John Frye’s final of three posts on pastoring and passion and poems. Passion or Perfection “Poets are caretakers of language, the shepherds of words, keeping them from harm, exploitation, misuse…. Poets are not primarily trying to tell us, or get us, to do something…they draw us into deeper respect both for words and the reality they set before us” (Eugene H. Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor, 161). The intent of these recent posts is to provoke reticent pastors to try their... Read more
“How should we live?” That’s the question so many today want to ask Paul — and about as many answers as the numbers of those who ask him the question! There are tensions when one asks this question of Paul — he was after a Jew and a Jew would say “Obey the commands.” But many think that’s not what Paul would say. This question has been posed in a remarkably sensitive manner by James Thompson, at Abilene Christian University,... Read more
Ben Witherington’s suggestions all boil down to this: Don’t pick a Roman Catholic! 1) Pick someone over 50 but under 65 for a change. We need a younger person with fresh ideas not to mention someone in the peak of physical health. [How many Cardinals are under 65?] 2) If you can find someone who is as good and critical a thinker and theolog as Pope Benedict, by all means pick that person; [good idea] 3) Pick someone who is... Read more
From NYTimes: THERE is a poignant air, almost wistful, to electing a pope in the modern world. In a time of discredited monarchies, can this monarchy survive and be relevant? There is nostalgia for the assurances of the past, quaint in their charm, but trepidation over their survivability. In monarchies, change is supposed to come from the top, if it is to come at all. So people who want to alter things in Catholic life are told to wait for... Read more
In the next chapter of The Reason for God Keller addresses a question that has been discussed repeatedly on this blog over the last few years: “How can a loving God send people to hell?” Given the amount of space that has already been devoted to this question, perhaps it would be better to skip the chapter. But there are some insights of value that Keller adds to the conversation. To begin, the topic of hell comes up in a few... Read more
Another good post from my friend Roger Olson: There is an ethos, or at least environment, about fundamentalism that breaks somewhat from a theological sketch of it (as Roger provides here), and that ethos is what I call “zealotry” (here and here). That is, a desire to be so committed to God that one constructs ideas and rules and other elements that go beyond the Bible but are taken to be critical elements of the true faith. So I would... Read more
From Lincolnwood News: A cold and snowy winter night didn’t stop more than 100 Todd Hall students and parents from gathering Tuesday evening to assemble comfort packages for homeless children served by Maryville Academy Crisis Nursery in Chicago. “Project Night Night” was Todd Hall’s third annual service learning project, a yearly event taking place each February that brings the school together to help support a chosen charity. A national initiative that donates more than 25,000 care packages to shelters like... Read more
The Atlantic: What can we do to become more aware of the ignored, the invisible, the unmapped? Maps have always had a way of bluntly illustrating power. Simply appearing on one can be enough to make a place or community matter. Meanwhile, absence from “the map” conveys something quite the opposite. Recall 19th century colonial surveys of Africa with the continent’s vast interior labeled as “unknown.” That one word on unmapped territory was simply another way of saying – in the eyes... Read more
I’m quite honored to announce that biologist at Trinity Western, Dennis Venema, and I have been granted a scholarship through BioLogos and the Evolution and Christian Faith program: The Grantees As part of our objective to create a network of scholars and leaders, we awarded grants to organizations across the U.S. and the world. Thirty of the 37 grantees are domestic; seven are international, hailing from Canada, France, Great Britain, Netherlands, and Spain. Two-thirds of the accepted projects will be... Read more
Some folks seem to delight in freedom, in choice, in thinking for themselves and sometimes find themselves in a world made for themselves, a kind of narcissism. Others delight in order, hierarchy, in faith, and in a kind of theology that seems to lock in the creative potential of humans and who at the same time believe all things are determined (by a sovereign God, and rarely do they add a sovereign and “good” God) and predestined. These have become... Read more
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