Sandy’s fury

Becky Hsu distinguishes satisfaction and happiness. “Can we say, then, that life satisfaction is more like taking an exam (where 100% is the highest you could get), whereas happiness should be scored more like an essay (upon which there are no constraints in how excellent, thoughtful, or thought-provoking it could be)? Or, maybe we can say that asking whether you’re satisfied with life is like asking whether you finished your scoop of ice cream, whereas asking about happiness is more like asking how your scoop of ice cream tasted. There are no bounds on how delicious ice cream could be.”

The Jesus-was-married fragment: “The real interest of this fragment, assuming its authenticity, is to underscore the immense and ongoing diversity of opinions within the early church during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. This sophisticated analysis, which scholars of early Christianity have been building for over a century (and which is arguably more offensive to conservative Christian sensibilities than Jesus’ marriage), is simply not part of the general public’s imagination. The impression, bolstered by many in the often equally conservative Biblical Studies community, that early Christian history is only about Jesus continues to shape the public’s perception of new textual and archaeological discoveries. Clearly, the scholarly community has failed to communicate the fruits of its dynamic interdisciplinary research to the general public. At the same time, however, it has increasingly become the norm for prominent scholars to submit new discoveries to the court of public opinion before a thorough international scholarly analysis is allowed to take place. Book deals and television rights now take precedence over peer-review and patient research.”

Nick Perrin, Mike Bird and The Gospel of Thomas. Mike Bird’s red-headed friend.

Fr Bob Barron takes on Steinberg: “It was with barely concealed delight that “Chicago Sun-Times” columnist Neil Steinberg conveyed the findings of the recent Pew Forum survey that the “nones,” those who claim no particular religious affiliation, are sharply on the rise in America. Moreover, he crowed, the survey revealed that a disproportionate number of young people placed themselves firmly in the “none” camp, thus indicating that religion’s decline would only accelerate in the years to come. Taking these findings as a starting point, Steinberg then delivered himself of an anti-religion screed that was, even for him, remarkable in its vitriol and lack of nuance.”

Esther Junia’s journey into the Women in ministry discussion: Part one, Part two.

If only all reviews were this sane and intelligent: Fred Sanders reviews the new book that collects essays by evangelicals on the Trinity and complementation [hierarchicalism]/egalitarian [mutualism] debate. “The evangelical debate about gender roles may seem like an unlikely venue for hashing out trinitarian theology, but that is what has been going on in the last few years. Everybody knows that evangelical complementarians and evangelical egalitarians have competing views of the relationship between men and women in the family, the church, and society. But now there is a substantial literature that connects these two views to the doctrine of the Trinity. Some complementarians argue that just as the Father has headship over the Son in the eternal Trinity, so husbands have headship over wives in human society. Some egalitarians counter that this is heresy, and that the immanent Trinity is really a community of equality that our societies should emulate. That exchange seems straightforward enough, but it has generated a very complex literature.” Here is a good zinger: “Socialists peer into the Trinity and discern socialism; capitalists capitalism; Catholics see hierarchy; the Orthodox see intercommunion among equals; Baptists see Baptists; egalitarians see only equality, and complementarians see complentarianism.  When we use the image-of-the-Trinity strategy, we tend to find what we want to find.  Furthermore, there is a notably arbitrary character to which of our convictions and values we decide to locate in the Trinity.” [Yes, trinitarian relations need to be examined; Yes, we need to be cautious about what we see and find.]

Good sketch by Mark Roberts of the pros and cons of digital technology for education. And another good sketch of gospel and salvation by Derek Vreeland. Thanks Derek for that nice graph.

Gerald Green, of the Pacers, has some serious hops.

Roger Olson on Jenkins’ new book on the genocidal texts: “I am not going to declare unequivocally about the historicity of those texts; I will bracket them out and say “I just don’t know what to make of them” and “I cannot picture Jesus, who is the God I worship and adore, commanding those things.” And “I look forward to finding out from God himself, from Jesus himself, what I am supposed to think about those texts.” For now, all I can say is, they do not speak God’s voice to me. I do not understand them. They are dark and obscure and frightening. I run to Jesus. That was Luther’s approach, too, but he held onto a “hidden God” behind Jesus who commanded the slaughter of the innocents and who uses the devil to carry out his commands (“The devil is God’s devil!”). I do not believe in a “hidden God” behind Jesus. With Barth I affirm that Jesus is God for us and all we need when contemplating the character of God.”

