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Fire – Lamentations 1:13
Discussing the symbolism of fire in scripture, highlighting its dual nature as both a sign of divine acceptance and judgment. It reflects on personal suffering and God’s sovereignty, emphasizing that while God’s fire can refine and cleanse, it often accompanies lament and discomfort, aligning with the broader pursuit of righteousness.
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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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Bypass the Electoral College?
Wayward Fundamentalist Christian has a post about a movement by some states to bypass the Electoral College. This would be accomplished by a simple expedient that I had never thought of–state laws awarding their electoral college delegates to the winner of the national popular vote. (Here’s a NYT reference for those who may prefer that…
Freedom Not to Invite
I think the Nevada Supreme Court got this one right. Freedom of the press must include full freedom to invite or not to invite. I often support candidates with very low ratings at the polls, but there is no legal basis to force their inclusion in any televised debate.
Politician Images Don’t Interest Me
Politicians want to reach independents? OK: This and this are a waste of time. You won’t attract my vote with image ads or arguing about inadvertent statements. This is a bit better. Puncture the image. It also led me to factcheck.org, which I will be visiting frequently. Analyzing policy statements and proposals would be better….
Suffering and Perfection (St. John Chrysostom Again)
Those who believe in the doctrine of Christian perfection (on which I’m a bit wobbly myself) might consider this: “He learned,” he saith, to obey God. Here again he shows how great is the gain of sufferings. “And having been made perfect,” he says, “He became the Author of salvation to them that obey Him.”…
St. John Chrysostom on Hebrews 4:11-13
I think a few modern evangelicals might regard this as heretical, being contrary to the pure penal substitutionary atonement or forensic justification. But he sure does seem to have a finger on precisely what Hebrews has to say. [1.] Faith is indeed great and bringeth salvation, and without it, it is not possible ever to…
Ezra Levant and Cartoon Publication
I was planning to write something on this, because I believe this kind of censorship is an egregious violation of human rights, but it appears the man himself can tell his own story just fine. (HT: Pursuing Holiness.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzVJTHIvqw8. Just so.
Blogroll: Quality of Christian Apologetics
I really wasn’t going to blog about my blogroll today, but An Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution had such a good post that I wanted to link to it, and at the same time I can check off another blog from my blogroll for this round of linking. He also links to a post on Through…
Textual Emendation in Isaiah 49:7
The JPS Tanakh of Isaiah 49:7 reads, in part: Thus said the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, b-To the despised one, To the abhorred nations,-b . . . Note b reads: Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “Whose being is despised / Whose body is detested”; cf. 51.23. I noticed this first…
Why do you Believe . . .
. . . the things that you do believe? I’m not talking here about religious faith, though this could impact some aspects of faith. I’m talking about just about any topic on which you choose to believe one source over another. I’ve seen a number of cases recently on blogs, in the mainstream media, in…
Tools: A Reader’s Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament
I have blogged previously just a little bit about the A Reader’s Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament, and also made some negative comments about the use of interlinears, especially for Greek or Hebrew students. I recommend this lexicon for use in reading rapidly in order to encounter a large body of text in Biblical…
Updating my Bible Version Info
I still have my Bible version selection tool active, and I’ve just added a directory of recent blog entries on the various versions to my Bible version detail pages. This substantially expands the amount of information available on each version page.
Making the World Make Itself
PamBG quotes a letter that using some wonderful phraseology with regard to the process of creation, but also related to theodicy. I can’t access the letter itself due to a subscription requirement, but the part Pam quotes is quite good. I like these two sentences particularly well: Suppose instead that he made the world make…
For Us to Fulfill All Righteouness
I noticed something in my reading time this morning that has presumably been staring me in the face through many readings of the passage. In fact, this is the 14th morning in a row that I’ve read this as part of this week’s lectionary, so I’ve had plenty of opportunity. The passage is Matthew 3:13-17,…
Nelson Study Bible Note Problems
I’m not going to link to a specific edition on this, because there is no ISBN in the edition from which I’m working. It appears to be a match for this item on Amazon.com, and to be essentially the same notes as this item, though I cannot be absolutely certain. If you have a similar…
Praying for your Enemies
Rev. John Shuck of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, TN, would like people to stop praying for him. That should be a provocative enough opening line! What’s more, I think a few of those people at least should do just that. More importantly, they should quit talking about praying for him. I’m guessing that they…
Emotions, Momentum Shifts, and Margins of Error
This CQPolitics article is a good read on New Hampshire, I think. Along with emotions, one needs to remember that polls come with margins of error [Wikipedia], and that even those are within a certain confidence percentage.
Scientists Use Random Design Principles
. . . or so it appears to me, to design a more efficient plant–for their purposes. Check out this MSNBC article to see how it was done.
RUSETAI in 2 Corinthians 1:10
This is not a seriously doubtful textual issue, but I wanted to make a brief summary and comment on it, because it can help illustrate the interaction between internal and external evidence in a case where the two point in the same direction. For a very brief outline of textual criticism, see Textual Criticism-Briefly. In…
The New Interpreter’s Study Bible
I have my stable of study Bibles that I regularly consult and recommend to students. Three key ones are The Learning Bible (CEV) [TLB], the Oxford Study Bible (REB), and the New Oxford Annotated Bible (NRSV). Though I don’t use it regularly (there have to be some books I don’t read!), the HarperCollins Study Bible…
Questioning God-Given Rights
I’m following Joe Carter’s new series on his particular conservative beliefs with interest. I think it’s a valuable thing to do, and blogging about it should provide some interesting reading and discussion. My interest is in the concept of God-given rights, or rights with which we are endowed by the creator, and the value of…
Christian Carnival CCIV Posted
. . . at Parableman.
Christian Carnival CCIV Posted
. . . at Parableman.
Spiritual Gifts in 1 Corinthians 1:7
The lectionary passages for Epiphany 2 (Cycle A) include 1 Corinthians 1:1-9. In verse seven, we have the phrase “spiritual gift.” It’s interesting to note which word is used for “spiritual gift”–in this case charisma. This is not the word used in 1 Corinthians 12:1 and 14:1, which both use pneumatikos. A number of interpreters…
A Common Theme for the Epiphany 2 Lectionary
I’m probably going to talk about common themes later, but I noticed something interesting that might not be the first thing one would notice in these passages, and that’s a combined sense of inadequacy without God’s Spirit, and the adequacy given by the presence of God’s Spirit. In Isaiah 49, the servant is taken as…