Blago and Burris

Last updated on: February 14, 2009 at 4:56 pm By Scot McKnight

Oh, oh … a confession: U.S. Sen. Roland Burris who repeatedly denied anyone tied to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich solicited him for cash in exchange for his seat, now acknowledges Blagojevich’s brother asked him three times to help with fundraising. In an affidavit Burris quietly filed nine days ago with the head of the House committee that recommended Blagojevich’s impeachment, Illinois’ new junior senator also said he spoke with three close associates of the governor about being appointed to... Read more

Faith and Culture 7

Last updated on: February 14, 2009 at 1:00 pm By Scot McKnight

I’ve been asked and given permission to publish this week a series of chapters from the new A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings on Art, Science, and Life . Contemporary Culture: Sex, Intimacy, and Worship By Bruce Herman, a painter and Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in Fine Arts at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., whose work has been exhibited in eleven major cities. This entry germinated at a Harvard Veritas forum with Herman, Bill Edgar, Elisabeth Overmann Bauman, and Drew... Read more

Valentine’s Day and the Song of Songs

Last updated on: February 14, 2009 at 6:20 am By Scot McKnight

The Song of Solomon is a love song between lovers and for lovers. Perhaps it was a play or designed to be dramatically played before others. Perhaps it was designed for the king’s courtiers as entertainment. Perhaps it is a record of poems between two lovers. However we explain its original context, its rhetoric and poetry evoke even to this day what love is. |inline Read more

Weekly Meanderings

Last updated on: February 14, 2009 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

Here in Chicago we have had some unseasonably warm weather. Makes me think baseball is … hey, it is. Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training today! We are saddened to hear the news that Harold Hoehner has passed away. A wonderful man I always enjoyed seeing at annual academic meetings. Tyler Braun ponders what the church will be like in the next generation. Lynn Anderson on avoiding the affair trap. Eugene Cho contends that Sunday gathering in community remains... Read more

Kindle 2

Last updated on: February 13, 2009 at 3:00 pm By Scot McKnight

We’ve had a few conversations about this, but I’m wondering once again if (about to release) Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation) , is the wave of the future? Do you think we will all be going to this? One major issue for me still is “accessibility” — what books are available on Kindle? But I do know that more and more are available this way. What do you think? Read more

Faith and Culture 6

Last updated on: February 13, 2009 at 1:00 pm By Scot McKnight

I’ve been asked and given permission to publish this week a series of chapters from the new A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings on Art, Science, and Life . Art: Picasso: Art as Entertainment By Kelly Monroe Kullberg and Lael Arrington One of the most recognized painters in twentieth-century art, Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973), is best known as the cofounder of Cubism, along with Georges Braque. By disassembling parts of a figure and reassembling them from multiple perspectives,... Read more

Friday is for Friends

Last updated on: February 13, 2009 at 6:00 am By Scot McKnight

David Naugle’s new book, Reordered Love, Reordered Lives: Learning the Deep Meaning of Happiness, is a delightful series of reflections on a Christian understanding of happiness. I like his theme of balance and I wonder if some want to converse about the struggle to find the balance or to live happily with the imbalance. Here’s a good statement by Naugle: Trying to live in the creation without the Creator, ortrying to live with the Creator without creationis incomplete and ultimately... Read more

Pastors or Personalities?

Last updated on: February 13, 2009 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

I posted this in my monthly post at Out of Ur blog. I think I was in college when I first saw that title of a magazine that brazenly called itself SELF and it was so bold it could have been called SELF! Nurtured in a theology that drew its juices from the Bible and learned to pour them into the cups of the likes of Augustine and Luther and Calvin, I was taken back by anyone or any magazine... Read more

What’s your favorite…

Last updated on: February 12, 2009 at 4:00 pm By Scot McKnight

Song by Elvis Presley? Dare I ask what is his greatest song ever? Got any stories to tell about his songs? Or, anyone ever attend one of his concerts? When Kris and I were in college (and married) we would stay up late at night to watch Elvis movies. Loved them. My favorite: “Return to Sender“ Kris’: “Wise Men …” Read more

Faith and Culture 5

Last updated on: February 12, 2009 at 1:00 pm By Scot McKnight

I’ve been asked and given permission to publish this week a series of chapters from the new A Faith and Culture Devotional: Daily Readings on Art, Science, and Life . Literature: Augustine’s City of God: Two Cities, Two Loves By William Edgar, ThD, professor of cultural apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary, and author of Reasons of the Heart: Recovering Christian Persuasion. Edgar is a popular speaker and jazz pianist in North America and France. When we are properly communing and conversing... Read more