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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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Searching for the Antichrist
…or not. David Ker’s random chapter for the day was Ezra 1, and he has a great quote: Let me go out on a limb here and say that Christians spend too much time looking for the anti-Christ when they should be looking for the Messiah. We do well to remember that God is the…
Time Spent in Bible Study
I’ve created a new poll. I’d like to get an idea of how much time people spend in Bible study, average, per day. This is not really aimed at Bible professionals (teachers, preachers, and such) and many of my readers come from those classes, so that will probably skew the answers again. This came up…
Do We Need More English Bible Translations?
Allan Bevere suggests we don’t, and we need to stop making them. I’ve had a poll about this on this blog for over a year (now on the lower left of the footer), and the results are interesting: [poll id=”2″ type=”result”] I will be closing that poll and substituting another one. I would prefer that…
David Ker is at It Again!
David Ker has started an interesting series. As usual, he’s doing something very different, and the result is some interesting posts. He uses a spreadsheet to randomly choose a chapter from the King James Version and then he writes a post about it. He has an announcement about the series, and I’d suggest his post…
New Jersey Wants to Seize Gift Cards
… if they’re not used after two years. What can possibly make this a good idea? (HT: The Agitator).
On Continuation of the Gifts
I was interested to find this post by Craig Adams, looking at some quotes from John Wesley on the continuation of the gifts. I find myself in general agreement with what Wesley says here. The extraordinary gifts are possible, but not commonplace, nor are they required. The primary evidence of the Spirit is the sanctification…
Ephesians: A Participatory Study Guide
I try to publish some reflections on each book that my company, Energion Publications, releases. Sometimes it takes me few months after release, but I try to get to it sooner. Please be aware that while I will say some things I might say in a review, this is not a review, and is intended…
Responding to Adrian Warnock on Arminocalvinists
I’ve had Adrian Warnock’s post, An Arminocalvinist Spectrum, sitting in my starred items for some time, but I do want to write just a few words about it before I move on. But first, I want to note that Adrian Warnock is one of the Five Sites I Read Because I Disagree, and I’m on…
Righteousness of God Redux
Just over three years ago I wrote a bit about the New Perspective on Paul, and particularly the interpretation of the righteousness of God in 2 Corinthians 5:21. I would still call my understanding of this a work in progress. There are many things I should read and assimilate yet. At the moment, however, I’m…
An RSS Feed for Dave Black
Dave Black discusses RSS feeds, of which he has none: 12:18 PM Yes, yes, yes, let’s hear it for RSS feeds! You may have bookmarked this blog, and/or other blogs and webpages. But you have no idea when new content is posted. So every now and then you click your bookmarks to see what is…
Christmas 2A – Celebrating Redemption
That’s a pretty obvious theme, but it would seem even more odd to skip it! The second Sunday in Christmas is a good day to commemorate these events. There are a few different items that strike me here. The connection of the return from exile with the redemptive mission of Jesus. This shouldn’t be surprising,…
Keeping Up with the Church Year
One of the great benefits of using the lectionary, especially for major days during the church year, is that it helps us keep these various days in context. It’s easy for Christmas to be simply the holiday of giving, the one that allows us to sing all that good music and have some parties. Keeping…
James 1:13 – Tempted by Evil?
In the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament on James (my review) the suggestion is made that apeirastos kakwn should be translated as an objective genitive, as “tempted to do evil.” They oppose this to a subjective genitive (“tempted by evil”) or one alternative which does not involve a new way of reading the…
When Do You Get On Board?
Christian Girl at College has an answer: Now! Oh, well… I can’t do that now. I’m too young; I’m not really in control of my life – my actions. I’ll change after college, when I’m on my own. It’ll be a big turning point. That’s the perfect time to start being the Christian I want…
Biblical Studies Carnival LVIII Posted
The Biblical Studies Carnival has always been somewhat above your average blog carnival, and the December carnival at kol-haadam is above the average even for a Biblical Studies carnival. One nice feature is a separate listing for book reviews, which I have to mention since it links to a review of Ephesians: A Participatory Study…
December Biblioblog Rankings
I choose to link to Jeremy’s list, for no better reason than that I’m on his list. I’m back up to #23, which is probably the result of actually writing a few posts. Thanks again to Jeremy for maintaining these rankings.
Spiritual Fitness in the Army
I find the very phrase “spiritual fitness” in any context other than a voluntary group, such as a Bible study, prayer, or meditation group, very troubling. What makes one fit can find such incredibly odd definitions. When I was in the Air Force, I was told by a supervisor that if I did not go…
Praying Without Ceasing and Hyperbole
Mike Sangrey has a post on translating 1 Thessalonians 5:17 at Better Bibles Blog where he suggests “Don’t stop praying!” would be more accurate than “Pray without ceasing,” which is what most of us are used to hearing. He arrives at this conclusion by looking at various uses of the Greek word in question (adialeiptws)….
Father-Daughter Blogging …
John Meunier and his daughter are blogging through the book Almost Christian. It looks like it will be worth reading.
Now THAT Would be an Interesting Presidential Race
Obama vs who?
Another Note on Design
Image via Wikipedia Since I hadn’t commented on the Intelligent Design controversy for some time, I want to add a couple of notes to what I said yesterday. I absolutely believe in design. I believe everything is designed by God. I believe God is involved in everything. In teaching on this subject I have occasionally…
On the Design Inference
I’m definitely going to follow this new series on Science & the Sacred. The first post is Why Dembski’s Design Inference Doesn’t Work. Part 1. I’ve rejected the design inference on the grounds of garbage-in garbage-out. You can’t determine how likely a chain of events is when you don’t know what events constitute the chain….
Wesley’s Rules for Preachers
Joel gives us John Wesley’s Twelve Rules for Preachers. Which of us can live up to these?
Putting up Barriers to Ministry
I empathize with Alan Knox’s post today, Help or Get Out of the Way. He relates two experiences of church leadership standing in the way because they required people to go through existing church programs. This is not the way to go about Christian ministry. Come to think of it, it’s not even the way…