Skye Jethani and Brandon O’Brien have a splendid article on their visit to a class at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. The unusual thing about this class was that it was taught by Eboo Patel, a Muslim. Patel however, provides a convicting and needed challenge to the young seminarians. A challenge that all of us need to hear from time to time.
Evangelicalism, a subset of Christianity that is conservative theologicaly particularly in regards to Scripture, has been blamed for distorting the Christian faith in its missinoary efforts abroad. The claim is that early and even current evangelical missionaries imported American cultural Christianity more than genuine Christian belief. Mark Noll offers his perspective on both past and present missionary efforts from North American Evangelicals and his assessment of global Christianity in this excellent interview with Christianity Today.
Reflections on the Psalms is in my opinion not one of Lewis’ better works. It actually took a bit of willpower to finish the book, despite its brevity (approx. 140 pages). I cannot remember whether I have commented on this before, but regardless it is worth repeating. I respect Lewis more for his insight into human nature than his skill in handling God’s Word. This is one of the reasons Reflections on the Psalms was in places difficult to get through. However, for those interested in understanding Lewis view of Scripture and his hermeneutics Reflections on the Psalms will prove a valuable and insightful read. A few comments on the book may help.
First, Lewis demonstrates his excellent command of languages and ancient languages in Reflections on the Psalms. Although, no Hebrew scholar Lewis has the distinct advantage of having insight into the languages of ancient people and also insight into their culture.
Second, Lewis demonstrates great humility (what an odd expression!) in the presentation of his own views. Lewis writes as a laymen to laymen. Thus the tone of the book alleviates any excessive tension by creating a sort of conversation rather than a lecture.
Third, Lewis provides some helpful remarks on innerancy and inspiration. While he would not hold to innerancy in the contemporary evangelical definition, Lewis would hold that Scripture is sufficiently inerrant for it to accomplish its purposes. Lewis uses the word impression to describe the relationship between human author and divine author.
Despite some differences of opinion and some slow moments Reflections on the Psalms provides a unique look into the way Lewis himself handled Scripture and reminds us that he was really, just like us, a man who found comfort and strenght in Israel’s songbook.
My roommate pointed out this brilliant little essay, which applies the the redaction criticism of the JEDP theory to Winnie-the-Pooh. Simply hilarious.
What is the US Doing About Honduras and Why Are We in Bed with Hugo Chavez of All People?
Spend 15 minutes reading up on the situation in Honduras right now and you should ask yourself what the U.S. is doing? Are we really in bed with Hugo Chavez on this? Even Bush supporters must admit that he thoroughly botched U.S. relationships with Hugo Chavez and while Chavez may not have seemed like such a big fish a few years ago it is never a good idea to feed a power hungry, corrupt dictator. Ever. What Chavez did four years ago in rigging the elections mirrors the crime of Ahminejad in Iran last month. And now four years later Honduras is paying the price for America’s complacency. It is to be hoped that we learn from our mistakes. However, given our current response to Honduras and Iran it would seem we are doomed to repeat our mistakes and let other nations suffer the consequences. For more on the development of the situation in Honduras, the role of Hugo Chavez in it and a brief sketch of American policy towards Chavez and Latin America over the last four years read this editorial from the WSJ.
Mark Galli at Christianity Today has written the most convicting and challenging editorial I have read this Summer. His insight into the current state of Christians in the public sphere creates a sense of dissapointment, while simultaneously convicting individual Christians and the local church of suffering the same faults. His proposed solution is a challenging call to restore to the heart of the gospel: Christ and Him crucified and a grace which exceeds our vilest sins and deepest shortcomings.
An op-ed from the NY Times provides a fitting, albeit sad account of the end of Sarah Palin’s political carreer. Palin has provided young politicians with a lesson in what not to do, if they aspire to move forward with their political careers. Ironically the day Palin announced her resignation Jonah Goldberg attempted to give her the best possible career advice.
Over four years ago while on vacation at my parents home in the Dallas area I heard that the British Royal Museum was beginning the process of photographing and then uploading images of Codex Sinaiticus to the internet. Now four plus years later they are halfway done and you can see the result of their labors. BBC has a brief article on it here. You can find images of the the Sinaiticus here.
Evangelicals often assume that the Founding Fathers of the United States were all upstanding Christians, who if alive today would naturally be evangelicals. The claim is a natural one but is it a true one. Alf J. Mapp Jr., Eminent Scholar Emeritus at Old Dominion University, would have to say no. In his informative and accessible book, The Faiths of Our Fathers, he examines the religious and philosophical leanings of a number of the Founding Fathers. While some of the men certainly do seem to hold to a genuine Christian faith, by and large the Founding Fathers were more influenced by Enlightenment philosophy, Deism and institutional Christianity. Certainly most of them were men of integrity, men of principle and conviction, many of them great men who did great things, but by and large they were not necessarily Christians. Regarldess of their individual relgious persuation their comittment as a group to religious liberty not only shaped civil policiy for almost 200 years but it also gave rise to incredible opportunity for the church in America and abroad.
We come to You now with our iniquities and infirmities, our insecurities and sometimes too deep introspection. All of this laid bare before Your splendor.
Some of us come carrying too much ourselves, and others bearing too little. We ask that You alternately take what we need not carry, that You strip away what is not of us; that You bind up what we have torn open and replace what we have ripped out.
Some of us come with eyes that see too little, while others come with eyes that have seen too much. We ask that You open the little and wipe away the too much.
We come to You hemorrhaging inside and out. We come blind, deaf and dumb. We come lifting up others more sick than ourselves and being lifted up by those as sick as we. We are a people battered and bruised, some with hurts we have tried to heal ourselves, others with wounds so deep we have limped straight here.
But whatever the cause and however the manner we have come to You. We have come to You because there is no one else to whom we can turn. We have come to You because there is a time to heal and we ask that time be now. We have come to You in fear and trembling for You are our last and greatest hope. We have come to You and now we behold that You are more wounded than we yet whole.
And so we ask that Your wounds would heal; that Your brokenness would mend; that in Your newness we might be made new; that in Your wholeness we might be made whole; that in Your life we might share. We ask this for ourselves but we ask it more so for others. And we ask that we like You might be wounded healers.
