In one of my theology graduate courses, the assignment was to pick a
theologian and research his/her contribution to the subject. I chose
Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988), a Swiss priest who is considered one
of the most influential theologians of the past century.
His name came up in an interesting article about British soccer team owner and prominent philanthropist Ilyas Khan, a Muslim convert to Christianity who credits von Balthasar for his conversion.
Reading the story of Khan’s life, I was struck by his comment, “if
there was a push away from Islam or a pull, it was much more the pull of
Christ.”
Kahn relates that he has received his fair share of hate mail and
threats of violence because his apostasy from Islam. “I must admit that I
do have a great deal of sadness in my heart when I contemplate people
who use Islam to justify their actions. These actions aren’t just
un-Islamic — they are inhuman and have nothing to do with my view of
Islam as a religion. Sadly, there appear to be a very large number of
Muslims for whom anger and violence seem intuitive first responses to
anything they don’t agree with.”
Kahn’s dual experience with Islam and Christianity made a connection for me with a recent article in Newsweek “Christianity in Crisis.”
The first anniversary of the Arab Spring has revived the medieval
conflict between Christianity and Islam. Christianity certainly was in
serious crisis then, so my first thought concerning the Newsweek article
was, “What’s new about that?” For more than 2,000 years the Church has
been in trouble, from within and without. The writer of Revelation had
words of warning to the Seven Churches about following false teachers.
St. Paul wrote epistles on the same theme.
The new theme for Christians according to Andrew Sullivan’s
Newsweek’s article is “Let’s just trash organized religion and follow
Christ.”
Dennis Byrne, writing for the Chicago Tribune,
comments on how convenient and easy it is to echo the preferred secular
narrative: Religious institutions are not to be trusted. Sinful bishops
trying to tell everyone else, even nonbelievers, how to live. You’re
better off separating yourself from organized religion for a purer,
simpler faith, unfiltered by hierarchies of self-serving clergy,
secretive curia and stagnant traditions.
In short, go it alone.
That sentiment seems reasonable to some. However, Byrne counters that
going it alone hardly seems to have been Jesus’ example. He gathered
multitudes. He proclaimed the creation of a church, a community of
people united by common belief. Not going it alone seems to me to be the
entire point of organized religion. Jesus made it pretty clear that our
relation with him is defined by the quality of our relations with
others.
Byrne continues, “It strikes me that it’s a lot harder to get to
where you’re going when you’re alone. And the church provides the
structure that facilitates that trip.” Which is precisely why I think
organized religion is important. Maybe the larger a church community
gets, the less personal it becomes.
Adjacent to my property is a community church founded by one of my
former religion students. It proclaims to be “gospel-based,” and I have
no doubt it is. But so are mainline organized Christian religions. There
are Christian “community churches” everywhere, popping up like spring
mushrooms. They might be one-story structures, built with less concern
about art and beauty, but more on a tight budget to serve a local group
of 30 or more congregants. Perhaps it is social interaction rather than
doctrine that explains this phenomenon.
Byrne agrees. “We all are quite aware of current polls that show that
Americans, especially younger ones, are turning from traditional and
mainline religions to a more ‘individualized and private’ faith.”
I’m with Byrne when he writes: “I’m more familiar with the Catholic
Church than other Christian denominations. Its not-going-it-alone
statistics are: more than 600 Catholic hospitals accounting for 12.5
percent of American hospitals and more than 15.5 percent of all U.S.
hospital admissions. Four hundred health care centers and 1,500
specialized homes. Some 235 are residential homes for orphaned and other
children. Emergency food, clothing, financial, shelter, medical and
other assistance for more than 6.5 million people annually. Millions of
students of all denominations in Catholic schools. Such is the essential
nature of Catholic belief.”
Byrne concludes that the Church itself acknowledges that it is a
human institution as well as a creation of God. Therefore, like all
humans, it struggles and sins. So, it is constantly in crisis. But not
because it reaches outside of itself. It is precisely because it reaches
outside of itself that it has survived 2,000 years.
