Featured Posts
-
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…
-
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…
-
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)
All Posts
Is 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 an Interpolation?
Well, somehow this post came out blank. There really was something there. Really! Here it is, rewritten: Philip Payne has written a post on the Koinonia blog defending the idea that 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is an interpolation (HT: Evangelical Textual Criticism). I have discussed this issue before (Does Gordon Fee Discard Part of the Bible),…
A Devotional on Grace
My wife chose to use an old devotional on grace that I wrote for today’s devotional on her list. I don’t usually do this, but the devotional touched my heart again, as it did when I wrote it. The devotionals I write always hit me first!
Blogging/Essay Contest
My company is sponsoring a Christianity related blogging/essay contest, with prizes to include gift cards from Barnes & Noble. Detail are on the Energion Publications blog.
Christian Carnival CCXCVIII Posted
… at Bible Archive. Check it out!
Prayer in a Public Meeting
If I were invited to offer the invocation at a government event at which people of any faith should be welcome, I would have to refuse. This is a stand that has been misunderstood by both supporters and opponents of separation of church and state. I have been told that I lack the courage of…
Informed Bible Study and Creationism
Bruce Alderman discusses a recent post by the Internet Monk on the topic of how learning to take the Bible more seriously (my summary) moved him away from young earth creationism. I empathize with the process. I find it interesting that people think that somehow the theory of evolution drove me to a less literal…
Why You Should Read the Previous Post
I had just finished posting the previous note, Talk about the Method, when I went back to my Google Reader and found this YouTube video, complete with a call to a five year commitment to God, via Polycarp: Now if people had any knowledge of method, or were at least practiced in thinking about method,…
Talk about the Method
When I teach Sunday School classes, as I often do, there is nothing more likely to lull people to sleep than a discussion of hermeneutics. I get a great deal of attention talking about history. People are very interested as I explore some different interpretations of a particular Biblical passage and where and when those…
FTC Disclosure Rules for Blogs
Over on my company blog I indicated that these rules were generally common sense, as in if you make money off of something you should disclose the fact that you do. Of course, you can’t count on the government to use common sense even in implementing common sense. Thus somehow if print news organizations get…
John Hobbins on Exegesis
John Hobbins has produced an excellent post on exegesis, The unacceptable limits of traditional exegesis, in which he calls us to keep the various senses of the text together, or perhaps in tension. At some time I would like to extend this discussion to the use of the various disciplines we normally bundle under the…
The Death of Good Judgment
I’ve really been wanting to write something about this for some time, but I haven’t, and don’t, have time to do it justice. But I saw a couple of other posts that begin to address some of the issues. My deep concern is with ideas such as zero tolerance polices, the great push to make…
Making a Sensation of the Ordinary
John Hobbins has already commented on this, and I agree with what he had to say. But my attention was called back to the issue from a Christian Post item in my reader account this morning titled First verse in Bible is mistranslation, say scholar. There are just so many things wrong with that headline,…
President Obama and the Peace Prize
This is just a quick early reaction, and my reaction is that it is too early to judge President Obama’s impact on world peace. Yet he has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for which nominations were closed two weeks after he took office. I want to be clear that what I like most about…
Private Censorship?
While I am an advocate of as open of discussion as possible, I dislike the use of the word “censorship” for the actions of private individuals. There are many television shows, for example, that I either dislike or even think are simply bad. I not only don’t watch them, but I will also tell others…
Biblical Inspiration Links – 1
In How has Literal Interpretation Changed, Erik at Fundamentally Changed discusses the ways in which we must reinterpret literal interpretation. I don’t generally like the very idea that interpretation should be literal, but Erik makes some excellent suggestions. One of the questions I ask in When People Speak for God is just how Abraham knew…
Giving Away a copy of Preserving Democracy
… on the Energion.com eZine, which is currently in development. But I’m trying to bring a few people over there, so a copy of Preserving Democracy will be given to a randomly selected commenter who writes a relevant comment. In mid-October I will be changing the topic to science education, and offering a $10 B&N…
Blogs in Tenure Applications Etc
There has been a good deal of discussion of this around the blogosphere, related to graduate school and job applications as well. Nels P. Highberg provides an interesting example at ProfHacker. (HT: Exploring Our Matrix)
Christian Carnival CCXCVII Posted
… at Thinking Christian. Enjoy!
Literal and Figurative in Genesis 3
I have been reminded several times recently in private conversations of just how inadequate the literal to figurative continuum is in discussing how we understand scripture. Bruce Alderman has written an interesting article on the number of things we take as figurative in Genesis 3, and then asks: Why is it that so many Christians…
Saturn has a Huge Ring
I rarely post just images, but this came in via one of my NASA subscriptions today. Head on over and take a look. And if you don’t subscribe to their news and/or images, consider subscribing. Their material is a great pleasure. Click on the image to get further information, including a link to download the…
Biblical Studies Carnival XLVI Posted
… at Hebrew and Greek Reader.
And the winner is …
[Drum roll please] Commenter Melinda Lancaster who edged out the runner up by a single point. The way I judged this was by by getting two other people, who will remain anonymous, to rank the entries from 1 to 4. Then I ranked them myself. I then combined the three ranks, and the result is…
Christian Carnival CCXCVI
Welcome to the September 30, 2009 edition of the Christian Carnival CCXCVI. This is the “I can’t think of a creative theme” edition! For His Glory presents Your Spiritual Wardrobe posted at For His Glory, saying, “God has provided everything we need for life and godliness (II Peter 1:3). Come and see the list…
Book Notes: The World of Jeeves
The World of Jeeves is an omnibus collection of stories about Jeeves and Wooster. If you’re a fan, this is a great collection. I have to admit that I had only read a little bit before I picked up this volume, but I am a fan of almost any British humor and Jeeves and Wooster…