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…
Social Notes (see all)
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Congratulations to the British
According to Newsweek, Britain’s Court of Appeals has ordered the release of information on the torture of a British resident while in U. S. custody (HT: Dispatches). Both the Bush and then the Obama administrations have argued against releasing this information and threatened the British with refusing to share intelligence if it was released. I…
More on the Citizens United Case
I commented on this case earlier, and I still stand by what I said, but via Dispatches from the Culture Wars I found this article by Julian Sanchez, and he asks a very valid question. On the one hand, maybe for all our folly we’re basically engaged enough—or the people who decide to vote are…
Sacrificing for Joy
The Old Testament Lectionary passage for the first Sunday in Lent, cycle C is Deuteronomy 26:1-11. It’s kind of an odd text for this season. You might almost use it as a text for Fat Tuesday. I’m going to comment more on the lectionary texts this week, if for no other reason than because I’ve…
Affliction as Our Schoolmaster
St. John Chrysostom on affliction as our schoolmaster at Classical Arminianism. After reading it, ask yourself how much affliction deepens your Bible study.
Lent with Lectionary and the Mosaic Bible
It’s been some time since I posted on the Mosaic Bible in connection with lectionary reading, but we’re entering an excellent season for using these tools together. (For what it’s worth, I use The Text this Week for the lectionary passages.) While the passages don’t match for the first week of Lent, the Mosaic Bible…
Learning and Living Scripture
… is the title of my latest, and forthcoming, book, with co-author Geoffrey Lentz. Geoffrey is associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Pensacola, FL and has become a regular collaborator on the Participatory Study Series, whence comes the name of this blog. He also has an Energion Publications author page. Learning and Living…
La Sierra Board Makes a Statement
I would say it’s a statement on creation and evolution, but I’m not quite sure what it is. Earlier (Seventh-day Adventist Education and Evolution) I wrote about the concerns about the teaching of evolution in biology classes at La Sierra University, a Seventh-Day Adventist school in California. (I was raised in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church…
Claims and Actions about the Bible
The surest sign that somebody doesn’t read the Bible that much is that they claim to do everything it says. Now there are lots of ways to nuance that statement, but I’ve found that in general those who make the claim are unaware of many commands of the Bible, and don’t have an explanation for…
On Mythicist Views of Jesus
For those who may not watch all these things the term “mythicists” refers to those who believe Jesus never existed, that the stories about him were made up at some point and were not even centered on a minimal historical figure. There is a near alternative which holds that there were so few valid words…
On Measuring Results – World Prayer Blog
I have a post today at the World Prayer Blog that discusses measuring the results of prayer.
On Etymological and Anti-Etymological Fallacies
Clayboy has an excellent post on preachers who say “What the Greek really means…” or words to that effect. I was drawn to this one because of my own experience. My wife tells me that when we first got married she quickly got used to watching me during sermons. I need to tell you that…
Justice Thomas on Citizens United
I don’t find myself agreeing wholeheartedly with Justice Thomas very often, but Allan Bevere calls attention to remarks he made in Florida (NY Times), and I think he makes some very good points. Allan says: Interesting, isn’t it? In the fear over the corrupting influence of lots of money, some folk haven’t even considered the…
Peter Enns on Cosmic Conflict in Genesis and Exodus
It’s a great article on the Biologos Foundation’s Science and the Sacred blog.
Fallibility, Inerrancy, and Mystery
I think Mark at Pseudo-Polymath is absolutely correct in his excellent post Of Scripture and Tradition. When I first decided that inerrancy didn’t work, it was because I found errors as they would be defined by the people that first taught me to regard the Bible as inerrant. At the same time I remained convinced…
Essence Restored on the Repeal of Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell
He thinks Christians should support the repeal, and explains his position very clearly.
Congratulations Ken Brown of C.Orthodoxy
Head on over and congratulate Ken Brown. He’s headed to Göttingen, Germany for his doctorate.
Can One Be a Bibleist?
I received a link to the following video in a tweet from @TheActiveWord. It seems so closely related to my last post that I’d include it here: There are several things I agree with here. First, I do believe that the Bible has the sovereignty of God and the responsibility (of which some sort of…
Biblioblog Rankings for January
Thanks to Jeremy for doing all the work. I’m at #8 amongst some pretty great company!
N. T. Wright on Hell
An interesting short discussion.
Few Knew Health Care Bill Got No Republican Support
I don’t think this is a major issue against the Republicans, in the sense that I don’t think they should be criticized for managing to be united in opposing something that they, well, oppose. That’s good politics, and if they really do oppose the bill (and I’m not certain about some of them) it’s honest…
Surfacing again after Server Work
I’ve been working on servers both for my personal and business sites. I think the results are largely good, though due to the speed with which I did the work I keep finding glitches I need to correct. I have also marked quite a few items in my RSS reader for links or comments, so…
Hebrew Codices for Download
Seforim Online provides downloads of some pretty nice stuff. I downloaded Codex Leningradensis. Details at Awilum.
Opinions, Interpretations, and What the Word of God Says
There’s one use of the phrase “just your interpretation” that implies that no interpretation is better than any other. This is often used by people who have no idea how a particular text should be interpreted, but nonetheless feel like rejecting your interpretation in particular. Either they think all interpretations are equal–a common idea these…
Biblioblogger Amazon aStore
Jeremy at Free Old Testament Audio has created an Biblioblogger Amazon.com aStore and is creating lists of books by various bibliobloggers, including yours truly. I encourage you to head over and check it out and consider buying through his links if you plan on buying any of those books. Jeremy has been doing some nice…