Thoughts? One way or the other. (Reuters) – The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a federal law that restricts the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples in a major victory for the gay rights movement. The ruling, on a 5-4 vote, means that legally married gay men and women are entitled to claim the same federal benefits that are available to opposite-sex married couples. The court was due to decide within minutes a second case concerning a California law... Read more
You have, or perhaps “They had,” three options: Mary gave birth to the human Jesus (but not to the eternal, divine Logos), or Mary gave birth to the Christ (not to God, but to Christ, who was both human and divine), or Mary gave birth to God (Jesus was divine). The first view is called Anthropotokos, the second Christotokos, and the third (orthodox view) Theotokos. (A long “o” in the -kos ending.) The issue is discussed in Ron Heine, Classical... Read more
Sometimes what we want the Bible to be what it is not so we make the Bible what we want it to be and then we feel better about the Bible. Here’s a good example, taken from my friend and colleague, Claude Mariottini, and his new book Rereading the Biblical Text: Searching for Meaning and Understanding. It comes from Genesis 2:19. KJV: “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the... Read more
I have had the opportunity on a few different occasions to listen to John Walton, Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, discuss the question of origins as related in Genesis. The most recent in fact was just yesterday. John is the author of the Genesis (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary) and of a popular book The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate and a number of other books. His emphasis is on the interpretation of... Read more
It would as easy to exaggerate his influence as it is for some to ignore his influence, but at least a major voice behind all of evangelical political action — from Francis Schaeffer and the Moral Majority to Charles Colson, Nancy Pearcey, Wayne Grudem and then on to even someone like Tim Keller and JD Hunter or Andy Crouch and in other ways in people like Jim Wallis and evangelical progressives — is the Dutch theologian, journalist, pastor, and politician... Read more
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In my life four theologians have illuminated Edwards the most for me. George Marsden in his classic biography, Gerry McDermott (along with Michael McClymond, but I’ve talked Edwards with Gerry for a number of years), John Piper’s singular focus on the glory of God as mediated through Edwards and now, one of the next interpreters of Edwards, Kyle Strobel. Marsden’s not so interested in being a specialist on Edwards theology, Piper’s focus has been pastoral and his own version of... Read more
The difference, it can be said, between a leader and a follower is that the leader makes a decision while the follower can choose to criticize the decisions of leaders. Good leaders make good decisions; good decisions are rooted in one’s ethics. So a good leader is a virtuous leader. Pragmatic leaders decide on the basis of what will succeed. For leaders: What do you think of his virtues of leaders list? What do you do to develop these? Where... Read more
Source Here is something to consider before you rehash and mash up the pastor’s sermon today. It’s not easy speaking to the same audience, week after week, finding new angles, trying to be faithful to the texts and knowing that many already know what’s in the text… Here are the results of the poll by three-hour increments: 1 to 3 hours — 1% 4 to 6 hours — 9% 7 to 9 hours — 15% 10 to 12 hours — 22% 13 to 15 hours — 24% 16... Read more
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