In a recent interview with Parade magazine, Brad Pitt explains why he no longer embraces Christianity. It turns out that he was raised as a Southern Baptist, but when he got to college he came upon some stumbling blocks that led him to cast aside his faith altogether. He describes his current feelings on “religion” in this way: “Guilt is the thing I find most evil about it. It’s the thing I rail against the most. . . Religion works. I know there’s comfort there, a crash pad. It’s something to explain the world and tell you there is something bigger than you, and it is going to be alright…
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Why I Will Not Vote for Rudy Giuliani
I have recently written about the candidacy of Rudy Giuliani for president and have said that I will not vote for him because he is pro-choice. I should clarify that his pro-choice position is not the only reason that I’m not supporting Mayor Giuliani. There are many other issues that also make him an unacceptable candidate (e.g., opposition to ban on gay “marriage,” support for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research). For these reasons, it is clear that Rudy Giuliani is no more conservative on moral issues than Hillary Clinton. But my concern is not so much whether people regard him as conservative. My concern is that he stands…
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Presidential Candidate Calls for Kingdom Come
At least one of the candidates for President of the United States went to church yesterday. Can you guess which candidate said the following while he was there? “I just want all of you to pray that I can be an instrument of God in the same way that Pastor Ron and all of you are instruments of God. . . We’re going to keep on praising together. I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth.” If you were to guess that it was Republican Mike Huckabee (a former Baptist Preacher) who uttered those words, you would be wrong. If you were to guess, Sam…
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The Tigers Get ‘er Done
It wasn’t pretty. LSU turned the ball over once, and they had 7 penalties for 61 yards. On top of that, the Gators were in rare form under Tebow. LSU’s vaunted defense didn’t look so good for about the first three quarters. The Tigers trailed the Gators until about the last minute and a half of the game. I don’t have the heart to gloat (even though I’m normally not above such things 🙂 ). Tebow is good. Really good. Vince Young good. I have a new respect for him and his team. Nevertheless, Jacob Hester has every bit as much heart and brawn as Tebow, and Hester was truly…
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James Dobson Speaks about Third Party Option
Don’t miss Dr. James Dobson’s Opinion piece in today’s New York Times: “The Values Test.” He writes about the decision that was reached by a subgroup within the Council for National Policy. He writes: “If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate. . .
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C. F. D. Moule, R.I.P. (1908-2007)
His was not a household name, but C. F. D. Moule was a luminary in my field. He was a great scholar who also had a reputation for having a warm evangelical spirit. For me by far, his most influential book was his first book, An Idiom Book of New Testament Greek. I have benefitted from this book immensely over the years and can say that some of the ideas in my own publications can be traced backed to nuggets found in this little volume. Would that we all could be as careful and prolific as C. F. D. Moule. R.I.P. “C. F. D. Moule: Last of the Gentlemen-Scholars” –…
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The War: Some Reflections
I just finished watching the last episode of Ken Burns’ documentary “The War.” The film is not entertainment. It’s an historical depiction of real evil and of the heartrending, gut-wrenching consequences of human sin. It’s also a reminder of the great courage and heroism of a generation of Americans who went out to fight a necessary war. I am grateful for them and their sacrifice, even as I thank God for the blessings of liberty and peace that I too often take for granted.
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Are You A Convergent Christian?
Last week, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina hosted a conference addressing the Mark Driscoll wing of the emerging church. The plenary speakers included Mark Driscoll himself, seminary president Danny Akin, and others. I was particularly interested to hear Driscoll’s message. Driscoll is widely known as an emerging church pastor. But because many Southern Baptist leaders tend to treat the emerging church as a monolithic movement, Driscoll has been regarded by many as theologically liberal (like Brian McLaren and Tony Jones). But this characterization is certainly unfair.
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Religious Right To Bolt If Republicans Choose Rudy
James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and some others within the Council for National Policy are threatening to leave the Republican Party if Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination, according to The New York Times. This is big news. I for one am happy to see these leaders standing on principle, and I intend to stand with them. I don’t care if Giuliani believes in lower taxes and smaller government. If he’s wrong on the greatest human rights crisis of our time (abortion on demand), then he’s not qualified to be President. “Giuliani Inspires Threat of a Third-Party Run” – by David Kirkpatrick (New York Times)
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Doug Wilson on the Politics of N. T. Wright
This is likely the first and last time you will see the word “turd” in one of my blog posts. But this is the metaphor that the inimitable Doug Wilson chooses to describe the current polarities of the American political landscape. In his commentary “The Fox News Jesus or the CNN Jesus?,” Wilson responds to Joseph Laconte’s critique of N. T. Wright that appeared last week in the web version of The Weekly Standard (see my “More Wrong from Wright“). Wilson’s basic point is that choosing between the “Fox News Jesus” and the “CNN Jesus” is like choosing between cat turds and dog turds. They’re certainly different, but neither one…