The contention of at least one representative of what he calls “apocalyptic theology,” namely, Samuel V. Adams (in The Reality of God and Historical Method), is that only theologians know how to know God, and that “how” is by way of apocalyptic — Barthian, Kierkegaardian, Torrancean (sp?) — theology. The inference to be drawn is that any other kind of knowing God falls short, and Adams is most concerned with NT Wright’s major series of books — The New Testament and... Read more
Northern Seminary is sponsoring a tour to Turkey and Greece to visit the sits of the apostles Paul and John. And I will be the lead teacher. Our tour will be nearly two weeks long and we will visit major cities and sites. Let me suggest that your church sponsor a pastor and spouse to take this trip with us. If you are not from the USA and want to join us in Istanbul — that works too, but you... Read more
Well, it seems more of the 19th and 20th Centuries, but if those two lists (at her link) are official, I’m on the low side of the readers. Maria Papova, at Brain Pickings: “Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work,” Jennifer Egan once said. This intersection of reading and writing is both a necessary bi-directional life skill for us mere mortals and a secret of iconic writers’ success, as bespoken by their personal libraries. The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books asks... Read more
Rob Schenck: In the United States, evangelicals are among the biggest supporters of gun rights. They are the major religious group least likely to support stricter laws. Evangelical Larry Pratt, who directs Gun Owners of America, even argues thatall Christians should be armed. For most of my adult life, I agreed. I believed that we had a God-given right to defend ourselves. I also believed that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to bear arms, and that anyone should be able to obtain a gun. Then,... Read more
Some believe in people, some believe in government/the State, and others believe in a mixture of both. That problem was perceived already by Alexis de Tocqueville when, after visiting the USA a generation prior to the Civil War, he uttered these memorable words: The more I see of this country the more I admit myself penetrated with this truth: that there is nothing absolute in the theoretical value of political institutions, and that their efficiency depends almost always on the... Read more
By Michelle Van Loon, one of Northern Seminary’s fine students: When a renewal movement hits the church, things are bound to get messy. Some of the mess is the work of the Holy Spirit as he reanimates dry bones. Some of the mess comes when a bunch of broken human beings try to touch, help, hinder, or profit from the beautiful chaos. We’re a generation removed from the Jesus Movement of the late 1960′s. Poll after poll tells us that Evangelicalism, the primary... Read more
Ben Casselman: Nearly a decade and a half later, No Child Left Behind is often described as a failure, and there is no question that the law fell short of many of its most ambitious goals. Most schools didn’t come close to achieving the 100-percent-proficiency mandate, which experts never considered a realistic target. Subsequent research found that the law’s penalties did little to improve student performance, and may have done more harm than good in some schools. Large achievement gaps remain, in part because Congressdidn’t provide all of... Read more
Source (CNN)Pastor Larry Wright was talking to his small eastern North Carolina congregation about the senseless deaths in his community when a man with a rifle walked into his church. Wright, who leads the Heal the Land Outreach Ministries in Fayetteville, told CNN the man had a gun in one hand and an ammo magazine with shiny rounds in the other. The glint made the retired Army sergeant first class recognize the weapon was real. Still, he was worried the... Read more
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP Read more
Some people think they know where history is taking us and are quite happy to declare boom-booms on those who take exception, the boom-booms declared with a long finger pointing at them with the accusation they will be on the “wrong side of history” or, perhaps more damaging, they will be “left behind” or “irrelevant.” The irony is that in a world where “manifest destiny” or “discerning God’s plan for America” or even connecting something bad (9/11) with something else... Read more
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