Bad Times Draw Bigger Crowds to Churches – NYTimes.com
Another good reason to read the New York Times: Mark Minnick does! He mentioned in his Sunday-evening sermon that he had just read that afternoon the article from which I offer this interesting excerpt: In “Praying for Recession: The Business Cycle and Protestant Religiosity in the United States,” David Beckworth, an assistant professor of economics at Texas State University, looked at long-established trend lines showing the growth of evangelical congregations and the decline of mainline...
Book Giveaway
Trevin Wax is giving away free books to one randomly selected person.
Tolerance as a Defense Mechanism
Stanley Fish is always provocative and thoughtful in his New York Times blog. I presume his books bear the same qualities, though I've only ever picked up his most famous. Gilbert Meilaender recently reviewed in First Things a new Fish book addressed to college professors: Save the World on Your Own Time. Fish is on an admirable search for truth, according to Meilaender: "You will never,” Fish writes, “hear in any of my classes the some-people-say-X-but-others-say-Y-and-who’s-to-judge dance....
Usage determines meaning, literally.
I really enjoyed this essay on that poor, abused English word "literally." If you'll read it carefully you'll get a very helpful point for Bible interpretation as well as parlor talk. Note, too, that "wrongainey," one of the four known thoughtful commenters on the Internet (the other three frequent this blog, thankfully!), has done it again with a mild rejoinder.
Crossway and Cadillac
I applaud Crossway Books, the organization behind the English Standard Version, for being tech-savvy. I love their blogs and websites, as well as their electronic book policies. But now they have gone too far. A Cadillac Escalade ESV? The Escalade is one of the worldliest, blingiest cars there is! Reportedly, the dashboard uses the same typefaces as the new ESVs, the vinyl seats are Tru-Tone and come in Celtic or Urban, and the voice for the internal computer is done by Max McLean! No thank...