Civility in Political and Religious Debate
Joe Carter at the evangelical outpost is going after Ann Coulter. He’s very concerned about civility: Our political culture has truly become debased when even conservatives now accept what James Q. Wilson has described as the elevation of self-expression over self-control. (Perhaps it is to be expected, though, of a movement that has replaced the…
The Definition of Reasonable
I have great sympathy with the Libby jury, which now wants to know just how to define “reasonable” according to this Washington Post story. I have always wondered just what “reasonable doubt” means, and it appears that lawyers really have very little idea either. Perhaps my own problem is that I find doubt so eminently…
Cassini-Huygens Pictures
These are not my usual fodder, but they are so good, I just had to call attention to them. You can find a catalog of them at NASA-Cassini-Huygens.
PERFECTLY SQUARE Fun in Pensacola
I talk quite a bit on this blog about diversity and the importance of dialogue and making the most of our differences, so it’s a pleasure for me to highly recommend a program here in the Pensacola area by someone from whom I have learned a great deal on unity in diversity, Dr. Dolly Berthelot….
Could I Be the Antichrist?
I found this article via WorldNetDaily: Pope is warned of a green Antichrist. According to Cardinal Biffi, who gave the Lenten message this year, the antichrist could be “a pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist”. OK, I resemble that remark. Of course, I’m not nearly important enough to be the actual antichrist. Probably I could just encourage…
A Dangerous Precedent?
I commented earlier on Rep. Jefferson and his planned appointment to the Homeland Security committee. Republicans are now planning to force a recorded vote on the appointment, according to a Washington Post report, on the assumption that some Democrats will be unwilling to go public with their support of this nomination. What’s more interesting to…
Why Authority Issues are Important
Via Pandagon I found this story, also reported here. These are serious accusations, and more and more people are coming forward. Such a story should emphasize several things to those of us who are in ministry, including how transparent our ministry practices should be. Teach and behave in such a way that an accusation such…
Diversity, Tent Ropes, and Tent Pegs
I have mentioned before that I’ve been writing some of the devotionals for my wife’s devotional list, and yesterday I wrote one that relates closely to some things I’ve written here about tolerance for diversity and yet having identity and anchor points. It’s titled Extend Ropes, Strengthen Stakes. For those who may be interested, Jody’s…
Christian Carnival CLXIII Posted
Christian Carnival CLXIII has been posted at Chasing the Wind. That’s a pretty theme there, and it fits the title, but it’s bright!
Rosenhouse Dissects Johnson
Jason Rosenhouse has an excellent discussion or even better dissection of some recent writing by Philip Johnson. I’ve had this partial entry on Johnson sitting amongst my drafts for ages, but since Johnson is now bringing forth many of the same arguments, and Rosenhouse has quite thoroughly demolished them, I will simply refer you to…
Plantinga on The God Delusion
Ben Witherington alerted me to Plantinga’s review of Dawkins’ book The God Delusion on Christianity Today. Now I must be frank (well, no, I don’t have to, but I will!) and say that I find philosophers provide the most annoying of reading. They seem to me to be the world’s best rationalizers, providing excellent reasons…
Abortion and Moral Good-An Illustration of Extremes
A post on the evangelical outpost alerted me to a minor tempest about abortion rights. It seems that Amanda Marcotte believes that abortion is a moral good, something to be celebrated. Having recently encountered the notion that one trully cannot take the position I do, that abortion in the bulk of cases is to be…
Why I Dislike Both Major Parties
One of the few things the Democrats and Republicans can agree on is measures to keep themselves in power. This includes limiting access to the ballot and making sure that the election system continues to favor the two major parties. Thus, it’s good news that the supreme court has agreed to review the appeals court…
Journalistic Duty and the Jesus Ossuary
Carl Zimmer has an excellent short post at The Loom commenting on the journalistic duties involved. Go read it–it will only take a few moments, but it makes a critical point. One of the failures of the Christian response to this is to get over-the-top about attacks on Christianity, when what we are actually dealing…
Is it a Hoax?
Rev. Rob Schenck of the National Clergy Council issued a statement attacking the forthcoming documentary on the grave of Jesus and his family. It was titled TV Special on Jesus’ Grave — a Hoax?. Though I have already commented on what I see is a completely unscientific and unscholarly hype, this is not terribly surprising…
Finding the Tomb of Jesus
A documentary to be shown on the Discovery Channel purports to have discovered the tomb and the ossuary of Jesus (CNN story here). I’m amazed that something like this would be called a “documentary” since there is next to no possibility of sufficient evidence for such a claim. The sad thing is that archeological claims,…
The Balance of Outrage
Frequently I see the challenge to outrage on blogs or even occasionally in print media. It goes something like this: Group A has been very outraged by X, the horror of which is minimized by the writer. The writer describes something that outrages him or her, surely much more horrible than X, and wonders if…
Word Study Dangers: Glosses and Definitions
In my previous entry in this series I noted the difference between a gloss and a definition. To review: First, let me distinguish between a “gloss” and a “definition.” A “gloss” is a word or phrase proposed as a translation for a word in the source language. When a Greek student is taught that “pistis”…
With Reasons Like These . . .
. . . who needs rationalizations? I refer to the article 7 Reasons Why (it’s title in the title bar) also titled “Key Issues Regarding Bible Translation.” This is on the domain genderneutralbibles.com, (yes, Virginia, there really is a genderneutralbibles.com!). A while back I blogged on Mark Driscoll’s reasons for using the ESV at his…
Welcome Seekism to the Moderate Christian Blogroll
The latest addition is Seekism, with his latest post, Does the Old Testament Accurately Describe God.
Gifts Ministry and Blaspheming the Holy Spirit
OK, that should be a sufficiently provocative title! 🙂 Peter Kirk commented on an earlier post and gave me some advice–advice which I would normally consider quite good sense. Here it is: But maybe you are going a bit too far, at least to keep yourself out of trouble, in suggesting that those who do…
MBWR
. . . is posted. I want to thank Allan Bevere for his hard work is regularly posting the roundup. I’ll be praying for him as he goes to speak outside the country. The MBWR will be missing for the next two weeks.
On the Retirement of Marcus Borg
Marcus Borg has announced his retirement. After completing his current class at Oregon State University, where he has been the Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture, he will retire, and may even slow down a bit! He does have a few books in the works and other outlines in mind, according to this story…
Book: Identifying Your Gifts and Service
Finally, after many delays, every one of them my fault, my new edition of this book has gone to the printer. Titled uncreatively Identifying Your Gifts and Service: Small Group Edition, it fills a need, expressed by a number of people who have taken my class series of the same name, for an edition of…