Weekly Meanderings, 28 March 2015

Last updated on: March 28, 2015 at 6:19 am By Scot McKnight

Has the sun set on Sunday School? Many a prayer has been said over the fate of the vaunted American institution, whose struggles cut across denominational lines. Between 1997 and 2004, churches lost tens of thousands of Sunday school programs, according to data from the Barna Group, and more recent studies show that enrollment has fallen across denominations. From 2004 to 2010, for example, Sunday school attendance dropped nearly 40 percent among Evangelical Lutheran churches in America and almost 8 percent among Southern Baptist churches,... Read more

Public Ed: Diluting Moral Teachings?

Last updated on: March 22, 2015 at 11:44 am By Scot McKnight

Justin P. McBrayer: HT: CB What would you say if you found out that our public schools were teaching children that it is not true that it’s wrong to kill people for fun or cheat on tests? Would you be surprised? I was. As a philosopher, I already knew that many college-aged students don’t believe in moral facts. While there are no national surveys quantifying this phenomenon, philosophy professors with whom I have spoken suggest that the overwhelming majority of college... Read more

Greece, Germany, and Jews

Last updated on: March 22, 2015 at 7:36 pm By Scot McKnight

Frank Jordans: BERLIN (AP) – It was 1943 and the Nazis were deporting Greece’s Jews to death camps in Poland. Hitler’s genocidal accountants reserved a chilling twist: The Jews had to pay their train fare. The bill for 58,585 Jews sent to Auschwitz and other camps exceeded 2 million Reichsmark – more than 25 million euros ($27 million) in today’s money. For decades, this was a forgotten footnote among all of the greater horrors of the Holocaust. Today it is... Read more

The Praying Heart (by John Frye)

Last updated on: March 26, 2015 at 6:14 pm By Scot McKnight

The Praying Heart As a person and as a pastor, I have struggled with developing a daily practice of prayer. Countless people have talked to me over the years about this same challenge. I have preached sermons on prayer, read books on prayer (including Scot McKnight’s book Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today), taught classes on kinds of prayer and participated in many prayer meetings. I have prayed for many people and have been prayed for many... Read more

Easter Sunday: Christos Anesti

Last updated on: March 26, 2016 at 7:18 am By Scot McKnight

Christos anesti! O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. or this O God, who... Read more

The Trinity (by Nature) is Freedom (Geoff Holsclaw)

Last updated on: March 26, 2015 at 7:13 pm By Scot McKnight

Geoff Holsclaw is Affiliate Professor of Theology at Northern Seminary, and Director of their new Masters in Theology and Mission. You can also follow Geoff on Twitter and Facebook. The Trinity (by Nature) Is Freedom Does God love us because God has to, or wants to? Is God free to love us? Or is God compelled to love us? These questions create the background of concern for Paul D. Molnar‘s chapter in Two views on the Doctrine of the Trinity. ... Read more

Pope Francis: Death Penalty “Inadmissible”

Last updated on: March 22, 2015 at 11:35 am By Scot McKnight

Vatican Information Service: Vatican City, 20 March 2015 (VIS)- This morning the Holy Father received in audience a delegation from the International Commission against the Death Penalty. Below we offer extensive extracts from the letter the Pope gave to Federico Mayor, president of the Commission, to greet and offer his personal thanks to all the members of the aforementioned International Commission, the group of countries that lend their support, and all those who collaborate in its work.“I would like to... Read more

And It Was Very Good (RJS)

Last updated on: March 25, 2015 at 9:09 pm By RJS

John Walton’s new book The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate explores a topic at the center of much of the controversy between science and Christian faith. Following the format used in his earlier books The Lost World of Genesis One and The Lost World of Scripture the chapters are organized according to propositions about the text and its interpretation. The first five propositions summarize concepts from the first two books and his... Read more

Old Perspective Analytically Examined

Last updated on: March 23, 2015 at 8:18 pm By Scot McKnight

Douglas A. Campbell, The Quest for Paul’s Gospel: A Suggested Strategy (2005), 160-162. The first phase: the rigorous contract The opening progression 1 a. God is omnipotent (and presumably also omnipresent and omniscient). 1 b. God’s omnipotence is known to everyone from the cosmos without (1a from 1b). 1c. God is just. 1d. The content of righteousness derives from God’s moral nature (1d derives from 1c). 1e. God’s moral demands in terms of righteousness are... Read more

Christian Zionism and American Evangelicalism

Last updated on: March 20, 2015 at 5:34 pm By Scot McKnight

Ryan Rodrick Beiler: The issues in Israel today are multi-layered and complex at a number of levels, and most in West today think Israel deserves a place in which to dwell in safety, but most also are now seeing that current Israeli policies suppress and oppress Palestinians. A clip from a solid report of some realities we need to know about. Though this rhetoric might be attractive to young people, CUFI’s claims about a loving Israel do not reconcile with... Read more