“The government is expected to announce on Wednesday that three-quarters of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon leak has already evaporated, dispersed, been captured or otherwise eliminated — and that much of the rest is so diluted that it does not seem to pose much additional risk of harm… “It remains to be seen whether subtle, long-lasting environmental damage from the spill will be found, as has been the case after other large oil spills.” –Justin Gillis, “U.S. Finds Most Oil From Spill Poses Little Additional Risk,” New York Times (August 4, 2010)
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Slightly Modified Infanticide
In 1999, Senator Barbara Boxer said in so many words that fully a delivered baby does not have an intrinsic right to life. A baby only has a right to life when its mother decides to take the baby home. Until that time, the fully delivered baby can still be killed so long as the mother decides she wants it killed. George Will recently called Boxer’s position “slightly modified infanticide.” Boxer took issue with this characterization and fired-back that she had been taken out of context. Newsweek carried the exchange, and you can read the back and forth between Boxer and Will here. I just want to say that I…
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Satirizing Moral Confusion
Sometimes satire can be a most effective polemical tool. That is why Joe Carter’s satirical conversation between two women talking about having a fetus is a must-read. Here’s a snippet: Jan: “Marsha! How are you girl? I haven’t seen you in ages.”Marsha: “Hey Jan, you’re looking great. How’ve you been?”Jan: “Just peachy. Hey, guess what? I’m going to have a fetus!”Marsha (excited): “That’s wonderful! Oh, I’m so happy for you. Isn’t it a blessing having parasites growing in us?”Jan: “Yes, but I have to confess—I’m jealous. I wanted to have twins too.”Marsha: “Oh, I only have one now. Greg didn’t get his promotion so we decided to selectively reduce one…
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Anne Rice Speaks to NPR
NPR interviewed Anne Rice on Monday on “All Things Considered.” The conversation is of course about her recent decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church. That decision is already well-known and is not news. In this interview, however, we do find out that the straw the broke the camel’s back was the issue of homosexual marriage. She says: “I didn’t anticipate at the beginning that the U.S. bishops were going to come out against same-sex marriage… That they were actually going to donate money to defeat the civil rights of homosexuals in the secular society… When that broke in the news, I felt an intense pressure. And I am a…
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Another Complementarian Caricature
Egalitarians sometimes promote their point of view by equating complementarianism with oppressive forms of patriarchy. Often this is done through caricature rather than through engaging with mainstream complementarians and their stated beliefs. Unfortunately, another instance of this has happened in a recent article by Jana Chapman Gates. In an opinion piece for Christianity Today, Gates writes about her recent move from Manhattan to an undisclosed location in the Midwest. She joined a church and enlisted in a small group Bible Study that was going through a series on marriage. She was shocked to discover that her new friends held some fairly disturbing views on gender relations. In short, she learned…
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Review of Douglas Campbell’s “Deliverance of God”
Briefly Noted: In the latest issue of the Bulletin for Biblical Research, Tom Schreiner has a brief but helpful review of Douglas Campbell’s mammoth work on justification, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul (Eerdmans, 2009). Even though the book is a massive work of scholarship, Schreiner is critical. I’ve been reading the book myself, and from what I’ve seen Schreiner’s critique is right on the money. Campbell essentially adopts a novel interpretation of Romans that understands different parts of chapters 1-4 not as the voice of Paul, but as the voice of his opponents. So what you read in Romans 1-4 is not always Paul,…
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Carson on Scripture
There’s nothing new under the sun. That includes challenges to the doctrine of inerrancy. Fadish critical methods come and go, but challenges to the Bible’s truthfulness and authority are ever with us. That is why I am happy to be reading D. A. Carson’s new book, Collected Writings on Scripture. D. A. Carson has been one of the most stalwart defenders of Scripture in our generation, and this new book chronicles that legacy. It is comprised of essays from throughout his career, and these writings represent some of his best work on the doctrine of scripture. The book has ten chapters: five essays and five reviews. Here’s the description from…
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Anne Rice on First Things blog
By now you have probably heard about Anne Rice’s de-conversion from Roman Catholicism. The famous vampire novelist came back to Catholicism about 12 years ago (see video below), but now has decided that she can no longer be a Christian. In short, she wants to be devoted to Jesus, but she can’t stand what the Roman Catholic Church stands for. So she’s checking out. She made the announcement Wednesday on her Facebook page, and you can read her remarks there. Earlier today, she commented on one of the blogs at the First Things site. She writes:
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Theological Interpretation of Scripture
The latest issue of The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology addresses the topic “The Theological Interpretation of Scripture.” Jim Hamilton has posted the table of contents, and it’s an all-star line-up:
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Reformation Conference
Southern Seminary is pleased to host the first North American conference for Refo500, a global project to direct attention toward 2017 and the quincentenary of the beginning of the Reformation. Featured speakers include Albert Mohler, Timothy George, Joel Beeke, Peter Lillback, Herman Selderhuis, David Hall, and many others. The conference will meet this September 27-28 on the campus of Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY. Click here for more information and to register for the conference. “Refo500: Challenges and Opportunities between Now and 2017”