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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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Examining Matthew 7:1
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” — Matthew 7:1 (NRSV) I have often called this little verse the most violated verse in the New Testament. Christians regularly take it upon themselves to judge one another and also to judge non-Christians. At the same time, this is one of the most misinterpreted…
Essay on Interpreting Wisdom Literature Posted
I have now added an essay on interpreting wisdom literature to my set of very basic interpretation essays. This essay was already supposed to be there, and had links to it, but it hadn’t been posted. One by one I’m filling the holes in the participatory study method files. I have quite a bit of…
Devotionals on Mark
Recently I have been writing a number of devotionals for my wife Jody to use on her devotional list. Since one of my devotional readings right now is working through the book of Mark, I thought some readers of this blog might be interested. You can find these entries starting at: Monday Morning Devotion 7/31/06….
On Being a Love Preacher
I’ve been talking about the incarnation and the two laws, and placing the concept of love at the center of Christianity. There are those who think that preaching love is somehow a weak form of Christianity, and a soft form of ethics. “All you need is love” is not regarded as a particularly profound message….
Does Fear Favor the Republicans?
George McGovern isn’t my very most favorite person, but he is quoted in Newsweek saying this: Reached by NEWSWEEK on vacation, McGovern offered Democrats a warning. “For 50 years, [Republicans] used the fear of communism to beat Democrats,” he said. “I hope we don’t have 50 years of terrorism for them to do the same…
Christ’s Restraining Love
12We’re not recommending ourselves to you again, but we’re giving you an excuse to boast about us again, so that you may have a response to those who boast in appearance and not in the heart. 13For if we are out of our minds, it’s for God, if we are wise, it’s for you. 14For…
Don’t Cover Evidence
The Telegraph reports that some evangelicals in Kenya are trying to sideline exhibits on the evolution of human beings from Kenya’s national museum. In a story, Evangelicals urge museum to hide man’s ancestors, it is reported that the churches want those exhibits removed and intend a campaign to persuade the museum to do so. Folks,…
Moderate Christian Blog Aggregator
I’ve just created a blog aggregator specifically for Christian blogs. This is the result of recent questions from people looking for more moderate Christian presence on the internet. While I am happy to work with conservative or liberal groups whenever that is possible, I’d like to have a single place to look for commentary and…
The Incarnation and the Two Laws
34Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they approached him together, 35and one of them tested him by asking him, 36“Teacher, Which commandment is the greatest one in the Torah?” 37Jesus replied, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole being’ {Deuteronomy 6:5} and…
Security, Convenience, and Freedom
We’ve just seen another terrorist plot stopped, perhaps at a very late stage, and suddenly we have new security restrictions. The question is, are these new security measures adequate? More importantly, are they all that likely to do any good? I was thinking of writing about this, and I looked around on MSNBC, and found…
Is this new information in DNA?
In the “evolution is more creative than we are” department, Carl Zimmer has written an account in terms comprehensible by us non-scientists, of an article published in Cell. He titled it A Dead Dog Lives On (Inside New Dogs). I heartily recommend his article, especially for those who think that the paths taken by evolution…
Connecticut Senate Race: Good Thing
I like following the elections nationwide, and one of the means I use to do it is CQPolitics.com and their e-mail notifications. This morning, I was reading commentary on the Senate race in Connecticut, Conn. Senate Race Still Likely to Have a Democratic Winner. Of course, that prediction is not terribly difficult to make, assuming…
Non-Expert Comments
In a post titled A Very Inconvenient Truth, Ben Witherington throws his weight behind global warming and our need to do something about it. I’m glad he has chosen to do so, and not just because I consider his commentary on Revelation to be one of the best available. And therein seems to lie the…
Missionaries and Mission
John at Locusts and Honey called my attention to Mike Lamson’s post Getting rid of “missionary”. Many of my liberal and non-Christian friends are very surprised to discover that I’m not willing to abandon terms like “mission,” “missionary,” and “evangelism.” I think there are two potential problems with simply changing our terminology. First, we can…
Incarnation Essentials
In a previous post I started a discussion of what I think are the essentials of the Christian faith. I think it’s going to be a bit difficult for me to keep clear when I’m talking about essentials, and when I’m talking about how I apply those in broader detail, but since I believe that…
Ben Witherington on Supercessionism and Dispensationalism
Ben Witherington has an excellent post on Hebrews and supercessionism and dispensationalism. I don’t agree with every point he makes, though I do agree with the bulk of it, and I consider this a good article to read to help clarify the theology of Hebrews.
Evolution reversed to rebuild old gene
This article on MSNBC.com talks about some interesting gene splicing that illustrates some of the value of evolutionary theory and also shows in a simple way how information could be added to DNA. Genes are snippets of DNA that carry instructions for building a protein. The splitting of one gene into many genes has occurred…
Feingold on the Elections
MSNBC has an interview with Senator Russ Feingold in which he makes some excellent points. There are many things I disagree with Senator Feingold about, but he is right on target on a number of others. For example he says: People in Wisconsin, and everywhere for that matter, want their elected officials to stand up…
Christian Essentials: Incarnation at the Center
One of my principles of constructive criticism is that one should generally be prepared to propose something positive. This doesn’t always work–sometimes you know one solution won’t work before you have an alternative, but generally I think it’s a good rule. So having said some negative things about the Together for the Gospel statement, I…
Tongues and Hearing
Adrian Warnock has quoted a section from Martin Lloyd Jones on the gift of tongues in Acts 2 and 1 Corinthians 12-14. (Thanks for Peter Kirk for linking to earlier parts of this discussion.) There are two comments I would like to make on this issue, both of which relate to the Biblical background material….
Newsweek on Billy Graham
Newsweek has a good article on Billy Graham in its current issue, titled Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s a fairly long article that presents some interesting points. While Graham is certainly not abandoning any essentials of his faith, he does admit to softening on some things. I believe that the things he indicates Christians can appropriately disagree…
Bible Translation: ESV
We pause briefly in these various Bible study series to call your attention to a comment on the English Standard Version (ESV). Wayne Leman has provided a little bit of history, along with some passages for comparison between the RSV and the ESV. Wayne does his usual thorough job, so I have very little additional…
Book: God After Darwin
In this wonderful little book (God After Darwin [ISBN: 0813338786]), theologian John Haught looks at our concepts of God in the light of evolutionary theory, and in relation to intelligent design. My notes are more of a response than a review. This book is not an examination of each movement in great detail, but rather…
Is the Trilemma about Jesus Useful?
Yesterday I wandered by the The Evangelical Outpost just to see what was going on, and besides finding a current thread on which I want to comment, I found an older one, Jefferson’s Jesus: An Appreciation of the Trilemma. In this post Joe Carter undertakes to defend the trilemma, a much maligned and yet much…