Today is July 4th, the day the USA celebrates Independence Day and the concept of socio-political freedom. Today’s post contains a prayer and the Declaration of Independence. My own political views about justice and freedom have appeared here and there on this blog, and your own views may differ from mine, but on this day I hope we can join hands and celebrate the value of socio-political freedom and commit ourselves to working for such freedom for all. And pray... Read more

I had never heard of Elie Wiesel until I read Night, and I have never forgot him. Night takes the listening reader to the depths of despair — to the place where no words dare enter — but goes beyond that place, deeply wounded and ripped apart but trudging onwards so that place will never again become a reality. Wiesel died today at 87 of a prolonged illness. His is an irreplaceable gift about memory. All Rivers Run to the Sea, the... Read more

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP Read more

One reads a piece like this from The Spectator and, assuming some general accuracy, one wonders if the liberal machine is listening to the poor: The most striking thing about Britain’s break with the EU is this: it’s the poor wot done it. Council-estate dwellers, Sun readers, people who didn’t get good GCSE results (which is primarily an indicator of class, not stupidity): they rose up, they tramped to the polling station, and they said no to the EU. It was like... Read more

Here are some pictures from our brief stay in Istanbul, which at the time that concerns me most was called Constantinople. I begin with three pictures of Hagia Sophia. Now from the Museum in Istanbul. All leading to the opportunity to speak briefly in front of Saint Eirene, where the great council of Constantinople 381 was held. Read more

This is what Albert Mohler says: Clearly, there can be no eternal subordination in terms of being. That would deny what the Nicene Creed affirms and affirm what it denies. But describing the social dimensions of the Trinity is far more difficult. I decline to speculate where I am not authorized by Scripture to go, but there is something important to the fact that the Father is eternally the Father and the Son is eternally the Son. Affirming separate wills within... Read more

By John Frye In the late 1980s and early 1990s an intriguing question burst into the evangelical conversation: what is the gospel? Many evangelism ministries were taken back as if saying, “Are you kidding us? We all know what the gospel is. It can be packaged in four steps to God, four laws for salvation, or a simple bridge diagram on a napkin.” Other voices, however, would not be stopped. “That may be your idea of ‘gospel,’” they countered, “but... Read more

Mary Stromer Hanson is a recent graduate of Denver Seminary with an MA in NT biblical studies. She is a longtime member of CBE and active in the Denver chapter. She is the author of The New Perspective on Mary and Martha: Do Not Preach Mary and Martha Again Until You Read This! and Bold Girls Speak: Girls of the Bible Come Alive both published by Wipf and Stock. Mary blogs regularly at Mary’s Sword. Used with permission. Mary and... Read more

Several years ago Richard F. Carlson and Tremper Longman III published a short book Science, Creation and the Bible: Reconciling Rival Theories of Origins. Longman refers to this book in his essay How I changed My Mind About Evolution. A combination of factors led him to think more deeply about the biblical story of creation and this book was part of that process. The last two chapters of Science, Creation and the Bible discuss the genre and purpose of the... Read more

Lauren Ward-Reed holds a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Text from Abilene Christian University. Currently, she is pursuing her Master’s of Divinity at Brite Divinity School. She loves reading, hiking, coffee, and traveling. You can follow her blog at www.feministfaith.com Have you ever felt uncertain? Of course you have, for we all have at one time or another. Some of us may handle our doubts well, embracing them full on. Other of us, myself included, are instantly terrified by life’s uncertainties. Personally,... Read more