Dennis Kucinich … yougottabekiddin’me!

Last updated on: January 26, 2011 at 5:49 pm By Scot McKnight

From CNN.com: Washington (CNN) –Dennis Kucinich is no fan of pit-filled olives – and now he’s doing something about it: Taking one of Congress’ cafeterias to court. In 2008, the Ohio Democrat purchased a sandwich wrap filled with those olives at the cafeteria inside the Longworth Office Building. After biting into the wrap, he cracked a tooth, according to the legal complaint. Now he has come forward with a $150,000 lawsuit against the cafeteria – run by Restaurant Associates and other... Read more

Faith, Law and Culture at Seton Hall

Last updated on: January 25, 2011 at 6:54 pm By Scot McKnight

The third “Faith, Law and Culture” series lecture at Seton Hall University Law School will take place on Thursday, February 3, at 4:30 p.m. in the Faculty Library at the Law School in Newark, New Jersey. The speaker is Eastern Orthodox theologian and writer David Bentley Hart. Dr. Hart’s topic is “Christianity, Law, and Modern Liberties.” You can register for free on the Law School’s website: http://law.shu.edu/About/News_Events/faithlawculture/ Contact David Opderbeck for more information ([email protected]) Read more

I agree with Anne Lamott

Last updated on: January 26, 2011 at 7:40 am By Scot McKnight

It’s about time, finding time, fighting for time, saying no to intrusions on time — it’s about time alone, long days alone, at the desk writing or in a chair reading … day after day …and missing a whole lot of things … and not doing things I really like (golf) … and not being there when things happen … but willing to miss them in order to have that time… that quiet time, all alone … day after day.... Read more

Church Membership Requirements

Last updated on: January 23, 2011 at 7:10 am By Scot McKnight

Many are disputing the value of church “membership” today. Some think if we are “in Christ” we are members — whether we are on a list or not. Others wonder what’s the “value added” benefit to being a “member.” Some today are advocating instead for church “covenant” commitments. It seems to me that “membership” matters. To be an Israelite there was an official “entry rite” (circumcision) and to be “in Christ” there is an official entry rite (faith, baptism). To... Read more

The Lord Alone 3

Last updated on: January 23, 2011 at 9:25 am By Scot McKnight

What does “You shall have no other gods before me” mean? Are there any reliable or insightful indicators when we have crossed the line of this command? Or, as too many have suggested, is this really only about being a monotheist — a person who thinks there’s only one God? Are we assaulted with temptations to other gods today? Patrick Miller’s new book, The Ten Commandments: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church, is an exceptional study... Read more

Catalyst West

Last updated on: January 25, 2011 at 8:22 pm By Scot McKnight

You won’t want to miss the Catalyst West Conference, happening March 2-4, 2011 in LA, where 3,500 young leaders will converge, including high-octane speakers, powerful worship, innovative programming, and an experience unlike any other. Hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Dave Ramsey, Matt Chandler, Rev Run, Judah Smith, Christine Caine, Britt Merrick, and Nancy Ortberg, along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like CNN Anchor Soledad O’Brien, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, long-time activist Dr. John Perkins, Braveheart Screenwriter Randall... Read more

Rahm’s Back — maybe

Last updated on: January 25, 2011 at 6:30 pm By Scot McKnight

We go by the rules here, as long as you know the rules and know how to use them. The state Supreme Court today said it will decide whether Rahm Emanuel can run for mayor of Chicago and ordered election officials not to print any ballots without his name. The high court’s action, which came in two separate orders today, stays Monday’s appellate court decision that knocked Emanuel off the ballot on the grounds he was not a resident of... Read more

On Bonhoeffer

Last updated on: January 22, 2011 at 12:35 pm By Scot McKnight

From Alan Wolfe’s exceptional study/review of the recent Metaxas book on Bonhoeffer: It is important to note that Bonhoeffer’s criticisms of theological liberalism would hardly make him an ally of today’s versions of religious conservatism. He would, one imagines, be utterly scornful of the politically tendentious piety of Pat Robertson, who sees little or no break between the teachings of Jesus and the platforms of the Republican Party. And the more moderate and accommodating evangelicalism of a figure such as... Read more

Creation and Worldview (RJS)

Last updated on: January 25, 2011 at 7:39 am By RJS

I received a book from the publisher last week, Science, Creation and the Bible: Reconciling Rival Theories of Origins by Richard F. Carlson and Tremper Longman III. (Actually, the publisher sent it to Scot in December and Scot passed it along last week.) This book provides another angle on the question of creation and the intent of the creation narratives in Genesis. Richard Carlson is a research physicist at the University of Redlands in Redlands California. Tremper Longman III is... Read more

Is God ever Surprised? 1

Last updated on: January 23, 2011 at 10:03 am By Scot McKnight

Both classical theists and open theists agree that God knows everything. But classical theists believe God knows not only the past and the present, but also the future — absolutely. Augustine said that the one who does not know the future exhaustively is most certainly not God. But open theists think God knows the past and the present, but not the future because there is not yet a future to know. Where are you on this one? Do you think... Read more

Who was the mother of Samuel?