anger and disgust I feel, but Ed already said it so well: Now I am one of those people who is careful to distinguish between…
MyBibleVersion.com – Comparison against a Base Version (Alpha)
In response to a comment, I have added a page that will allow you to choose a base Bible version (whatever you prefer) and get a list of all other available versions based on how much they differ from that. The page is http://www.mybibleversion.com/compare.php. The default version is the NRSV if you don’t specify. There…
Also Richard Colling
PZ Myers (yes, he who was expelled from Expelled!)* Pim van Meurs, has posted a couple of interesting cases on The Panda’s Thumb, and I want to make sure one name is also known: Dr. Richard Colling. I wrote about his situation in a number of posts, and also blogged through his book Random Designer….
The Major Errors of KJV-Only
Someone signing as Morgan Sorensen just left a comment on my old post (11/28/2006), and I want to promote it to its own post, because it demonstrates the core errors of the KJV-Only position in a very small space. I’m printing the entire comment but I’m interspersing it with comments on the core errors that…
Expelled! and the Atheism-Evolution Connection
There is something I want to clarify from my previous post on the topic. Nobody has mentioned this to me, but it is a common enough error that I think I need to say something explicit. I object both to the comparison of scientists supporting the theory of evolution to Nazis and the equation of…
MyBibleVersion.com – Adding a New Concept
Lingalinga, formerly going under the identity lingamish, made a suggestion about my Bible Version Selection Tool. He thought it would be nice to be able to modify the version profiles to one’s individual tastes, and use the tool against those profiles rather than the ones I supply. I agree with him, and it wouldn’t be…
Upgraded to WordPress 2.5
I have upgraded the software for this blog to WordPress 2.5. I believe with the way I did it nobody should have noticed more than a momentary (less that 30 second) glitch. If there were any other problems I apologize. Please let me know if any new difficulties emerge.
Context for Obama and Dr. Jeremiah Wright
I commented before on how we’re getting snippets out of context. Peter Kirk has done some looking regarding the God damn America comment. From another angle, my wife thinks Obama needs to say “enough!” and get on with the campaign.
Matheson on Howard van Till
He posted some good notes on a talk by van Till here. I have great respect for van Till as well, though I have only encountered him through reading.
Suppressed and Talking about it Everywhere
After reading this review of Expelled!, (HT: The Panda’s Thumb) based only on the 10 minute trailer, I decided to go view the various trailers for myself. This is a movie that I have very little interest in seeing. Let me explain that. It’s not that I don’t want to hear about ID, but I…
Some Dialogue on Inerrancy
. . . via if i were a bell, i’d ring. Check it out and the links.
Prayer or Medicine
I was going to write about his, but Laura has already done a good job. Like my dad the doctor taught me, there’s no need to make it either/or; it’s both/and.
No More -MORE-
OK, the votes are in and I see some people who don’t like -MORE- tags, and nobody who really, really wants them, so I’m going to go with my inclinations and not use them at all. I used them so rarely, and so inconsistently that it was probably not going to work anyhow. Thanks to…
Church and Health Care: Remembering My Parents
Mark, at Pseudo-Polymath has written a post, The Christian Response to Healthcare and End of Life, which has what I consider the greatest quality for blog posts: It deserves to be discussed. My immediate problem is that there are simply too many things to discuss, and I’m a long winded person in any case. So…
Christian Carnival #CCXVII Posted
. . . at Diary of 1.
Christian Health Care
Pseudo-Polymath has posted on Christian duty and health care, and used one of my quotes, though I’m not sure what the relevance of the quote is. His comments, however, are interest, and are making me think. As the son of a missionary MD (father) and RN (mother) I’m very interested in the topic and may…
On the KJV
I’ve been posting on this topic over on my Participatory Bible Study Blog, and since it has started to involve religion and society, especially education, I thought I’d call attention to it. I feel a rant coming on about the descent of modern education into irrelevance, but it will have to wait for tomorrow.
Audiences and the KJV
. . . or any Bible translation, for that matter. My post on reading from the KJV elicited a response from Iyov, who doesn’t agree with a number of things, some of which I haven’t said. But some of them I have said, so I want to clarify just a bit. Note that I will…
-MORE- Tags: To Use or Not
The -MORE- tag in this blog software breaks out a portion of the post to show on the main page, while requiring you to click on a link if you wish to continue reading. I keep trying to remember to use them, but I generally forget. What do you readers think? Do you like to…
Political Purity and Small Political Parties
With Ralph Nader on the left and Allan Keyes on the right, and the Libertarian Party wherever they may be found, we certainly have options for voting third party this year. I have voted for third parties in the past, specifically for the Libertarian Party, though I once offended a roomful of Libertarians who were…
Replacing Reading Scripture with Presentation
Lingamish made an excellent comment on my previous post, which I want to promote into a post of its own along with a few comments of my own. There are a lot of variables to fiddle with on this subject. We tend to assume that reading out loud while a room full of people listen…