The Bible and leprosy.

Anorexia survivor — Emma Scrivener.

Rules for life after 35.

Phillip Jenkins, on the Urban History conference: “I don’t imagine that a group of atheistic professors gathered in a smoke-filled room to devise strategies from preventing their younger colleagues discovering the truth about religion in American urban history. Certainly, many academics do have a secular and left-liberal bias, but that does not lead them to deliberate policies of censorship. Usually, I imagine, they know perfectly well about religion’s role, they just choose not to study it. Adding to the irony of the event, the conference coincided with a large-scale youth-oriented demonstration and prayer walk focused on the theme, “God Belongs In My City.” You saw the T-shirts all over the city. In the academic study of urban history, though, God has at best a toehold.”

Meanderings in the News

Earnings for dead celebrities: “Liz has beat out the King of Pop, one of her most loyal friends, for the honor of highest paid dead celebrity, according to Forbes’s annual list of “Top-Earning Dead Celebrities.” Taylor, who died at 79 in 2011, grossed $210 million last year, thanks to the $184 million that her estate made from Christie’s auctions of the star’s belongings, Forbes reports. Her best-selling perfume White Diamonds made $75 million last year, and the rest of the loot comes from her property sales and movies like Cleopatra andAround The World in 80 Days.”

Yowzers, the ten most expensive universities, beginning with Sarah Lawrence.

Learning a second language: “Siebert started studying the science of memory and second-language acquisition and found two concepts that went hand in hand to make learning easier: selective learning and spaced repetition. With selective learning, you spend more time on the things you don’t know, rather than on the things you already do. Siebert designed his software to use spaced repetition. If you getcup right, the program will make the interval between seeing the word cup longer and longer, but it will cycle cup back in just when you’re about to forget it. If you’ve forgotten cup entirely, the cycle starts again. This system moves the words from your brain’s short-term memory into long-term memory and maximizes the number of words you can learn effectively in a period. You don’t have to cram. In fact, if you do cram, you might learn a set of words and do well on a test, but you’ll forget it all a few weeks later.“

What’s wrong with this evolution chart?

Speaking of evolution… what makes us human? Cooking!: “According to a new study, a surge in human brain size that occurred roughly 1.8 million years ago can be directly linked to the innovation of cooking. Homo erectus, considered the first modern human species, learned to cook and doubled its brain size over the course of 600,000 years. Similar size primates—gorillas, chimpanzees, and other great apes, all of which subsisted on a diet of raw foods—did not. “Much more than harnessing fire, what truly allowed us to become human was using fire for cooking,” said study co-author Suzana Herculano-Houzel, a neuroscientist at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.”

America’s next top mortician…

Are we getting smarter? Yes: “IN THE MID-’80s, the political philosopher James Flynn noticed a remarkable but puzzling trend: for the past century, average IQ scores in every industrialized nation have been steadily rising. And not just a little: nearly three points every decade. Every several years, IQ tests test have to be “re-normed” so that the average remains 100. This means that a person who scored 100 a century ago would score 70 today; a person who tested as average a century ago would today be declared mentally retarded. This bizarre finding—christened the “Flynn effect” by Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray inThe Bell Curve—has since snowballed so much supporting evidence that in 2007 Malcolm Gladwell declared in The New Yorker that “the Flynn effect has moved from theory to fact.” But researchers still cannot agree on why scores are going up. Are we are simply getting better at taking tests? Are the tests themselves a poor measure of intelligence? Or do rising IQ scores really mean we are getting smarter?”

Are young Americans reading more and using libraries?

