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What Is Biblical Literacy?
We complain about it, write about it, claim it’s important or even critical, design programs to create it, but what is it? I don’t mean that none of us know what we mean when we say “biblically literate” or “biblically illiterate,” but do we all mean the same thing? I don’t think we do, and…
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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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Experiencing the (Baptism of the) Holy Spirit
This is a topic where I tend to make just about everyone uncomfortable. Long time readers may recall a previous discussion of speaking in tongues, and my own experience of it. Those who expect me to be intellectually oriented and rational are uncomfortable with mystical experiences, and many who are comfortable with the mystical experiences…
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Christian Carnival for Epiphany 2007 Posted
Christian Carnival for Epiphany 2007 has been posted at The Wittenberg Gate. Start the new year off right by checking in with some of your fellow Christian bloggers.
I Hope This is True
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Uncle Sam wants US Muslims to serve and is taking positive steps to make them feel welcome in our armed services. We should do this simply because we are a society that values freedom of religion. But there is a practical side, indicated in the article–Muslims in the military…
Heat, Light, and Comments
This morning I awoke to start my early morning blog and e-mail work only to find that co.mments.com had supplied me (at my request) with seven messages alerting me to comments on Ed Brayton’s most recent blog entry on the Richard Dawkins petition debate, representing 27 comments. I only worked my way through a few…
Is Waking Up Always Good?
John Meunier (Trouble Enough) has been reading William Abraham’s book Waking From Doctrinal Amnesia and making a few comments. Since the Wesleyan Quadrilateral was one of the things that attracted me to the United Methodist Church in the first place, I’m not sure that this is an amnesia I’d like us to wake up from….
Indoctrination and Religious Education
In the course of the discussion of typology of ID opponents the topic of Richard Dawkins and his claim that religious indoctrination is a form of child abuse came up. Now since I’m a religious educator, and particular one who works in churches and other voluntary organizations, you can imagine that my response to Dawkins…
Why I Oppose ID
. . . and how I oppose it. There has been an interesting flap that started when MikeGene at Telic Thoughts proposed a typology of ID critics, and Ed Brayton responded, with further response again from MikeGene. I think most of what needs to be said has already been said in those posts and the…
A Dead Tyrant and Mass Murderer
Nations welcome, condemn Saddam execution says the MSNBC.com headline, and the story reflects that dual reaction. There’s a large part of the world that believes Saddam Hussein is certainly deserving of punishment, but who condemn all instances of the death penalty. As an opponent of this war from before it started, I’ve found it interesting…
Thinking About Hell
Via the Christian Blog Carnival I found this article on hell with some discussion of various views held by Christians.
New in the Moderate Christian Blogroll
I’ve just added Kouya Chronicle to the aggregator and blogroll. Kouya Chronicle is written by Eddie and Sue Arthur, who have some interesting involvement in Bible translation. I welcome them to the moderate Christian blogroll.
Moderate Christian Blog Roundup #2
OK, this is getting regular, which I know is contrary to my personality, but here comes another roundup of the http://www.moderatechristian.com”>Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator. I’m seeing a lot of good posts on the blogs covered by the aggregator and would like to help see them get some more attention, so here goes. Note that the…
On Bible Translation from realmealministries.org
From realmealministries.org comes a brief discussion of Bible translations and how to make your choice of one to use. There is some good material here, though obviously in such a short presentation it cannot be tremendously detailed. Since this is also a favored topic of my own (see Bible Version Selection Tool), I’d like to…
Christian Carnival CLIV Posted
The Christian Carnival CLIV has been posted at From the Anchor Hold. It’s another nice selection and a good job by the host. I didn’t get a submission in because I was out of town and away from a good internet connection, but I hope to have time to call attention to some particular posts….
A Late Merry Christmas
I missed wishing readers of this blog a Merry Christmas because I was out of town and left fairly quickly. At the last minute my wife and I were able to go to Ft. Worth, TX to see our daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. A good time was had by all of us! I will…
Bible Study, Community, and Agendas
I have written previously about community and Biblical inspiration and more recently about fear that pushes people away from studying the Bible for themselves. So how about a note on some of the dangers of Bible study? My attention was called to this topic by this post on Thinking Christian, in which the basis for…
Christian Carnival CLIII Posted
Christian Carnival CLIII has been posted at Lux Venit. It looks good, but I may not have time to look at much this week. Thanks to Leslie for a good job!
Can one Like both George Bailey and Howard Roark?
Joe Carter has a wonderful post today, The Fountainhead of Bedford Falls: Comparing George Bailey and Howard Roark, discussing elements of the style and meaning of It’s a Wonderful Life and The Fountainhead. While I might quibble about some points in the evaluation, it’s a well written and thoughtful piece, and you should take a…
Joe Meert in Conversation with John Baumgardner
The Florida Citizens for Science blog has an interesting account of a conversation between Joe Meert (Florida Citizens for Science vice-chair) and John Baumgardner, geophysicist and young earth creationist. It’s worth reading. Joe asks the right questions. You can find it here.
Fear and Bible Study
I was preparing a devotional for my wife’s devotional list on facing fear when it suddenly occurred to me that the verses I was using could also apply to Bible study. I regularly encounter Christians who are afraid to study the Bible. Their concern is that they will get it wrong, but more especially that…
New Life Church Behaving Responsibly
I’m not one to spend a great deal of time criticizing the media for their treatment of Christianity, but I do think that in general journalists in this country have a really good idea for what’s not the most important story, and as soon as they detect such a thing, they print it immediately. That’s…
Tripoli 6 Sentenced to Death
(HT: The Panda’s Thumb) The way this case is being handled illustrates why religious and traditional beliefs about the physical world should be subject to scientific testing. I don’t mean that one’s beliefs about spiritual matters need to be so tested, but when your beliefs or mine say something about the physical world, then they…
Moderate Christian Blog Roundup
I went wandering through the Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator today. I really should do this more often as there are always some really excellent posts. I simply try to read so much stuff that I often don’t get around to writing about all the things I’d like to. In any case, here are some selected…
Dave Warnock on Wayne Grudem Interview
Dave Warnock has posted an excellent set of reflections on the Wayne Grudem interview series. I strongly recommend reading it, especially some specific reflections from a Methodist perspective. While I do not use the term “evangelical” and Dave does, the problem is a difference of definition. Some of us try to hang onto words and…
The Proper Bounds of Political Correctness
In my experience, political correctness is invoked more as a way to stifle requests for courtesy and consideration than it is to actually stifle freedom of speech. People here in the southern part of the country want to avoid the charge of political correctness at all costs. It’s sort of like being accused of being…
The Wayne Grudem Interview – Reflections
I’ve been responding at some length to Adrian Warnock’s interview with Dr. Wayne Grudem. He has now posted his Highlights and Reflections and I’m not going to respond point by point to that as it simply deals with issues I’ve responded to earlier. I think probably the best question to ask at this point is…