Phillip Yancey has survived a scary accident. Thanks to God and those who were there to help him.

Another major archaeological discovery: Jesus’ Underwear Found.

(Denise loves Scott Adam’s blog. This has gotta make you smile.)

“Filmmaker James Cameron is claiming he and some archaeologists found the tomb of Jesus’s family. All the casket-like things called ossuaries are empty. I wonder what the archeologists were thinking when they found an ossuary with Jesus’s name on it. I can imagine the moment they removed the lid and looked in. If it were me, I’d wonder if I was going to see one of the following:

1. Nothing
2. Decomposed stuff
3. Jesus sitting up and saying, “What in Dad’s name took you so long?”

If you put an ordinary guy in an ossuary for 2,000 years, he’d clearly be dead. But if I were opening that ossuary I’d be wondering if maybe someone put Jesus in there after he died but before he arose. And maybe it’s hard to get out once you get in. I’d be worried that Jesus arose inside the stone box, and he’d be totally pissed that no one let him out until now.

I realize that this would not be the most rational worry in the world. But I like to base my worries on an expected value calculation. So for example, a 90% chance of getting a sliver would worry me about the same as a .000001% chance of a nuclear bomb going off in the backyard. In this ossuary example, I’d be looking at maybe a 2% chance of waking up an angry Jesus. I say that’s worth a worry.

If Jesus was in there, and sat up when I took the lid off, I’d first try to judge how angry he looked. If he had that money-changers-in-the-temple look, I’d go with a joke, like “Ha ha! Turn the other cheek!” Or maybe I’d try to explain to him that the extra suffering was extra good for humanity, and after all, that’s his job. Then I’d say, “Hey, I don’t like my job either, but you don’t see me complaining all the time.”

I know that some of you will say that if Jesus could move that big rock that was allegedly in front of his tomb in the traditional telling of his life, he’d have no trouble removing an ossuary lid. But he wasn’t supposed to be in an ossuary in the first place, so obviously if this ossuary is genuine, some of the details of the story were wrong. And if God let Jesus be crucified, it’s not a huge stretch of the imagination to think he’d let him stay in a stone box for 2,000 years. It makes sense to save your coolest miracle for when it’s needed most. And I think you’ll agree that this would be a good time for a messiah. And if you were God, you’d want James Cameron attached to this production. So it makes sense to me.

That’s why I’d be a crappy archaeologist. I’d be afraid to open anything.”

by Scott Adams

Mark Strom’s book The Symphony of Scripture has been a favorite for several years. Here’s some audio from this outstanding teacher. (HT to the Jolly One.)

John Piper has a fine sermon on the small group ministry of the church.

Ben Witherington updates with more effective points on problems with the tomb.

Matthew: I’ve prayed for you.

Ignatius Press has a new book on the ordinary lives of early Christians. Looks interesting.

I’m blown away by this Ash Wednesday thing, and it’s real evidence of how much I was formed in my seminary experience at the “pre-Mohler” Southern Seminary, 1979, 82-84, 86-87.

For starters, we had a music school that was world class, and that kept a lot of “high church” things alive. In addition, the “seminary” churches (faculty dominated) were all in tune with the Christian year. Guys like Glenn Hinson- a friend of Merton- were still teaching early on, and even Timothy George encouraged an appreciation of those things. I attended an SBC/KBC church that had liturgy, the year, the Apostle’s Creed as well as a public invitation and Lottie Moon. (Highland Baptist Church.) Of course you were aware that the seminary community wasn’t your county seat SBC church, but we’re talking a school of 1200 students where you could do your J-terms at the RCC seminary, or the PCUSA seminary across the road.

It is correct that in small towns this kind of cooperation is normal. The two nuns who run the local RCC church are friends with many OBI faculty. When I worked for an FBC in a county seat town, we always attended Lenten and Holy Week luncheons/devotions at the local Christian (Disciples) Church. The ministerial association sponsored Good Friday services and the RC priest, ECUSA rector and the Lutheran guy all participated. No one ever said a word. Of course, no one was promoting any of this IN our church.

But the Christian year, and the practices associated with it, aren’t RCC. They are thoroughly Christian. They are older, deeper, better versions of Christian t-shirts, Emmaus Road retreats and MercyMe concerts. It’s a way to be formed. One of the ways I came to Christ was a one hour “vigil” of silent prayer and Bible reading I had to do as an RA boy at age 14 (in order to play basketball.) What is so dangerous about silence, or fasting, or ashes, or counting the days till Easter?

I think this is all about the 1,001 ways fundamentalists can find to be threatened. Oh wait….it’s up to 1002.

Hey, y’all. Just wanted to drop in for a moment from my self-imposed exile for Lent to ask for prayers for me and my family. My grandmother, Edith Stovall, died this morning in her home in Imboden, AR. She just turned 91 a couple of weeks ago. My family and I will be traveling to Imboden tomorrow morning and return Sunday afternoon.

