I think we have a great audience on Parchment and Pen. It is varied and representative of a diversity of Christian thought. I appreciate this. I need this. Thank you all for being a part of the serious thought.

I have a question for you. I am sitting here thinking through a class I am teaching tonight on essentials and non-essentials. It is very windy. There is a large oak tree outside that is catching the wind. Its strength amazes me. How does it withstand so much wind? It brought to mind a very familiar passage of Scripture: Continue Reading »

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Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone Magizine goes ”Undercover with the Christian Right.”

Ouch. I wish he would not have gone to a John Hagee anything to see what we were all about.

One blogger writes: “I wish Taibbi had picked a more “normal” congregation to go undercover in, but an experience in your average non-charismatic megachurch probably would not make for as good a story. The problem with this stuff is twofold: a) it makes us all look like idiots, and b) it will not do to pretend this isn’t widespread.”

(HT: TakeYourVitaminZ)

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I have taught a Humanity and Sin course in The Theology Program many times. Before we begin our session on the theology of genders, I spend some time asking both the men and the women some questions. I don’t want people to think that this is necessarily leading anywhere so that their answers are not representative of a loaded defense of any particular theological position. In fact, when I started teaching this course, I was simply curious, not knowing how people would respond.

The questions are simple. Women, what do you like best about being a woman? What do you like least about being a woman. The same question is asked to the men about their gender. Having done this numerous times to people all over the world for many years, I found that the answers were always the same. Yes, there were a few exceptions here and there, but greater than 90% of the time, women and men answered the same.  Each semester I would take these results and write them all down and compare them to the previous semester. 

Below represents an agglomerated summery of the answers I always receive from each group.  Continue Reading »

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Have you noticed it? Do you feel small? Do you feel inadequate to have opinions anymore? Do you feel a heavy hand upon your head? Do you feel demeaned, disenfranchised, demoted?

That is what it is beginning to feel like to be an Evangelical.

There is a new elitism that is sweeping Christianity. Oh, it does not go by any such name. In fact, it claims to be anti-elite. Its characteristics are those which discount opinions with too many raised hands. It promotes evangelical vertigo, western fatigue, and uncertain hope. It goes by many names: emergent, post-colonialism, post-conservative, post-modern, post-fundamental, post-Christian, and the like. It promotes all things “re-.” Re-imagine, re-construct, re-think, re-form, re-(ahem) claim. It is theology 2.0. Continue Reading »

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OK, I admit it: this is shameless of me. It’s tactless, mercenary, and almost despicable. Nevertheless, I’m going forth with it because I believe that, in this case, the ends justify the means. Not that I’ve changed my ethical convictions, but rather than the ends are so vital that a “certain moral flexibility” (as Martin Blank said in his self-description in Grosse Point Blank) is tolerable. And if not tolerable, at least I can always ask for forgiveness (I’ll take that route over asking for permission any day! (;-)).

Here’s my spiel: This past Saturday evening was the annual fundraiser dinner for the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts. As many of you know, we are trying to raise $500,000 for 15 months’ worth of photographic expeditions, starting next month. After the fundraiser, we now have over $150,000 toward that lofty goal. We are extremely grateful to all who have contributed to the work of digitally preserving ancient copies of the Word of God. We did a new thing at the dinner, and it’s something that I’d like to pass on to you who live in the USA. We had some blow-ups of manuscript photographs for sale. The size was 18” x 24”. Each was laminated and was glued to a stiff backboard. The resolution was outstanding. Each picture is numbered on the back; we will only make 500 copies. Then no more. Each comes with a certificate giving the details of what’s in the image, including the age of the manuscript, the text, etc. (A much briefer description is found below.)

The images are for sale at $150 apiece. Half of that money constitutes a tax-deductible donation to CSNTM; half is the market price of the image. Shipping is extra: $10 for the continental US. Many of you live in the Dallas area and could pick up the picture yourself, thus saving on shipping costs. Some of you may wish to add more to the check as a donation to CSNTM. We’ll note the difference and send you a statement to that effect.

Please understand that the reason I’m making these available to you is because I believe in what CSNTM is doing. Our goal of photographing as many as 200,000 manuscript pages during the next 15 months requires a great deal of funding. If you believe in what we are doing, then owning a piece of history while supporting our efforts may well be a win-win opportunity for you. We urge you to partner with us in this endeavor. And, of course, we urge you to invest in RMM, since that ministry is how you found out about CSNTM and since it is doing an awesome and unique work for the Lord!

