Chris Mooney: A striking new study — but one that is bound to prove controversial — has provided a calculation of both the health benefits and the reductions in planetary greenhouse gases that might be achieved if the world shifted away from meat-based diets. The results, while theoretical in nature, certainly make a strong case for treating the food system, and animal agriculture in particular, as a key part of the climate change issue. Namely, the researchers find that shifting diets toward eating... Read more

USA Today: At Emory, students of the “social justice” variety were upset when someone chalked ”Trump 2016” on sidewalks. The students announced that they felt “fear” and “pain” as a result. The students challenged the administration; one student demanded that it “decry the support for this fascist, racist candidate.” According to TheEmory Wheel, another student complained: “I’m supposed to feel comfortable and safe (here). But this man is being supported by students on our campus and our administration shows that they, by their silence, support it... Read more

John Walton has an interesting analysis of the question of women in ministry included in the Contemporary Significance section of his commentary on Genesis 2 (The NIV Application Commentary Genesis).  This is worth some serious thought and discussion. Commitments. He suggests several steps and commitments we should take. First, the commitments quoted from pp. 189-191. Methodological Commitments. We must allow the text to pursue its own agenda, not force it to pursue ours. We must be committed to the intention... Read more

Here is the question Professor James D.G. Dunn asks in his lengthy chp (Neither Jew Nor Greek) on the Jesus tradition in the 2d Century AD: In particular, should the NT Gospels be regarded as the only true inheritors of the oral Jesus tradition, the only authoritative written expressions of the Jesus tradition? (406) If you check out the bookshelves in bookstores, or read what is happening every year around Easter (though this year was mild), or think of Bart... Read more

Long ago the argument was made that when someone asks the question in the title to this post, which is the question we will explore in the post, the question makes an assumption that fails to deal adequately with the actual Christian claim. Here’s how the argument works: If we ask whether or not Jesus is God, We assume we know who God is, So we can explore if Jesus “fits” our understanding of God. But the Christian claim is... Read more

How did Jesus’ resurrection (“Easter”) change everything? Easter morning wasn’t an unexpected miracle. Many Jews were waiting for what God would do next. Some had begun to expect resurrection from the dead. Jewish Rabbis and ascetic Essene movements had been studying the Prophets to figure out everything God was about to do. Jewish documents produced from 1st Century theologians, like 2 Baruch, 4 Ezra, Enoch, and the Dead Sea Scrolls, talked about what would take place. God was about to... Read more

By Fr Kevin Maney: And this is precisely why Holy Saturday can be helpful to us because if we really believe in a sovereign God, Holy Saturday is a time when we must wait on him and see how he is going to act in our lives. We must put aside our limited expectations and wait and see what God is going to do in and through us. Like the psalmist in his utter desolation above, we too must cling... Read more

Gotta love Ben and Julianna Zobrist, and so do the Cubs! By Catherine Parks: When your husband and his team win the World Series, you’d think that’d be the most exciting moment of the year for your family. Or at least, the week. But not for Julianna Zobrist—wife of Ben Zobrist, second baseman during the Kansas City Royals’ winning season last year. Just a few days after the Royals took home the title, musician Julianna had her own big victory,... Read more

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas,... Read more