The first section of Alister McGrath’s book A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology deals with his vision of a Trinitarian natural theology. The section is rather academic. As McGrath sets up his vision for natural theology, he runs through the ideas advanced by many other Christian thinkers and apologists. Doing this he seems to ramble through a wide range of ideas. The section is well worth reading, even if it seems to take awhile at... Read more
By Rachel Asproth, Arise Rachel Asproth is the editor of Arise at CBE International. She’s a published author, social advocate, wannabe theologian, and aspiring reconciler. Rachel has a BA in reconciliation and literature from Bethel University. She lives in Saint Paul, MN, and spends her free time scamming her way into theology conferences and buying far too many books. Many girls and women find models of subversive, change-making women not in the Bible or the pulpit, but in popular media... Read more
It might not be our image today, but it was the psalmist’s image: “I am like a wineskin in the smoke” (119:83). Or as the JPS translator has it: “Though I have become like a water-skin dried in smoke.” What does this image evoke, for it is from this point that this section (kaf, or K) of Psalm 119 takes its departure? Dried up to the point of cracking. Hard to the point of no flexibility. Parched to the point where moisture is... Read more
From Flipboard: If you build it, they will come. That’s true when it comes to the healthy snack store that students of East Garfield Park’s LEARN Charter School Network — Campbell Campus (212 S. Francisco Ave.) use. Students and teachers at the kindergarten-through-fifth-grade school created their own on-site store (aka WE Learn Health Store) when a student thought school lunches lacked variety. Coupled with the fact that the institution sits in a food desert, staff members came up with a... Read more
By Michelle Van Loon at www.MichelleVanLoon.com and www.ThePerennialGen.com My friend B. had been a pastor for years before he stepped into the leadership of a parachurch ministry. During his work week, he worked and prayed with dozens of pastors and church leaders interested in transforming their congregations and communities. But on Sundays, he and his wife were invisible members of their own home church. “It’s not because I’m burned out from my work,” he explained. “If anything, the work has energized me. I’ve... Read more
The psalmist, in 119:73 knows that God’s hands have “firmed him up” — the way the sun is “fixed” in the sky at midday, the way pillars hold up the building, and the way a king has been established on his throne. Why does the psalmist care that God’s hands have firmed him — established him? Because it is the Lord who established him, the Lord can give him understanding to learn the mitzvot, commandments. The connection is important: What the... Read more
In a recent article, Jonathan Merritt drew the attention of his desired audience and the ire of the same. He said the new Holman Christian Standard Bible is “gender inclusive” in areas it formerly said translations should not be, and Denny Burk accused Merritt and his co-author Garet Robinson of being inaccurate. The question is this: Is the HCSB consistent with these Col Sprgs Guidelines, which Burk claims the HCSB followed? Maybe we should ask, “How” consistent is the HSCB... Read more
There is a fundamental difference between the biblical stories of creation in Genesis 1 and in Genesis 2 and the secular materialist narrative common in our modern Western culture. Justo González emphasizes this his short book [Creation] The Apple of God’s Eye. Although there are two stories of creation in Genesis 1-2, with details that cannot be neatly harmonized, the stories agree on the important theological points of overlap. Most significantly, they agree that humankind, male and female, is the... Read more
By Kelly Ladd Bishop, from Arise Kelly holds an MDiv, and a BA in biology. She spent seven years working in youth ministry, and has most recently worked as an associate pastor. She preaches, teaches, writes, speaks, and mentors teens, and is passionate about exploring God’s Word and issues of faith and culture. She is a Huffington Post contributor and blogs at www.kellyladdbishop.com. The word “submission” elicits a strong and often negative reaction in our culture. For many, it provokes images of oppression, slavery,... Read more
The expression “post-haste” was something I once heard from a teacher and it followed a request to go to some office to get something. “And do it post-haste.” I thought about the meaning of that expression then about as often as I did about any expression — not at all. But, that expression has a history: On the envelope of a letter a writer would write “haste, post, haste” to signal to the post carrier that he or she wanted... Read more
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