Monthly Archives: December 2011

Fahrenheit 451

Posted on December 30, 2011 by

Unrest in Egypt has caused the burning of a major library.  The historian in me, especially with my interest in the Ancient Near East, finds this terribly sad. Here is the story. It recalls something that happened before when the great … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

John Polkinghorne

Posted on December 29, 2011 by

John Polkinghorne is a particle physicist who became an Anglican priest.  Over at Jesus Creed the blogger who goes by the initials, RJS, today begins a series on Polkinghorne’s book, Testing Scripture: A Scientist Explores the Bible.    “In this book Dr. Polkinghorne sets out to assess the … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirituality, Theology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Biblical Literacy

Posted on December 29, 2011 by

Last week I pointed out an error in a New York Times story.  They attributed a words from the Bible’s Book of Hebrews to modern poet, William Butler Yeats. Here is a follow-up on that by Mollie Ziegler.  The NYT finally printed a correction. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

For the 2nd Day of Christmas

Posted on December 26, 2011 by

Sometimes we just need to hear the old story again so here is Luke’s Christmas story passionately read:

Posted in Seasonal | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Christmas Eve in Iraq

Posted on December 24, 2011 by

When we pray in church tonight it will be fitting, especially if there are military families in the congregation, to thank God that troops get to come home.  But I hope liturgies will not include vague thanksgiving for “peace in … Continue reading →

Posted in Seasonal, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hanukkah–What if?

Posted on December 22, 2011 by

Without the Maccabees (whose victory is the reason for Hanukkah) there would be no Christmas.  The history of Israel ties in fully with the existence of Christianity.  To drive this point home you could try imagining an alternative world history … Continue reading →

Posted in Seasonal | Tagged | 1 Comment

Christmas-Isaiah 9:1-7

Posted on December 19, 2011 by

When someone reads that “unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6) on Christmas Eve, we immediately and quite naturally think Isaiah refers to the birth of Christ. If anyone says, “Wait a minute, … Continue reading →

Posted in Isaiah, Seasonal, Spirituality | Tagged , , | Leave a comment