The Difficult Message of Hebrews
Hebrews 5:11-14 describes the message of the book as difficult, chides the readers/listeners for not being ready for a meaty message, and then goes on to the more difficult message nonetheless. So what is basic, what is difficult, and what is it that makes the difficult message difficult? (OK, I take the 1,000 point deduction…
Deciding to See *Knocked Up*
It may be a symptom of insanity, but amongst the 20 or so blogs I read constantly are both Pandagon (from the left) and the evangelical outpost (from the right). Generally those two blogs are so far apart that they cannot be regarded as in conversation, so I was quite surprised over the past couple…
Interesting Bible Study – Listening to Scripture
A friend e-mailed me a link to Listening to Scripture, and though I live nowhere near the church involved, it looks like some fascinating material and a very useful Bible study class. The principles listed in the blog are all worth consideration and application. I plan to follow these folks “afar off” as they work…
Taking [Part of] the Bible Literally
It appears that some young earth creationists take Genesis very literally, but are perhaps a bit less literal in their understanding of 1 Corinthians 6:1-7. The Australian Creation Ministries International is suing the American Answers in Genesis over a number of issues. For those who might not know, here is the passage from 1 Corinthians:…
JFK Terrorist Plot
This news caught my attention not just because of its general importance, but because of the involvement of people from Guyana. I lived in Georgetown, Guyana as a teenager and have some fond memories of the country. When they mention that Abdul Kadir is a former Member of the Guyanese parliament, I’m betting most readers…
Behe’s New Book
Michael Behe is about to release a new book. I like Behe’s writing style, even though I think he goes nowhere as far as his arguments are concerned. Regarding his previous book, Darwin’s Black Box I wrote: Thus Behe’s beautiful description of the advance of knowledge as various “black boxes” are opened up is used…
Brownback on Faith and Science
There have been quite a number of responses to Senator and presidential candidate Sam Brownback’s discussion of faith and science. These have varied from extremely favorable, from some Christians who think Brownback has managed an extraordinarily good balance between faith and science, while others are quite angry because Brownback has clearly injected faith into science….
Celebrities Abusing Rehab
I really likes this article on MSNBC/Newsweek written by Patti Davis. Based on her own experience with becoming addicted and overcoming it, Davis looks at the celebrities going in and out of rehab and heading straight back into trouble. Davis’s article has something that is often lacking in these discussions: An assumption that people are…
More on Bible Curriculum for Public Schools
I have previously expressed my concerns about Bible classes in public schools, even as electives. These objections come from multiple directions. Because I support separation of church and state, I prefer to keep such classes out, even though in principle they have been held to be constitutional. As a Christian, I believe there is a…
Christian Carnival CLXXIV
. . . has been posted at Parableman.
Tensions of Constitutional Government
One of the earliest things I learned in political science classes (I fell 4 quarter hours short of an undergraduate minor) was that the United States is not truly a democracy, but rather a republic, a representative form of government. It’s an important difference, and one that seems to fade in and out of people’s…
TNIV and REB
I was interested in this post on This Lamp because of the reference in the last paragraph: As an aside… Last Christmas, I went back to my home church for a worship service. I came across the same individual mentioned above who had been one of my mentors in college. He had just come from…
John Wesley Quote
I was looking for something else, but I can’t resist posting this quote: I advise you never to use the words wisdom, reason, or knowledge, by way of reproach. On the contrary, pray that you yourself may abound in them more and more. If you mean worldly wisdom, useless knowledge, false reasoning, say so; and…
More on Junia the Apostle
Suzanne McCarthy has now responded to the latest objections to her work on Junia (Romans 16:7), a distinguished apostle and a woman. He whole series has been excellent, and I recommend it highly. You can go there for links to the various stages of this debate, including postings by her various critics. The more I…
Hebrews: Going On Toward Perfection
The first time I taught a class on Hebrews following publication of my study guide, we were studying lesson #7, Falling Away. The primary reading for the lesson is Hebrews 5:11-6:12, and thus includes the passage, “going on toward perfection” which is very famous in Methodist and Wesleyan circles. In discussing the passage we noted…
Rejecting a Creationist Museum Challenge
In A Tale of Two Museums the Evangelical Ecologist gives the following challenge to those of us who are Christians and accept the theory of evolution. (Yeah, that’s why we use “theistic evolutionist”–it takes less time to type!): But clearly its not a scientific method thats being debated here, though I suppose thats part of…
Honoring the Troops
Ten years in the U.S. Air Force have made me look differently at the news and feel differently on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day, of course, is to remember those who have fallen, but rarely do I attend a Memorial Day service any more at which there is not something done to honor…
Cubs as the Suffering Servant?
OK, as the parent of a Chicago Cubs player (John Webb, currently with the AAA Iowa Cubs), I have to link to this great post about baseball, God’s game. (HT to Moderate Christian Blogroll member Come to the waters.) Of course, pay particular attention to this: 8. It has its Suffering Servant, viz. the Chicago…
Distortion Not Good for Faith
I blogged previously about the Answers in Genesis creation museum that’s going up in Kentucky in How to Waste $25 Million. Now the museum is about to be opened, and they held special events for the true believers yesterday. This museum is a monument to the desire to avoid scientific evidence and to present an…
CIA Prewar Assessments and Fallout
I found the following article interesting but in no way surprising: Months before the invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence agencies predicted that it would be likely to spark violent sectarian divides and provide al-Qaeda with new opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report released Friday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Analysts…
Update on the Kentucky Gubernatorial Primary
Well, Fletcher did it. With 50% of the vote to his main opponent’s 37% (Source: CQPolitics.com) he became the Republican nominee. I find it interesting that Bush’s approval rating is lower than Fletcher’s (38%), and Fletcher was indicted while in office. Yes, I know there’s the unpopular war in Iraq, but then one also has…
The Josh Hancock Family and Grief
Note: My wife Jody doesn’t post here often. This is from her. Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery’s shadow or reflection: the fact that you don’t merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live…
Devotionals from 1 Corinthians 13
I’m writing a series of devotionals from 1 Corinthians 13 for my wife’s devotional list. The first three entries have been posted. Entries on the devotional list are posted each weekday morning. Understanding Love The Priority of Love Characteristics of Love I Characteristics of Love II Love is Eternal (Update) Love is Boring (Update) Love…
Affirming Feminine Spirituality
My Christianity Today Connection news e-mail connected me to an article in Today’s Christian Woman titled The Goddess Unmasked. It’s a Christian response to Wicca, looking at reasons why women who have grown up Christian become Wiccans, and discusses ministry to them. It’s not my intention to discuss the issue of responses to various religions…