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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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Is Canonical 2 Corinthians a Hypothetical Reconstruction?
As I’ve noted before, I’m now reading Calvin J. Roetzel, 2 Corinthians, in the Abingdon New Testament Commantaries series. I want to emphasize here that I accept the use of historical-critical methodology in Bible study. That does not, however, force me to find all critical theories plausible. I’m arguing against this specific set of theories,…
Quote of the Day
From the Wesley Report: Mainline Protestant Christianity has become known for leaving people in slavery, because somewhere along the way, our strategy changed from leading people out of Egypt to planting churches along the Nile. And that’s why mainline denominations continue to lose members. People don’t need churches to help them stay in slavery– they…
Commentary: II Corinthians (NTL)
Learn More I have really enjoyed studying 2 Corinthians with this commentary. Since I’ve used a number of volumes from the New Testament Library before, the easiest evaluation of this commentary I can give is that it meets and in some cases exceeds the expectations I have of volumes in the New Testament Library series….
A Brief Thought on Partitioning Epistles
I’ve just completed reading Frank J. Matera’s II Corinthians: A Commentary in the New Testament Library series. I’m going to post a few notes in review of that commentary, but this is just a brief note, a passing thought, and definitely not a completed theory. There are many cases in which critical theories about authorship…
Dangers of Superficial Bible Study
I was reminded of this by two events during the last week. First, the arrival of copies of my new book with co-author Rev. Geoffrey Lentz. One of the things we emphasize in that book is hearing what the text is actually saying before trying to explain it. This is a difficult task, probably impossible…
Christian Carnival CCCXVII Posted
… at my Jevlir Caravansary blog. I’m obviously delighted with myself, thus the link!
How About Planting a Church?
That’s what Allan Bevere suggests as the ordination process, based on his experience in Cuba. I find the idea attractive, at least for certain types of ministry. There might be other ways to test various gifts. It does relate to a problem I’ve noted amongst United Methodist ministers, many of whom come out of seminary…
Book: For Girls Only! Devotions
Some of you may justifiably ask just what some guy moving on through middle age is doing writing a review of a book whose title starts For Girls Only! And that was indeed my reaction when I first saw the book in an e-mail from Tyndale House. Indeed, I had just about deleted the e-mail…
What Would a Successful UMC Look Like?
Ex-UMC, now megachurch pastor Craig Groeschel offers six suggestions for the United Methodist Church, packaged in six brief blog posts. I think that there is much worth considering in his suggestions, though I don’t think they are generally all that new. There’s something that bothers me in the whole discussion, however. In practically every debate…
Christian Carnival CCCXVII Call for Submissions
I’m going to be hosting the next Christian Carnival at The Jevlir Caravansary, my fiction and poetry blog. The carnival is posted each Wednesday, and submissions are due by midnight Tuesday, though they are welcomed earlier. You can submit your entry using the submission form at blogcarnival.com. Check out the requirements for inclusion, and then…
The Kingdom of God is a Monarchy
Shane Raynor just posted on this again, reposting his response to Brian McLaren’s article from 2006. I went back and checked out the article I wrote back in 2006 on this and found out that it got mangled in one or another of the moves this blog has undergone. I agree with Shane on this….
Biblioblog #9 This Month
Thanks to Jeremy for all the hard work in producing the Biblioblog Top 50 this month. Even though I lost ground in my 30 day Alexa ranking, it was still good enough for #9. By the way Joel, writing a script is also work. Few seconds? It is to laugh!
BioLogos and Reasons to Believe in Dialogue
While I am much more in support of the approach of BioLogos than Reasons to Believe, I’m glad to see that they are discussing. Perhaps laying out the details of each group’s approach may help Christians understand the issues more clearly. I see very little future, however, for the day-age theory, despite its strong acceptance…
Quote of the Day – on Genesis 15:6
… In the Tanakh, faith does not mean believing in spite of the evidence. It means trusting profoundly in a person, in this case the personal God who has reiterated His promise. (from The Jewish Study Bible: featuring The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation, page 35.) I think that’s an excellent statement of what faith…
Josh Mann Series on Existentialism and Hermeneutics
I believe that as Christians, we need to think a great deal more about how we understand scripture. So I welcome this series by Josh Mann at for the Sake of Truth. I’m going to follow it, and possibly respond when it is complete. The first part deals with the definition of hermeneutics and the…
Christian Carnival CCCXVI Posted
… at Crossroads.
Answering a Question on Egalitarianism
I already responded to one post by Michael Patton on this topic (Am I a Complementarian?), but he followed this up with a question. I have been so busy with the release of my latest book (co-authored with Geoffrey Lentz) that I have fallen well behind the progress of this topic, but I still want…
Christian Carnival CCCXVI Posted
… at Crossroads.
Can the Bible Be Alone?
Clayboy asks whether “the Bible alone” is an oxymoron. Now I sympathize with the question, because I have been dealing in another forum (the issue arises in the last 100 messages or so) with someone who seems to think that a text can have meaning with no context at all, or more precisely that the…
Notes on Leviticus Commentaries
A few weeks ago I compared two commentaries on Leviticus. One of these was Samuel E. Balentine’s volume in the Interpretation commentary series. In that review I noted that I was only half-way through my read of Balentine, but thought I could still make some valid comments. I have now finished my read, and I…
Christian Carnival Call for Submissions
I’ve been a bit delinquent in that I occasionally host the Christian Carnival, but I haven’t regularly announced it. The carnival is posted each Wednesday, and submissions are due by midnight Tuesday, though they are welcomed earlier. The next carnival will be hosted by Crossroads, and the best way to submit your entry is by…
Great Dismissive Review Line
Steve Matheson regarding Chapter 6 of Steven Meyer’s Signature in the Cell: “It’s short, unimportant and uninteresting.” That will show him!
Am I a Complementarian?
Michael Patton has taken it upon himself to define both complementarianism and egalitarianism and I think he gets it almost completely wrong. Now I must note that I really like reading Michael Patton’s blog posts and I think he writes with an irenic tone that promotes Christian unity, and in the end he does that…
Christian Carnival CCCXV Posted
… at Ancient Hebrew Poetry. We could call this one the “he did it his way” edition. I’m personally quite favorable to the idea of a bit of variety in approaches to the carnival, including this one.