I appreciate your prayers as I will be officiating the service. Mamaw and I were very close.

Kent: Looks like you made it back home. How’s things with your mom?

Michael: For the life of me, I can’t see why you and Denise feel trapped. As others have said, you guys have tons to offer and I feel certain your options are endless. Just get a dart, say a prayer, chunk it at a U.S. (World?) map, pack up, and go. : )

I’ve been reading your conversation with Frank Turk. You really are a glutton for punishment. Is he an Arkansan? I no longer run in Baptist circles, but I can easily imagine a SBC pastor going to a RCC Ash Wed service being viewed as controversial and a cause for concern. Of course this depends on the individual church.

It seems to me that a major factor is the size of the town/church. The greatest cooperation between denominations seems to take place in smaller towns – where people are more likely to view their community as one big family. Plus, rural pastors are less likely to be egomaniacs – as the nature of their work indicates. My hunch is that the traditional southern city (big town to medium size city) where the SBC dominates like Little Rock, Huntsville, or even Memphis would be the most likely to have quite a few fiercely territorial SBC churches who would strongly resist their pastor attending a RCC Ash Wed service.

Michael: By the way, I noticed that Stetzer mentioned Reggie McNeal in his presentation. I really like McNeal’s book The Present Future (of which I have written a review, if you are interested). McNeal does a great job of taking the commonly held convictions within the broader emerging movement and applying them in the local church context in very practical ways. The book is very readable and easy to follow even for lay people.

Stetzer referred to McNeal as the “recent” director of leadership development for the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Do you know what he is doing now? After reading the book, I was a little surprised he still worked within the SBC. He’s definitely pushing the envelope.

I’ve been reading Chemnitz on Scripture in his Examination of Trent.  It’s really good.  Shockingly, he spends more time talking about who wrote and why than verbal inspiration.  He literally goes through each book of the NT and discusses why the author wrote it and how he wants his book to be read, not something you see in inerrancy battles…and this is the late 16th century.  That’s not to say he didn’t hold the same view of inspiration that pretty much everyone held back then…it’s just that inerrancy and inspiration don’t buy you much when the real fight is over how the Scriptures are to be used in theology and for the Church.

Great Interview with Leigh McLeroy at CGO. Almost a must read. Get all three parts.

An overview of the Stations of the Cross, from the excellent Dream Awakener site.

If you’ve been reading my dialog with Frank Turk, I hope you were stunned to hear Frank’s assessment of my Ash Wednesday observance. Matthew can tell me if there is that much difference between Ky and Arkansas, but here, what a pastor does to deepen his own spiritual life is unlikely to be controversial unless the church has some real hostile boneheads on board or the pastor makes an obnoxious, high profile deal of it all. Going to an RC service with your neighbors in a small community like ours is just neighborly. A very strange world.

Denise and I determined that our lives went into the crapper when the dog died.

Michael, I’ve been hovering around the medical field long enough to know that RNs, especially BSNs are in major demand to the order of $25-40+/hr…simply move to Minnesota…they even have a union here.  The only downside is working with doctors.

There’s a lot of demand for competent & healthy people…especially good communicators…the ‘competitive job market’ isn’t flush with people who can find their butt in the dark with both hands.  You’ve simply been somewhat sequestered the past 15 years career-wise.

Michael: Dude – seriously. I wish I was in a position to hire a pastor. You’d have the offer in no time. As the pomo hero Bono once said: “Don’t let the bastages get you down” – or something like that.

At 50, you are prime senior pastor material. If you love what you do at OBI, stay there to your final breath, but take heart. There are churches all over this country that would love to have someone like you.

Heavenly Father, Shepherd of your people, we thank you for your servant Michael, who is faithful in the care and nurture of your flock; and we pray that, following his example and the teaching of his holy life, we may by your grace grow into the stature of the fullness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Somewhere there’s an evangelical finding some way to agree with some part of this column. You just know it.

Internet Monk Radio 48 is up, and once again, there is no request for money.

Figure this out. Denise and I have been here at OBI for 15 years. She’s a 4 year BSN from Murray State and an RN. While here she’s been a counselor, an editor, run an entire publications department and supervised all school publications including a newsletter with a circulation of almost 25,000. Before coming here she was an adolescent psych nurse, a director of nursing for a facility working with Cerebal Palsy, a nurse educator, a rehab nurse and a regular med-surg nurse. She’s been published in Nursing Magazine and is a published and award winning playwright with extensive experience doing all phases of creative ministry in all kinds of churches. She’s written everything from Passion Plays and three act dramas to 1 minute skits. She plays the piano and the dulcimer beautifully. She’s a wonderful teacher and writer. She raised two fantastic kids. Everyone loves her. Even TRs who hate me would love her.

