A Christmas Present from the Mainstream Media: Newsweek Takes a Desperate Swipe at the Integrity of the Bible (Part 1)
It is not unusual for Newsweek, and other major media magazines, to publish critical opinions of Christianity and the Bible during major Christian holidays. I have lost count of how many March/April issues of such magazines have cast doubt on the resurrection, just in time for Easter.
However, the recent Newsweek cover article by Kurt Eichenwald, entitled “The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s a Sin,” published intentionally (no doubt) on December 23rd, goes so far beyond the standard polemics, and is so egregiously mistaken about the Bible at so many places, that the magazine should seriously consider a public apology to Christians everywhere.
Of course, this is not the … Continue reading...
My Review of Peter Enns’ “The Bible Tells Me So” Named One of Year’s Best Resources by @TGC
Collin Hansen has recently posted his “Editor’s Choice: Best of 2014” list over at The Gospel Coalition, highlighting the 10 best resources of the year. I was very encouraged to see that he has included my recent review of Peter Enn’s book The Bible Tells Me So (HarperOne, 2014).
That review was one of the longest I have written in some time (almost ten pages in a Word file), and I am grateful that TGC published the full version. Enns’ book has had a wide influence, so a thorough response needed to be widely distributed.
Here is what Collin had to say:
…Reviewing bad books may not
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Attention Seminary (and Ph.D.) Students: Here is Someone Who Understands Your World!
The life of a seminary or Ph.D. student (in biblical studies) can be a strange one. The subject matter is so esoteric, the languages are so ancient and out of date, and the vocabulary of the field is so idiosyncratic, that students feel that few people outside the seminary/Ph.D. world really understand them.
Well, there is hope! Below is a hilarious video on biblical philology (what an exciting subject!) making the rounds, set to the tune of “I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General” from the musical Pirates of Penzance. The maker of this video clearly understands the seminary world:
[iframe width=”640″ height=”360″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/3x2SvqhfevE?feature=player_detailpage” frameborder=”0″ … Continue reading...
Where Are They Now? The Complete RTS Charlotte Alumni Series (So Far)
For the last year, I have been doing a series highlighting various alumni from RTS Charlotte entitled “Where Are They Now?” In each installment we ask the alumnus a series of questions about their experience in seminary, how it has helped them in their ministry, and what advice they would give to current students. The responses have been very encouraging and enlightening.
There has been no particular order to the series, but we have covered grads from a variety of different eras and who have entered into a variety of different ministries. And I plan to continue this series in the year to come.
For those who want to track … Continue reading...
Did the Earliest Christians Really Think Jesus Was God? One Important Example
One of the most common critiques of Christianity is that some of its major tenets are late inventions. Core Christian doctrines, we are told, were never believed in the earliest phases of the church but were developed only at a later time period. Orthodoxy, therefore, was not early but late.
The most obvious example of a doctrine that was purportedly added later (we will cover another such doctrine in a future post) is the divinity of Jesus. The popular internet-level narrative goes like this: Jesus was not God, nor did he claim to be God. He was just an ordinary man. At a later point, his followers began to … Continue reading...