Just read this piece and was impressed with the answer by Barbara Nicolosi-Harrington, and her interview is at Patheos: You have a quotation standing above your blog, from a 1930s film critic, that says: “Theaters are the new Church of the Masses — where people sit huddled in the dark listening to people in the light tell them what it is to be human.”  What does that quotation mean to you? It means that the Church has lost its distinctive voice... Read more

Sometimes our prayers combine talking to God and talking to others when those others aren’t even present. Psalm 4 [after the jump] does just this. The psalmist (David) talks to God (v. 1) and then to others (vv. 2-5) and then to God again (vv. 6-8). John Goldingay (Psalms, Vol. 1: Psalms 1-41 ) explores this prayer. One of the themes of this psalm is that God answers prayer to comfort his people. I like the directness of Psalm 4: Answer... Read more

I contended in my review of Brian McLaren’s new book that his sketch of how “conventional” Christians understand the biblical narrative is a narrative not held by any reputable thinker, and the aim of this new series on this blog is to explain Brian’s sketch of the soul-sort narrative, sketch the conventional narrative in its own terms, and then to posit a suggestion of why he has so described it. (Should be three posts: today, Friday and next Monday.) This... Read more

What about abortion? Is there an atheist view on abortion?  Mary Eberstadt’s new book, The Loser Letters , examines this question among the new atheists and she probes into how best to convert people to atheism with the issue of abortion. Again, the book is a collection of fictional satirical letters by a recent convert from belief in God (the Dulls) to atheism to the leading lights (Brights) of new atheism. Are atheists pro abortion?  Her viewpoint as she writes to the Brights:... Read more

The (re)founder of the Iona Community was George Macleod,   someone who was known in his day as a great preacher. One of his books is about preaching and is called Speaking the Truth – in Love. The Modern Preacher’s Task. . It’s a collection of Cambridge lectures on preaching. I found this in his book in his plea that more preachers would preach theology, and he suggests doing a series on parables but ordering the parables so that the basics of theology could... Read more

Praying can lead the one praying into trust; prayer itself is an exploration of our faith in God. Psalm 3 is much along this line. John Goldingay (Psalms, Vol. 1: Psalms 1-41 ) explores this in his commentary on Psalm 3 [text after the jump]. In the midst of despair and denunciation by one’s enemies, David tells God what he is hearing and then makes a rock-solid confession on the basis of what he has experienced with God’s protection: “But... Read more

It is common to say an atheist is someone who believes there is no god, or someone who doesn’t believe in God (the latter might suggest there is a God but the person doesn’t believe in that God). The true atheists believes there is no god. But some who say they are Christians live as if there is no God, and Craig Groeschel, in his brand new book, takes aim at this problem and probes and prods each of us... Read more

Mary Eberstadt’s new book, The Loser Letters , is clever fiction; it’s satire and she asks a question that evidently — in her view — is not taken seriously enough by the new atheists. And, to be fair, there was a report on CNN.com about the resurgence of atheism. Where’s their theory of family and women and children and love? Why do they avoid this subject? Such are the new points and questions of Mary Eberstadt’s next chp. Her point, in her satirical... Read more

From Chaplain Michael Mercer’s post that our blog friend, Michael Spencer, the incomparable iMonk, has passed away. We are saddened to hear this and will miss his energetic voice; we grieve with Denise; we mourn Michael’s passing. Here’s Chaplain Mike’s post: I received word tonight that Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk, our friend, passed away in his home in Oneida, KY, in the presence of his family. With them, we mourn his passing. With them, our tears fall. With them,... Read more