I have a seminary M.Div and 37 hours of grad. I’ve been quoted in Time and published in Mod Ref. I’m on Sirius radio every week. I have a blog read by a quarter of a million people a year. I’ve been a youth ministry specialist, preacher and minister for over 30 years. I’ve served as a pastor, associate pastor and youth minister since 1976. I’ve preached more than 1800 times in the OBI chapel to thousands of people and just resigned a preaching assignment I carried out for 12 years. I’m a natural teacher who loves the classroom with almost any age. I’m the head of the Bible department here, I teach Bible survey to kids from all over the world and I teach AP English IV. I’ve been campus minister, counselor and currently serve as assistant to the President here at OBI. I travel and speak to all kinds of groups about our school. I play guitar well, sing well and plan/lead worship well. I have a good mind for what’s happening in the world, I can communicate and I am a hard working team player. Before full time ministry, I was pretty good in retail.

We’re both 50. And we’re both convinced- totally convinced- that we have absolutely no possible way to ever be employed anywhere else. We’re both convinced that 15 years here has made us unemployable and that we can never work anywhere else but here.

I’m so mad at myself over this, I could kick myself, but at my age and size, that would probably not turn out well.

Pray for us. This is ridiculous.

Andreas Köstenberger gives the Jesus tomb a good shake down.

• the claim that Mary Magdalene’s bones were found in one of the ossuaries on the basis that the name “Mariamne” (Mary) is inscribed on it is bogus; the connection drawn here is pulled completely out of thin air


• the highly suspect use of statistics and DNA “evidence” to support their case; Jesus, Joseph, and Mary were among the most popular names in first-century Palestine, and, of course, people buried in the same family tomb would for the most part be related; as Witherington rightly points out, we “would need an independent control sample from some member of Jesus’ family to confirm that these were members of Jesus’ family”—but, of course, we have no such thing


• all the earliest accounts of Jesus’ death and burial indicate that Jesus’ body could not be found and had not been moved; there is no ancient evidence at all for a Jesus’ family tomb whatsoever


• why would this family tomb have been in Jerusalem? Jesus was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth


• there is no historical evidence for Jesus having a son named Jude; there is no credible historical evidence that Jesus was married, to Mary Magdalene or anyone else (plus see the first point above)


• if Jesus died and a year later his bones were transferred to an ossuary, and this ossuary was placed in a Jerusalem family tomb, this would mean that all the early Christian martyrs, including the apostles, knowingly died for a fraudulent religion; this is highly implausible

Apparently this is old, but darned if it isn’t one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a long time. (HT: Confessing Evangelical)

I thought this article in Christianity Today about the sign of the cross was interesting. It made me wonder what Protestant leader I should thank for abolishing the sign of the cross from Protestant practice? Surely that development was not another contribution of that fuddy dud Zwingli?!?

My third answer to a Frank Turk question. You are going to find this one real interesting.

MOD: The Canadian editiorial committee has pointed out that I should say “really” if I want to keep my license to teach English. Of course, this is a colloquialism that is common in our parts….real common. I won’t change it. I’m real stubborn that way. :-)

I noticed in the Time article that Richard Bauckham is quoted a couple of times. Our mate Chris Tilling has a ginormous series of posts on Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony. The posts include an interview with Bauckham. There are also (so far) four “Bauckham Responds” posts, which adds a dynamic feature to the series.

> So can someone give me some insight into the Reformed mind here?

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When guys like Peter Leithart bring up the Puritan abolishment of the church year in English Christianity, I wonder how they view their own Christian genealogy. Do they see themselves as English Christians whose Reformation roots begin in Anglicanism, or do they see themselves as Reformed Christians whose Reformation roots begin in Switzerland? The reason I ask is that I’ve been taught that austere liturgical iconoclasm (abandonment of church year, hymnody, music, liturgy, etc) began with Zwingli and was continued by Calvin…I’m assuming he approved the 1550 edict abolishing Christmas and other festivals in Geneva, since he was pretty much the man around those parts. If that’s not the case, someone please bring me up to speed on that part of Reformation history. However, suppose that it is. If one sees the genealogy of one’s tradition as “Reformed” and beginning in Switzerland, it doesn’t make sense to constantly blame Reformed liturgical habits on the Puritans. But if one sees one’s self as part of “English-speaking Christianity,” then I suppose it’s valid to see the Puritans as importing Swiss corruptions into Anglo Christianity. So can someone give me some insight into the Reformed mind here? Joel? Any lurkers? My e-mail’s on the sidebar, and my nick on AIM is “fearsome” before my name there below.

Update:  Joel Garver tells me that public celebration was abolished; however, Calvin would interrupt his preaching series on Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost to preach on appropriate texts.  That seems to have been about the extent on it.  No word on whether this continued after 1550, however.

Need science? Make your own.The technique Jacobovici uses to “prove” the match between the James ossuary and the Talpiot tomb is a technology he calls “patina fingerprinting,” which he and his coauthor Charles Pellegrino (a scientist who helped Cameron write “Ghosts of the Titanic”) essentially invented for the purposes of this project. By comparing the mineral content of shards from the Talpiot ossuaries with shards from James, and by looking at them under an electron microscope with the help of a CSI specialist, Jacobovici and Pellegrino say they have a match.