Perhaps this is the “pull” that former Muslim Ilyas Khan felt as he
read the writings of Cardinal-designate Hans Urs von Balthasar. Perhaps,
too, that is why von Balthasar is on my top-10 theologians list.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Illegitimates
It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal. After
steadily rising for five decades, the share of children born to
unmarried women has crossed a threshold: more than half of births to
American women under 30 occur outside marriage, so states a recent
article in the New York Times.
It is a staggering statistic. At first glance it would appear that traditional marriage is collapsing. Perhaps it is. The fastest growth in children born to unmarried women in the last 20 years has occurred among white women in their 20s who have some college education but no four-year degree, according to Child Trends, a Washington research group that analyzed government data. However, taking all age groups into account three years ago, 60 percent of children were born to married women.
In an age of abortion, it is of credit to unwed mothers that they have chosen to have their children. However, the new normal is unsettling.
According the NYT’s article, one group still largely resists the trend: college graduates, who overwhelmingly marry before having children. Reasons for that vary.
Not too many years ago, my wife and I gave a pre-marriage seminar to about a dozen couples who planned to have a traditional church wedding. Halfway through the day, I mentioned our faith’s teaching that cohabitation before marriage was a no-no. Come to find out, a number of couples were known to be living that lifestyle.
What are the reasons for the upswing in cohabiting unmarried heterosexual couples? What are the reasons for the new normal of children born to unwed mothers? What is happening to the institution of traditional marriage?
This new “marriage gap” in the United States is increasingly aligned with a growing income gap. Where people stand on the various changes in marriage and family life depends to some degree on who they are and how they live.
The decline of the influence of religious teaching factors in. Hollywood’s overt love affair with its own superstars’ lifestyles, plot-lines which embrace the sexual revolution, and the deeply influential “everyone’s doing it” mantra, all weaken traditional marriage. State and federal laws are passing more and more legislation, attempting to legitimize same-sex unions. This leads to a path of more blurring of the value of the traditional marriage.
However, the decline of marriage has not knocked family life off its pedestal. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, three-quarters of all adults say their family is the most important element of their life; three-quarters say they are “very satisfied” with their family life, and more than eight in 10 say the family they live in now is as close as (45%) or closer than (40%) the family in which they grew up. However, on all of these questions, married adults give more positive responses than do unmarried adults.
It is a staggering statistic. At first glance it would appear that traditional marriage is collapsing. Perhaps it is. The fastest growth in children born to unmarried women in the last 20 years has occurred among white women in their 20s who have some college education but no four-year degree, according to Child Trends, a Washington research group that analyzed government data. However, taking all age groups into account three years ago, 60 percent of children were born to married women.
In an age of abortion, it is of credit to unwed mothers that they have chosen to have their children. However, the new normal is unsettling.
According the NYT’s article, one group still largely resists the trend: college graduates, who overwhelmingly marry before having children. Reasons for that vary.
Not too many years ago, my wife and I gave a pre-marriage seminar to about a dozen couples who planned to have a traditional church wedding. Halfway through the day, I mentioned our faith’s teaching that cohabitation before marriage was a no-no. Come to find out, a number of couples were known to be living that lifestyle.
What are the reasons for the upswing in cohabiting unmarried heterosexual couples? What are the reasons for the new normal of children born to unwed mothers? What is happening to the institution of traditional marriage?
This new “marriage gap” in the United States is increasingly aligned with a growing income gap. Where people stand on the various changes in marriage and family life depends to some degree on who they are and how they live.
The decline of the influence of religious teaching factors in. Hollywood’s overt love affair with its own superstars’ lifestyles, plot-lines which embrace the sexual revolution, and the deeply influential “everyone’s doing it” mantra, all weaken traditional marriage. State and federal laws are passing more and more legislation, attempting to legitimize same-sex unions. This leads to a path of more blurring of the value of the traditional marriage.
However, the decline of marriage has not knocked family life off its pedestal. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, three-quarters of all adults say their family is the most important element of their life; three-quarters say they are “very satisfied” with their family life, and more than eight in 10 say the family they live in now is as close as (45%) or closer than (40%) the family in which they grew up. However, on all of these questions, married adults give more positive responses than do unmarried adults.
