Religious Extremists Burn Holy Books

Bibles burnt in Georgia

Last Week’s Conference

Review of Western Fellowship of Professors and Scholars, 2009.

End of an Era in Sheffield?

Sheffield University is threatening to end the undergraduate biblical studies program that F.F. Bruce helped to establish.

The Face of Socialism

Communism is brutal. Obama’s proposals are not socialism.

End of Life Choices

President Obama’s health care reform proposals never included euthanasia. Nevertheless, proposals to reimburse health care professionals for end of life counseling have been dropped.

Hermeneutics for the Crazy

Religious teachers should think of the implications of their words.

Don’t Serve the Devil

Slander is the devil’s work.

I’m Hooked

The Omega Course, a novel in progress.

Announcing the IBF

New Institute of Biblical Forgeries

Self-Loathing Professors

Robert Alter spoke of literature professors who don’t like literature in his book The Pleasure of Reading (reviewed here).  Professor Bruce Fleming likewise lamented that literary studies are killing literature by forcing students to learn the jargon and arcane techniques of “literary studies” rather than actually reading great literature.
Hector Avalos is a professor of the [...]

No Compromise? (part 2)

Our political climate is intolerant of compromise.  Two people who tried to bring people together are finding out how hard it is to do.
Richard Cizik tried to lead evangelical Christians to compassionate action on a broader range of problems than abortion and traditional marriage.  For example, he believed that if Christians believe in creation, they [...]

Is Compromise Possible?

I am stuck between two generations. Many people of my father’s generation cannot comprehend why anyone would approve of homosexual relationships–and many of my kids’ generation cannot fathom why anyone could possible be opposed to two people loving each other just because they happen to be of the same sex.
The Film “Trembling Before G-D” is [...]

Things to Read in Prison

While Dietrich Bonhoeffer was in prison, hoping to be released but-as it turned out-waiting to die, he kept himself busy by reading and writing.  One of the books that captured his attention was The Worldview of Physics by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.
Bonhoeffer was arrested in April of 1943, initially on relatively minor charges after helping [...]

BOO!

This is the eve of All Saints Day.  In the middle ages, evidently the belief was that All Saints Day was an especially holy day.  The faithful throughout the world would be honoring the Saints and the Saints would be interceding for the faithful, and the powers of darkness would be banished, at least temporarily.  [...]

Four Rules for Interpreting the Bible

Here are four rules for interpreting the Bible that I teach my students, along with the acronyms that help them remember them.
1.  Do No Harm (DNH).  This is the first rule of any profession, and the Bible itself warns against twisting its words in a way that causes harm.  Judaism taught this principle, based on [...]

The Metaphorically Challenged

Here is a quotation from an atheist, explaining why he decided Christian faith is nothing but superstition:
We now know that our brain is the seat of thinking and of our emotions.  Modern artificial heart transplants now adequately debunk these beliefs, for we can do just fine without our own hearts.  Therefore, it is nonsensical to [...]

Taxman (Voodoo Economics -4)

No one likes paying taxes–even the Beatles had a song against the “Taxman.”
Yet, someone has to pay for the services government provides.  Voodoo economics has waged a war against taxes for nearly thirty years.  It is now considered unpatriotic to pay taxes.  Taxes are called a penalty for success.

The rich should pay more taxes because [...]

That’s Disrespectful

Maybe I’m naive, but I assume people’s good intentions until proven otherwise.  I assume senators McCain and Obama are both honorable, decent men with a genuine desire to serve their country.  But now that the race is coming down to the wire, the campaigns on both sides have started slinging a little mud.
Senator Obama commented [...]

What’s a Pro-Life Voter to Do?

The archbishop of Denver criticized Nancy Pelosi for misrepresenting catholic teaching on abortion (here).  She claimed that the church was ambiguous on the question of when life begins.  Archbishop Chaput answered that the church has never been ambiguous about abortion–it has always condemned the practice.  Archbishop Chaput even quotes the Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who [...]

That’s Not Journalism

Cousin Eric documents the lies and wild conjectures presented as facts in the best selling book Obama Nation (here). The antidote to bad journalism is better journalism.
By the way, good for Rick Warren for presenting a civil forum for the two presidential candidates to express their positions and answer. Pastor Warren called both [...]