“Honey….Looks like we’re going to be Jewish now.”

An interview with Graeme Goldsworthy.

Looks like Dell is going to start some serious sales of Linux machines. Can it be? Has God answered Kurt’s prayers?

In the ebb and flow of living
As we wander through the years
We’re told to listen to a voice
We can’t hear with our ears
They say to live by something
That you can’t see with your eyes
Is there really any purpose
To this foolish exercise?
Chorus
Could it be You make Your presence known
So often by Your absence?
Could it be that questions tell us more
Than answers ever do?
Could it be that You would really rather die
Than live without us?
Could it be the only answer that means anything
Is You?
In our words and in our silence
In our pride and in our shame
To the genius and the scholar
To the foolish and insane
To the ones who care to seek You
To the ones who never will
You are the only answer even still
Chorus
It’s a question you can’t answer
An answer you cannot express
That the gentle Man of Sorrow
Is the source of happiness
You’ll never solve the mystery
Of this magnetic man
For you must believe to understand
Chorus
Could it be the only answer that means anything
Is You?

Those crazy LCMS Lutherans! Getting folks all hot and bothered. And what is the big deal with porn, anyway?

(I’m kidding!)

Greg: More preachy than it is would probably have been too preachy. As it is, there are several great lines and the film leaves no doubt whatsoever that Wilberforce was motivated by his Christian faith to do what he did. People in the crowd with me on opening night actually applauded lines like Newton saying, “I know two things. I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior,” as well a line in which a character asks Wilberforce, “So have you found God?” and Wilberforce replies, “It seems that He found me.”

Might have been a slightly reformed crowd.

Anyway, I don’t think it should have been much more Christian than it was, and I don’t think anyone can walk away without linking Wilberforce’s social activism and his faith.

Charlotte Allen has an interesting article on the new film Amazing Grace online at the Wall Street Journal. I got the link from Steve Beard’s Thunderstruck (one of the best), where you’ll find plenty of links today to a wide variety of articles on the movie. Here’s a quote from the Allen article:

Nowadays it is all too common—and not only in Hollywood—to assume that conservative Christian belief and a commitment to social justice are incompatible. Wilberforce’s embrace of both suggests that this divide is a creation of our own time and, so to speak, sinfully wrong-headed. Unfortunately director Apted, as he recently told Christianity Today magazine, decided to play down Wilberforce’s religious convictions—that would be too “preachy,” he said—and instead turned his story into a yarn of political triumph. The film’s original screenwriter, Colin Welland, who wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed and unabashedly Christian “Chariots of Fire,” was replaced.

Michael, I think it would be interesting to consider Apted’s decision within the framework of your “Missional” discussions at IM. Was Apted wise to avoid being “too preachy”? Or did Apted miss an opportunity to “contend for the faith” by illustrating the essential link between Wiberforce’s spiritual exuberance that came from his love of Christ and his social/political achievments that demonstrated his effort to love others? I haven’t seen the film yet, so I have to reserve judgement. But if Ms. Allen’s contention is accurate, then I have a feeling I’ll also agree with her conclusion that the movie missed a golden opportunity.

Oh my gosh, that Islam vs. Christianity video is HILARIOUS! So much insight in so few words. Love it.

Jason: Glad it went well for you. I’m not as spiritual as you – I was only gone 2 days. I made the mistake of reading a little of Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life. Early on in the book, he points out that beyond confessing our sins and being forgiven, we need to ask God to remove our affection for sin. So I spent quite a bit of time doing business with God. de Sales is actually quite gentle. C.S. Lewis described the chapter on self denial as a “green, dewy chapter on softness towards oneself”, so my time away was actually very encouraging.

I don’t watch the national news much. This morning at the gym I saw the story on the Tomb about which Michael has been posting. Even the guys on CNN weren’t giving the story much credence. I think its a non-story – just a guy trying to get a headline (he has succeeded). The story will quickly fade away into oblivion. Yawn.

Frank answers my second question in our discussion of Ed Stetzer’s Baptist Identity presentation.

I have continually updated IM today with Jesus tomb links and a new post on Marcus Borg.

“Superficial Church: The Loss of Real Church” at The Church and Postmodern Culture. Excellent reflections and a real challenge to attempts at repristinating an “original” or “authentic” apostolic, missional body in our age of hyperreality.

The University of Chicago Law School’s blog had an excerpt from a news story about Wikipedia. I have to say I am a little disturbed that Wikipedia is cited in court opinions. Wiki, or course, can be right and it is most of the time. But its reliability is undercut since entries can be updated infinitely long after a citation is made. Serious researchers still do not consider Wiki to be a reliable source. Nevertheless, it is interesting that the average entry is getting closer to Britannica quality. 

