Bob Cargill wrote on Facebook, “I’m a biblical scholar. One of my jobs is to show people evidence from the book they supposedly revere that certain claims they make aren’t possible because of what it says in the text they supposedly revere.” He then added the challenge, “Meme THAT,” and several people did. The above is one of the results. What he describes is certainly one of the roles of a Biblical scholar. But keep in mind that scholars only have... Read more
So-called “literal” interpreters of Genesis are often blind to the things they read into the text. And so I thought that this image I came across deserved to be shared. It is an attempt to “fix” the text so that it says what young-earth creationists – and others who deny that it reflects an ancient view of the cosmos – think it should, and claim that it does. Perhaps it would be interesting to go through the entire Bible, crossing out... Read more
May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart. May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people. May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all... Read more
Josh Rosenau took the Pew data on churches’ acceptance of evolutionary biology and of climate science, and made a chart. The correlation is clear and striking. Jim Kidder also shared it, together with some thoughts of his own. Read more
The quote is from yesterday’s post, “Progressive Christianity in the Spotlight.” The background image is Miami Chapel. Of related interest, David Schnell offered a response to the claim of critics of progressive Christianity to represent “Biblical Christianity.” He writes: The myth is that so-called Biblical Christianity is tenable, that it exists, and that it is not merely a superior form of Christianity, but the only true Christianity available to human beings by which we must be saved, and that all other forms... Read more
Bryan Lewis suggested on Facebook that pericope is a word that Biblical studies scholars ought to phase out, perhaps replacing it with something more commonly used in English, such as “passage.” I suggested that a good reason for phasing out pericope is that it is not in most electronic devices’ dictionaries, and so has a tendency to autocorrect to periscope. Indeed, I recently read a draft of a manuscript which had “periscope” where “pericope” was meant. And so Bryan shared two images... Read more
The Fountains United Methodist Church recently had the experience of a number of conservative churches in its area banding together to preach against progressive Christianity. They promoted the sermon series with signs and news articles promising a series of sermons on conservative fundamentals: The Fountanins UMC church responded with a banner borrowed from another congregation: Eric Alexander blogged about this at the Progressive Christianity website. And so I thought that a post highlighting these events, and offering support for the... Read more
A while back, Nerdist shared some stained-glass images of scientists. I think the depiction is worth reflecting on. Are scientists the saints of the modern era? In your opinion, is the contribution of scientists greater than, comparable to, or beneath the contribution of people whose lives were characterized not by discoveries about the natural world, but standing firm for justice, self-sacrificially caring for others, or in other ways serving as profound moral examples? You can see the full collection, and read... Read more
I had the privilege of sharing the song I wrote, “Ultimate Concern,” at Crooked Creek Baptist Church today. I am grateful to the musicians who participated in learning the song and performing it with me. The inspiration from the ideas of Paul Tillich will be obvious to those familiar with his writings. Here are the lyrics: Ultimate Concern Faith is not a sightless leap you make into the darkness It shouldn’t be a lame excuse for thinking as... Read more
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When A Professor’s Son Discovers RateMyProfessor.com
I had an interesting experience today. My son, who is in high school, told me that he had looked me up on RateMyProfessor.com. I’m sure a worried look crossed my face, but I tried my best to retain my composure. Not a lot of students have commented about me and my classes there. But as is often the case, of the few who have done so, most were complaining about something. Apparently RateMyProfessor.com had been mentioned on Reddit today, and anything that is... Read more