together. We'll be reading chapter 1 for next time.
For those who may be interested, I previously reviewed the book here on this blog.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The Blue Parakeet In Sunday School
Starting next Sunday, my Sunday school class will be reading Scot McKnight's book The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible together.
We'll be reading chapter 1 for next time.
For those who may be interested, I previously reviewed the book here on this blog.
together. We'll be reading chapter 1 for next time.
For those who may be interested, I previously reviewed the book here on this blog.
Quote of the Day (Undeception)
"I assure you as one who's come through this process, letting go of inerrancy is an act of faith in the One who should be standing behind our beliefs, whom we have encountered in some meaningful way."
I had a hard time choosing just one short quote from this post which is both insightful and full of memorable gems of wisdom. I recommend reading the whole thing.
Friday, December 25, 2009
The End Of Time
It wouldn't be a typical Christmas for me without jumping in my TARDIS and spending an hour in the UK watching the Dr. Who Christmas special. (Surely you wouldn't expect a time lord to wait until it is shown in the US, would you?) All I'll say is that it is fantastic, with some footage near the beginning which I hope to clip and include at some point in my religion and sci-fi course.And the ending (which is a cliffhanger until part two airs on New Year's Day) will leave you in thrilling suspense.
I'll resist the temptation to just jump in my TARDIS and watch the second part now. Takes all the fun out of it, that does!
Was Jesus Rich?
A colleague forwarded me an article that appeared on CNN today, about Jesus being "rich." Where to start?
I think an interesting verse to look at is 2 Corinthians 8:9. The classic view is that the reference is to "spiritual riches", to a pre-existent status given up in the incarnation. A number of scholars have raised significant doubts about whether Paul held to a view that could accurately be described as "belief in Jesus' pre-existence", in which case it becomes possible that the reference was to some material or social status Jesus had inherited, presumably via his family. They were supposed to have been descended from David, after all, and may not have been without status and may not have been as poor as the vast majority of people who lived by subsistence farming. The classification of Jesus as a "peasant" (as most famously by John Dominic Crossan) can be misleading, since contrary to Crossan, those who practiced a trade were not necessarily poorer or in a more perilous economic situation than subsistence farmers.
I think an interesting verse to look at is 2 Corinthians 8:9. The classic view is that the reference is to "spiritual riches", to a pre-existent status given up in the incarnation. A number of scholars have raised significant doubts about whether Paul held to a view that could accurately be described as "belief in Jesus' pre-existence", in which case it becomes possible that the reference was to some material or social status Jesus had inherited, presumably via his family. They were supposed to have been descended from David, after all, and may not have been without status and may not have been as poor as the vast majority of people who lived by subsistence farming. The classification of Jesus as a "peasant" (as most famously by John Dominic Crossan) can be misleading, since contrary to Crossan, those who practiced a trade were not necessarily poorer or in a more perilous economic situation than subsistence farmers.But even if that were the case, Jesus would have been poor by modern American standards, even before leaving his family behind and "becoming poor." And so this turns out to be yet another example of how badly modern readers can understand ancient texts.
One also has to consider the evidence (in particular in the Gospel of Luke) that Jesus said things like "Woe unto you who are rich" (Luke 6:24) - not a verse you are likely to hear the proponents of the Prosperity Gospel mention anytime soon. How do they make sense of such a verse, when according to them, Jesus was pronouncing a woe upon himself?!
Wrapping Up Christmas
Having posted an assortment of Christmas video and music clips, let me offer three more, for a variety of tastes.
The first is an exploration using LEGOs of what happens if you forget to get Darth Vader a Christmas present:
The second is a classic Christmas song by a classic progressive rock performer, Greg Lake:
And finally (in three parts, below is part one) there is Cantate de Noel by Arthur Honegger:
Something for everyone, I hope! Merry Christmas!
The first is an exploration using LEGOs of what happens if you forget to get Darth Vader a Christmas present:
The second is a classic Christmas song by a classic progressive rock performer, Greg Lake:
And finally (in three parts, below is part one) there is Cantate de Noel by Arthur Honegger:
Something for everyone, I hope! Merry Christmas!
Nutrocker
(I'd much rather have shared something from Keith Emerson's Christmas album, but couldn't find any selections from it online. None of Kate Kestrel's Christmas songs from Terrahawks either...)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Metanexus Institute Seeks Executive Director
I saw this in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and thought it might make someone's Christmas:
Executive Director. The Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science seeks to hire a new Executive Director beginning in July 2010. Exceptional leader with broad intellectual interests and organizational talents. Ph.D. or equivalent training. Send curriculum vitae, a letter of application, a writing sample, and three references to: search@metanexus.net by March 15, 2010. For more information, go to http://www.metanexus.net/.
Executive Director. The Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science seeks to hire a new Executive Director beginning in July 2010. Exceptional leader with broad intellectual interests and organizational talents. Ph.D. or equivalent training. Send curriculum vitae, a letter of application, a writing sample, and three references to: search@metanexus.net by March 15, 2010. For more information, go to http://www.metanexus.net/.
