Structural Typology and the Tabernacle
That’s a fairly pretentious title for this little essay, but in overview form, it fits. This post also represents a return, finally, to my series of posts on the book of Hebrews. I’m looking at the book topically, and using questions from my study guide to the book of Hebrews. On page 24, in the…
Turning Point? What Turning Point?
From the Washington Post: Feb. 22, 2006, is the day the Bush administration says everything in Iraq changed. Before that day, military and administration officials frequently explain, Iraq was moving in the right direction: National elections had been held, and a government was forming. But then the bombing of the golden dome shrine in Samarra…
Persecution Victim as a Profession
It seems that former Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, who claims to have been dismissed from the Navy for praying in the name of Jesus, is making a career now of being persecuted. The story is being kept alive. I was alerted to the current edition through my Breaking Christian News e-mail alert, a source that…
Only Evil People Disagree with Me
Well, not really. But that’s what many people think according to this Washington Post story, that reports on a study by Glenn D. Reeder, a social psychologist at Illinois State University. When Reeder and his colleagues asked pro-war and antiwar Americans how they would describe the other side’s motives, the researchers found that the groups…
Example of Doing Dialogue
I comment from time to time on dialogue and diversity (most recently here), a pair of topics that I regard as particularly important. It’s important amongst Christians because we have much in common, but we often focus on difference. It’s important in general, because we do share a home planet, however much we might think…
Newsweek Article on Human Evolution
There’s an excellent piece on human evolution in Newsweek, written for those of us who are not scientists. I think there are a couple of unclear points, but for the most part it’s a good update on the state of science. I did notice that things that have been around for some years seem to…
Accuracy in Communication
I have maintained in a number of posts that it is pointless to talk about accuracy in a medium intended to communicate without involving the audience that is intended to receive the communication. First, I would like to note that it is quite possible for the information in a medium of communication to be inaccurate…
ESV vs KJV (Better Bibles Blog)
Those following the ESV/KJV debate might be interested in this post by Suzanne McCarthy, explaining why she prefers the KJV as her literal translation. I don’t find the language of the KJV nearly as attractive as she does, but that’s a matter of taste in my view. I always love to find the occasional comments…
On the ESV
While I don’t mind being seen as a critic of the ESV, I feel that lately my posting has gotten a bit out of balance because I have largely been responding to the ESV proponents, who appear to be pretty much critics of everything else. I want to comment on the “critics of everything else”…
Waiting for my Link
Update (3/7/07 6:40 PM CST): I stand here with egg on my face. The trackback appeared on the ESV blog. I apologize for my insinuation that they would not do so. I was wrong. The folks over at the ESV Blog say that “[a]s always, we appreciate everyone who blogs about the ESV.” They were…
Christian Carnival CLXIII Posted
. . . at Everyday Liturgy. Another rich carnival. Enjoy!
If True, This is Good
Public pressure is sometimes a good thing, as shown by this story on Rep. Jefferson. See my previous comment.
Why Force when you can Encourage?
I found this Washington Post article interesting. GM has a reputation for producing gas guzzlers here, but as a leader in fuel economy over in Europe. Why is this? “We could sell the OPC here and make money because gasoline is near $6 a gallon,” Lutz said. “If we had $6 gasoline in the United…
ESV Endorsements
I’ve written a considerable amount of negative stuff, not about the ESV itself, though I do have a few complaints, but about its supporters. Thus when a friend e-mailed me a new endorsement, I thought I’d take a look at why these endorsers regard the ESV so highly. The latest endorsement is ESV: the long-awaited…
Time for Church Accountability
Quite frequently I receive appeals for funds from various ministries. This is probably because I head an all-volunteer ministry, Pacesetters Bible School, Inc. and thus am readily connection with Christianity, non-profits, and thus charitable contributions. Now I have no problem with charitable organizations making appeals for funds, though my group limits appeals to people who…
Libby Found Guilty
Of course, if I reversed the numbers, I could say, “found not guilty.” He was found guilty of 4 of 5 counts, according to the Washington Post. I would hate to second-guess the jury, even though I have grave doubts on the average IQ of a jury that could survive voir dire under the circumstances….
Word Study Dangers: Your Dependence on Scholars
A young man in one of my classes once told me that he didn’t want to depend on scholars. His aim in attending my class on Bible study was to know for himself. Now this young man has an admirable goal, provided that you use “goal” in the same sense as one uses “north star”…
Two Stories about Prayer in School
. . . but they supposedly recount one incident. The first came to me via the Traditional Values Coalition alert e-mail, which is generally quite strident. It referred me to this story on Alain’s Newsletter, which tends to make the TVC alerts look calm, collected, and irenic. Now here’s another story, this time from The…
Moderate Christian Blogroll
I’ve been way behind on giving alerts to what is happening on the blogs of the Moderate Christian blogroll, so today I did a bit of work, and I think I’ve improved the options for linking to one another by providing an aggregator that itself has an RSS feed. This only allows either titles or…
Coops Series on the Atonement
Coops is doing a series on the atonement. He says: Being the seasoned theologian and all (sarcastic), I thought it would be a fantastic topic to get to know better – especially since I’ve heard quite a bit about it in liberal and emergent circles lately. It may be good to really get my head…
Hebrews Audio Series
Those who are following my irregular series on Hebrews on this blog may be interetest in the audio series that just started on the Pacesetters Bible School News Blog. This follows completion of the series on 1 Corinthians. This series has 15 messages, each about 20-25 minutes. They will be posted Monday through Friday in…
Theodicy and Openness Theology
Some time ago I made a few remarks on Dr. William Dembski’s article, Christian Theodicy in Light of Genesis and Modern Science (last accessed 3/4/07). I think it’s a wonderfully well-written article, though I disagree with his conclusions. I’m going to discuss this article a bit more, but first I want to cover one or…
Should a Pedophile be Welcome at Church?
I’m not sure how to react to this story, but I think it’s a good one for discussion. On MSNBC I found the following story: Sex offender can worship – with conditions. I find the story troubling. As a grandparent of 5, I have to ask whether I would regard it as safe to have…
Two New Gaps in the Fossil Record
I love it when these kinds of news stories hit the popular media. A new species of dinosaur was discovered by Michael Ryan in Alberta while he was a graduate student, and the find has now been published in the Journal of Paleontology, according to MSNBC. The dinosaur species is named Albertaceratops nesmoi, and it…