A very interesting admission by a very interesting skeptic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9TMwfkDwIY&list=PLP4PWG_bj5wbRDYMlFgxRB-gzrb4xxs3c#t=105
I’ve watched the entire special which is quite good and can be accessed here:
My wife, Doreen, teaches high school worldview. Doreen recently played this for them. Yes, God is in His glory through eternity, but He is triune! Listen carefully to this beautifully, but badly adapted version by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Correct lyrics below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qCmtUhiKcA
Holy, Holy Holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, Holy, Holy! all the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and Seraphim falling down before Thee,
Which wert, and art,and evermore shalt be.
Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see:
Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power in love,and purity.
Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Sometimes we need someone to cut through the fog and say what should be obvious, but got lost somewhere along the way:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/derwin-gray/2015/january/more-than-just-good-church-kid.html
One thing many religious people have in common is that they don’t know the tenets of their own religion. As a Christian minister, I know this among my fellow Christians. I continue to be amazed how thin the understanding of some many is. Others from different religions have noticed the same. Here is a quote from a Muslim teacher which just appeared in The New York Times:
In turn, young Muslims are identifying more strongly with their religion, Mr. Khorchide said, citing the growing number of young women wearing head scarves “as an act of solidarity with their sisters in faith,” or the young men he met while doing research for his master’s degree in Vienna.
“They would say, ‘Islam is really important for me,’ but they had just dealt drugs,” he recalled. “They had a Quran in their backpack and said, ‘With the Quran, I am strong.’ But if you asked whether they had read it or knew what it contained, they said no.”
“I call this a hollow religiosity,” he added, like “the thin and fragile peel” of a fruit.
The rest is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/world/europe/teaching-islams-forgotten-side-in-a-changing-germany.html?ref=world
HT: Alan Jacobs
Christianity Today: But what about the old saying, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church”?
Historian Philip Jenkins: That was said by Tertullian, who came from the church in North Africa, where the church vanished. If you were to look at the healthiest part of Christianity right around the year 400 or 500, you might well look at North Africa, roughly what we call Tunisia and Algeria. It was the land of Augustine. Then the Arabs, the Muslims, arrive. They conquer Carthage in a.d. 698, and 100 years later—I don’t say there were no Christians there, but there certainly was only a tiny, tiny number. That church dies.
The rest is here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/march/24.52.html
When our sons were young we took them to the movie, “Facing the Giants.” On the way home they complained about how simplistic and silly it all was. “Of course it all works out. This is what Christians want!”
Here is a few minute critique which raises some important issues:
Thanks to John Fea for reminding me of this annual list. It was tough for me to decide, but out of the fifteen worst, this is my winner. Check out the list yourself:
http://erb.kingdomnow.org/worst-christian-book-covers-of-2014/
Wonderful reminder of living with integrity:
http://ayjay.tumblr.com/post/101338826638/my-father-in-law-james-lynn-collins-died-last
HT: Alan Jacobs
A sample of Reno’s words: “…the discussion seems to want something impossible: ideals without judgments, goals without rules, principles without ‘discrimination.’ This reflects the incoherence of modern liberal culture…”
The full piece is here: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/10/catholicism-sex-and-marriage