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I’m back from the three day silence, solitude and prayer retreat. In a word – AWESOME. In a longer word, I’ll just point to my longer blog entry so as not to bore those who don’t want to know.

In all, the whole weekend, regardless of my intentions for going in the first place, renewed my focus on Christ as the starting place, end result, and center of all things. I’m thankful to my loving bride for letting me leave her at home for several days.

It’s quite amazing how much of the Bible one can read and journal through when there are no distractions. The most interesting thing for me personally was reading and praying through Hebrews and Romans back-to-back. Long time preachers are probably chuckling about my saying this, but they go together so darn well. I’ve also come to have a renewed appreciation for the beauty that is the letter to the Hebrews.

Sharing daily prayers three times a day with the two brothers who joined me was a true blessing. Also, celebrating the Eucharist together before we returned to life was quiet but moving.

Good times, they were. I recommend it to everyone. Still, it’s good to be back.

In catching up, thanks to whoever posted about Sid Meyer. I’m a recovering Civ-II addict. If I had the free time, I’d go back to it in a heartbeat.

Michael, thanks for the link to churchyear.net. That’s saving me from having to visit half-a-dozen sites for the same stuff.

This whole Jesus’s tomb thing reminds me of a book I read over 10 years ago (current copy is a reprint). Way better than DVC.

The author also has a short article about the James ossuary.

Okay, that link didn’t work. Now I feel like an idiot.

[Mod/PWinn: S’okay, Tom, I fixed it. You had an extra http:// at the beginning. Only need one of those. :-) ]

Well, I’ve decided I can no longer be a Christian because they found Jesus’ b…Oh, wait a minute, Ben Witherington says otherwise. Never mind.

I’m waiting for Crossan to weigh in on this. Oh, I forgot, he said Jesus’ body was left on the cross and eaten by dogs. Never mind again.

Listening to all this crap about the tomb sort of reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw a while back (maybe it was Jack who pointed it out to me?) that reads

Someone who knows some of my internet history sent me this. It’s worth reading. Great “cultural vernacular.”

I don’t know how old this is, but I assume it’s what’s coming in the new book.

This is from the Discovery Channel documentation packet. I’d like your thoughts. More »« Less

I can’t get this to copy and paste, but they are going to say that the James Ossuary is the 10th ossuary in this tomb, which supposedly went missing. Remember that this is inscribed with “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”

Ben Witherington III must be a man with high blood pressure tonight. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say, since he has staunchly defended the James Ossuary, and to do so now will be to endorse this interpretation that does in the resurrection of Jesus.

Meanwhile, the Jolly Blogger gets some TR heat for saying we need compassion. The first comment blows me away.

Jerusalem Post: Not so fast.

But Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims. “It makes a great story for a TV film,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “But it’s impossible. It’s nonsense.”

Kloner, who said he was interviewed for the new film but has not seen it, said the names found on the ossuaries were common, and the fact that such apparently resonant names had been found together was of no significance. He added that “Jesus son of Joseph” inscriptions had been found on several other ossuaries over the years.

“There is no likelihood that Jesus and his relatives had a family tomb,” Kloner said. “They were a Galilee family with no ties in Jerusalem. The Talpiot tomb belonged to a middle-class family from the 1st century CE.”

I realize that this, in the grand scheme of things, is probably a minor point:

Since tombs normally contain either blood relations or spouses, Jacobovici and his team suggest it is possible Jesus and Mary Magdalene were a couple. “Judah,” whom they indicate may have been their son, could have been the “lad” described in the Gospel of John as sleeping in Jesus’ lap at the Last Supper. [emphasis mine]

Huh?!?

Granted, I’m not a theologian, cannot read Greek to save my life and am not aware of every last possible translation of John 13:23. Somehow, a reclining disciple (whom Jesus loved) was morphed into a sleeping lad.

You’d think they’d come up with something a little more solid. You know – like Joel’s suggestion. :)

MOD: It’s indicative of the level of DVC scholarship at work here. There’s a “family tree” on the Discovery web site, that implies a ton of things not even hinted, much less proven, by the evidence.

More Jesus tomb information is coming now. Here’s a much more detailed news site.

And here is the Discovery Channel site. They are going for the jugular. This is the real deal in terms of an attempt to destroy the faith. Get ready to talk about this one.

Fromn the news story:

In addition to the “Judah son of Jesus” inscription, which is written in Aramaic on one of the ossuaries, another limestone burial box is labeled in Aramaic with “Jesus Son of Joseph.” Another bears the Hebrew inscription “Maria,” a Latin version of “Miriam,” or, in English, “Mary.” Yet another ossuary inscription, written in Hebrew, reads “Matia,” the original Hebrew word for “Matthew.” Only one of the inscriptions is written in Greek. It reads, “Mariamene e Mara,” which can be translated as, “Mary known as the master.”

Francois Bovon, professor of the history of religion at Harvard University, told Discovery News, “Mariamene, or Mariamne, probably was the actual name given to Mary Magdalene.”

