Interesting News Item
The Wholly Holy Bible Diet has been a hit with Charismatics since it began releasing its series of Bible-themed foods and beverages in 1998. “All our ingredients come wholly from the pages of the Holy Bible” has been its slogan—and its practice—since the beginning. Now, however, Catholics and mainline Protestants can take part in the fun with new fruits and vegetables never before seen in WHBD products. “There were certain seeds and Middle-Eastern fruits that the Old and New Testaments do not...
North Korea
I took one day out of my paternity leave for pleasure reading. I selected a new Kindle book I bought after hearing the author interviewed on NPR: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. It was utterly fascinating. I devoured it. Demick weaves a gripping narrative which puts the reader in contact with daily life north of the DMZ. And the story is more than just exciting and interesting: the relationship between Mi-ran and Jun-Sang (not their real names) has to be one of the most...
The Christian Science Monitor on the New Calvinism
The Christian Science Monitor (which, by the way, has little to do with Christian Science and is a respected mainstream news source): Much of modern Christianity preaches a comforting Home Depot theology: You can do it. We can help. Epitomized by popular titles like Joel Osteen's Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential, this message of self-fulfillment through Christian commitment attracts followers in huge numbers, turning big churches into megachurches. I agree. And...
Seminary Survival Labs
Half of the readers of this blog, Duncan Johnson, will be giving a series of lectures you should attend if you’re in the Greenville area. Here’s the info: Saturday, April 3, 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. Computer Classroom, Mack Library Turning in quality seminary projects is hard work, and technological challenges don't make it any easier. The Mack Library is offering three workshop labs for undergrad Religion majors, Seminary students, and faculty. These sessions will explain and...
Why Study Greek?
I have always enjoyed languages, especially English, because my father did for me what I hope to do for my son: he insisted that I express myself and he created a welcoming environment for that expression. I took Latin in eighth grade, and my eyes were opened not only to a bit of Latin but, more importantly, to the real nature of my own language. I later took about six years of Spanish in high school and college, I am officially “proficient” in German (after 40 hours of grammar cramming and...