Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Linking the three temptations of Jesus in the wilderness with the three major lusts outlined in 1 John 2 has a long history in Christian preaching. Here is an example from Augustine's second homily on 1 John, with some bullet points for clarity: These three (temptations) there are, and you can find nothing whereby human …
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Another gem from Jerome's Homilies on the Psalms, this time Psalm 84 (from here): “How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!” The sole ambition of some people is to possess property; others long to be enriched with the wealth of the world; still others wish to hold prominent places at conventions and be …
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The Tree of Life has been a topic of special interest to me since I made the connection with the lignum vitae (The Tree That Grows in Heaven.) Here is Jerome's linkage of Psalm 1 with the other allusions to the tree, from his Homilies on the Psalms (from here): “He is like a tree …
From J. Vernon McGee's Through the Bible, commenting on John 15:18-19: Notice what will happen if you are a child of God. The world will hate you. I believe that a Christian's popularity can be an indication of how he is representing Christ in the world. I do not believe a Christian can be popular …
Gary L'Hommedieu asks this question--and answers it--in an Anglican context: "If over 80% of Anglicans live in the global south, why is this not reflected in communion structures?" writes Indian Ocean Primate Ian Earnest in an April 12 letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury in which he protests, among other things, the illicit transfer of …
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History is, for Americans especially, a problematic business. There are those who want to transmit history, and others who want to redefine it. But for most people history is something that gets ignored. For Evangelicals, the common attitude that "between Apostles and us, people weren't saved" only makes matters worse. But the history of the …
Continue reading "Book Review: History: Think for Yourself About What Shaped the Church"
This is Holy Week. When Jesus and his disciples gathered together, the Eucharist was instituted, but what they were coming together for (Tyndale's "Easter lamb" notwithstanding) was the Passover. Tonight the Passover is celebrated by Jews all around the world, and some Christians even have a Seder meal. Thus the two events are intertwined, both …
Recently an "old China hand" friend of mine sent around an email with this piece about the analogies between our current situation and that of Nazi Germany in the 1930's. Leaving aside the attribution problems of the piece itself, I'd like to address this issue, because I keep hearing it come up in our discourse. …
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Thomas Farr at the Washington Post thinks that the Obama Administration is side-lining both American law and policy on this subject: Religious freedom advocates were encouraged by the President's stated views and allowed themselves to hope that America's international religious freedom policy, long isolated at the State Department, would be strengthened under the new administration. …
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The subjects of evolution and creation are explosive ones, not only because of their scientific implications, but for their social and political ones as well. That's been the case since Darwin first set forth the theory. It is certainly true today; for all of their protestations about the desire to be "scientific," implementing whatever can …
Positive Infinity 