These pictures are suitable for framing and would be a great conversation piece in your home. They also would look marvelous in church hallways, offices, classes. And they immediately pique one’s interest in the transmission of the text of scripture. In that respect, they become springboards, as educational tools, into the reliability of the biblical manuscripts as pointers to the essential teaching of scripture.

I’m attaching low-res images of these pictures below, followed by a brief description. If you’re interested in purchasing such a picture, please send the check to the following address:

CSNTM
5729 Lebanon Road
Suite 144, #403
Frisco, TX 75034

Make sure to specify which picture you are purchasing on your check. Allow 4 weeks for delivery.

1. “John the Apostle”: An icon of St. John, as he is sitting in the Cave of the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos, writing the Gospel of John. This is from codex 676, a 13th century Greek Gospels manuscript.

Continue Reading »

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Interesting observations Zach makes in light of some ways blogging can be counterproductive to the Christian community:

1. Practice writing. Writing is a skill just like anything else. The more you do the better you get. The ability to formulate ideas and thoughts in a concise and understandable way is a foundational facet of our civilization that I seek to improve in. The truth is though I don’t have that many great things to say (if ever), so I usually point to great things that others have said. But when I do choose write my own thoughts I find that this a valuable process to hone the skill of writing.

2. A place to document my thoughts. Oftentimes I don’t know how I feel about an issue until I actually articulate it in a way that someone else could read and understand (as I am doing right now). It forces me to think specifically and concretely about something as opposed to just have this amorphous blob of thinking about an issue rolling around in my brain. In terms of documentation, I also have a blog all about my kids that tracks their development. It functions like a baby book but better because I can upload pictures, videos and write out quickly and easily things that they said or did that we’ll want to remember in 20 years. For certain, grandparents who live hundreds of miles away greatly value this blogging.

Read the rest.

(There’s a link for you Zach )

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Men and women are different. I would not think that anyone really wants to argue against this statement. I would not think that anyone wants to argue with this statement, but my thinking does not rule the debate. In fact, there are those who would argue against what I believe. Let me back up.

There are some things that women are better at than men.

There are some things that men are better at than women.

These two presuppositions help form my understanding of the great gender debate. I am a complementarian. Really, I am what you might call a soft complementarian. I believe that God has created the sexes uniquely. This uniqueness contributes to individual uniqueness.

Before I continue with my position, let me give a brief overview of the positions and their respective responses. Please understand that some arguments are going to be more central than others. As well, some will have more validity. I have simply tried to give a representation of the debate without necessarily endorsing each argument. I say this to prevent straw-men from either side.

A survey of the positions:

Complementarianism:

Position: The Bible teaches that men and women are of equal worth, dignity, and responsibility before God (ontological equality). The Bible also teaches that men and women have different roles to play in society, the family, and the church (functional inequality). These roles do not compete but complement each other. This is illustrated (not evidenced) in the doctrine of the Trinity. All members of the Godhead are equal in essence (ontological equality), but have distinct roles (functional inequality).

Adherents: Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Douglas Moo, Charles Swindoll, John MacArthur, Tom Schreiner, Daniel Wallace. Continue Reading »

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I didn’t go to church this morning—one reason: my hair. My stylist has cut back her hours and her openings conflict with my schedule. A STYLIST? You have a stylist? Surely that would be the question for anyone who knows me. But without one, the honest truth is I would normally look a lot worse than I actually do. Now, this is not an issue of a low self image. I’m a realist. I know my strengths. For example, I have good teeth and a good smile. But bad hair always trumps good teeth. Continue Reading »

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William Webb’s Women, Slaves, and Homosexuals is one of the most outstanding books that I have read in the last 10 years—one of the most outstanding books that I disagree with. My disagreement is by no means wholesale, but limited to his conclusions concerning the great gender debate.

Is there a proper and biblical role which men and women are limited to by God’s design? That is the essence of the debate.