Potential source of problems in Jerusalem: “JERUSALEM — A simple, ancient ritual is threatening the delicate security balance atop Jerusalem’s most sacred plaza: Jews are praying. On most days, dozens — sometimes hundreds — of Jewish worshipers ascend to the disputed 36-acre platform that Muslims venerate as Al Aqsa mosque and Jews revere as the Temple Mount with an Israeli police escort to protect them and a Muslim security guard to monitor their movements. Then, they recite a quick prayer, sometimes quietly to themselves, other times out loud. Jewish activists call the prayers harmless acts of faith. Police and Muslim officials see them as dangerous provocations, especially given the deep religious sensitivities of the site and its history of violence. Twelve years ago, the presence of Jews on the plaza was so controversial that a brief tour by Israeli politician Ariel Sharon helped trigger a Palestinian uprising that lasted more than four years.”

Erik Eckholm sketches response by ex-gay men about conversion therapies.

Meanderings in Sports

Al Carius: “When Al Carius was winning Big Ten titles in cross-country and track as a University of Illinois runner nearly 50 years ago, he wore pants with a size 32 waist and promised himself never to need a larger size. The label on the jeans Carius was wearing this week said “W 32.” That not only proves Carius, who turned 70 in July, is a man who keeps his promises.”

Where’s Nadia Comaneci today? “We remember her as a shy, ponytailed, 14-year-old pixie who scored the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history 34 years ago. But these days Nadia Comaneci is a multitasking mom who juggles charity work, speaking appearances and product endorsements, Twittering as she goes. Comaneci, who spoke on the phone with the AARP Bulletin while working out on a treadmill in her Norman, Okla., home as her 4-year-old son napped, is married to gymnast Bart Conner, also a former Olympic gold medalist. Together, they run the Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy, International Gymnast magazine, a television production company and a gymnastics supply company.”

We are back in action after a week off from Weekly Meanderings during our Spring Break.

Gotta read this one by Pastor Matt: “I was shocked that such brutality could happen right outside the doors to our church building but I was glad to know that God has raised up young men who are willing to move into the most crime ridden area of our town and reach out to the “least among us” for Jesus Christ.  I hope and pray that your church will raise up members who are willing to sacrifice their time and comfort to go into the darkness with the light. Thank God the woman is alive and thank God He has been so merciful as to raise up young men like Stephen with a heart for those who are suffering and seek to become their friends.  May she accept their offer of help, come to know Christ and live a blessed life that blesses others.”

Amy Simpson: “People with mental illness are the butt of jokes, the subjects of terrifying movies andamusement park rides, and sources of entertainment that seem to assume they are mythical creatures—like leprechauns and unicorns—so no one should be offended.  The church’s response to mental illness is typically silence—a silence that is tantamount to complicity in the world’s rejection of the most vulnerable among us, that speaks volumes about the weakness of our faith in the face of suffering. When the church is not silent, it often condemns, suggesting people need exorcism or simply more faith, and denying people’s need for legitimate medical intervention to ease their suffering and help them function as the people God made them to be.”

Bob Cornwall on how God speaks today: “I think we’ve established over the past few weeks that even if God doesn’t normally speak to us in an audible voice, we can still hear the voice of God.  We just need help.  There’s Scripture, of course, which we often call the Word of God, and it is normally our starting point.  After all, we read from Scripture every Sunday as part of worship.  But as the Gospel of John reminds us, Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh, not the Bible.  Although Scripture seems to be a central way in which God speaks to us, is it the only way we hear God speak?  We started to answer this question last Sunday with a conversation about Tradition, which is the ongoing story of God’s involvement in our world, beginning with Creation and continuing to this day.  Tradition is an important voice, but perhaps there are still others that might speak to us.  If so, could Reason be one of those ways in which God speaks?”

Kathy Keller on why to raise your kids in the city.

President Obama: “Obama praised Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to create a task force to review the “stand your ground” law and said that it would be important to “examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident.” “But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon,” Obama said. “I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we will get to the bottom of exactly what happened,” he said.And he obliquely addressed the racial component of the case, saying it struck home for him because, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

Clergy killers: “They are called “clergy killers” — congregations where a small group of members are so disruptive that no pastor is able to maintain spiritual leadership for long. And yet ministers often endure the stresses of these dysfunctional relationships for months, or even years, before eventually being forced out or giving up. Adding to the strain is the process, which is often shrouded in secrecy. No one – from denominational officials to church members to the clerics themselves – want to acknowledge the failure of a relationship designed to be a sign to the world of mutual love and support. But new research is providing insights into just how widespread – and damaging – these forced terminations can be to clergy. An online study published in the March issue of the Review of Religious Research found 28 percent of ministers said they had at one time been forced to leave their jobs due to personal attacks and criticism from a small faction of their congregations.”

