The Bible and Culture

(Here is a fine post by Larry Hurtado on an important matter). An “Early High Christology” by larryhurtadoA reader responding to an earlier posting of mine drew attention to a forthcoming book in which apparently the author asserts that the view of Jesus as somehow divine or partaking in divine honor arose sometime in the 40s and in places such as Antioch (where, supposedly, the influence of pagan religion with the frequency of divinized heroes would have helped to generate a divine Jes … [Read more...]

It would be difficult to over-estimate the influence Bill Evans has had on jazz since he left us, all too early, when I was in college. Classically trained, Bill became that rarest of persons--- someone who could play jazz just as well as he could play classical music. In regard to the latter, he admitted he was deeply influenced by the Impressionists, folks like Ravel for example, and you can hear this in his lyrical way of playing, and his inventive use of chords.To say there has … [Read more...]

I'm very pleased to announce that next week my small study guide (184 pages) on how to cultivate your spiritual life without becoming Simon Stylites will be available next week courtesy our friends at Abingdon. It is entitled A Shared Christian Life, and it is in some ways the climax of my series of books on a theology of the normal Christian Life.Many of you will be familiar with the earlier volumes in this series the first being Imminent Domain, an exploration of what the Kingdom of God … [Read more...]

(Mark Fairchild and I have had many adventures exploring Turkey together. Mark is a real explorer and risk taker. I am more of a dabbler when it comes to exploration. I remember a recent trip to a site near Ararat which found me clinging to a cliff which Mark climbed through in a driving wind and rain. As for me.... I hung out in a niche on the other side while he snapped pictures of ancient worthies carved in the cliff. Here is his account of how he discovered lost synagogues in Cilicia. … [Read more...]

Here, thanks to Eric Sawyer, is my dialogue with Bart Ehrman as an audio file.http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA2BCFB708740268F&feature=view_all … [Read more...]

See the link above.  Here is one of Asbury's most talented artists and graduates. He got three thumbs up on America's Got Talent. … [Read more...]

In the wake of the disaster at the Cineplex in Aurora Colorado it really is time for us to rethink entirely our gun (and ammo) control laws. Colorado has one of the most lax gun control laws in the country, in fact in the world. The arguments of the NRA and other gun totters no longer hold any merit in the wake of 71 people being injured or killed by a person who bought guns entirely legally and never had more than a speeding ticket before in terms of ‘criminal’ activity. The typical arg … [Read more...]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM2NocuEihwThese are not your Daddy's golfers.....or goofers....or gospelers..... but their all good Christian boys who play on the tour. Can you name them?? … [Read more...]

Trilogies are interesting phenomena. They are rather like three movement concertos. Just as you would not be allowed to come in just before the third movement without first having heard the other two, this movie is one of those where you need to have seen its predecessors to really appreciate it. No, I don't mean you need to read all the old Batman comics, or revisit the comic TV show which turned Batman and Robin into farce. Nor do I mean you need to go back and work through all the … [Read more...]