Bovon explained that he and a colleague discovered a fourteenth century copy in Greek of a fourth century text that contains the most complete version of the “Acts of Philip” ever found. Although not included in the Bible, the “Acts of Philip” mentions the apostles and Mariamne, sister of the apostle Philip.

“When Philip is weak, she is strong,” Bovon said. “She likely was a great teacher who even inspired her own sect of followers, called Mariamnists, who existed from around the 2nd to the 3rd century.

Note the DVC/Gnostic gospels connection. It’s all a seamless garment with these people. You use the NT to make part of your case, reject it for the rest, then buy anything in any gnostic gospel as true.

If John Cleese called a press conference to announce that Brian was the real historical and biblical Jesus, it would be more credible than Cammy’s claim.

Kentucky makes the news.

MOD: Murray is a university town. What do you expect from edumacated peoples?

IM is updated with “A Rejected Messiah Buried With Honor? Responses to the “Tomb of Jesus and His Family” Story.

Denise reports four weeks into her antidepressant meds journey.

I visit Ted Baehr’s website from time to time just to wallow in his ridiculousness. He actually had a petition on there for months to try to stop “The DaVinci Code” which of course was an exercise in futility and an embarrassment. Yes, he counts the curse words and all the stuff that might be “objectionable” (upper male nudity, anyone?) but the thing most reprehensible to me is that he downgrades movies that he perceives as being liberal or “anti-American.” Thus, Clint Eastwood’s acclaimed “Letters from Iwo Jima” gets the same “abhorrent” rating as the most vile, disgusting horror/slasher flick just because it treats the “enemy” in what Baehr’s bunch perceives as a sympathetic light.

In fact, one of my favorite movies of all time, the critically lauded but mostly ignored “Waking Life” got an “abhorrent” rating from Baehr just because there was a lot of philosophical discussions in the movie that were not of the Christian variety. God forbid our impressionable youth be exposed to different ideas! Any Christian parent that goes by Baehr’s guide should be flogged 40 times with a wet noodle.

NTW has a wonderful article summarizing his work on the resurrection of Jesus here. A quote from the end, dealing with the nature of the evidence we have in the Gospels.

In fact, in this case, the evidence presents us with exactly the sort of result that Christian theologians ought to be happy with. I would not pretend to have found an argument that would force a sceptic to admit that Jesus ‘must have’ been raised from the dead. It is always open to anyone to say, at least, ‘I can’t think of a better explanation, but I know there must be one, because I intend to hold to my presupposition that dead people don’t rise.’ Cautious agnosticism is always an option. What historical investigation can do, and in this case I believe must do, is to clear away the overgrown thickets of misunderstanding, misreading, sheer bad history, and sometimes willful obfuscation, in order that the main texts can be allowed to say what they are saying and the main questions may stand out in their stark simplicity.

Historical investigation, I propose, brings us to the point where we must say that the tomb previously housing a thoroughly dead Jesus was empty, and that his followers saw and met someone they were convinced was this same Jesus, bodily alive though in a new, transformed fashion. The empty tomb on the one hand and the convincing appearances of Jesus on the other are the two conclusions the historian must draw. I do not think that history can force us to draw any particular further deductions beyond these two phenomena; the conclusion the disciples drew is there for the taking, but it is open to us, as it was to them, to remain cautious. Thomas waited a week before believing what he had been told. On Matthew’s mountain, some had their doubts.

However, the elegance and simplicity of explaining the two outstanding phenomena, the empty tomb and the visions, by means of one another, ought to be obvious. Were it not for the astounding, and world-view-challenging, claim that is thereby made, I think everyone would long since have concluded that this was the correct historical result. If some other account explained the rise of Christianity as naturally, completely and satisfyingly as does the early Christians’ belief, while leaving normal worldviews intact, it would be accepted without demur.

That, I believe, is the result of the investigation I have conducted. There are many other things to say about Jesus’ resurrection. But, as far as I am concerned, the historian may and must say that all other explanations for why Christianity arose, and why it took the shape it did, are far less convincing as historical explanations than the one the early Christians themselves offer: that Jesus really did rise from the dead on Easter morning, leaving an empty tomb behind him. The origins of Christianity, the reason why this new movement came into being and took the unexpected form it did, and particularly the strange mutations it produced within the Jewish hope for resurrection and the Jewish hope for a Messiah, are best explained by saying that something happened, two or three days after Jesus’ death, for which the accounts in the four gospels are the least inadequate expression we have.

A selection of resources on the Rez can be found at LeaderU, many from William Lane Craig. If you aren’t familiar with Craig’s defense of the empty tomb- which is formidable- go through this essay, and keep to the outlined points.

It’s strange that, in these times when conservatives are supposedly opposed to any kind of postmodernism, we get CONSERVAPEDIA, an alternative to homeschoolers having their minds polluted by Wikipedia.