If you are a complementarian you believe that the roles of men and women are complementary, yet distinct  by God’s design. Therefore, women honor God more by functioning within these roles. As well, men honor God more by functioning within their roles. Continue Reading »

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Of interest to the readers of Parchment & Pen: Christianity Today this week (April 23, 2008) published its article on the Greek New Testament manuscripts that the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (www.csntm.org) discovered in Albania last summer. It appeared both as a full-length interview in the on-line version of CT and a shorter treatment in the print version for May 2008. In addition, the on-line CT had a sidebar discussing the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11). For this article, the reporter interviewed a few scholars (including Ben Witherington, Craig Evans, Mike Holmes, and Doug Moo) about the authenticity of the pericope and, if inauthentic, how they viewed the story. This article was included because several of the newly discovered manuscripts in Albania either lacked the story or placed it at the end of John. Interesting perspectives on whether it should be treated as scripture and whether it was historical.

The on-line interview is found here: http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/117-32.0.html  

The sidebar on John 7:53-8:11 is found here: http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/117-31.0.html

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Join us for this lively broadcast where Mark Driscoll and I discuss Christ in a pop culture in relation to his new book Vintage Jesus.

Main issues discussed:

• What makes Christ so attractive to our culture today?
• Is it the true Christ people are attracted to?
• How do we represent Christ in our culture?
• Why is there criticism about contextualization? Isn’t this just part of the Christian mission?

 

 Mark Driscoll - Vintage Jesus [71:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (925)

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There were many great posts that were submitted this week for consideration of being posted on the Parchment and Pen blog. This is our new Friday night guest post. Lisa’s post Pump Up the Volume was selected this week.

Q/A:

Why wasn’t mine selected?

Please understand that there are many posts that are submitted for consideration. Thank you! Unfortunately, we cannot choose them all. You can may resubmit your post next week.

What can I do to make submission more likely to be posted?

Make your post original. If it seems to be a cut-and-paste from something else, we may give it less consideration.

Make your post clear. Clear, clear, clear. If it is hard to tell what your thesis is, we probably won’t post it.

Make sure that the need that your post addresses is clearly presented. If people don’t get what you are saying in the first few sentences, you won’t keep their attention. Use illustrations, statistics, quotes from others that demonstrate the problem/issue. This will create the “itch” before you proceed to scratch it. If there is no itch, people won’t scratch.

Don’t just post a bunch of Scripture. We can post that ourselves!

Make it provocative. This is what our people have come to expect. However, there is no need to go overboard with this.

Make sure that we don’t have to do extensive editing. I cannot even edit my own posts very well!

Posts that lack one or more of these qualities will be less likely to be chosen.

If you want to resubmit them for next week, we will take a look again.

Look to the bottom right of the blog for how to post. Everyone is welcome!

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On my way back to my cubicle at work the other day, I said something in passing to one of my co-workers who is also a sister in Christ that works on the same floor as me. I could not help but notice that her voice was hoarse, and knowing that this is usually symptomatic of her extending praises to God, I asked “Church?” Of course, she nodded.

Having once been a part of pentacostal/charismatic based churches, I understood all too well. My sister’s hoarse voice was a result of what is known as “radical praise and worship”. Radical praise and worship is expressing to God in a thunderous and energetic way, gratitude and appreciation towards God and typically in a corporate setting. It is magnifying the Lord and extolling His name in a manner that is supposedly befitting of His virtues, attributes, blessings and sovereignty. After all, don’t sports fans express their loyalty to their team in such a manner? Why should they outshine or rather “out-scream” the saints, who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Continue Reading »

This post was submitted by Lisa Robinson.

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Maybe they saw Stein’s movie.

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When the history books are written, I suppose that people will begin to recognize the degree to which our culture has changed in its thinking over the last few years. When all is said and done, I believe that the internet will be seen as the catalyst to postmodernism in the same way the printing press was to modernism.

I sympathize with the confusion in our world today. I am not riding the boat, but I do understand why people are floating upstream.

I was on campus at the University of Oklahoma today. I had lunch with a young Christian student. We began talking about relativism, skepticism, tolerance and the like. Being a Christian raised in a very conservative home, this young man expressed disgust at the attitude of the postmoderns on campus. “Your truth is your truth. My truth is my truth.” Isn’t this what they all say? I asked him if he sympathized with such a statement. Of course, the right Christian answer is “no.” Wait, it is “*%ll NO!”

I do. Continue Reading »

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