friday photo

The nights aren't warm yet, but the days are. You appreciate spring so much more when you live in Michigan. Climbing season is here:

[friday photo on flickr]

ignorance is bliss

I read a lot from people who believe very differently than myself. I've read a lot from the "new atheists" and other, less aggressive, atheists and agnostics. Some, such as Bart Ehrman, even have a Christian background and educational pursuits similar to my own but have come to reject the Christian God. I just started Ehrman's 2005 book Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why. I caught myself thinking once again about an uncomfortable issue for me, and this time reflected on it a bit longer.

This man is challenging my worldview, my perception of truth, and ultimately everything I hold dear and valuable. Based on the fact that this book was NYT best-selling, I also assume he argues his case convincingly and see this even in the intro and first chapter. So the question haunts in my mind, begging to be made conscious, "Do I really want to read this? What if it convinces me?" If I were to walk away from the faith, as Ehrman has done, it would mean I have been completely wasting the last quarter of my life. As Paul said, If I am wrong about this Jesus thing I am of all men most to be pitied.

"You want the truth? You can't handle the truth!"

If I was wrong, would I really want to know? I reluctantly admit there is a small part of me that wouldn't, but ultimately I am convinced I would want to know.

So then how does a Christian go about reading challenging books? Very carefully. Books from guys like Ehrman, Dawkins, Harris, etc (as well as most documentaries) are designed to appeal strongly to emotions as well as reason, and though I won't harshly critique them for this since many Christian books do the same, it does necessitate careful reading. Also, as with any important issue, we must listen to both sides. Some may read Ehrman's book and walk away from the faith, but have they read Ben Witherington's review? or the response of the book Misquotes in Misquoting Jesus?(The same kind of responses have been given to Dawkins and Harris). or NT Wright's beast of a book The Resurrection of the Son of God?

I just keep coming back to 1 Corinthians 15 where Paul says "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain." and "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE DIE." If my faith was in vain I would want to know because I would do a lot more eating, drinking, and dieing.

footnotes > endnotes

Endnotes cause me much unnecessary page turning. Footnotes are my friend.

friday photo

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted a Friday Photo...

These are my friends Justin and Kevin (Justin in the foreground). I'm sure this could be interpreted with all kinds of symbolism, but I just thought it was "neat":

bacon

xkcd is a funny web comic:

sometimes i don't like christians either

Lifeway has some new statistics gathered from un-churched people. Many of them are interesting, but this one stood out in particular and I think I would lump myself with the 32%:







Some of the other interesting findings:

• 48% believe "There exists only one God, the God of the Bible."
• 61% believe "The God of the Bible is no different from the gods or spiritual beings depicted by world religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc."
• 79% believe "Christianity today is more about organized religion than about loving God and loving people"
  
• "78 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to listen to someone who wanted to talk about their Christian beliefs. The number rose to 89 percent among adults 18-29 years of age."

theodicy

the·od·i·cy –noun, plural -cies.
a vindication of the divine attributes, particularly holiness and justice, in establishing or allowing the existence of physical and moral evil.

Meet NT Wright, he is the Anglican Bishop of Durham who has published several dozen books of various scholarly to popular levels. One of his books has the self-explanatory title: Evil And the Justice of God







Now meet Bart Ehrman, he is the chair of the religious studies department at UNC- Chapel Hill, a New Testament scholar and textual critic, and recent convert to agnosticism. He also has a book with a self-explanatory title: God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer





Now get this, they recently had an organized blog debate on this topic. Check it out in order:

Bart Ehrman: How the Problem of Pain Ruined My Faith
N.T. Wright: God's Plan to Rescue Us
Bart Ehrman: What About the Actual Suffering?
N.T. Wright: What it Looks Like When God Runs the World
Bart Ehrman: God's Kingdom Has Not Come
N.T. Wright: The Bible Does Answer the Problem--Here's How

(anyone notice they both have books as the background of their head shot?)

sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll

Abraham Piper (son of John) has a newish blog called 22 Words which has every post at that length. As someone that works with the high schoolers at Riv, I think this is a great one:

Understanding teenage rebellion only as sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll implies that the goal is celibacy, sobriety, and employment. It’s not.

It’s Jesus.

about time

Michigan Brewing Company is opening a second, smaller brewpub in downtown Lansing just a 1 mile straight-shot from my house. Happy days. Hopefully they'll brew special small-batch releases there.

sick

This news story literally made me sick to my stomach. An exercise in logical conclusions, if you ask me, much like this one equally as disgusting.