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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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Inreach and Outreach
My previous post, The Most Wasted Piece of Architecture, didn’t generate discussion here, but it was picked up by Locusts and Honey with a substantial quote, and some interesting discussion took place there. The discussion seemed to center a good deal around the specific issue of church sanctuaries. But what I would hope we would…
Asking Questions of a Biblical Text
An excellent technique for digging deeper into a Bible text is to formulate questions about the text, and then look for answers to those questions. I discuss this briefly in my essay Reading the Text Precisely. A starting point for this is simply to ask basic fact questions about the text. Many difficult and angry…
The Most Wasted Piece of Architecture
As I was driving with my wife yesterday, I made a comment that had been bugging me all day. “You know,” I said, “A church sanctuary is the most wasted piece of architecture you’ll see on the landscape.” Now my wife knows not to go wild when I say things like that. She didn’t ask…
Christian Carnival CXL
Christian Carnival CXL has been posted at Lux Venit. There’s a good deal of good stuff to check out. Without prejudice to the whole list, I’d like to call special attention to the following: Tight Theological HatbandsI’m not reformed in theology, but I have long thought one of the strengths of the reformed camp was…
The Prosperity Gospel
And another exciting entry, more than a week old, from Ben Witherington, this time, ‘Just in Time’– ‘God Wants You Wealthy’, dealing with the “health and wealth gospel” or “prosperity gospel.” I’m very slow to condemn movements, but the prosperity gospel seems to be just about diametrically opposed to the spirit of Jesus Christ. Go,…
Ben Witherington on the Pope’s Speech
While I have reflected largely on the single item in the Pope’s speech and the Muslim reaction, Ben Witherington has posted an analysis of the larger content of the speech. He underlines some things that I would want to debate in the speech as well. A key item from my point of view here is…
Genesis 6:5-8: Cause of the Flood
I’m trying to take this passage in smaller chunks than I usually do so that I don’t end up with so many incredibly long posts. We’ve been watching the deterioration of the human race throughout these chapters. Genesis 3 gives one view of the start. Chapter 4 carries that story forward. If viewed in conjuction…
Christian Carnival CXL
Christian Carnival CXL has been posted at Lux Venit. There’s a good deal of good stuff to check out. I’m not in there, but we’re working on that. Thanks to Leslie for a nice looking, easy to read post.
Violent God
As I approach the actual story of the flood in my series on Genesis 1-11 on the Participatory Bible Study blog, my attention is drawn to the problem of violence in the Bible generally, condoned by God, commanded by God, or even carried out by God. Recently on the web I’ve seen quite a number…
Revelation Before and After Jesus
Some time ago (September 5, 2005) Adrian Warnock wrote an excellent entry on the need for a Christian experience in the present (hat tip: Peter Kirk). As usual, whether I agree or disagree, Adrian does a fine job of presenting his position, and in this case, I do agree. He continued that entry with another…
Bible as Conversation
Daniel has an interesting post on E-Merging suggesting that we view the Bible as a conversation. He says: In real conversations, one participant doesn’t just sit back and agree with everything being said. There are tensions and resolutions, and some questions are simply left unanswered. I think this is an excellent approach to Bible study…
Fareed Zakaria on Oil
Fareed Zakaria has an excellent Newsweek article on oil, The Real Story of Pricey Oil. In it he suggests that we need to get serious about reducing and stabilizing demand, and about developing new technology. He discusses the politics of oil production in a clear and straightforward fashion. This is something to which we need…
Literary and Artistic Snobbery
I recall my first college English class when I informed the professor that I was going to write on patriotic elements in the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson. He made it clear that he would prefer a different author; for some reason Tennyson didn’t match up. He also made it clear he’d prefer a different…
Today on the Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator
Just to get a taste of what is available on the blogs covered by the Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator, let me give you a list of the most recent posts, in the order in which they appeared when I viewed the aggregator, with the exception of my own blogs. Note that blogs are randomized with…
Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator/Roll – Status Report
A little over a month ago (August 12, 2006) I started the Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator and the related blogroll. To get the ball rolling, I included my three blogs (three so I can segregate my areas of interest more easily) and one group blog to which I’m primary contributor. I also included my wife’s…
Criticizing Religions
I have long been an advocate of permitting criticism of Christianity, because I think allowing such criticism is good for my religion. I have friends who would regard my religion as a delusion, and I encourage them to speak directly about what they believe. This is not a matter of commitment to legal free speech,…
Psalm 104: Presenting the Message
Psalm 104 has a distinct message about God’s creation that has stuck with me strongly since I first studied the passage in graduate school. I have previously posted links to my prior study of the text and structure of this Psalm, done more than 25 years ago. I’m starting from that point now. When we…
McCain and Conscience
I have liked John McCain for a long time, and now he has taken a stand on torture and interrogation. Chip Read on MSNBC’s first read comments on this as a matter of conscience. I’m amazed, despite everything that has already happend in the war on terror, that this is entirely an issue. I’m deeply…
Psalm 104
I’m planning to do some posting on translating and transforming Hebrew poetry over the next few weeks, so I want to start with a couple of links to my existing work on Psalm 104. I did a considerable study of the structure of this Psalm in graduate school. I’m not in a position to repeat…
Muslim Protests of the Pope’s Remarks
I have not been very excited about the vatican over the last few years, and I was not overjoyed when the current pope was elected, but in general since I’m not a catholic, it’s not something I get very excited about. But the current round of protests about the Pope’s quotation of a medieval text…
Brief Thoughts on Hebrew Poetry
A few days ago Wayne Leman blogged about translating Hebrew poetry, and referred to an article by Philip C. Stine Biblical Poetry and Translation. The article is really excellent, and nothing I’m about to say here is intended to criticize that article as such. I’ve been very interested in translation of Hebrew poetry, but I…
Nation Whose God is the LORD?
Today while doing grocery shopping, I saw a T-Shirt with the slogan: My faith and my freedom are one. Underneath was the verse: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD (Psalm 33:12). I don’t know who provides such a shirt, but that slogan troubles me deeply. I think it reflects the problem that…
Wesley Blog Back/Goodbye to Wesley Daily
Shane Raynor has returned to blogging after a summer hiatus. The Wesley Blog is back, but at the same time he announces the end of his experiment with the Wesley Daily. I’ll miss the Wesley Daily, because often Shane’s picks of a post for the day gave me good material to blog about. However, the…
Red State Rabble on Enemy Recognition
I really appreciate the post Uniting Against the Common Enemy. As I said in an earlier post, I don’t expect others to back off about their positions on various issues. But we also don’t need to have those additional disagreements prevent us from cooperating on issues about which we do agree. I particularly like the…