I have three links for today:
1. Sarah Moon’s blog has a guest post by Abe Kobylanski entitled What Makes a Good Daddy?
Abe talks about how certain Christians (such as the Christians in a
small group that he was in) claim that only Christians can show love,
and yet his father is an atheist and has shown love to him numerous
times. Abe asks if all love, including the love shown by
non-Christians, can be from God. This is a beautiful post because of
what Abe says about his father. But (whether this would be Abe’s
intention or not) the post also reminded me of why I tend to shy away
from evangelical small groups, in which (in my opinion, based on my
experience) there’s a lot of simplistic bombast.
2. Derek Leman has an excellent post, Chicken or Egg? Bible and Culture,
in which he touches on similarities between Yom Kippur and a Babylonian
day (while also acknowledging that there are differences between the
two). So did a biblical author simply copy from another culture? What
are the theological implications of that? Derek says that the ways in
which the Hebrew Bible reflect its ancient Near Eastern environment
demonstrate that revelation is incarnational and that God dialogues with
human beings. Derek states: “God dialogues more so than lecturing.
Revelation is give and take, a discussion. And we are partners in the
discussion, because we are made of God-stuff. “ Derek makes essentially
the same point as Peter Enns in Inspiration and Incarnation, which many have echoed. But Derek made it in a manner that resonated with me.
3. And, speaking of Peter Enns, he has a post
on evangelicals getting a Ph.D. in biblical studies—-advice for those
considering it, potential pitfalls, how one shouldn’t attribute certain
thoughts and feelings to God, etc.