Renewing the Articles of Christmas
Readers of this blog are hereby officially advised that I am renewing my previously-posted "Articles of Christmas" for the 2009 year, as follows:
This post provides official notification of my intention, on or immediately prior to the 25th of December 2009, to wish readers of my blog a Merry Christmas. If you are likely to find such expression of Christmas greetings/wishes offensive, you are hereby asked to refrain from reading any and all posts on this blog which may have Christmas, Noel, or other synonymous terminology in the title which may be posted between midnight of December 24th and midnight of December 26th Eastern Standard Time. No responsibility is taken for computers whose clock settings may cause them to view a post in this category outside the specified time frame.
The Christmas wishes to be offered will be in accordance with the official articles of Christmas stipulated below:
Article I: The use of the expression "Merry Christmas" and its synonyms on this blog (henceforth referred to in this document simply as "Merry Christmas") is not to be construed as a declaration of war, whether real or metaphorical.
Article II: "Merry Christmas" is not to be construed as a form of persecution.
Article III: "Merry Christmas" is not understood to void, invalidate, denigrate, supplant or replace wishes for a happy Kwaanza, festivus for the rest of us, Hanukkah, scary solstice, Newtonmas, or any other celebration currently existing or invented in the future which readers of this blog may celebrate.
Article IV: The Christmas wishes offered on this blog are void where prohibited by law.
Article V: Readers in the UK and multiple various former colonial territories of the British Empire are offered as an alternative "Happy Christmas". This alternative greeting is not to be construed as implying the superiority or inferiority of any specific version of the English language, whether spoken as a living language or extinct.
Article VI: The use of "Merry Christmas" on or around December 25th is not to be understood to imply that the birth of Jesus occurred on or around that date.
Article VII: The use of "Merry Christmas" on or around December 25th is not to be understood as excluding a desire on my part that the Christmases of Eastern Orthodox Christians be merry when celebrated on other dates.
Article VIII: "Merry Christmas" is not to be contrued as an attempt to place an obligation upon readers to be merry on December 25th or any alternative date which they may understand as Christmas.
Article IX: "Merry Christmas" is not to be contrued as a contractual guarantee (or otherwise creating a binding legal agreement between the author of this blog and its readers) that Christmas (on whatever date it is celebrated) will in fact be merry.
Article X: All wishes of "Merry Christmas" offered upon this blog in comments by individuals other than the blog's author, whether addressed to its author or to other readers, are understood to subscribe to these articles unless otherwise specified.
This post provides official notification of my intention, on or immediately prior to the 25th of December 2009, to wish readers of my blog a Merry Christmas. If you are likely to find such expression of Christmas greetings/wishes offensive, you are hereby asked to refrain from reading any and all posts on this blog which may have Christmas, Noel, or other synonymous terminology in the title which may be posted between midnight of December 24th and midnight of December 26th Eastern Standard Time. No responsibility is taken for computers whose clock settings may cause them to view a post in this category outside the specified time frame.
The Christmas wishes to be offered will be in accordance with the official articles of Christmas stipulated below:
The Articles of Christmas
Article I: The use of the expression "Merry Christmas" and its synonyms on this blog (henceforth referred to in this document simply as "Merry Christmas") is not to be construed as a declaration of war, whether real or metaphorical.
Article II: "Merry Christmas" is not to be construed as a form of persecution.
Article III: "Merry Christmas" is not understood to void, invalidate, denigrate, supplant or replace wishes for a happy Kwaanza, festivus for the rest of us, Hanukkah, scary solstice, Newtonmas, or any other celebration currently existing or invented in the future which readers of this blog may celebrate.
Article IV: The Christmas wishes offered on this blog are void where prohibited by law.
Article V: Readers in the UK and multiple various former colonial territories of the British Empire are offered as an alternative "Happy Christmas". This alternative greeting is not to be construed as implying the superiority or inferiority of any specific version of the English language, whether spoken as a living language or extinct.
Article VI: The use of "Merry Christmas" on or around December 25th is not to be understood to imply that the birth of Jesus occurred on or around that date.
Article VII: The use of "Merry Christmas" on or around December 25th is not to be understood as excluding a desire on my part that the Christmases of Eastern Orthodox Christians be merry when celebrated on other dates.
Article VIII: "Merry Christmas" is not to be contrued as an attempt to place an obligation upon readers to be merry on December 25th or any alternative date which they may understand as Christmas.
Article IX: "Merry Christmas" is not to be contrued as a contractual guarantee (or otherwise creating a binding legal agreement between the author of this blog and its readers) that Christmas (on whatever date it is celebrated) will in fact be merry.
Article X: All wishes of "Merry Christmas" offered upon this blog in comments by individuals other than the blog's author, whether addressed to its author or to other readers, are understood to subscribe to these articles unless otherwise specified.
Last Second Christmas Gifts (It's Not Too Late!)
I love Amazon gift cards. They are perfect gifts to send any time, but if more than one person sends you one, it multiplies the shopping possibilities (with the potential for a big gift rather than several little ones!). Even if you only remember that you should have sent someone a gift on Christmas day itself, you can still get it to them without it being late, since there is no need to send an actual card, just the code via e-mail. Since people time gift cards to send on Christmas, the recipient won't know how long before you purchased it (or in other words how late you remembered them). To top it all off, if you are a member of the Amazon Associates program (I am), you can also get points for the card you purchase, not to mention ones that other people purchase through your web site. So if you've forgotten to send a card/gift to someone, it isn't too late!
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