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Dr TK Dunn on the Importance of the Old Testament
This is an extract from a longer interview, which I will also embed. I think Dr. Dunn has some valuable comments on the relationship of scripture and what it means for our study. And here’s the full interview from which that was extracted.
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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Response to Misquoting Jesus – III
I’m continuing my chapter by chapter response to Misquoting Jesus with a discussion of chapter 2, “The Copyists of the Early Christian Writers.” I continue to see this book as a basic introduction to New Testament Criticism (in agreement with Elgin Husbheck, Jr.), though the hype connected with it tries to make it sound more…
Galatians and Penal Substitutionary Atonement
It will generally surprise nobody that I am not a fan of penal substitutionary atonement, as I’ve written about it before. I do believe that PSA is one valid metaphor that helps us understand the greater truth that is the atonement. What I object to is making this particular metaphor the central fact of the…
Methodist Blog Weekly Roundup 4/13/07
. . . has been posted by Allan Bevere.
Response to Misquoting Jesus – II
I found the second chapter of Misquoting Jesus generally very helpful. I can summarize my response to the chapter by saying that there is nothing very radical about its contents, and that it contains material everyone should consider. Ehrman has to go light on some things simply because of the size of the topic as…
Response to Misquoting Jesus – Ia
I wanted to follow up briefly on my first post on Misquoting Jesus to provide a quotation and make a couple more comments on inspiration. The quotation comes from page 13: It is a radical shift from reading the Bible as an inerrant blueprint for our faith, life, and future to seeing it as a…
Sudan Missionary from Pensacola
There was an encouraging story in the Pensacola News Journal titled Big difference in Sudan about Jim Esson who is returning to the Sudan and working on building a medical clinic. This is a very positive form of mission activity. In the comments someone complains that the mission is out of town while there are…
Amazon.com UnSpun Best English Bible Translation
I discovered Amazon.com UnSpun (and wrote a bit about it here) and of course immediately located a list of the best English Bible translations. Here it is: Update: I am going along with Peter Kirk as posted on the Better Bibles Blog and replacing this poll with the one he suggested. I think it would…
Response to Misquoting Jesus – I
I have finally started reading Misquoting Jesus, by Bart Ehrman. It came in about a week ago via interlibrary loan, and I have now gotten through the introduction and the first chapter. Unlike my response to The God Delusion, I’m not going to post all sections at once, but rather I’ll just post my reactions…
Dinosaur Protein
If you’ve seen the information on T. Rex protein and are wondering what it does and doesn’t mean will problem find this post on Pharyngula helpful. There are already creationist misinterpretations of this information, such as this one: For the moment, lets not ignore the importance of what has been found (and as will be…
Freedom of Speech and People’s Feelings
It appears a couple are threatened with offending Hindu sensibilities for their wedding, according to this story from the Evening Standard (London). (HT: Dispatches from the Culture Wars.) This is an Indian case, and due to the fame of one of the participants there is some indication India won’t pursue it. Those who approve of…
God Delusion and The Bible
The major complaint that I have about the treatment of the Bible in The God Delusion is that it is somewhat superficial. Particularly in the section on the Old Testament, Dawkins merely points out problems that we should recognize as real with scriptures. (For another approach see Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God?.) I…
The Complexity of the Creator
The attack on moderation, or excluding the middle (broadly conceived) and the assumption that this is all there is are the two key points of disagreement, from which most everything else follows. The assumption that this physical universe is all that exists is illustrated in the discussion of the multiverse theory (pp. 145-147). Now do…
Points of Agreement
[Continuing my series responding to The God Delusion. The starting entry is From the Land of the Deluded.] It may surprise many readers to know that I have a number of points of agreement with Dawkins. Since I have blogged about many of these things before, I’m only going to give a basic list with…
Forced to the Extremes
If I were to respond to only one item in The God Delusion, it would be this one. Put simply, I am a moderate by conviction, and Dawkins is most definitely not. To illustrate, let me quote: . . . Desits differ from theists in that their God does not answer prayers, is not interested…
Diversity and Raising Children
[This is part of my series of responses to The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. The parent entry is From the Land of the Deluded.] I truly have to wonder to what extent Dawkins is arguing in favor of freedom, and to what extent he is arguing in favor of the enforcement of his own…
From the Land of the Deluded
A couple of weeks ago I made the mistake of trying to reply to a point in Plantinga’s review of The God Delusion, and got caught. The first commenter on that post suggested I should read the actual book “if only to be able to evaluate reviews of a different book going by the same…
I’ve Been Memed!
Laura has tagged me with the thinking blogger meme, and thus now I’m a . . . or rather I’m not the award; hopefully I’m a thinking blogger. I appreciate the compliment, and if Laura hadn’t tagged me first she would be on my own list. Interesting, annoying, challenging, uplifting, but always getting me thinking….
Committed Christian Seeks Secular Society
Easter seems to be the time of the year for a strong Christian affirmation. It’s not a time when most Christians want to be thinking about secular topics, or considering difficulties with their faith. But as I am fond of reminding people, Easter morning followed Good Friday, and that year in Palestine Good Friday was…
Carrying the TNIV
I started carrying the TNIV recently. I had been using it only in electronic form to do some studying and comparison, but I decided to see how it would work as a “carrying” Bible. That means I take it to church, Sunday School, study groups, and I keep it at hand during my study time…
Continually Translating the Message
A post-Easter meditation. Translation it is that openeth the window, to let in the light; that breaketh the shell, that we may eat the kernel; that putteth aside the curtaine, that we may looke into the most Holy place; that remooveth the cover of the well, that wee may come by the water, even as…
Easter Blogging
I got home from the sunrise service at my church, and found some really nice easter messages on the RSS feed to the Moderate Christian Blogroll. What the Church Should be DoingEddie Arthur calls attention to a message by the Archbishop of York. Wiping Out the Easter Bunny . . . Jay Vorhees in a…
Just in time for Easter
Adrian Warnock has started another round of the atonement wars. Peter Kirk and Dave Warnock have responded, both with very constructive posts. Peter Kirk goes over some of the T4G language and also looks at a couple of folks that Adrian believes are not in accord with that doctrine. I know Peter accepts the doctrine…
Special Price on Not Ashamed of the Gospel
I have set up a special price of $9.00 per copy for my personal confession of faith, Not Ashamed of the Gospel for Easter. The price will continue in effect until April 21, 2007. You need to use the link above to go to our catalog site (Energion Publications Announcement). Anyone interested can feel free…
Collins on Faith and Science
This CNN article on Francis Collins also comes from a friend’s e-mail. I’m happy to call attention to it. Dr. Francis Collins is both an evangelical Christian and accepts the theory of evolution. His testimony is interesting. I will be commenting some more on the relationship between science and religion in the next few days…