“How many Christians torture themselves with self-rebuke because they aren’t ‘eating healthy enough?’ They didn’t have a whole lot of time for lunch yesterday, so they didn’t walk the three blocks necessary to get that bean sprout sandwich, and instead just stopped at the street vendor on the first corner. Instead of feeling guilty, though, …
So You Know What Tuesday Means
Notes for Aimee: RE Rats Nest of a Situation (Review/Chapter 3/Why Can’t We Be Friends?) Pastor Wilson writes: “‘Do we express our love for one another by not being friends?’ (Loc. 803). Again, note the we. And I would suggest that the answer to this question is yes. Avoidance of friendship can be a true …
Which Is Not a Good Thing
“If there is an inverse relationship between the complexity of the universe and the education, training, and intelligence of its purported interpreter, then what you have is just one step up from shamanism, if that” (Confessions of a Food Catholic, p. 183).
The Salvation of Susan Pevensie
Introduction: There are two things that really bother evangelical friends of Narnia, and they both show up in The Last Battle. One of them is the presence of Emeth in Aslan’s country, and the other is the absence of Susan in that same country. The character of Emeth is a striking one, and the problem …
A Rat’s Nest of a Situation
My review of Aimee Byrd’s third chapter of Why Can’t We be Friends? is going to be brief. It is going to be brief for the excellent reason that this is supposed to be a critical review, and this particular chapter contains very little to criticize. It was, in sum, an outstanding chapter. Put another …
Scam-Free Knowledge
“The issue is the nature of knowledge, not the nature of the stuff in the world. If oils made from pine needles were able to do marvelous things, there would be no one happier than I. But if no one is allowed to ask any judicious questions, then you may depend upon it—a scam is …
Stereotypical Manners?
Introduction: Just as in the first chapter, the second chapter of Aimee Byrd’s book on male/female friendships contains a real tension at the heart of it. And given how she states her concerns, I can’t see any way of resolving that tension. Another way of putting this is to say that Aimee Byrd has complaints …
Despite Many Opportunities
But Enough about Essential Forgiveness Oil
“Paul doesn’t give us the content of the [old wives/1 Tim. 4:7] fables he had to deal with, but the word refers to a genus that has never lacked for content in any age” (Confessions of a Food Catholic, p. 171).
Conservative Conservation
“Stewardship is a basic Christian duty, which is why so many people want to pretend they are doing it. It is much easier to put a green decal on your car, or widen your phylacteries some other way, than it is to actually conserve something for real” (Confessions of a Food Catholic, p. 165).