RIP Diana Garland

Last updated on: September 22, 2015 at 8:51 am By Scot McKnight

Baptist Standard: WACO—Diana Richmond Garland, founding dean of Baylor University’s school of social work that now bears her name, died September 21. Garland, 65, trained generations of Christian social workers to express their faith through ministry to people Jesus called “the least” among society. She championed the skills and principles of social work within congregations and faith-based ministries. And she demonstrated the value of Christian ministry to the secular social work community. Led the Carver School Garland began her educational ministry in... Read more

Scripture and (Ancient) Cosmology (RJS)

Last updated on: September 21, 2015 at 6:55 pm By RJS

The Bible is a collection of ancient texts. The most recent, by any reckoning, were written over nineteen hundred years ago. The oldest date back another five hundred to a thousand years and likely use sources dating back even further. They relate events that happened in the ancient world and were originally intended for an audience immersed in those long-ago cultures. As a result we rely on scholars to help translate that culture and bring it alive for us today.... Read more

Transformation: How Vital to the NT Gospel?

Last updated on: September 20, 2015 at 12:58 pm By Scot McKnight

Martin Luther is famous for arguing — in the presence of observable realities in his churches — that Christians are simultaneously righteous and sinners. John Calvin was not as sanguine about the potential implication of that kind of teaching so he taught a more forceful theory of sanctification but not even Calvin was as expectant as many in the radical reformation who expected that Christians would be both in fellowship with a body and be transformed through that fellowship into... Read more

See this snake? (It’s special.)

Last updated on: September 19, 2015 at 11:00 am By Scot McKnight

Elahe Izadi: See this here yellow-bellied watersnake? Can she have it all? Yes. This snake at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center in Missouri has not had contact with a male snake for at least eight years. And, for the second year in a row, she has managed to give birth. Missouri Department of Conservation researchers believe the snake may be the first of her species to experience “virgin births,” something more commonly seen in insects, said naturalist Jordi Brostoski. “It doesn’t happen in... Read more

Go with your Gift (by Kelly Delp)

Last updated on: September 18, 2015 at 10:41 am By Scot McKnight

By Kelly Delp, reposted from her blog to this blog with her permission. I gotta be honest. I used to not get this rambling about women in ministry. I really didn’t understand what the big deal was. Move along. Do what you’re called to do. Stop rallying. And then I had a realization. I didn’t get not feeling like you have permission to do ministry. Because I was never taught I needed it. My parents named me Kelly. I had... Read more

Word and Worship

Last updated on: September 19, 2015 at 8:15 pm By Scot McKnight

I have had a conversation with a number of Bible professors about the state of the Bible in America’s churches and among America’s Christians. The drive to relate everything to “felt needs” shakes loose the foundations from a Word-shaped spirituality. The difference is noticeable and significant: instead of listening to the Bible because it is God’s Word, and instead of listening to whatever it says because it is God’s Word, and because of listening to whatever it says as significant... Read more

A Prayer for Your Week

Last updated on: September 20, 2015 at 9:19 am By Scot McKnight

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; 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

Weekly Meanderings, 19 September 2015

Last updated on: September 19, 2015 at 6:45 am By Scot McKnight

It’s been a good week here in our village and this next week our school year at Northern gets underway officially — faculty retreat and then classes begin! I’m looking forward to meeting our new students (so many good and gifted students at Northern) and to teaching a course on Jesus and another on Paul. Stephen Olemacher: WASHINGTON (AP) — Owe the tax man $100 million or more? Your check is no good at the IRS. Starting next year, the... Read more

Imagining an Event with Jesus (by John Frye)

Last updated on: September 18, 2015 at 7:20 am By Scot McKnight

I don’t know what to think. My name is Samuel and I am a scribe. Fortunate to be born into a family of scribes, I learned the art of writing. Our family goes back to the time of King Solomon who expanded the scribal schools. Because I copy the holy writings so often, I know them by heart. Living in Galilee, I now serve as an advisor to the Pharisees who are so committed to bringing revival to our land... Read more

Building Blocks of a Christian Worldview

Last updated on: September 18, 2015 at 5:36 am By Scot McKnight

One of the least known and most insightful theologians and Christian leaders I have met is Brian Harris, at Vose Theological Seminary in Perth, Western Australia. He’s not only a delightful person and Christian, not only a President of a seminary, but he established a flourishing church that encompasses far more than the typical come-to-our-church kind of ministry. In short, when Brian speaks, I listen. So, I was excited to see his new book, The Big Picture: Building Blocks of... Read more