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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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Absolute Theology; Flexible Science
One of the interesting things I note about creationists of various stripes is that they display a tremendous flexibility in interpreting physical data, they generally take hold of one approach to Biblical interpretation and nothing can move them. One of the clearest explicit statements of this position comes in the first three chapters of Kurt…
Dinosaurs and the Bible: A Creationists Fantasy
. . . has moved here. It’s worth a look just for the header picture. The subtitle is “Dinosaurs and the Bible DONÂ’T MIX!!!”
Looking at Form and Genre
Awilum has a short post that makes a couple of good points related to literary genre, which I’ve been discussing in a couple of posts, and will discuss some more. You should go read his post, but let me highlight the points that caught my attention: Form and genre are not the same Form is…
Intelligent Design and Answer All Questions
Through this week’s Christian Carnival I found two posts on science and religion that interested me. One I agree with completely, and I just want to underline a couple of points. The other, not so much, though it is still a good article. The first is An intelligently designed universe from Sun and Shield. Now…
Notes on Mark 10:23-31
These notes supplement my podcast titled Last and First. The included translation is a working translation. Check out passages in your favorite Bible version. 23Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have possessions to enter into the kingdom of God.” I’m sure that the disciples were…
Christian Carnival B2
. . . has been posted at Chasing the Wind. Why B2? Because Michael presented the number in various formats, and I chose that one. Nice break from Roman numerals, eh? There’s a good deal of material here I’d like to read and comment on. I wonder how much I’ll get to?
Government Regulated Media != Free Media
The following from YouTube illustrates why I simply don’t trust politicians for anything. There being a perceived imbalance in talk radio in favor of conservatives, to which I say “Who cares?”, a number of liberals are now calling for government control, obviously because we all know that the government is always fair in the way…
New Philophronos Blogroll Member
I join with Laura in welcoming Discovering the Heart of God as a new Philophronos Blogroll member. Go check out his blog. I’m going to link to a specific post from the Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter to which I’m the primary contributor.
Great Moments of (choose your label) Hypocrisy
Fellow philophronos blogger Laura has made a number of excellent points in a post titled Great Moments in Conservative Hypocrisy. Now I’m not linking back so I can crow and say, “See! Those conservatives were hypocrites all along, and finally one of them is recognizing it!” First, I would have to note that I can’t…
Notes on Mark 10:13-16
These notes accompany my podast Children and Divine Priorities. Translation and Notes 13And they brought him children so that he might touch them. But the disciples rebuked them. Notice again that the disciples are not on the same agenda as Jesus is. They haven’t gotten kingdom principles. To Jesus children are important both in themselves—they…
Being Other Worldly or Being Christian
The Evangelical Ecologist has an excellent post titled Closing Credibility Gaps. I think that I’m in a good position to underline his post, as a member of a congregation of the United Methodist Church, one of those declining mainline denominations. Just so the error seekers know that I saw it, I will quibble slightly over…
In Memory of Dr. Brevard S. Childs
For those who do not read scholarly works it may seem strange to feel bereaved when someone whom you have never actually met dies. I discovered via Levellers that Dr. Brevard S. Childs has passed away. He will be missed in Biblical scholarship, and though I never met him, I am deeply sorry that he…
Information from Minnesota Newspaper on Cheri Yecke Challenged
The blog of Florida Citizens for Science (of which I am a board member) is reporting that “Dr. Cheri Pierson Yecke, K-12 chancellor for FloridaÂ’s Department of Education, has apparently hired a company called ReputationDefender to search the Internet for information about her and, on her behalf, challenge items she disputes.” You can find more…
Notes on Mark 10:1-12
This working translation and notes expand on the presentation in my Bible Pacesetter Podcast titled The Question of Divorce. Translation and Notes 1And he left there and arrived in the region across the Jordan from Judea, and again a crowd came to him, and as it was his custom, he taught them again. Jesus is…
John Webb, PCL Pitcher of the Week
We interrupt the usual flow of commentary on this blog for something both baseball and personal . . . My stepson John Webb is pitcher of the week for the PCL, according to this MiLB.com story. John allowed only three hits in 8 shutout innings while earning the win against the then-division leading Nashville Sounds….
Condescension on Creationism
A recent comment by seeker accuses me of condescension: It would be hard for us to have a conversation on this, because your condescension is so thick it would be like climbing uphill through dirty axle grease. What interests me is that if a moderate or liberal remains quiet or speaks tolerantly of another position,…
Links on Biblical Inspiration
A discussion of my book When People Speak for God is taking place on the Compuserve Religion Forum. At the same time, Amazon.com has dropped the price to $12.23 ($17.99 suggested retail). I have also just written some notes on Justin Holcomb’s book Christian Theologies of Scripture over on my Participatory Bible Study blog. While…
Notes on Mark 9:30-42
The following notes and references expand on the material I presented in today’s Bible Pacesetter podcast on this same passage, Discipleship the Hard Way. This includes my working translation (not to be mistaken for a polished and final one), some notes, and some additional quotations and references. Translation and Notes: Teaching about the Cross 30When…
New Bible Format
The IBS is producing a new Bible, available in August, 2007, which will reorganize the books of the Bible, removing verse and chapter numbers. This is intended to provide a new and more original feel in reading the Bible. I suspect that such a format will annoy some people, but I’ll say bluntly they should…
Book: Christian Theologies of Scripture
Note: This is a repost due to the database crash. I believe this is the only post that was not part of the restored backup, so we should now have all entries. Having just turned from a book which I did not find very helpful, I’m happy to present one which I consider an exceptional…
Book: God’s Secretaries
If you’re looking for a history of the KJV, you are likely to be disappointed by this book. There is a history, and considering the very sparse information on the topic, it’s a pretty good one, but it is concealed in the incredibly wordy prose of this ponderous document. Considering my own propensity for long…
Database Problems
I had some database problems and I’m temporarily on a backup. This backup is missing two posts from June 22, but I will be able to restore them soon. Please bear with me as I work on it.
Quotes on Imputed Righteousness
The translator’s difficulty with this passage arises from the lack of a single English verb to express both “do right” and “be right with God”; of a noun that means both “righteousness” and “acceptance with God as righteous”; and of an adjective to describe the man who is both “righteous” and “accepted as righteous,” or…
Transformed Daily
I’m adding another site to my blogroll, Transformed Daily. I got an e-mail from blogger Eric Jones on this one, thinking there might be some synergy, and after reading a bit, I think there is. A couple of entries that really caught my eye: ARE YOU A TRAINED FLEA CHRISTIAN OR ARE YOU A FREE…