[The following is a recent post by Philip Jenkins which I repost here by his kind permission] BW3 Ordinary Faith and Extraordinary History May 22, 2015 by Philip Jenkins 77 Comments As a historical source on the ancient Americas, the Book of Mormon is worthless. That observation, though, has not the slightest impact on the existence or growth of the LDS church, nor should it. Just why that is the case tells us much about the relationship between the claims... Read more

Of late there has been an attempt, rightly in my view, to clear away a lot of misconceptions and in fact misrepresentations of Arminian theology, including the misrepresentation of Arminius himself as either a Pelagian on the one hand, or some kind of hybrid between Calvin and Wesley on the other. Neither of these things are true. The two books which have done the most to clear away the clutter and misrepresentations are Roger Olsen’s 2006 book Arminian Theology (2006),... Read more

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Small hand in a large hand Trust and trustworthy Son and a father Journeying together. One will to another Submitting, accepted Union and communion Come Hell or bad weather. Dependency depends On independence forgone Things may soon change Before time, before long. Loving God presupposes Freedom unrehearsed Freely given and received Neither fated nor coerced. Small hand in a large hand Crossing life’s road There is a destination But the goal is not owed. Grace perfects nature Or so we... Read more

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It is tricky business to fill in months and years of gaps in a story that is episodic, as the storyline in Acts is. In this episode we are properly introduced to two new characters— James the brother of Jesus, and the more exotic Ethiopian eunuch, coming to the temple for the feast of Yom Kippur, the once a year forgiveness festival. Let me just say that there is not much brilliant about most dramas of this sort, but the... Read more

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was a Victorian novelist of note, influenced especially by Dickens and George Eliot (i.e. Mary Ann Evans– see Silas Marner), in terms of his realism in the narrative, and by Wordsworth in terms of his romanticism. Of his famous novels (The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D’urbervilles, Far from the Madding Crowd, Jude the Obscure) in my book the best and most romantic is indeed Far from the Madding Crowd. Yes, it is a Victorian period... Read more

[Picture Courtesy WinStar Farms] Three years and a bit ago, a small foal was born on Stockplace Farms on the east side of Lexington. There was a contest to name him, and the winner had picked American Pharoah, yes with the wrong spelling. But that was going to be the only slip up when it came to this horse. Bob Baffert is the only trainer in history to have had four cracks at being the trainer of a Triple Crown... Read more

Austin is one funky town. One of their mottos is— ‘Keep Austin Weird’. I’d prefer Austin. Where the Odd get Even. Not odd at all is my old friend Stan Reid above in front of the old timey grocery store. Stan’s the head of Austin Graduate School of Theology. There is a certain bohemian quality to Austin, it wants to be both nouveau and old school all at once. For example, on the one hand it specializes in old fashioned... Read more