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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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Personality
OK, Wayne Leman started it, but I’m only doing it because Peter Kirk did. Here are my personality results:
A Lab for Parables
I like to use Luke 16 as a training ground in interpreting parables, because so many of the possible problems are presented within a few verses. On Monday, I wrote a devotional, Outside the Box, in which I use what I believe is the primary focus of the Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-9)…
Not Looking for a Poster Child in Jena
Joe Carter at the evangelical outpost has weighed in on the [tag]Jena 6[/tag]. It seems to me, however, that he has mirrored the fault of the rally that was held in Jena. At that time I commented: The important thing here should not be a battle between extremes, but rather the search by all people…
Defining my Position on ID and Creation
A couple of questions have arisen about my position on these issues, and though I’ve stated all these things before, they have generally been in longer presentations. So I’m going to try to state my position. I see three easily demarcated positions on design: The universe is designed as a fully functional system, and the…
The Problem with Public School Bible Classes
I have noted before that while Bible classes taught from an academic perspective have been ruled constitutional, I still think they are very bad ideas. Including the Bible as it applies in literature and history classes is appropriate, though it should be proportional to its importance to the field, and should be taught in a…
The Common Thread in Modern Creationism
It’s hard for me to work with the terms “creationist,” “creationism,” and “evolutionist,” because if I’m completely honest I consider myself to be a creationist who accepts the theory of evolution. The two do not clash in my mind in any way. The term “evolutionist” seems to suggest that I accept evolution as some sort…
Creation-Evolution Links 9/24/07
Here are a few links related to the creation-evolution controversy that I saw over the weekend, with only short comments. Besides consorting with prostitutes and lying about it, Senator [tag]David Vitter[/Tag] of Louisiana appears to have taken up the cause of federal funding for creationists. Now we not only get to have our public school…
White Supremacists and the Jena 6
MSNBC is reporting that there is a [tag]white supremacist[/tag] web site reporting phone numbers and addresses for families of the [tag]Jena 6[/tag]: CNN first reported Friday about the Web site, which features a swastika, frequent use of racial slurs, a mailing address in Roanoke, Va., and phone numbers purportedly for some of the teens’ families…
Danger in Silence
There’s an excellent, thoughtful post on An Evangelical Dialog on Evolution, titled When the Acceptance of Biological Evolution has Personal or Professional Repercussions. I think this strikes closer home to those who are evangelicals in the United States, because their institutions are more likely to be subject to fundamentalist pressure on the issue of [tag]evolution[/tag]….
Can a Liberal Learn from Mark Driscoll?
I’m using the dreaded “L” word for myself again, because if I was put up against [tag]Mark Driscoll[/tag] I would certainly come out as liberal, no matter how moderate I think I am. Regular readers of this blog know that I disagree with him on a substantial range of issues. There’s a profile of Driscoll…
How to Get it RIGHT!
Start up your sense of humor and then go read this! HT: Kouya Chronicle.
Afternoon Links (9/21/07)
Just a couple of things that caught my eye: Fellow member of the moderate Christian blogroll Michael Westmoreland-White has written a post on the [tag]Jena 6[/tag], titled Racial Bias in the U.S. Courts: The Case of the Jena 6. He appears to have been following the case fairly closely, though this is the first time…
Christian Carnival #190 Posted
. . . at The Minor Prophet. Go and enjoy! (I apologize for being late linking to this one.)
Important Senate Business: Condemning Ads
They took the time to condemn the [tag]MoveOn.org[/tag] Ad on General [tag]Petraeus[/tag] (LA Times story). Now I don’t like the ad, and I don’t particularly like MoveOn.org, and I think private groups and politicians should go ahead and do all the condemning that the ad deserves. Though I’m an opponent of the war in Iraq,…
Jena 6 Media Stories
Just a couple of links. MSNBC has a pretty good story on the [tag]Jena 6[/tag] here, though that story also duplicates quite a bit of previous coverage. Laura at Pursuing Holiness, who first alerted me to this story continues to be quite balanced, reading huge amounts and being quite willing to call people on either…
Why is Jim Changing Seminaries?
Find out here.
Another Conservative View on Thompson
Reformed Chicks Blabbing reports that [tag]James Dobson[/tag] won’t support [tag]Fred Thompson[/tag], with the last straw apparently being his support for a constitutional amendment on gay marriage that falls well short of conservative hopes. I now see what I missed before. Thompson supports an amendment that prevents states from being forced to recognize gay marriages from…
Jena – Not Racist, but . . .
I found an interesting quote in this MSNBC story on the [tag]Jena 6[/tag] that explains why I have been very concerned about this event from when I first read about it. (I have been following this mostly via Pursuing Holiness, with her latest post here, and only occasionally reading other stories.) Here’s the quote: The…
Fred Thompson, Conservatism, and Federalism
Joe Carter is losing some of his first love for [tag]Fred Thompson[/tag]. He says: Now I’m not so certain. His views of the federal marriage amendment, the Schiavo case, and his general position on federalism are troubling. For me, conservatism trumps federalism, while the position Thompson endorses seem to reverse that order. On the fundamental…
Barbarians? What Barbarians?
Mark Olson responded to my post Why the Creation-Evolution Controvery is Important with a post of his own, Barbarians at the Gate. It appears that was his gentle way of telling me that I’m a bit over the top, at least about my comment on the assault on the integrity of science. Kudos to Mark…
On Design
I try to keep my eyes open for clear discussion of information and design written so that non-experts, such as me, can understand them. Jeffrey Shallit’s post On Design seems to suit. It’s part of a discussion with Michael Egnor, but I think it will stand alone quite well.
Biblical Prophecy in a Nutshell
Part of my current devotional reading is currently in Isaiah. Today this included Isaiah 46:10 — (10) I declare the end when it is just the beginning, From ancient times, things that have not yet been done. I say, “My plan will be established, and I will do everything I desire.” — Isaiah 46:10 (my…
Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup #129
. . . has been posted thanks to Allan Bevere.
Time Compression in Eschatological Texts
I want to touch on something that I encounter in conversation fairly frequently. Why is it that Christian texts applied to the coming of Jesus and to the end-times come often in the same contexts in Hebrew scripture. A good example of this is Isaiah 60-66, in which we have a mixture of texts related…