Bible Babel‘s been getting some good love lately. Now a national best-seller, thanks esp to the good folks I saw in MN and wonderful readers at Politics and Prose in DC! Many thanks to Martin Sieff for bringing an open mind and sense of humor to his Washington Times review yesterday. Meanwhile, spring is bustin’ out in Charlottesville, …
Please come to Fountain Books in Richmond’s Shockoe Slip tonight Feb 8 at 6:30 pm for a BIBLE BABEL book talk and signing!
Did you know that even though the weeping willow came from China, its scientific name associates it with Babylon… because of the Bible? Diana Wells explains in her new book The Life of Trees that it’s called Salix babylonica because of the biblical tradition of Jews weeping for Zion after being taken into exile by their Babylonian conquerors. Think: Psalm 137 …
I’m talking about money. Money money money… and the Christian soul. Of course the relationship between religion and material wealth isn’t one that only Christians debate, but the “prosperity gospel” has gained lots of converts over the past several years. And with the recent financial crisis, its basis and wisdom has gained new critics. Of …
Is it possible to overdue the thanks bit of Thanksgiving? — to get a bit cynical and scrooge-y (to borrow from the holiday on deck) about all the “I’m thankful for…”? Dear Abby runs her annual prayer, comic strips go sober, and the local news features some feel-good story of triumph thanks to X (family, friends, pets) over Y (tragedy, trial, …
Trying out some new technology and wondering — will it work or will it crash?
On this September 11, I’m reminded of how easy it is for extremists to hijack their own religion. Just a couple of days ago, a man claiming to be a Protestant minister hijacked an airplane in Mexico in order get the attention needed to tell the Mexican president a message he believed to have come …
In an underhanded effort to kill the precocious and popular upstart, David, King Saul promised his daughter’s hand in marriage if David would collect one hundred foreskins from their enemies, the Philistines. The narrator of 1 Sam 18:20-27 tells that David foiled Saul’s murderous plan by killing said number of Philistines and bringing their foreskins back to Saul. Yuck. Cut to …
I have had the great good fortune to visit recently with some amazing preachers about the challenges posed by general biblical illiteracy, in the course of writing an article on the topic for Christian Century magazine. For all sorts of reasons, it’s tough for people these days to learn even basic information about the Bible, despite its …
Preachers Riff on Biblical Illiteracy — Part V: Bring Back the Awe Read More »
I have had the great good fortune to visit recently with some amazing preachers about the challenges posed by general biblical illiteracy, in the course of writing an article on the topic for Christian Century magazine. For all sorts of reasons, it’s tough for people these days to learn even basic information about the Bible, despite its …
