Luke 16:19-31
Several years ago now, when I had been teaching undergraduates for a few years, I said something (demonstrably true) in class about the text-critical problems with a particular passage of scripture that caused a minor disturbance among students. It soon reached the ears of the administration. Nothing came of it in the long run, I am happy to say, except for Continue reading By our Fruits
Gen 32:28
Translating from one language to another always involves imprecision and a degree of informed speculation. Such is especially the case with dead languages since the translator cannot have access to a native speaker for advice. One passage in Genesis has long intrigued me because the almost universally accepted translation does not seem to fit the Continue reading Because he could
For Now
In a few weeks, I begin my twentieth-eighth year teaching, my twentieth at BTSR. The realization has given me occasion to reflect on a number of matters. How has my thinking changed? Has my faith deepened? Continue reading My Confession of Faith
Exod 2:24; Judg 2:16; Luke 17:12-19
Grace is not transactional.
This time of year means preparation for facing first year students. Most have never engaged in rigorous academic study of the Bible. They come to seminary as I came to my undergraduate religion major, innocently expecting that the Bible says what they have always thought it said and that serious study of it will only confirm what they Continue reading Grace: Transactional or Transformational?
Eph 4:26 (Ps 4:5 [4])
My parents had a mixed marriage of sorts. My mother had Quaker and strict Methodist heritage; my father was (still is, he would say) a United States Marine. Mother taught me that I should avoid conflict, bear insult and injury with quiet grace, and, above all else, maintain control of my temper. In her view, anger was always and only as dangerous and Continue reading “Be Angry and Sin Not”
This continues a discussion of Christian discipleship and politics begun last week via excerpts from a series of lectures entitled “Baptist Polity, Biblical Theology, and Responsible Citizenship” that I delivered as the Solon B. Cousins Lectures at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond March 29-30, 2016. The full text of the lectures is available under the “Sermons and Lectures” tab on this website. Continue reading Christians should Engage in Politics
Matt 22:21
The political season began in earnest yesterday. It seems to me that politics represent “an attractive menace” for Christians. What can be more important than determining the values and policies that govern everyone’s everyday lives? Christians must be interested and involved. On the other hand, of course, lie the temptations to exercise control over others, to mistake temporal concerns for eternal, to compromise the core of Christian identity, and a host of others. I addressed these concerns in a series of lectures entitled “Baptist Polity, Biblical Theology, and Responsible Citizenship” delivered as the Solon B. Cousins Lectures at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond March 29-30, 2016. Below is an excerpt outlining what I believe to be the principle temptations. The full text of the lectures is available under the “Sermons and Lectures” tab on this website.
And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh is coming before me because the earth is full of violence (hamas) because of them. Now I am about to destroy them along with the earth. (Gen 6:13, my trans.)
The Priestly authors of portions of the Genesis narratives of the beginnings of the human race did not clearly elucidate their understanding of humanity’s responsibility for “subduing” the earth, but they did include statements that rule out any notion that this responsibility could include exploitation. In the Genesis 1 creation account, for example, Continue reading Hamas!
The ant is knowing and wise, but [it] doesn’t know enough to take a vacation.
– Clarence Day
I am, hopefully, smarter than an insect, so I will be visiting family and friends for the next couple of weeks. Working less, at least. Watch this space for an entry July 13.
Amnesia
“Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for free, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic…Now we languish; there is nothing in sight except manna.” (Num 11:4b-6)
Beginning in Exodus 19 and continuing through all of Leviticus and on to Numbers 10 (all or significant parts of three of the five books of the Torah), the Bible records the Continue reading Crossword Two Down – A Seven Letter Word for “Nostalgia”