Your image of God shapes how you look at economic issues, and I say this as a result of reading Paul Froese and Christopher Bader, America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God–and What That Says about Us. Once again, they have found Americans can be mapped on four views of God: Authoritative, Benevolent, Critical, and Distant. Americans overwhelmingly think we should help the poor, but how to help the poor varies dramatically, and that how is shaped in part... Read more
So what does “fire” mean in the Bible? When it comes to hell and eternality, fire comes up often. Sharon Baker, in her new book (Razing Hell: Rethinking Everything You’ve Been Taught About God’s Wrath and Judgment), sketches what the Bible says and comes to this conclusion: Fire purges, fire destroys, but fire does not go on endlessly; once it does it’s task, it’s over. Fire comes from God because God is fire. The intent of fire is burn things... Read more
That’s how I read this statement from National Review: O’Donnell stressed that preventing schools from the possibility of teaching intelligent design would violate the First Amendment clause that Congress could not prohibit “the free exercise thereof” of religion. “He [Coons] forgot to quote [that] part,” she said. And they commented on whether or not she understood the First Amendment, arguing that Coons is the one who misses the law: In a statement, campaign manager Matt Moran said, “In this morning’s WDEL... Read more
Cal Thomas, at WaPo’s “On Faith” page: While Christine O’Donnell’s apparent ignorance of the actual wording of the First Amendment leaves questions about her constitutional literacy, there is a more fundamental question. If one reads the debate among the Founders, the First Amendment provision regarding the establishment clause was to protect the church from the state, not the reverse. The establishment clause was also designed to promote the “free exercise” of religion, not suppress it…. The “separation” claim by Coons... Read more
In 2010 it will cost each of us $423 to cover theft. That’s right, American families this year will pay $423 more to cover the loss to stores from thieves. NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Store theft added $423 to the average American family’s shopping bill this year according to a new report on retail theft released Tuesday. “That’s a phenomenal figure,” said Joshua Bamfield, author of the 2010 Global Retail Theft Barometer report from the U.K.-based Center for Retail Research.... Read more
I won’t say who wrote this, but it’s nice to hear this sort of thing from readers (and practitioners). Reciting the Jesus Creed can be a morally-transforming (and family-shaping) habit … Hey Scot, I wanted to share something with you. My family and I have been practicing the Jesus Creed daily; we recite it in the mornings when we get up and in the evenings before the kids head off to bed. Yesterday my oldest son remarked to my wife,... Read more
Ministry to 20somethings interests me deeply, and I’ve posted about this, talked about it, and I’ve geared a book or two in that direction. So, when I was asked to speak to the Kairos crowd in Nashville, I was both honored and excited. Kairos was way more than I expected. You can read about the start of Kairos in pastor Mike Glenn’s fine book (In Real Time: Authentic Young Adult Ministry as It Happens), and it’s a pity that the... Read more
I got this letter: I am a regular reader of your blog, and we actually met at a conference on preaching a year ago. It will not be too long before I am in a classroom on a full time basis, and I want to gather resources specifically to help me engage the teaching/”professoring” process critically. You have mentioned more than once that you read at least one book a year on the discipline of teaching, so I thought I... Read more
We've been looking at the essays in a book Theology After Darwin centered around a simple question: What are the implications for Christian theology if Darwin was right? The doctrines of sin and the Fall are key concerns as we consider this question. After all, evolutionary creation calls into question the existence of Adam and Eve as historical individuals and this has, or so many think, serious consequences. I started a series a couple of weeks ago that began to look at the issues of sin and the Fall (part one). Last week was rather busy and I didn't have the time to dig into the topic, but today I return and continue the series looking at one of the three articles in the recent theme issue of the ASA Journal Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith (v. 62 no. 3 2010) Reading Genesis: The Historicity of Adam and Eve, Genomics, and Evolutionary Science. Today we will consider the article by Daniel C. Harlow, After Adam: Reading Genesis in an Age of Evolutionary Science. Read more
On Tues and Thurs RJS puts up posts about science and faith. I want to add to that theme today by suggesting that the relationship of science and faith correlates (sometimes at a high level) with what kind of God we believe in — and we are looking into Paul Froese and Christopher Bader, America’s Four Gods: What We Say about God–and What That Says about Us. They have found Americans can be mapped on four views of God: Authoritative, Benevolent,... Read more
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