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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Teaching about Tithing (or Stewardship)
Kris again asks an excellent question, and I’m making my answer into a new post rather than extending the previous discussion. Can I just see what your answer would be to the specific question of how should a pastor/ lead presbyter teach disciples of his to tithe? I’m assuming the question really applies to stewardship…
Christian Carnival Posted
… at The Point Blog.
Strange Search of the Day
Someone, or perhaps more than one person, found this blog through the search “libertarian women in ephesus,” resulting in four page views. I have no idea what post that search would lead to. The phrase “libertine women” leaps to mind, but I’m pretty sure I have never used that phrase on this blog. Search phrases…
Rebuking in Community
I get into more trouble with the word “rebuke” than with just about any other. Perhaps I could find a bit less loaded of an English word to translate this concept, but it’s an important one. I mentioned teaching about “the skills of rebuking and being rebuked.” This tends to disturb people. Why? I think…
Christians and Tithe
In a comment to a previous post, Kris asks whether Christians are required to tithe. That was one of two questions and I divided them into two posts to allow for separate discussions of the question. I don’t find tithing in the New Testament. Now I’m not a purely “New Testament” believer. I believe that…
Say No to Prophecy Before You Say Yes
Advent Week 3 in The Mosaic Bible includes 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, which is a wonderful passage to use with regard to to prophecy. For those who may be following my use of The Mosaic Bible with the Revised Common Lectionary let me note that two passages, Zephaniah 3:14-20 and Luke 3:7-20 either are the same…
Liberal, Charismatic, Moderate, and Passionate
My blog subtitle reads: Thoughts on Religion in the World from a passionate, moderate, liberal charismatic Christian. One common response to this line is to tell me that it’s impossible to combine those four things into one, so I’d like to provide a few notes on why I use these four labels when self-identifying. First,…
Continuing Posts on the Weasel Program
… from Dr. Stephen Matheson of Quintessence of Dust. This is a good series, and I’ve been missing the continuation. Welcome back, Dr. Matheson!
Essentials of the Faith – or Not
C. Michael Patton has written a post on doctrinal essentials which is quite interesting. James McGrath responds. I find this a very useful discussion even when I disagree on what is essential. For example, while Patton states that he is writing about doctrine, and that another post could be written on essential practice, I would…
Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament – Isaiah 7:14 and Hosea 11:1
With a recent flurry of posts regarding the way in which the Old Testament is used in the New, at least peripherally, I wanted to call attention to one written from a different perspective. The post is Isaiah 7, Nativity, and the Theotokos, written by Mark Olson, who speaks from an Orthodox perspective. He discusses…
My Desk
People who visit my office, which is in a 12×24 portable building just across the yard, are astounded at the chaos in which I work. So my readers can be astounded in turn, I thought I’d post a picture. That laptop is not my regular work computer which is on a table to the left. …
How the Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended
I like this plan! (HT: The Zeray Gazette.)
Another Cautionary Note on the Manhattan Declaration
This time it’s from my former community, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, though from the Spectrum Magazine blog, which doesn’t follow the church HQ drummer. It’s The Manhattan Declaration: Approach with Caution, and it’s worth a read.
Speaking in Tongues and Prayer Language
In a comment, Kris asks: Hi! Can someone tell me if I can start another post rather than comment on someone else’s post? If so, how do I do that? I would like to discuss the question of Holy Ghost tongues and whether we should pray in an unknown language as Christians or if it…
James McGrath on the Conservative Bible Project
… in the Christian Science Monitor, no less. (HT: Exploring Our Matrix.)
Wrong, Wronger, Wrongest
Isaac Asimov on The Relativity of Wrong. I found this article extremely helpful in explaining theories and how they develop or are replaced. (HT: Abnormal Interests).
He Died for Us – St. John Chrysostom
From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian church via Hebrews: Ancient Christian commentary on Scripture, New Testament X, commenting on Hebrews 9:15-17. How did he become mediator? He brought words from God and brought them to us, conveying what came from the Father and adding his own death. We had offended; we ought to…
OneNewsNow on the Conservative Bible Project
It looks like pretty much the same article I referenced earlier (I didn’t take the time to compare them word by word, but many of the quotes match. The only reason I’m referencing this separately is the headline: The battle for truth in Bible translation. Is it possible that anyone thinks the project really is…
Comment Moderation Accidentally Turned On
I don’t know how it happened, but when I moved my WordPress installation to this server, comment moderation was turned on and the settings reverted to registration required. This represents an error on my part (though I’m not sure just what), not a change in policy. Moderation is again off and any user can comment.
Notes Elsewhere on Advent 2C
I have written a couple of articles this week for my Participatory Bible Study Blog that relate to the week’s lectionary passages. 1) Translating Philippians 1:9-11 comparing three translations of the passage and discussing the difficulties of getting a clear English rendering and 2) The Mosaic Bible and the Lectionary – Update discussing the use…
Another Honest Creationist
… and he really is a creationist. His name is Todd C. Wood, he teaches at Bryan College in Dayton Tennessee, and he blogs at the creatively named Todd’s Blog. Now for reasons that may have something to do with the college’s name and location, Bryan College often strikes people as an obscurantist sort of…
Consumer-mas
A while back I wrote The Real War on Christmas. Now Thomas at Everyday Liturgy has called this stuff what it is–idolatry.
Can We Set Tight Boundaries for Translation
J. K. Gayle has a post on this topic that I think deserves discussion. Head over there and comment!
Top 3 Weak Consensus Views
OK, I’m going to get into trouble (perhaps) for linking to the same guy twice in a row, but I starred two of his posts in a row in Google reader, and that’s out of 281 subscriptions, so something must have clicked. In any case, Doug Mangum lists three weak consensus positions, Q as the…