Politics and our Eschatology

Last updated on: November 5, 2016 at 4:05 pm By Scot McKnight

Somewhere overnight or this morning the eschatology of American Christians may become clear. If a Republican wins and the Christian becomes delirious or confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive, that Christian has an eschatology of politics. Or, alternatively, if a Democrat wins and the Christian becomes delirious or confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive, that Christian too has an eschatology of politics. Or, we could turn each around, if a more Democrat oriented Christian... Read more

Five Years Early Demurral

Last updated on: November 2, 2012 at 7:24 am By Scot McKnight

Roman Catholics have been invited to the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, a celebration sponsored by the Lutherans of Germany. (Reuters) – It’s rare to be invited to an event five years off and even rarer to bicker about its details, but Germany’s Catholic Church finds itself in that delicate situation thanks to an overture from its Protestant neighbors. German Protestants are planning jubilee celebrations in 2017 to mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s launching of the Reformation, a... Read more

PhD and Career Shifts

Last updated on: November 1, 2012 at 7:39 am By Scot McKnight

By L. Maren Wood: You have perhaps heard this from me before. My concern is with those PhDs in Bible or Theology of History who are primarily focused on teaching in Bible, theology, religion and philosophy departments but who are struggling to find a job. A PhD in such a field needs to see her or his calling first to the church and in the church, and see academic work in such disciplines as discipleship in the church. That is,... Read more

The accuser is not Satan (RJS)

Last updated on: November 6, 2012 at 8:43 am By RJS

The prose prologue to the book of Job, found in chapters 1 and 2, introduces a number of issues that challenge standard Christian presuppositions. As a result I am going to move rather slowly, in two or three posts, through the prologue to think about some of these issues. The commentaries by John Walton (Job (The NIV Application Commentary)) and Tremper Longman III (Job (Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms)), both their agreements and their differences, provide... Read more

Environment Matters

Last updated on: November 6, 2012 at 6:38 am By Scot McKnight

This post is for those whose church meets in a single location on a regular basis. That is assumed but no more is assumed. The environment in your church matters because any “visitor” who shows up will evaluate “what you offer” by what they see and experience. They could be 95% wrong and wildly inaccurate, but that wouldn’t matter because they made a decision on the basis of what they saw and experienced. Maybe you don’t want that sort in... Read more

Introverts and Language

Last updated on: November 1, 2012 at 7:18 am By Scot McKnight

From Research Digest: Participants who scored higher in extraversion tended to describe the photos in terms that were rated by an independent coder as more abstract. For example, they used more “state verbs” (e.g. Jack loves Sue) and adjectives, and they admitted to engaging in more interpretation – describing things that were not directly visible in the pictures. On the other hand, the higher a person scored in introversion, the more concrete and precise their speech tended to be, including... Read more

Science and Weather

Last updated on: November 1, 2012 at 7:16 am By Scot McKnight

From the NY Review of Books by Bill McKibben: Science and its practical consort Engineering mostly come out of this week with enhanced reputations. For some years now, various researchers have been predicting that such a trauma was not just possible but almost certain, as we raised the temperature and with it the level of the sea—just this past summer, for instance, scientists demonstrated that seas were rising faster near the northeast United States (for reasons having to do with... Read more

Conscience: What does it tell us?

Last updated on: November 5, 2012 at 6:37 am By Scot McKnight

Jeff Cook’s series on arguments for God continues with this reflection on conscience. What does the argument for conscience do for you? We are quickly approaching the half way point. This is an argument from Peter Kreeft. Both Aquinas and Aristotle use the style here, and it’s a helpful framework for those arguing for God’s existence: placing the known possibilities up, knocking down all the contenders save God, and then conclude that if there are no other possible sources for... Read more

The Ideal Christmas Service

Last updated on: November 5, 2012 at 6:23 am By Scot McKnight

Some churches are already planning Christmas — and some have been at it for months already. Even low churches observe the Church’s calendar at Christmas. At major Christian calendar events — Christmas, Good Friday, Easter — Scripture should take the lead. Our words fail in comparison to the sacredness of Scripture, to the beautiful simplicity of the Story, of the songs that have gathered around that Story, and of the Eucharist that brings it all into focus. Our “events” detract... Read more

Super Bowl Predictions

Last updated on: November 4, 2012 at 7:59 pm By Scot McKnight

It’s election season, polls are in the air, and I feel like predicting … the Super Bowl. Who are your picks? I predict the following two teams for the AFC: Baltimore and the Texans. I predict the following two teams for the NFC: Green Bay and San Francisco. Super Bowl game: Texans vs. Green Bay Super Bowl Champion: Green Bay. (I’m a Bears fan.) Read more