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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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Quote of the Day – Way of Christ vs Way of Caesar
From the forthcoming participatory study guide to Philippians, by Bruce Epperly: The way of Christ differs markedly from the way of Caesar, who was also worshipped as a deity. Christ’s peace is based on non-violence and inclusion, while Caesar’s peace is based on the sword and subjugation. (Used by permission.)
A Sinful Job Description
The Christian Post has an article on depression amongst pastors and ministry leaders, which, in turn, links to an article at The Gospel Coalition. Now the Gospel Coalition article is part one of a five part series, so I’m not going to comment on how far they will go before they are done, but I…
The New Jesus
From David Hayward: (License: Creative Commons 3.0)
Quick Note on (Biblio)blogging
I note quite a debate around the blogs I read regarding just what is a biblioblog. For a long time, this blog was listed as a “related” blog, then a few months ago was “upgraded” to a biblioblog, and I’ve been in the top 50 ever since, and even made the top 10 a time…
A Sense of the Spiritual
I once met a woman who claimed that Jesus had come to her in her kitchen and spoken to her. The reaction of friends, neighbors, and even family to this story was fairly negative. She was regarded as a bit odd, and finally quit talking about it. It was only with some hesitation that she…
Book: Thank God for Evolution
Dowd, Michael. Thank God for Evolution. New York: Plume, 2007. 380 pages + front and back matter. ISBN: 978-0-452-29534-6. (All numbers in parentheses are page numbers from this edition of the book.) I was interested in this book from the moment I saw the title, not because I immediately expected to agree, but because it,…
Philippians: On Grace, Faith, and Works
The following is another extract from the forthcoming study guide on Philippians in the Participatory Study Series, by Dr. Bruce Epperly: For Paul the issue is two-fold: 1) the status of Gentiles as members of the Christian community and 2) the relationship of grace, faith, and works. As apostle to the Gentiles, Paul affirms that…
A Narrow View of the Glory of God
Peter Kirk links to Roger Olson on why he defends Love Wins. Now I haven’t read Love Wins and it isn’t on my reading list. The reason for this post is to comment on this (Peter quoting Roger Olson): I think that is what offends critics of Love Wins–the suggestion that God doesn’t get what…
Quote of the Day – On the Job of Pastor
From Dave Black Online: The task faced by the solitary pastor today in so many of our churches is overwhelming; but it is a task to which the Savior called no one. Quoted in full by Brian Fulthorp and at jesusparadigm.com.
A United Methodist Pastor on Revitalizing Dead Churches
There are many days when the United Methodist Church discourages me, and I wrote a post yesterday with that sort of feeling. But there are two things that regularly encourage me: Encountering vital small congregations, and meeting some of our young pastors. Via another young pastor, Geoffrey Lentz, who is doing wonderful things at First…
Dashboards, Discernment, and Responsible Leadership
Yes, that’s a big collection of topics, but I think they’re connected. John Meunier links to an excellent post by Dan Dick, which you should read before you read this one. The topic here is the conference dashboards in United Methodist annual conferences, such as this one for the North Alabama Conference. I do have…
Christian Colleges Top Ten Biblical Learning Blogs
I just noticed a post from The Congenial Christians, Top Ten Biblical Learning Blogs, which lists this blog as #1. Though I don’t know what the criteria are, I want to thank them, and provide this link back to their blog.
On Praying for My Country
Some time ago I was teaching a Sunday School class and the topic of prayer at public events came up. Now I would have a serious problem offering prayer at a public event. Though I support the idea of separation of church and state, my major objection is not based on the constitutional principle. After…
On Putting God Before Country
When my wife and I decided to get married we also made another decision: God would be first in our married life. That means that for me, God comes before my wife, and for her God comes before me. Some people hear that as a sort of sacrifice. We have less because we give more…
Yet Again on the Meaning of Inerrancy
John Hobbins is again correcting the rest of us regarding the meaning of the word inerrancy. The interesting thing here is that I can affirm everything he says about inspiration in his post. He writes in opposition to the approach taken by by Michael Heiser and C. Michael Patton, each of whom have written posts…
July Biblical Studies Carnival
. . . posted at Targuman.
The Biblioblog Top 50 for June
. . . finds me at #27, which is actually surprisingly good considering that I only wrote one blog post during June. My excuse is that I was working on half a dozen book releases for my company, two of which will actually take place in July. As for the great controversy about the library,…
Early Internet (or not) Experiences
Ed Brayton brought back memories talking about how he first got online. I first encountered Ed on the Compuserve Religion Forum, and since then I have enjoyed reading his blog, Dispatches from the Culture Wars and The Panda’s Thumb, of which he was a founder. We have another connection, in that he is co-founder and…
Losing the War on Drugs
There’s a stereotype of opponents of our current drug laws that suggests such people just want to light up a joint – legally. That’s not very accurate. I personally don’t even use alcohol, and I rarely use over-the-counter, completely non-addictive pain killers. I’m leery about legalization, but I certainly think we need substantial reforms in…
Addicted to Arguing?
Yes, that might be me! Peter Laarman at RD Magazine says many in American protestantism are addicted to arguing, and need to learn that arguments don’t win people over–contact with people and sharing of stories does it. He titles his piece Why Liberal Religious Arguments Fail, but while I’m well aware of many liberal examples,…
Error Overload
Ken Schenck has published another find the errors audio. This is really an amazing piece of interpretation and is well worth listening to, just because you might not believe anyone would do it if you don’t hear it for yourself. It needs no comment beyond what Ken already posted. Note that errors can be committed…
On Camping: Do Errors Result from Lack of Theological Education?
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey, president of Westminster Seminary California, says that it does, according to the Christian Post. Dr. Godfrey, who was in the youth group taught by Camping at Alameda Christian Reformed Church, says that Camping reads the Bible like an engineer, lacks knowledge of the original languages, and doesn’t know how to read…
Search Syriac Resources (Link)
With hat tip to Bible Studies and Technological Tools, I link to a site that allows you to search online Syriac resources. Good stuff!
Stay Away, but If You Come Anyway
… you’d better hire a certain percentage of local employees (HT: The Agitator). Oh, and buy land. Yes, and keep it cheap.