So over the past two weeks I’ve been talking about repentance and what that actually means. In the first week, I took great pains to note that repentance is more than being “sorry” for something and requires, among other things, an admission of guilt; that is, we need to admit that we have done something…
Month: January 2013
You think you’ve got it bad, don’t talk to Athanasius
Today’s church history minute is about Athanasius Who was he? Athanasius was a fourth century bishop in Alexandria. He is famous for his opposition to the Arians. Arianism revolved around a controversy with respect to who Christ was. It amounts to a denial of the full Trinity. While Arius said Jesus was divine, he claimed…
Mini-reflection on light
Today is a rather dark and gloomy day, with a high chance of rain, here in Houston. It’s the kind of day that is almost reminiscent of London. “Almost” because it’s a little hard to be reminded of London when it’s the end of January and the high is 78 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s about 26…
Diving into Revelation (Part 1): Difficult Passages
Alright, so this was suggested a while back, and I’ve avoided it until now, but I’m going to go ahead and dive into the book of Revelation, one of the most confusing, argued about, misunderstood, misread, questioned books of the bible. Today I’m going to offer something of an introduction to what I intend to…
Why NOMA is inadequate
It’s Science and Religion Friday again. Last week I talked about moving beyond the “conflict” model of science and religion (but especially Christianity) interaction. This week I talk about the concept of NOMA (and why it fails). Next week, I’ll go to Ian Barbour’s scheme of different models of interaction, and why it may be…
Foundational Doctrines: Repentance part 2
Last week I went back to the foundational doctrines series with more discussion about repentance (see part 1). There, I talked about how repentance is more than being sorry or wishing something hadn’t happened. It is first admitting that sin has occurred and then taking action about it. One of the earliest uses of the…
The Bible used in the Bible
Today’s Church history minute is all about The Septuagint (or LXX). What is it? The Septuagint was the first comprehensively translated AND widely used translations of a religious text from a source language into a cultural language. It was a translation of what we know as the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) into Koine (or…
Rediscovering the Scandal of the Cross
This is somewhat an update to the Louie Giglio “drama”, about which I posted last week. The ceremonial inauguration of President Obama’s second term occurred yesterday (the official one being on Sunday) without much in the way of scandal (sure the standard politicking occurred, but nothing major). A different pastor spoke, one more familiar personally…
Martin Luther King, JR day
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr Day. Also, it being a Monday, I have in the past addressed “difficult passages” in the bible. Today, in light of the day it is, I offer a passage that we likely understand in thought, but fail to put in practice. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is…
Moving beyond a conflict model
Hey it’s science and religion Friday! NPR ain’t got nuthin’ on me (and if I continue to write like that, they never will, nor care to) Anyway, most of my posts in this category thus far have been discussing the relationship between science and religion, though really science and Christianity, from the perspective of conflict.…