Just for Fun: Some Word Play in Mark 16

Practicing what I preach, I read Mark daily in January, and on the last day ran across two Greek-English oddities in Mark 16. First, Mark 16:2 begins, “Very early on the first day of the week, [the women] came to the tomb, the sun having risen.”  Of course, the “Son” as well as the “sun” … [Read more…]

“A Sunday Hope”

That’s the title of this short piece I posted the last Sunday of January on National Review Online.  I’ll note that the post has attracted 168 comments so far, but I have no idea whether that is a high or low number for this venue.  Anyway, here’s the post (and I hope all my fellow … [Read more…]

Intelligent Assist from Artificial Intelligence

Just FYI and FWIW:  I typed in “fine-tuning god arguments summary” into my Chrome search engine, and here’s what its AI says: AI Overview The “fine-tuning argument” for the existence of God claims that the universe’s physical constants and initial conditions are so precisely balanced to allow for life that it indicates a deliberate design, implying … [Read more…]

A Quick Point on Biblical Inerrancy

My sense is that some people like to think that, if they can convince themselves of one inconsistency or inaccuracy in the Bible, then they can reject the Bible (and Christianity) in toto.  Maybe this tendency is encouraged by the belief of many Christians in Biblical inerrancy; I don’t know.  But the point is this:  … [Read more…]

Wonders of the World

A book review on the last day of 2024 in the Wall Street Journal has a wonderful and surprising final paragraph.  The reviewer is Maxwell Carter, who is vice chairman of 20th- and 21st-century art at Christie’s in New York, and the book is The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World:  An Extraordinary New Journey … [Read more…]

I’ll Be Watching You

In the last sermon of 2024 at our church, the pastor made what I thought was a good point about the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20: 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them … [Read more…]

Do We Know What’s a Sin?

What better topic than sin as you draw up your New Year’s resolutions? When trying to avoid sin, it seems to me that two problems commonly arise that are not quite the same thing:  They are close but distinct.  First, we might wonder whether the Bible labels an action sinful at all.  Second, we might … [Read more…]

Was Jimmy Carter a Christian?

Of course he was, but you wouldn’t know from the NBC national news tonight.  That program closed with a segment that the show promised would describe the important life role played by the late president’s deep personal “faith.”  And, to be sure, it did mention”Sunday school” and “God” and even showed briefly a shot of … [Read more…]

Is Christmas a Good Holiday for Christians?

Christmas gets some bad press these days for, especially, its commercialism.  But let’s not miss the forest for the (Christmas) trees:  It’s a great holiday, especially for Christians — and it’s a great way to send the Christian message to everyone else. For starters, how could Christians not celebrate the birth of their Savior?  You … [Read more…]

David Mamet on Jonah

Playwright David Mamet (here) recently had an interesting observation on the Book of Jonah.  His synagogue’s congregation was meditating on the book during the recent Yom Kippur; his insight was triggered by remembering Rush Limbaugh’s observation once that, when you’re arguing with someone intransigent, it isn’t necessarily futile, because some third party might be listening: … [Read more…]