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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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Isaiah 26: Praise and Lament in Trouble
Update: I forgot to tag the places the New Testament quotes (none in this case) or alludes to this passage. In my series on Biblical criticism I discussed the division of Isaiah 24-27 into various segments and discussing their form. In that article I suggested taking Isaiah 26 as a unity even though it would…
Gail Riplinger and Isaiah 26:3
This is in the “I just couldn’t resist” category. Stating that Gail Riplinger’s “New Age Bible Versions” is poorly researched is to cast aspersions on shoddy research everywhere. Today as I was preparing a post on Isaiah 26 for this blog (which will be in the next entry), I recalled her use of Isaiah 26:3,…
We Killed Less People than They Did
I am often annoyed by the things that the Traditional Values Coalition does. When they call for a boycott of Walmart I don’t expect much damage to be done except to the general reputation of Christians. But today I got an alert e-mail from them that strikes me as celebrating Christmas by stirring up hatred….
New Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup
Allan Bevere has posted the first edition of his new Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup, numbered #93 in succession from Locusts and Honey. Check it out!
How God Impacts Science
There’s been a bit of a dust-up around the blogosphere about this over the last few days to a large extent amongst people involved in science professionally in one way or another. Since I’m not responding directly, I will only note that I read of this debate through Dispatches from the Culture Wars, and you…
Bad Teaching and Abuse
Al Johnson has posted a story about an abused wife on Recovery Poetry blog. Before I comment on this particular story, I want to note that a site like Johnson’s blog can be an important tool for people who are suffering abuse, no matter what the cause or the background. In working in ministry in…
Christian Carnival CXLIX
Christian Carnival CXLIX has been posted at Touring with Virgil. As always, there are some interesting posts, this time including one of mine from Threads rather than from the Participatory Bible Study blog. Again I have good intentions about commenting on a few posts, but I rarely get beyond one or two a week.
The Spiritual Importance of Separation of Church and State
When I’m challenged on historical facts about the separation of church and state, I usually simply tell people that if separation of church and state was not part of our constitutional law (and I believe it is), I would still support it. At least as strong as my political reasons for supporting the separation are…
Making Miracles Possible
Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars in which Ed Brayton responds to some of the scientific claims, I found this post. Now I’m not particularly interested in the specific scientific claim, and whether it makes the virgin birth more “possible” somehow. What interests me here is the tendency to try to find natural explanations for…
Christian Carnival CXLIX
Christian Carnival CXLIX has been posted at Touring with Virgil. As always, there are some interesting posts, this time including one of mine from Threads rather than from the Participatory Bible Study blog. Again I have good intentions about commenting on a few posts, but I rarely get beyond one or two a week.
Lingamish on “Seed-Pickers”
Lingamish has a post on a preaching peeve of his–seed pickers. You’ll have to go to his post to see all the details, but he defines a seed-picker as: A seed-picker is a preacher who grabs verses from all over the Bible and slaps them together in a puking pastiche of public preaching. A seed-picking…
Conceptual Idolatry
Paul tells us that we now “see dimly in a mrror” (1 Corinthians 13:12), but some of us are quite certain that we see clearly. While I believe we should make every effort to get closer to the truth, it’s important that we understand that God’s ways are not our ways, and thus we will…
Exceptionally Good Testimony on Women in Ministry
Scot McKnight has posted the testimony of Stan Gundry and his journey from complementarianism to egalitarianism and some of the thinking that marked it. I think this is one of the best pieces of writing on the topic I have read. I note that he also faced the challenge of the difference between the testimony…
More on Evolution Conflict
Ed Brayton has again weighed in on the framing of the conflict over science education. I agree with the way in which Ed has laid out the issues, and strongly recommend reading his piece. As an advocate of sound science education, I would like to repeat some things I’ve said before, but that are often…
I Thought this Before it Started
Henry Kissinger now says that the Iraq war is not winnable, something I thought from the start. talking to the BBS (via MSNBC), he said: “If you mean by ‘military victory’ an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian…
A Consistent and Principled Approach
In a poll taken before the last election respondents indicated strong disapproval of congress (31% approve/63% disapprove) as a whole, and yet by an almost equal margin (60%/33%), they indicated approval of their own congressman (Fox Poll 10/13/06). This type of result occurs repeatedly in polls. I’m just using those numbers as an example. Similarly…
Identifying Moderate Muslims
Laura has a short post over at Pursuing Holiness on Pakistan and a move toward moderation legislatively. The particular form of moderation involved is preventing women who are raped from being charged with adultery. Personally, I’m eagerly awaiting the announcement of a moderate stoning, so that I could get some idea what that would be…
Finally Some Cover on Multiple Reading!
Joe Carter at the evangelical outpost has written a post titled How to Change Your Mind. I’m not going to steal the thunder of his post, other than to say that it deals with reading passages multiple times. I have long been recommending reading a book of the Bible, or any passage you are about…
Tolerance or Homogenization
I value tolerance. Even more, I value and celebrate diversity. But frequently I see definitions of tolerance that must be considered self-destructive. I usually encounter these in the form of straw-man arguments. Someone may ask me if I believe in tolerance. When I acknowledge that I do, they will ask me then whether I will…
Environmental Skepticism Where Appropriate
The Evangelical Ecologist has an excellent post on the value of skepticism in the appropriate place, and also touches on where it is appropriate. He says: There is an important distinction, then, between aggressively promoting environmental stewardship as a God-ordained moral ethic (which it is), and aggressively promoting a particular area of human-derived environmental science…
MBWR To End
John at Locusts and Honey, is bringing the Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup to a close with this week’s edition. John has done a wonderful job of building up the Methodist blogosphere, and I have great sympathy for him as he lays aside this enormous task. I’ll miss the “human touch” in selecting the posts, but…
Christian Carnival CXLVIII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLVIII is now available at Crossroads for your reading pleasure. I will again try to post some links to some of the posts that catch my attention. I rarely get time to link to all of them.
Avoiding Shoot-First Apologetics
My Christianity Today Connection e-mail this morning contained a link to an excellent article, Shoot-First Apologetics. I don’t want to steal the thunder from the article itself–go read it in place, but I do want to quote from the e-mail: And while defending the core elements of our faith is imperative, we sometimes shoot too…
Hebrews 7:1-3: Reuniting Priesthood and Kingship
1Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham when he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. 2Abraham apportioned a tenth of everything to him. He is first “King of Righteousness” and then King of Salem which is “King of Peace.” 3He is without…