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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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A Visit to the St. Gregory Palamas Monastery
Kevin at Everyday Liturgy is beginning some reflections on his visit to St. Gregory Palama monastery. This caught my attention, since my recent discussions of the atonement led to some discussion of the Eastern Orthodox view of the atonement, and thence to some articles on St. Gregory Palamas, and I now have a plan to…
Update on Muslim-Christian Episcopal Priest
Thanks to Hot Air with hat tip to Pursuing Holiness, I found an update on the episcopal priest who wants to be a practicing Muslim at the same time she is an Episcopal priest. I blogged on this previously, noting at the time that I was a big tent person, but that too large a…
Reacting to Biblical Criticism
How does Biblical criticism relate to faith? How does one relate this to the work of the Jesus Seminar, for instance? Scot McKnight has an excellent answer in his post A Letter to a Question-full Christian (HT: Pseudo-Polymath). McKnight doesn’t deny the differences in the gospel texts (the main issue at hand), but he also…
Good Judgment and Iraq War Flip-Flops
I’m watching the list of GOP legislators who are breaking with President Bush on the war in Iraq with mixed emotions. On the one hand it’s nice to see people realizing that we are trying to force our military to accomplish the impossible. On the other hand, I have to ask why they are doing…
The Wrong Way to Repair the Election Process
Over the last couple of decades we have had two major movements designed to make our election process more responsive to the public and to try to make the American people less cynical. The first is campaign finance reform, and the second is term limits. It’s interesting that in both cases we propose to make…
Feline Seal of Approval
Who could doubt the words of the Bishop of Durham now? (HT: Pseudo-Polymath.)
Boundaries of Science and a Shocking Lack of Curiosity
I know, long title, but I’m having fun. One of the things I have noticed about intelligent design (ID) is its shocking lack of curiosity about the designer. One can guess that they’re either afraid of what they will find (God) or what they won’t find (God). Take your pick. ID proponents regularly claim that…
Fighting the Devil or Suppressing the Mind
Today I went on a sort of odyssey through a couple of theologically conservative blogs. My journey started at Adrian Warnock’s blog, where he has another quote from somebody supporting penal substitutionary atonement (PSA): While not denying the wide-ranging character of Christs atonement, I am arguing that penal substitution is foundational and the heart of…
Notes on Mark 11:1-11
These notes are provided to support and expand on my podcast Triumphantly Toward Death. Translation and Notes At a time when Jesus appears most like what the crowd expects he is actually heading into that portion of his ministry in which he will disappoint those same crowds the most. One of the key contrasts of…
Theological Blog for my Blogroll
I found Theo Geek via Peter Kirk, and it was a very worthwhile find. Peter links to a number of posts in Andrew’s review of Pierced for our Transgressions. Having read them all, let me commend them to you. (I must disclose that I have not yet read PFOT. I do intend to as I…
Salvation Quote for the Day
I spent a little bit of time today reading Eastern Orthodox material after some comments on previous posts caught my interest. So here’s an interesting quote that I found. I wonder how this sounds to other western ears? That Augustinian conception about a compulsory salvation or damnation is something inconceivable for Greek Patristic thought, something…
July 4
I’m not doing a separate post her for July 4. I posted a story on my Jevlir Caravansary posing some questions about obedience, patriotism, and morality. You can post any comments about not quitting my day job there!
Eastern Orthodox Tradition and Atonement
I want to promote some comments so that more people see them. Mark Olson (Pseudo-Polymath) commented on an earlier post: If you have the time, could you relate this statement First, no matter what stream of Christianity one belongs to, the atonement comes out somewhere near the center. With this: On the subject of the…
My Wife has a Blog
My wife Jody, author of two books, has started her own blog. She has previously been an occasional contributor to this blog, and has kept up a daily devotional list, but now has launched a more general opinion blog. She opened with her post on the causes and consequences of Paris Hilton’s recent activities.
Sensible Candidate Selection
I found this article on ethics and choosing candidates while preparing Christian Carnival #179 over on my Participatory Bible Study Blog. Jeremy is discussing the issue of voting for a candidate who holds a position you might regard as immoral, for example a pro-lifer voting for a pro-choice candidate such as Rudy Giuliani, because the…
Christian Carnival #179
Celebrating Independence Day, July 4 in the United States and Canada Day, July 1 in Canada (where else?). I’ve loosely grouped the posts under these quotes from the Federalist Papers. If you can’t find the connection, don’t overwork your brain on the matter. It’s just an excuse to print some of my favorite quotes on…
Smartypants Notions Like Cosmic Child Abuse
Somehow it seems as thought advocates of penal substitutionary atonement (PSA) as the key model of the atonement (I’d prefer metaphor) can’t stay kind and respectable. I wonder why it is that those of us who think that one needs to consider the character of God in terms of love, mercy, and forgiveness as well…
Adrian Warnock has a new URL
I’ve updated my blogroll, and now y’all need to know that Adrian Warnock has a new URL (adrianwarnock.com).
Libby Sentence Commuted
According to the Washington Post, President Bush has commuted former Cheney aid I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby. He left intact probation provisions and the fine. I greet this news with mixed emotions. On the one hand I’m tired of lengthy investigations in Washington that produce nothing but convictions for lying to investigators and grand juries. Consider…
Divine Child Abuse and the Use of Scripture
It has probably seemed a little odd that I, as a non-evangelical, would follow the atonement discussions as closely as I do. To the extent that I have managed to do so, it has been for two reasons. First, no matter what stream of Christianity one belongs to, the atonement comes out somewhere near the…
Notes on Mark 10:32-52
These notes accompany my podcast titled A Time to Seek Healing. Translation and Notes 32Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them, and the disciples were amazed. But those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve aside again, he began to tell them again about…
Book: In Discordance with the Scriptures
Though it would be a slight exaggeration, one could call this a history of Bible translation for post-moderns. Rather than focusing heavily on the technical issues as do most books on this topic, it focuses on the political and social elements and emphasizes that Bible translation is not a purely objective and scientific process. Any…
More on the Cheri Yecke Story
Wesley Elsberry has posted some additional information on this story on The Panda’s Thumb, and on his blog in which he states he believes the story is confirmed. . . . As far as I am concerned, the Princeton Union-Eagle is vindicated in this matter; at the time that they reported, Cheri Pierson Yecke was…
Scientists Thinking about Intelligent Design
In an extraordinarily inane post over on Uncommon Descent, titled The best evolutionary biologists think about intelligent design, S. Cordova tells us that, well, as the title says, the best evolutionary biologists are thinking about intelligent design. This strikes me as rather like the child who provokes his parents into punishing him just because he…