Some students cheat. I heard a story yesterday from another North Park professor of two new ways students cheat, and each of them surprised me. Some students text message questions from the classroom to friends outside the classroom who, in turn, text message back answers. And, this one boggles: some students take pictures from their cell phone of a question and send it to friends outside the classroom, and then (once again) the friends answer back. Good grief, what energy... Read more
David Wells, author of Above All Earthly Pow’rs, was one of my teachers in seminary and the best lecturer I have ever heard. I was mesmerized by his sketch of theology, and will never forget his standard answer to questions: “How do I know? I’m just an ‘umble church historian.” This book is the fourth in a series, and I read the first two and this one. This book is a Christology that confronts postmodernity (culture) and postmodernism (philosophy). Does... Read more
The judgment of Exile, when “My people” became “Not my people” is undone when God acts to restore Israel to the Land. Paul, in Romans 9:25-29, quotes from Hosea to evoke God’s covenant faithfulness beyond the judgment of Exile. Paul could be evoking promise to the Gentiles (as his ministry shows) or he could be thinking of the fulfillment of reuniting the Twelve Tribes. |inline Read more
Not in mine. I am one of the only professors or preachers in the Western world today who has never done a PowerPoint presentation and who, in fact, doesn’t even know how to do one. I’ve got the software and never so much as even opened it. So, here are my curmudgeonly contentions: |inline Read more
If you are interested in reading how 20somethings sometimes think about the church and how they think it falls way short of what it is supposed to be like, and if at the same time you want to see that those who sometimes criticize the Church most deeply still love the Church anyway, then you will want to read Sarah Cunningham’s Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation. |inline Read more
No one could dispute the force of Paul’s heavy hand in Romans 9:19-24. After advocating that God’s elective grace has been at work from the time of Abraham on, it is only natural (in Paul’s sense of the term) for someone to stand up and say that God could not then find fault with the unelect. After all, he made the choice. What does Paul say? |inline Read more
It came to my attention too late to do anything about it last semester, but I heard from a student or two by accident that a few students were sitting in the back of the class and surfing the net on their computers — and writing e-mail. I’m not sure what you would do (if you’re a professor) or what you’d do if you were a professor or what you’d tell your son or daughter to do (if you’re a... Read more
I’m not sure how to describe Hope in the Dark. It is a book of pictures by Jeremy Cowart with some textual observations by Jena Lee. What about? Life in Africa. Visual, real, and not staged. You will not find here pictures of children with swollen bellies, but instead you will encounter the ordinary realities of life. I recommend your purchasing this book and putting it out on your living room table or your office table — somewhere where others... Read more
Let us just say that a friend of mine gently reminded me (on the phone last Friday) that this might be a good opportunity to ask a much-neglected question in Romans study: Who is “Israel” in Romans? I’m willing to gamble on this one: most of us instinctively think “Israel” refers to one of two groups. |inline Read more
Kris and I were surrounded by Cardinal fans, kept our hope up and, sure enough, the Cubs won it in the 10th when Phil Nevin knocked the ball to the wall and drove in Jacque Jones. Other than seeing the game from a Sky Box, the highlight of the game was Juan Pierre’s catch in the top of the 9th on a hard hit ball by Albert Pujols. (I could have said that the highlight was the dessert cart that... Read more
Jesus Creed
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In