TIME magazine has a fascinating excerpt from a new biography of Albert Einstein. This particular piece describes Einstein’s religious views, which were more akin to Spinoza’s than one might expect. “For some people, miracles serve as evidence of God’s existence. For Einstein it was the absence of miracles that reflected divine providence. The fact that the world was comprehensible, that it followed laws, was worthy of awe.” According to the author, Einstein was a determinist with no place for a personal god. His religion bore a greater resemblance to Deism than it did to Judaism or Christianity, though he had a detached appreciation for elements from both of the latter.…
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Evangelicals and Divorce in America
David Instone-Brewer contributes an interesting piece in the opinion section of today’s Wall Street Journal. The article uses Rudy Guiliani’s multiple marriages as a springboard for discussing American evangelicalism’s attitudes about divorce. He writes,
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Rick Warren on Inerrancy
John Meacham of Newsweek magazine moderated an informal debate between Southern Baptist Pastor Rick Warren and atheist Sam Harris. The conversation was wide-ranging and free-wheeling.
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John Piper’s Message to the Pastors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXl9oiCa-dE John Piper preached in the chapel of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary last week, and he addressed a crowed auditorium of future pastors and church leaders. As usual, the messages were powerful. The video above contains excerpts that give a glimpse into one of the sermons, but you really need to listen to both sermons in full. Here they are. “We Work with You for Your Joy” – John Piper (March 27, 2007) “The Gospel of Christ” – John Piper (March 29, 2007)
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The Historical Jesus Equals the Jesus of the Bible (part 2)
Yesterday I wrote that I had begun reading two books that address the so-called “Quest for the Historical Jesus.” The first book I discussed was John Piper’s What Jesus Demands from the World. The second book is Richard Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. This book is written on a totally different level than Piper’s book. It is written by a world class scholar, and it is written for scholars. The main argument of Bauckham’s book is an important one as it confronts one of the key assumptions of Jesus Questers.
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The Historical Jesus Equals the Jesus of the Bible (part 1)
Over the last four-hundred years or so, critical scholars of the New Testament have been on a quest to apply the methods of historical research to the canonical Gospels in order to discern what the historical Jesus was really like. The assumption underlying much of this work over the years is the idea that the Gospels do not give us an accurate portrait of Jesus, so we have to go behind the scripture to find out who Jesus really was.
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McKissic and Southwestern Trustees Make Amends
Sam Hodges of the Dallas Morning News reports that Dwight McKissic and the trustees of Southwestern Seminary have made amends. This is welcome news since the scuttlebutt had been that the trustees were going to ask the Southern Baptist Convention to remove him from the board. I hope this peace sticks. Here’s the statement that Southwestern just released from the trustees: The officers of the trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have met with trustee Rev. Dwight McKissic and have jointly agreed to put past issues behind us. We look forward to working together for many years to impact SWBTS and the world for Christ. T. Van McClain, Ph.D.Chairman, Board…
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Gays at Southern Seminary?
There were indeed some gays at Southern seminary yesterday, but none who were matriculating. They were all protesters from the homosexual activist groups Soulforce and the Fairness Campaign (pictures below). Soulforce is known for holding demonstrations at colleges and universities that have policies against homosexuality. They brought their movable feast to Southern yesterday because of Dr. Albert Mohler’s recent, controversial essay, “Is Your Baby Gay?” The Associated Press has the report:
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The Atheist Debate
Thanks to Justin Taylor for alerting us to the video of a debate between Alister McGrath (theist) and Peter Atkins (atheist). Alister McGrath is Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, and Peter Atkins is Professor of Chemistry at Oxford University. Debate: “Darwin and humanity: Should we rid the mind of God? (2007)”
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Jimmy Carter Says Mormons Are Christians
In his 1976 campaign for President, Jimmy Carter made much of his being a “born-again” Christian. Many of his fellow Southern Baptists in the solid (but softening) south were delighted to hear what sounded like a plain confession of evangelical faith. But that was then, and this is now.