It is common to make two claims today: 1. That the Church in Europe is in a steady decline and heading toward distinction extinction. The dearth of births to Christians — Italy’s birth rate is at 1.28 while 2.1 is needed to sustain a population — portends a future collapse of the Church. 2. That Islam is rising in Europe and will eventually do to Europe what it has done to the Middle East. Europe will, they say, become Eurabia.... Read more
Kris and I know Jonathan Williams well, and we are huge supporters of his efforts to give back to Rochester what he received from Rochester — and he is giving back by helping kids develop better life skills. His focus is on kids who cannot afford the camp experience, so we ask you to join Kris and me in supporting D-YNASTY camps. I’d love to see many Jesus Creed blog readers support kids in this endeavor. Only 75 dollars (tax... Read more
The following words, however clear they might be in an English translation like the TNIV, are much disputed: Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” I clip this from my forthcoming commentary on James, which sums up a lengthy discussion: “If we put this together, then, we... Read more
A couple of months ago we had two posts based on a book Darwin and the Bible: The Cultural Confrontation – (first, second). This book was designed (with only modest success) to “help readers understand the nature, history, and passions behind the debate between scientific and religious versions of creation and human origin.” Today I would like to return to this book and address the concerns of the penultimate chapter. Chapter 13 of Darwin and the Bible is titled quite... Read more
Mark Noll, professor at Notre Dame and America’s foremost church historian (or at least close), has a new book called The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith, and the book explores how American Christianity has shaped and been shaped by world Christianity. We begin our series today on this book. We’re interested in voices from outside the USA: What impacts — good and bad — do you see from the USA when it comes to... Read more
I’ve recently heard about Ecto, but I’m wondering who knows what about it? Beliefnet.com uses MovableType, but I understand I can compose in Ecto and publish at Beliefnet? Anyone? Read more
James finds evidence of a problem in the messianic community, especially among the teachers, and he finds the source of the problem to be the yearning, desiring, and craving for power. He must tell them so (James 4:1-3). Next he connects the self-originating issues in a connection with the world (4:4-6): You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of... Read more
I wonder about this myself quite often: Do pastors struggle dropping their “role” as pastor when they come home? When they are talking to their children and neighbors and spouse? Are pastors, as it were, always “wearing the collar”? Did you have a pastor for a parent? Here’s a brief note on this by our friend “PW”: I heard comments being made regarding a devout Christian, who I knew to be quite a force of a personality, and who often... Read more
Reading Paul in the context of the Bible’s Story, with the result that Paul sounds like he fits into the concerns of the Bible, has been the intent of both the new and old perspective. Reading Paul’s version of the Story — his “wiki-story” of the Story — in the context of his Jewish context has been the quest of the new perspective. In some important ways, the old perspective failed in this regard and it is to Tom Wright’s... Read more
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