Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,... Read more
Did you see the new report about the piece in Science? Anyone read the article and have anything to add or say? Scientists in Ethiopia have found a 4.4 million year old human predecessor that promises to upend long-held notions of what the common ancestor of African apes and humans looked like, how it lived, and how much both lineages have evolved since diverging. The species, called Ardipithecus ramidus, is one million years older than “Lucy,” the famous partial female... Read more
A baby rhino, rejected by its mom, finds zookeeper parents. Blogs… well, I’m near the end of what has been three very full weeks, and I’m hoping I can get posts up for next week — but here goes with our weekly edition of our weekly meanderings through the internet world. First, one of our regular commenters and readers, David Opderbeck, is organizing a conference on Religious Legal Theory at Seton Hall University (Nov 12-13), and here is the announcement. 10% discount... Read more
David Brooks, in his piece in the NYT, is right; genuine Republicans are not extreme. Real Democrats do not respond in kind. The world of political commentary needs more like David Brooks — intelligent, articulate, and wise. Political Third Way. I know of very few sensitive Americans who are not concerned about the impact of our fascination with shrill political commentary, from both sides, on culture and church. Here are three paragraphs from Brooks’ column. So the myth returns. Just months... Read more
Yesterday I posted a recent interview with Rob Bell about what an “evangelical” is, and I said I’d weigh in today. I don’t think Rob Bell has defined “evangelical” but given a set of statements that are true about the use of the term in the media (political conservatives, sometimes anti-intellectual) and that are reactive and corrective to that stereotype. We need to avoid falling for how the media define terms, and it is a constant temptation in sound byte... Read more
Chris Armstrong finishes his book, Patron Saints for Postmoderns: Ten from the Past Who Speak to Our Future, with a chapter reflecting on how these saints — ten of them, some unknown and some unusual — can be of help to Christians today. What makes these stories, these biographies of use to us? His answer: “Because, for Sayers, as for Dante, and Kempe, and Gregory, the visible, physical world is loaded with spiritual meaning” (205). Armstrong’s book is a wonderful... Read more
Evangelical pastors have flipped in the last generation. 30-40 years ago what most incited excitement was a new book by the arch-pastor and expositor, John Stott, expositing a New Testament book or a J.I. Packer book on theology. Today’s evangelicals pastors are enamored with the latest book on leadership, like that morsel of an idea in the book called Tribes, or the latest book on management, or the latest fad in creativity. These are often pastors who, if we were... Read more
This post concerns tonight’s Nightline show about the Ten Commandments. The second commandment concerns idol-making and idol-worshiping, and there are some things said here that are often enough missed. 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water below. 20:5You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, responding... Read more
One of the most notable features of “missional” work is the awkward, surprising works of providence — how God brings events and people into a moment where the work of God occurs. (Again, see: The Acts of the Apostles (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries) .) This is so powerful in Acts 10, and so I post a chunk of text: 10:1 Now there was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort. 10:2 He was a... Read more
A couple of weeks ago I had a brief post asking why the scientific theory of evolution was a challenge for faith, but a scientific theory explaining weather was not a problem. (See here for the post: God, Science, and Evolution (RJS)). One of the comments on that post leads me to a new question – this one on the Bible, authority, and the role of church tradition in our interpretation of scripture. The commenter said: What I would find... Read more
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