Sermon Text: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (The Message) Sermon Excerpt The B-I-B-L-E yes, that’s the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God. What a song! I know many of you sung it years ago, but I don’t even know how to begin to respond. Huh? What? How? Stand alone? Word of God? The Bible may be the best-selling book of all time, but it is certainly not a book in the traditional sense. It is a collection of 66 “books.” It is a sacred text for those of us who seek Read More …
interpretation
Review of Misreading Scripture (#0971)
Meet the Authors E. Randolph Richards is dean of the School of Ministry and professor of biblical studies at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, FL. Previously he served as a professor at Ouachita Baptist University and at Williams Baptist College. Prior to his work as an educator, he served as a Southern Baptist missionary stationed in East Indonesia. He is the author of Paul and First Century Letter Writing: Secretaries, Composition, and Read More …
One Psalm – Two Radically Different Uses (#0728)
David Van Biema recently wrote about how two radically different Christian causes have used Psalm 139: Starting in the 1970s anti-abortionist evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics began using the text to suggest that God's involvement makes abortion unthinkable, and Starting in the 1990s gay and lesbian liberal Christians began using the text to suggest God's foreknowledge and acceptance. So What? While the Bible has long been used to defend both sides of an issue, I cannot think of Read More …
Review of Revelations (#0696)
Meet the Author For the last thirty years Elaine Pagels has taught at Princeton University, where she currently serves as the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion. She has "published widely on Gnosticism and early Christianity, and continues to pursue research interests in late antiquity." Pagels' previous books include the New York Times bestseller Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas (2004) and the National Book Award winner The Gnostic Gospels Read More …
Viewing the Bible as Holy (#0576)
M. Craig Barnes is the Robert Meneilly Professor of Pastoral Ministry at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the Pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA. His "Faith Matters" article in the December 13, 2011 edition of the Christian Century explores how his view of the Bible developed over time. It includes these words: The more I understand about the Bible's dust-and-grit humanity, the more holy it becomes to me. Long after I'd left behind my Read More …
Review of The Bible Made Impossible (#0568)
Meet the Author Christian Smith is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame. His research areas include "religion in modernity, adolescents, American evangelicalism, and culture." Smith has written several books, including The Bible Made Impossible: Why Biblicism is Not a Truly Evangelical Reading of Scripture (2011), Souls in Transition: The Religious & Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults Read More …