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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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Space Exploration and Energy
The Evangelical Ecologist points to some interesting material on the possibility of getting fuel for energy from the moon. It seems to me that space exploration will really take off when we find an economic reason to go there. Spin-off technology is just not that likely to light up people’s life, and fundamental research is…
Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin
This is one of those automatically controversial topics. Jordan J. Ballor made an entry on it at Power Blog bearing the same title as my post. I don’t have a major problem with the intention of this article. Loving the sinner, but hating the sin is a very Christ-like thing to do. The problem I…
Making Medical Decisions
I found this article on MSNBC very interesting in terms of the number of doctors who feel that they can somehow impose their moral choices on their patients. I do have some problems with the methodology involved in the survey and the conclusions drawn–the former don’t clearly support the latter. Nonetheless, these attitudes raise some…
Moderate Christian Blogroll: Thoughts from the Shower
Please welcome a new member to the Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator, Thoughts from the Shower. Since I had time this morning to give an extra look to the site, let me call your attention to Anne’s two most recent posts, Speaking Life and Doctrinal Statements, both of which should interest many on the moderate blogroll.
Word Study Dangers: The Process
Several years ago I was in an online chat on religion, and one of the other members discovered that I read Hebrew. I actually forget how he accomplished it; that wasn’t the topic and I didn’t tell him. In any case, he said, “Wow! You read Hebrew!” I acknowledged that I do. “I’ve been wanting…
Moderate Christian Blogroll: Quiet Paths
Please welcome the newest member of the Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator and blogroll, Quiet Paths. Hopefully I’ll get around to another roundup (say that several times fast!) very soon, and include something form them.
Great Evolution Sunday Video
Take a look at this:
John Webb Winter Golf Tournament 2007 – Final!
It’s over, it went well. What more is there to say? Well, I said a good deal on the Pacesetters Bible School News blog, so go there for more. You can start here.
New Series on Word Studies
When I divided my blogging between three blogs, I didn’t realize how hard it would be to do. It seemed logical to me to keep all my religion and society stuff here–theology, politics, economics, science, education–do Bible studies at Participatory Bible Study Blog and indulge my love of fiction at Jevlir Caravansary. Well, it wasn’t…
Word Study Dangers: Overview
[This is the first in a short series on word studies, especially the type of study done using an English concordance keyed to the Biblical languages, such as Strong’s Concordance.] A few years back in the pre-blog days when most online discussions took place on various forums, someone proposed to me a new translation and…
Bible Quiz Score
Hmmm. Having read about this at Abnormal Interests (Is a Better Score Better or Worse?) I decided to take it. I got 100%, though actually I’d give the test only about 80%. Does this qualify me to be an unbeliever? 
You know the Bible 100%! Wow! You are awesome! You are a true…
You know the Bible 100%! Wow! You are awesome! You are a true…Religious Rights Bill in Colorado
It is very important not to assume what a bill will actually accomplished based on its title. Titles are generally designed to put a positive spin on the contents of the bill in the hopes that people will not read further or seriously consider the consequences of what is actually proposed. A new bill in…
Biblical Studies Carnival XIV
. . . has been posted. There’s a link to one of mine and there are also links to many very substantive posts which is what I go to this particular carnival to find. As I have time after this weekend of the John Webb Winter Golf Tournament, I will try to link to some…
Off to the Hospital
No, I’m not sick. I’ll be accompanying my stepson, John Webb, to Sacred Heart Hospital where he will take a number of his baseball colleagues to visit the children’s wing. They’ll sign pictures and baseballs, visit and have fun with the children, and try to brighten their day. This has been a tradition of the…
Silliest KJV Only Argument?
A friend referred me to this page in which there are numerous really bad KJV only arguments–what other type are there?–but there was one I wanted to note in particular, because it is an argument that is often used in weaker form, but is here carried to its logical (and silly) conclusion. First let me…
A Short Note on the REB of Isaiah 38:21-22
The REB is one of my favorite versions, and indeed for personal reading is my favorite. Nonetheless it has one feature that often makes me mildly uncomfortable, its tendency to move texts around with a minimum of textual evidence. Even in cases in which I find the balance of internal evidence favorable to such a…
Of Mercenary Troops and Scumbags
Fellow philophronos blogger Laura is pretty annoyed with William Arkin for what he wrote about the troops in The Troops Also Need to Support the American People. She has demonstrated that here and defended it further here. Now anyone who has read both our blogs is aware that we disagree dramatically on the Iraq war….
Family and Good Deeds News
There’s a story today in the Pensacola News Journal about my step-son John Webb and the John Webb Winter Golf Tournament. Great stuff, though I must note that John has signed with the Chicago Cubs this year, so will be wearing much more blue than red! Preparing for the tournament has kept me fairly brief…
Christian Carnival Posted
The latest Christian Carnival has been posted at Thoughts of a Gyrovague. Go read, enjoy, and learn!
Christian Reconciliation Carnival #1
The first ever Christian Reconciation Blog Carnival is up and running at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength. Check it out!
The Real Cost of Health Care
Hmm! I don’t really know what that is! But Robert J. Samuelson has an excellent column on Newsweek (via MSNBC) that discusses the issue. He makes a number of excellent points, including pointing out that we’ve hidden the actual cost of health care, though I suspect not nearly so successfully in this country as in…
Genesis 9: A New World
Genesis 9 looks at the beginnings of life and society after the flood. It can be of interest in a number of ways, because along with parts of chapter 8 it supports the Noahide laws, and is the foundation for blood being forbidden to eat blood (Acts 15:20, which does not quote this, but must…
Iran and the Iraq War
And now the third in a series of short posts–an unprecedented attack of brevity for me! I’ve been saying “Iran” over and over again as the war in Iraq was first contemplated and then executed. An article today in the Washington Post talks about the influence of Iran and the fears, entirely justified in my…
Codex on Mesopotamian Creation Stories
Tyler Williams is beginning a series on this topic. After reading just the first entry I strongly recommend that any of my readers interested in the creation stories take a look at this material. For those who have not been following my material you can look at the Genesis category on my Participatory Bible Study…