There are good books, and there are great books on the historical Jesus, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Historical Jesus (Baker, May 2011, $22.99 list).  falls into the latter category, on top of which its a lot of fun to read.   Bruce N. Fisk has done what I wasn’t sure was possible at this juncture —- make the Third Quest for the Historical Jesus interesting and entertaining again.  The greatest compliment I can give to a book is, that… Read more

Don’t you just hate it when you get lied to by advertisers?  Shouldn’t there be a law that says that if statements are demonstrably false, they should not be able to be put in a TV commercial.   If only it were the way things worked. I live in a coal state, a state which depends on the coal industry for a lot of its blue collar jobs.   And yet the coal industry knows perfectly well that it has… Read more

Here is a link to a radio show I did for Issues Etc.  on the supposed finding of the tomb of Philip the Apostle in Hierapolis in Turkey…. Read more

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John Piper sings about John Stott’s expositions. Scott McKnight: John Stott Remembrances Filed under: Uncategorized — scotmcknight @ 9:30 am Share Today I want to open up the Comments to anyone who wants to record memories of John Stott, and you can also drop links to obituaries and memorials about this great man’s ministry. Perhaps you want to comment on what you have learned from him, which of his books has been most influential, or some personal experience. I hope… Read more

David Hull is one of our fine Asbury students who has spent the summer as an intern at IHOP in Kansas City this summer.      He has written the following report…..  Read it carefully.  BW3 —————– Brothers and sisters, As I am approaching the end of my summer internship here at the International House of Prayer, I wanted to take a moment and thank you for your prayers and support, as well as for your words of encouragement throughout the summer!… Read more

Mixing things can be good.   Put a little lime in your ice tea, and it can enhance its flavor.   Hot fudge sauce on ice cream is a great combination.  On the other hand,  mixing orange juice with milk just doesn’t work— it curdles the milk.   What then should one say about a mixed genre movie like Cowboys and Aliens? On the one hand, it comes with the star power of both Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford, and they don’t look… Read more

While it may come as a surprise to many,  the mass murderer  Anders Breivick claims to have been inspired by Islamophobic  fundamentalist Christians in America.   And indeed, his 1500 page rant of a manifesto does indeed show considerable influence from jingoistic Americans who have wrongly equated terrorism with the faithful practice of Islam in general.  This is like equating Christianity with the violent actions of  Anders Breivick himself.  What’s wrong with this picture?  Are both Islam and Christianity religions that… Read more

Here is a helpful post by Larry Hurtado about the importance of historical inquiry for Christian faith. (BW3) Historical Inquiry & Christian Origins larryhurtado | July 15, 2011 at 4:00 pm | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pYZXr-aw Hurtado writes: I’m currently in Vancouver teaching a summer course in Regent College.  My course, “Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity”, draws upon my research and publications over the last 20+ yearas. It’s interesting, yet again, to lead students in focusing on historical… Read more

Readers of this blog will be well aware how much I have enjoyed reading the medieval murder mysteries of Paul Doherty about the 14th century clerk/sleuth known as Hugh Corbett.  The 17th volume I have read in the series (of  17 total thus far) is entitled Corpse Candle and it is a doozy of a mystery.  What is perhaps most interesting about this particular novel is that it becomes a cautionary tale about closed or cloistered Christian communities.  In this… Read more