Wendy McCaig on releasing the caged. “This post is a personal confession.  I have been in hiding.  I know God called me to minister boldly as a part of the church universal but I have been hiding behind my non-profit and under my “Executive Director” title.  I have been hanging out in the margins with people who let me be me. But just like Jonah, I am discovering that the call to go to Nineveh is in inescapable.  For me Nineveh is the hierarchical institutional church.  A place that can be as brutal to women ministers as ancient Israel was to the prophets.   Well maybe that is an overstatement, but you know what I mean.  It is far easier to just not go there – to remain in hiding.  Is that a big fish heading my way?”

Derek Leman on “hesed” in the Bible.

The Orthodox Church in the USA.

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Dear Mr CS Lewis, tell me a story about a castle!

We are praying for those suffering from the tornados in the Midwest,

and for the students in Ohio after the senseless shooting.

Wendy McCaig: “It was at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond that Junia finally found a place in my world thanks to the brilliant and passionate teaching of Dr. Scott Spencer.  Even though Dr. Spencer laid a strong biblical foundation for the role of women in ministry based on the New Testament, I still lived with the fear of once again being silenced by the church.  Upon graduation from seminary, I choose not to enter into the institutional church nor to pursue ordination within the Baptist tradition.  It was far easier for this Junia to find her voice and exercise her call outside the church. In the nearly ten years since I began my ministry, my voice has grown stronger and my fear of being shoved back into a box of silence has diminished.  God has brought affirming male pastors like Pastor Sammy Williams into my life – men who recognized me as a pastor and affirmed my call to ministry even ministry within the Baptist tradition. So here I am at age 45 hearing God’s call to re-engage in the institutional expression of the church.  Not as a staff member but as one who has discovered the church beyond the walls and the pews.”

If you’ve got time for a sermon, listen to this.

David Fitch has taken a 6 month sabbatical from blogging. I’ve always argued that hockey players are not as tough as golfers.

Brad Wright and “attribution theory” — worth a good read.

Shane Scott: “As a child growing up in Kentucky, I knew very few Christians at church who were Republican. Most of the people in my grandfather’s generation were Democrats because they thought the Republicans looked out for the special interests, while the Democrats cared for the common man. Those days the key “moral issues” were economic. Now, the tide has turned the other way, and most evangelicals identify themselves as Republican because of a different set of moral issues. I don’t think it is good for Christians to fall under the sway of any party. My plea to Christians is simple: please do not allow worldly political parties to artificially divide the teachings of the Bible into sets of issues we will care about and won’t care about. We need to care about everything the Bible says.”

Patrick on some thoughts on hope.

Derek Leman on a scuffle about christology/deity of Christ among messianists.

J.R. Daniel Kirk: “In practicing a narrative theology, the overarching conviction is that the revelation of God is a story: the story of the creator God, at work in Israel, to redeem and reconcile the world through the story of Jesus. Part of what this means for me is the possibility of transformation, reconfiguration, and even leaving behind of earlier moments in the story as later scenes show us the way forward and, ultimately, the climactic saving sequence. This is one point at which I differ from N. T. Wright. Regularly in Wright’s writing we will find statements such as, “This is what God was up to all along.” I don’t disagree here. But what often goes unspoken, and where I think we need to be more clear, is that one only knows “this is what God was up to all along” once one is already convinced that “this new thing is actually what God is up to.”

Out of Ur’s post on Mark Dever probing John Stott’s perception of gospel and justice. (Dever stands with Martin Lloyd-Jones, if you know what that means. I’m not sure Dever does justice to Stott.)

LaVonne Neff on apostrophes. (Note to self: If you like writing, and you don’t like this piece by Ms. Neff, then you don’t like writing.)

I quoted Ron Sider, who quoted Pastor Toms, who quoted Upton Sinclair, who was misunderstood by Toms, and then also by Sider and then so too McKnight.

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