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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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Biblical Doctrine of Creation
In my pamphlet God the Creator I briefly answer the following question: What are some broad essentials of the Biblical doctrine of creation? In my answer I listed the following six points. I will list the points below and expand on them, below. But first, what am I trying to do here? One thing that…
Why not Intelligent Design?
As reported in various newspapers and summarized on the Florida Citizens for Science web site, (Textbook Debate Still Evolving, Letter to Brevard County School Board, and Textbooks Changed under Pressure) a school board member in Brevard County wants to adopt a science textbook including two paragraphs about intelligent design. I find the introduction of these…
Textual Criticism – Briefly
Note: This is a second excursus in my series on Biblical criticism. When I begin my next entry, dealing with the parable of the sower, I will begin by discussing textual issues and applying these principles. I was encouraged to make a few notes on textual criticism after I read the collection of essays The…
Dating the Book of Daniel
Note: This is a small excursus in my series giving an overview of Biblical criticism. In this entry I want to apply some of the material I discussed about authorship and dating to the book of Daniel. Next, I will write an additional entry on methods of textual criticism in general, and then I will…
What Billy Graham Regrets
Newsweek has an excellent interview with Billy Graham in their online edition. I think his response to the issue of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina was excellent. Very often we can only answer “I don’t know” to the “why” questions that people have in times of trouble. Graham provides an example and encouragement as…
Webb Impressive
In a spring training game, John Webb pitched just one inning, struck out two batters, then the final batter grounded out. You can read the story of the game here. Tony LaRussa, Cardinals manager, commented that Webb was “most impressive.” Yes, that’s baseball. I don’t usually put anything personal in this blog, but John Webb…
Not Enough to Show Up
In an opinion piece in Newsweek, titled Perception is Everything, Eleanor Clift comments that due to the fumbling of the Bush administration on several issues, scandals in congress, and the resulting low approval ratings for the Bush administration, all that may be necessary for the Democrats to sweep congress would be just to show up….
Translation and Interpretation
Mike Sangrey has an excellent post on translation and interpretation on the Better Bibles blog, entitled, appropriately, Interpretation versus Translation — Competition or Teamwork?.This can be a very contentious issue, but the bottom line is that a translator cannot function without interpretation. Normally we complain about interpretations that we don’t like. Formal equivalence advocates like…
Truth Value of Numbers
Christianity Today reports in an article titled Too Inclusive that Pastor Carlton Pearson’s Higher Dimensions Worship Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma has now begun meeting in a neighboring Episcopal church, since membership has dropped by 90% from an initial 5,000. I discovered this story by reading the Wesley Daily blog, which titled the story Pastor Says…
Energy: Walking and Talking
In an article titled Renewable Energy: Blowing in the Wind, Newsweek reports that a number of companies, including Aspen Ski Company in Colorado, are buying wind energy, in effect, putting their money where their mouth is. I’m not commenting on this story to talk about energy, though I’m very interested in that topic, as I…
Grace and Choices
“Grace gives us choices,” says Pastor Tom Sims in a blog entry entitled Paradoxical People. Good point. Tom is talking particularly about our ability to be ourselves. I like to call the alternative “putting on your faith face.” I see it primarily in churches. You can’t possibly go to church, after all, without making sure…
Some Creation-Evolution Reading
I have been writing for a number of entries about Christian views on origins. Since in some of these entries I was describing someone else’s view, I thought it would be a good idea to call attention to some good reading from advocates of each of the views. For more detail see Energion.com Classified Directory…
Negative Perceptions of Islam Increasing
In an article that should be no surprise to anyone, MSNBC lets us know that Negative Perceptions of Islam Increasing, something I’m sure none of us would have guessed had there not be pollsters to tell us. As an aside, you can check out their daily poll, a true example of the stupidity of online…
Determining Date and Authorship
This is a continuation of my series on Biblical criticism that started with my post Overview of Biblical Criticism – I. You might think I would now continue with Overview II, but I’m not nearly that consistent. My next post will continue that line, but first I want to look at some caveats, and a…
Escambia Count Option Tax Extended
As reported today in the Pensacola News Journal, the 1 cent option sales tax for our county has been extended. (I apologize to those of my readers who don’t live in Escambia County. You may find, however, that you have a similar situation with your local government.) My big interest in this story is not…
The Kingdom of God is a Monarchy
Brian McLaren, author of The Secret Message of Jesus and co-author of Adventures in Missing the Point with Tony Campolo, among many other books, has an article currently on the Sojourner web site entitled Found in Translation. I want to thank Shane Raynor of Wesley Blog for calling my attention to this article with his…
The Five Minute Solution
It’s nice to know that the desire for the “five minute solution” is not restricted to my own field of Biblical studies. Many people have asked me over the years for a way to become really knowledgeable of the Bible with only a short devotional study, and I have to tell them that while one…
Iraq:What Now for Mixed Shia – Sunni Families – MSNBC.com
In an article subtitled Love in a Time of Madness Newsweek (via MSNBC.com) calls our attention to the human side of the conflict in Iraq. It’s easy to become tied up with strategic goals such as how we prevent terrorism, how we can get out of Iraq and still at least feel that we accomplished…
Characteristics of a Living Church
43Now awe came upon every person, because many miracles and signs were accomplished through the ministry of the apostles. 44All the believers were in unity and had there possessions in common. 45They sold their possessions and assets and divided among all those who needed them. 46Every day they went faithfully to the temple, they broke…
Creation, Evolution, and Genesis 1-11
Now that I’ve given admittedly brief summaries of the major views on origins held by Christians, I’d like to summarize all these views and how those who hold them understand the first 11 chapters of Genesis, element by element. But first, just in case you’re just joining this topic, let me link to the prior…
The Bible and Theistic Evolution
Previously I’ve discussed young earth creationism, old earth creationism, and ruin and restoration creationism. That brings us to theistic evolution, or I could say theistic evolutionary creationism. Though theistic evolutionists may have varying beliefs regard to the nature of God, in general, they see God as the source of all existence in one way or…
Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter
As many of you know, besides my work in writing and publishing, I’m president of Pacesetters Bible School, Inc., an organization dedicated to religious education, and particularly in bringing sound Biblical scholarship to local churches. Pacesetters is a totally volunteer organization (I’m not compensated as president), and is a non-profit. I’ve been pretty lax about…
In a very interesting article, Newsweek discusses the European reaction to Muslim violence over the cartoon issue (see Cartoons: The End of Europes Tolerance? – Newsweek: International Editions – MSNBC.com). This story brought to mind a question I am frequently asked: If you believe in tolerance, why don’t you tolerate the intolerant? Shouldn’t you have…
Ruin and Restoration Creationism
In two previous entries I’ve discussed young earth creationism and old earth creationism. Continuing with this series on how various groups of Christians understand origins, I will now discuss the ruin and restoration theory. I have previously mentioned this theory in the pmaphlet God the Creator and in my review of the book The Invisible…