The next chapter from Wright is on eschatology and care for the creation, and is a mixed bag. The title of the chapter is “Jesus is Coming — Plant a Tree.” We will come back to that shortly. I want to begin by acknowledging what is very good about this chapter, which is Wright’s exegetical …
The Elton John Version
Wright’s chapter on the case for ordaining women starts off a little oddly. He acknowledges that he used to teach that “the creation of man and woman in their two genders is a vital part of what it meant that humans are created in God’s image. I now regard that as a mistake” (p. 64). …
How God Fastens Things
“There can only be one fixed point in the created world, and that is the Word of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord endures forever (1 Pet. 1:24). But note what this does — the constant (considered as absolute) is the Word of God. But this Word fastens …
The Butterfly’s Boots
I am continuing to work through Wright’s book, Surprised by Scripture, and so I now come to Chapter 3 — “Can a Scientist Believe in the Resurrection?” Look. This chapter was fantastico. Top drawer. First class. Stupendous. Marvelous. Top flight. Really cool. Fantabulous. This is how Wright deservedly got his high reputation. Am I overdoing …
Something Fresh
Title: Something Fresh Author: P. G. Wodehouse Genre: Fiction Publisher: Overlook Books Release Date: 2005 Pages: 260 The first of the Blandings novels introduces Lord Emsworth and his family, the Efficient Baxter, and the familiar cast of butlers, aunts, and imposters. In a moment of absentmindedness, Lord Emsworth helps himself to a priceless relic, leaving …
And Now for a Little False Teaching . . .
We now proceed down the hallway to the second chapter of N.T. Wright’s book, Surprised By Scripture. The question posed here concerns whether we really need a historical Adam, and the answer, as far as I can make out, is no, probably not. At the end of his reasoning, Wright says, “I do not know …
An Object Other Than Itself
“There is a pitfall that some have fallen into, the mistake of trying to have faith in their own faith. Sure, and so let’s not do that. Blind men healed should look to Jesus, and then at the world. They should spend very little time trying to look at their own eyeballs. You look with …
Gautama and the Ant War
It has been a while, I might note, since I have worked through a book, chapter-by-chapter. Even though no one has been clamoring for it, they ought to have been, and so here I am with another one. The book I have selected was just released by HarperOne, and is N.T. Wright’s latest — Surprised …
A Sublime Disrespect
“The Wind blows where He wishes and is not bottled up by anything whatever that we can do — whether we are talking about decision cards or baptismal fonts. Understanding this is a function of basic piety, and we have countless passages in Scripture that reinforce this reality by talking about things like sacrifices, sacraments, …
A Very Great Miracle
“When we are born again, a dramatic miracle happens. When we are born again, we are being turned into people” (Against the Church, p. 133).