Anything and everything about the church year is available at Church Year.net. Great explanations of all the things post-evangelicals get asked about.

Speaking of which, Leithart has important words about where Presbyterians (and their heirs) went wrong with the calendar.

Much as I admire the Puritans and Scottish Presbyterians, I believe they erred when they stripped the church calendar to an annual cycle of fifty-two Sundays. They reduced the rich melody of the earlier calendar to a repetitive ticking of the clock.

But the problem actually goes deeper.

Israel’s festive calendar was fixed by Torah. Passover, Pentecost, Atonement, Booths, and other festive days puctuated the year. Over the course of Israel’s history, however, other feast days were added. Purim marked the deliverance of Israel from Haman, and Jews celebrate the success of the Maccabean revolt at Hanukuah. The founding moments of Israel’s history were celebrated from the beginning, but history didn’t stop at Sinai.

The church continued the tradition, with relish. To the great commemorations of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost the church eventually added feast days for saints, special observances of the Mass, fasts and carnivals. Doubtless this was overdone, but it stood as permanent testimony that God continued His redemptive work throughout the Christian era.

In this context, the Puritan scouring of the church calendar begins to look like an effort to produce a permanent, unalterable calendar. It appears to be an unintentially gnostic effort to stop time in its tracks. It appears an unconscious declaration that nothing worth remembering will ever again happen in Christian history. To that extent, it represents a failure of faith in the God who is Omega and well as Alpha.

It’s alive…CCM Patrol that is, and bashing away at Christian movie critics like Ted Baehr.

All of this points to a problem in Ted Baehr’s soul, namely an embrace of that foul philosophy that places rigorous moralist concerns over quality and artistry. Which is supposed to be the whole reason we humans do the creating thing, anyway. Baehr’s column says not a word – not one – about the technical quality of any of the films being discussed; he simply expects us to accept that “cleaner” (whatever that even means) is better. It doesn’t matter how moving, how well acted, how well-directed, how socially informed a film is, it’s all about letters and swear-word counts.

Looking on the positive side, the Cameron film gives us a chance to focus on the resurrection and evidence for it.  I plan on doing more study.

In other news, my friend and I went to The Journey’s bar outreach last Wednesday.  I’ll give a full report sometime in the next few days.  With all the controversy, I want to take the time to write it well.  My one-sentence review is that we need a lot more of this, and I hope God will let me be involved in doing something like this.

The tomb of Jesus has been found by…wait…..wait…..a Hollywood director. Well, sortof. Here’s the story that you’ll hear when “DVC Part II” opens Monday with a James Cameron press conference announcing that the tomb of Jesus has been discovered.

Yes, Virginia, there will be a movie on the Discovery Channel. With DNA.

Here’s another blog article. And a third. I guess that’s it then.

UPDATE: James White has the story updated on his site, and two AP stories announcing all of this in 1996. (He is dead on: it’s the DVC $$$$ cha-ching that has this out again.)

My short response:

1. The current faddish hatred for the claims of the Christian faith are an embarrassment to any serious person who buys into them. DVC madness has driven a segment of the Christianity hating world nuts.

2. DNA? Hello? Helllllllloo?

3. The testimony of the early church to the resurrection must completely be unknown to these Jethros. It’s the resurrection appearances that are the key to the Christian claim.

4. This is a relentless attempt to wrench as many minds as possible away from the Christian faith. It will work with the usual suspects. It will get Cameron and Co. on Larry King and it will fill up the Discovery Channel with more psuedo-science. It will sell a lot of bad books and make a lot of preachers mad. To the person who looks at the claims of the resurrection calmly, they will fail. As Wright says, why is this failed Messiah different? And why such a difference?

5. I wonder if Mr. Cameron might have read this book? Or this one? The wish for a “smoking gun” to disprove Jesus is telling. The fantasy is to destroy God with one fell swoop from Science and archeology. And it’s just that—-a fantasy.

6. If this weren’t associated with the Mary Magdalene marriage bit, it would have slightly more credibility. That would be, about none, but still…

7. DNA?

If Amazing Grace has a flaw, its in an over-reliance on “talking” rather than “showing,” especially in the first third or so of the film. I suppose in some ways this makes the film more clearly a biography of Wilberforce than a movie on the slave trade in general, and lets us see first the personal cost to Wilberforce before even seeing what drove him to such lengths. Still, the film might have benefitted from a little more “action” nearer the start.

It’s a very talky movie overall, but such talking! I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s late showing, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again in another week or two.

One of my brothers pointed out that Wilberforce was an anti-war, animal rights, civil rights protester, drug addict—a hippie two centuries ahead of his time!

Okay—if Suze Orman has a same-sex “life partner” and, assuming they have a relationship that involves sex, how can she call herself a “virgin” just because she has never had sex with a man?

Why I’m in favor of civil unions to solve some of the legal absurdities that prevent a person from disposing of their estate to whom or whatever they choose without ridiculous taxation penalties.

