Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 by JEL
Seven world-class religion scholars are convening in New Orleans this weekend at the 6th annual Greer Heard Point Counterpoint forum. The topic? “The Message of Jesus: What Did He Really Teach?” The headline event has the following heavyweights going toe-to-toe on their beliefs:
- John Dominic Crossan, a theologian and co-founder of the Jesus Seminar, who doesn’t believe Jesus actually spoke most of those quotes in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. To this former Catholic priest, Jesus was a “philosopher, teacher and subversive who undermined the social order with a new ethic.”
- Ben Witherington III, evangelical theologian, will take on the traditional Christian viewpoint.
Tags: Ben Witherington III, Greer Heard Point Counterpoint Forum, John Dominic Crossan
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, February 15th, 2010 by JEL
It’s tough to pin down the real story about Valentine’s Day. One, there were a lot of early Christian martyrs named Valentine. Two, the most widely accepted versions deal with a Valentine from 269 AD.
Anyway, this Valentine was a Roman priest who was jailed for either refusing to renounce his Christianity OR for secretly performing marriages for Roman soldiers (the Romans thought married soldiers were not as effective as single soldiers…fascinating link to today’s Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell debate). While in jail, Valentine either restored the sight of his jailer’s blind daughter OR was in love with this daughter and wrote her a note on the night of his execution, signed “From Your Valentine.”
You can read about all the legends and the birth of a greeting card juggernaut here.
Tags: Saint Valentine, Valentine's Day
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010 by JEL
I always thought “Amazing Grace” was a nice, sort of generic, hear-it-all-the-time-never-really-pay-attention kind of song. Then it popped up in one of my guitar lessons. It’s a classic tune for learning your first hammer-ons and pull-offs. The music I’ve been playing from doesn’t list a composer, just the word “Spiritual” as a sub-head.
And played slowly, with feeling (and flub-free) it is a very spiritual song. I thought it was another spiritual like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” that came over with slaves from Africa. Not so. I learned today that the song was written by John Newton (1725-1807), an English sea captain responsible for transporting thousands of slaves from Africa to the New World.
During one fierce storm at sea, he had a religious awakening and converted to Evangelical Christianity. And then wrote “Amazing Grace,” among other hymns. I wonder if his tune was at all influenced by the music he heard rising up from the chains below decks on all those voyages.
Tags: Amazing Grace, John Newton, spirituals
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010 by JEL
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about the “prosperity gospel” and how it fits (or doesn’t) with the gospel teachings of Jesus. Now, one minister, Rev. C. Thomas Anderson, senior pastor of the Living Word Bible Church in Mesa, Arizona, is claiming that the Jesus we all thought was poor was, in fact, wealthy.
Rev. Anderson points to three pieces of evidence for his claim: (1) the expensive gifts baby Jesus received from the three wise men; (2) the fact that Mary and Joseph rode a donkey (“Cadillac”) to Bethlehem; and (3) that Roman soldiers gambled for Jesus’ undergarments.
Others disagree. Bruce W. Longenecker, a Baylor University religion professor says, “The only way you can make Jesus into a rich man is by advocating torturous interpretations and by being wholly naive historically.” You can read more about the debate here.
Tags: Four Gospels, Jesus, piety, prosperity gospel
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Join What He Said Online