A Brief Note on the Song of Songs

The takeaway here is that the heterosexual love between a married couple is a divine gift and to be treasured.  It’s a straightforward book. Some other, random and unprofound, thoughts:  This book is also called the “Song of Solomon”; note the third-party reference to King Solomon in 3:9.  In addition to hot passages (see, e.g., … [Read more…]

Lessons from Jude

God cares about our physical actions (including sexual perversions). He wants us to help one another and obey Him:  Hate the sin, but rescue/show mercy on the sinners. God loves us. We are to be servants/slaves of Christ. Those who act immorally will be punished (in this life or the next). Don’t brag, grumble, or … [Read more…]

Lessons from Ruth and Esther

These are the two books in the Bible named after women.  There’s an obvious message here (whether or not the titles were themselves inspired by God):  Not only men are worthy in God’s eyes.  The eponymous women are admirable in many ways, including their being bold and brave and smart, but it’s interesting that both … [Read more…]

Lessons from the Minor Prophets

This post will try to distill from each minor prophet’s book what he says God wants us to do or not do.  This unsubtle approach can be taken with any book of the Bible, but seems particularly appropriate for these fellows, who were by and large pretty straightforward in what they wanted to communicate and … [Read more…]

John Polkinghorne, “The Faith of a Physicist”

The author is a former Cambridge professor of mathematical physics and a Fellow of the Royal Society, as well as an ordained priest and member of the General Synod of the Church of England.  The book is pretty dense in spots, and he does not believe that Scripture is inerrant (8, 119), but it’s worthwhile. … [Read more…]

Lee Strobel, “The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ”

This book takes the usual Lee Strobel approach — which I find very persuasive — of him interviewing a series of experts, in this case to refute the various, most prominent objections to Christianity lately, namely that it was copied from pagan religions, that the early church tampered with texts or rejected texts that were … [Read more…]

Edith Hamilton, “The Roman Way”

This is a nicely written distillation of the Roman mindset, drawing on a variety of classical works by the author of The Greek Way (which I think is more famous).   The “Roman way” versus the “Greek way” is pretty much what you would expect:  the brilliant but sleazy Greeks versus the solid but unimaginative Romans.  There’s … [Read more…]