Noel writes “It’s a Chain Letter…with Bread!”

The Sydney Anglicans that put out materials through Matthias Media have been a bit behind in online ordering. No longer. A new store is up. I get all kinds of things from them to use here. They have an 8 session overview of the Old Testament that is great. Also all the 2 Ways to Live products, which are miles ahead of all Gospel presentations available here. We’re training all of our Campus Ministry staff in 2 Ways every year.

If you’ve been ignorant of Wilberforce up till this moment (like I have been), Catherine Claire at CGO has a post with a list of links to short readings on Wilberforce, some of her own, and some from Break Point.

I’m going to try to get out to see the movie as soon as possible.

My first answer to one of Frank’s questions is up at IM: Do missionals have a problem with “contending?”

Joe Thorn reviews the best book on evangelism available today: Jerram Barrs: The Heart of Evangelism.

I find it fascinating that the TR community believes- sincerely apparently- that we differ on almost everything. My impression is that we agree on almost everything significant, with the possible exception of “inerrancy.” Is it simple the TR perception of the world that all other Christians are off base all the time?

Last night’s performance of Titus Andronicus was outstanding. The production, actors and director understood what this play is and isn’t: it is the young Shakespeare imitating the popular forms of Kyd and Marlowe. What it isn’t is anything like Shakespeare’s later, greater work. It’s more about where he started and what he left behind. We all begin somewhere, and later, others can look back and wonder how the person who wrote THIS could have written THAT. Still, it’s amazing to see the hand of the man who wrote Lear and Macbeth at work in this bloody potboiler. We are all something before we are something greater, better. Titus reminds me that, when I grade the papers of my students, I may be grading a future Shakespeare.

You have to have fun in this play, and they did, right down to chopping a baby in half as the curtain closed on Aaron the Moor saying he wished he had 10,000 more foul deeds to relish. It passed my first Shakespeare test: would Will love it, and he would. Especially electrocuting Saturninus with a DieHard battery.

Dilbert offers up a business strategy that seems to mirror a lot of what goes on in the blogosphere.

The first of my Q/As with Frank Turk is posted at his blog.

Care of the theo-blogging giant Ben Myers, we have this story about a caller claiming to be a member of a millionaire-making Christian band, none of whose members are Christians. From the comments, Jim West brings us this keyboard-ruining gem:

Christian rock is to music what hemorrhoids are to relaxation.

Sorry you guys who are aficionados, but that right there is funny, I don’t care who you are.

MOD: Often true. Of course, Jim West, if he is “Dr.” Jim West, is a former BHT fellow who left us in a huff.

Of course, Phil Keaggy, Michael Card, Rich Mullins, Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Pierce Pettis, etc. make up for the frequent pain.

I’m searching for a sweeping statement about organs, but none of them are that funny :-)

Last week (?) Michael asked what the future held for Christian-themed films. Gideon Strauss points us to “Nineteen Hopes for an Activist Cinema” in Vertigo Magazine, and highlighted the top 3:

1. That it tells me something I don’t know and questions as much as it answers.

2. That it holds a mirror to the broken world.

3. That it takes a new shape, somehow unlike that of the movies before it, especially those within its own genre.

There are more on the list that I think are highly appropriate for Christians in the movie business to rally around. There’s another interesting one:

11. That it not be guided by the Hollywood Commandments (Film as a Business, Movies as Commodities, Worship of Celebrity and Spectacle, Life in three Predictable Acts).

And I wondered if “evangelical” films are able to break out of these same strictures. And if not, I wonder if that is because we are governed by the “Hollywood Commandments” in more things we believe and do than just the movies we produce. Do they not arise in other matters of church life and practice? Are we “doing” church like we expect (and sometimes demand) our movies to be?

For a one-volume commentary I like the HaperCollins Bible Commentary, but keep in mind I’m just a flaming liberal, he he he!

This dialog was posted over at Mere Comments and deserves to be passed along.

Travis, nice pick. I have the IVP Reference series on Libronix too, and there is no deal better. 12 of the best dictionary/reference books that are top of the line for $150. Can’t beat that.

Many things can distract your mind during a church service. This is a new one.

I’ll second the recommendation of the New Bible Commentary.  And I’ll second the use of Libronix software, and the absolute awesome-ness of its inclusion of the IVP study materials (the dictionaries, commentary, background commentary, theological dictionary, etc.)

RE Michael

The New Bible Commentary by IVP is probably the best one-volume commentary out there. I have it in my Libronix system and it is surprisingly handy. Very concise, easy to understand, and helpful in introducing you to larger questions.

When Civ first came out, my interests were elsewhere (Ultima and Might & Magic, anyone?).  Since then, I’ve gone through all of Sierra’s empire building games – Caesar, Pharaoh, etc.  I probably should pick up a copy of Civ and see what the hubub is about.

There’s something rather satisfying about conquering the world and having the populace worship you.