Featured Posts
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Sorrow Like My Sorrow – Lamentations 1:12
Can we really understand the suffering of another person or they ours?
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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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Rhetorical Analysis of Hebrews 1:1-4
I found Hebrews 1:1-4: A Study in Discourse Analysis via Dave Black Online today. Many elements here are not new, but this is the best concise presentation of these four important verses that I’ve found. Some may think that 19 pages on four verses isn’t concise, but considering the possibilities, I find it quite compact!…
The Problem with Eschatology
I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is very interested in eschatology. We didn’t learn the term all that early, but we were subjected constantly to sermons about it. SDA eschatology is one of the key reasons I’m not SDA any more, but when I first joined a United Methodist congregation, I was…
Losing Our Sense of Mission
When it rains it pours, so I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about mission lately, and here’s another one that raises some very interesting points. (HT: Kouyanet). Having served on and led short-term mission teams, grown up with long-term missionary parents, and served on mission committees, I find that a great deal of this…
Dave Black on Worship and Missional Theology
Some important thoughts.
How to Dig into a Bible Clause
… fully demonstrated by Jacob Cerone at ἐνθύμησις (Jonah 1:4c). Just the one clause! Bravo! Write more!
Of Resources and and Mission Priorities
I received two requests for help today. One was from a pastor overseas. He didn’t ask for money. He asked for prayer. I happen to know he needs money. But his most earnest desire is that Jody and I pray for him. I also got another request in the mail. It comes from an organization…
Let’s Get Critical
It’s amazing to me how frequently we are do biblical criticism, but are not sufficiently critical in evaluating the results. Now don’t take this as the complaint of someone who is afraid that biblical criticism will undermine the scriptures. I think the Bible can handle it. It’s not that I don’t think there will be…
Your Heart Messing with How You Read Scripture
There’s a thought provoking post by Morgan Guyton (Mercy not Sacrifice) discussing this issue. While I have some problems with the interpretations proposed when considered from an historical point of view, as Christian application of scripture, I think this is a good thing. We should not forget, however, that the scriptures came to violent people…
Depending on Others and Understanding
I frequently encounter people who are afraid of depending on scholars for their knowledge of the Bible. I understand this fear. One thing that got me into studying biblical languages was the desire to know for myself, without having someone else translate. But when I had learned the languages, I found that one had to…
60-year-old Baseball Rookie
As I move on inexorably toward 60, I am encouraged by this. Of course, I couldn’t play baseball at 20, and won’t be able to at 60, but there are other things!
Greek and Ministry
Thomas Hudgins is teaching Greek, and he thinks students should study with the intention of actually using their Greek in ministry (HT: Dave Black). I’m delighted to see more and more effort put into this type of teaching. I was very frustrated as a graduate student when I saw how students in the MDiv program…
Bruce Epperly on the Lectionary, Pentecost + 8 (C)
This is a very interesting Adventurous Lectionary.
Avoiding Self-Centered Hermeneutics
Rachel Held Evans has an interesting post on the way we tend to interpret the Bible differently based on our vested interests. This shouldn’t be a surprise. We tend to interpret everything according to our vested interests. It’s no surprise that we do the same thing with the Bible. In churches, we tend to hear…
Next Steps on Hebrews Outline
I’ve been thinking about the Hebrews outlines, but not posting them. I’ve printed out a copy of my outline and translation and I plan to color code the text according to major themes that I see in the book of Hebrews. It will be interesting to see how well that works. One test of the…
Running to Home Base (Becky Lynn Black)
Dave Black links to an essay from his wife Becky Lynn regarding dealing with cancer. She believes that she’s on the home stretch. A taste: My goal has always been to display Christ to know His calling in the midst of dealing with cancer. We have dealt with cancer as stewards for the Lord Jesus….
Robert Reich on Immigration
Robert Reich exposes some myths about immigration. I’d have a couple of quibbles (I wish “myth” weren’t used in this way, for one thing), but they wouldn’t change the overall result. This is why I don’t worry about immigration. In fact, our paranoia about immigration costs more than immigration, in my view. I favor treating…
Why I Still Don’t Like Inerrancy
Andrew Wilson has a post on The Gospel Coalition (Voices) blog titled Why I don’t Hate the Word Inerrancy. In a certain way I have to agree with his conclusion: But I don’t think the answer is to hate the word. If we were to abandon every word that had been tainted by poor use,…
Of Creation, Evolution, and Worship
There are few topics that get Christians more angry at one another than the subject of evolution. Those who accept a young earth (or young age for the universe) tend to think that those who accept the theory of evolution do it simply because they lack the faith to believe the Bible. To them, this…
The Bible Gives No New Science Revelations
My title is slightly modified from No Scientific Revelation in the Bible, posted by RJS at Jesus Creed, with links in turn to work by John Walton. I think this is an important point. My argument since I was an undergraduate just trying to work my way through these issues, has been that if you…
Three Good Posts on Inerrancy
Why I Hate the Word “Inerrancy” The Bible Isn’t Perfect and It Says So Itself In All Things Necessary to Our Salvation I owe a hat tip to the author of the first one for the links to the other two. All express important points, though there are certain differences of nuance between the three….
Science and Genesis: Allister McGrath, John Polkinghorne, N. T. Wright, John Walton, et. al.
Some very interesting points. It’s only fair that Herold Weiss, whose book Creation in Scripture I publish, would disagree with some of John Walton’s views, while affirming the broader ideas about how to read an ancient text. (HT: Allan R. Bevere)
Colbert Discovers the Real Strategy Behind Data Mining
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David Alan Black on Dealing with Hardship
I posted on my company’s blog today about writing to communicate, but I didn’t cover one important aspect: Transparency. Transparency isn’t a technique or a policy. It’s an attitude and a moral commitment. It says, “I’m not going to lie about how my life is going. I’m going to let people see what is real.”…
The Attractiveness of Etymology
The etymological fallacy is one of the most well known fallacies in biblical exegesis. In fact, many people “know” it who don’t understand it. I was reminded of why etymological explanations are attractive this morning as I was reading Isaiah in the LXX. I came to the word “toparcos” in Isaiah 36:9. Now I couldn’t…