Monday, February 27, 2012
My YouTube Videos on the Bible
Many
sincere Christians read the Bible with the conviction that the world’s
most popular book is God’s Word revealed to mankind for the eternal
salvation of the human race. Those of the Jewish tradition consider the
Torah (the first five books of the Bible), along with other
pre-Christian writings, as divinely inspired by Yahweh.
Even the Koran, the sacred book of Islam, admits of divine intervention by Allah in the history of mankind, using names and stories, found in the Bible, familiar to Jews and Christians alike, as an historical basis for the early covenant with mankind by Allah.
Yet in our modern world, there are those who find the Bible a work filled with historical improbabilities. Others question the works included in the Bible as an incomplete list, referring to writings that were left out of the canon, or list, of both the Old and New Testaments.
Recent sensational stories about Jesus, taken from the Gospel of Thomas, or the hypothesis that Jesus was married and sired children, as suggested in Brown’s DaVinci Code and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene — even discoveries that purport to be ossuaries with the bones of Jesus and his family — have all made the New Testament story of the Christ’s bodily resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven appear to be an incredible tale that cannot stand up to archeological discoveries and scientific analysis.
Confronted with these non-traditional views about biblical works, many Christians retreat into a sort of shell, comforted by their faith in the inerrancy of the Bible, and dismiss any questioning of the Bible’s accuracy as the poison of the age in which we live. Christian fundamentalism is on the rise, and many Christians prefer to view the Bible as what they have been taught to believe about it — the Bible is God’s Word, and that’s that.
Yet is there a scholarly method of understanding the Bible that makes sense of some of the improbabilities, historical contradictions, and imperfect morality found especially in the Old Testament? Yes, there is. Mainline Christian scholars call it the “Historical-Critical Method.”
Definitions draw limits around concepts. No definition is able to be all-inclusive in its few words, no matter how skillfully composed. However, without definitions, there would be indeterminate communication, and misunderstandings would be the rule.
To define the historical-critical method as it applies to understanding the Bible, one might say it is the analytical method biblical scholars use to shed light on the historical processes which resulted in biblical works. The method studies the biblical texts much the same as scholars who study ancient texts from pagan cultures. Without denying the divine revelation attributed to the Bible, scholars using the historical-critical method seek to go back in time and become familiar with the way in which biblical texts were written.
Obviously, God did not use high definition television with Dolby sound to reveal his word to mankind, but rather, by today’s standards of communication, a crude, often imperfect, system of revelation which relied on human beings in various times and places to translate that revelation to the written record of their times.
So, when confronted with the similarities of the birth of Moses, for example, with that of the Babylonian King Sargon thousands of years before, the scholar using the historical-critical method asks the question, “Did the human author, or authors, of Exodus draw upon a well-known story from pagan sources to fabricate an historical event which his readers would recognize?”
Was there anything known about Moses’ birth, or did the author of Exodus have a purpose in describing an event which no one can forget — a cleverly written story of the rescue of an infant who was about to be killed by a ruler, fearful of losing control?
I recently completed a six-part series on “Understanding the Bible Using the Historical-Critical Method.” It’s free and viewable on YouTube, with each session running under half an hour.
1) The Canons, or lists, of Biblical books
2) The Apochrypha
3) Literal vs. Historical-Critical Interpretation
4) The Abrahamic and Mosaic Stories
5) The “Writings” – Historical and Didactic
6) The Gospels, Revelation, and Numeric Symbolism
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Ipadology
We Americans are proud of our innovative nature. After all, what
country has sent men to the moon? American inventions include the
teleprompter, the airbag, the barcode, the atomic bomb, the laser, the
Internet, the CD and CCD, the PC, WiFi, the mobile phone, and Post-it
note pads, among countless other innovations.
I own an iPad 2 and I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.
However, in doing the research on my own word invention…“iPadology,”…or the study of the iPad, I found some disconcerting information on how and where the stellar iPad is made.
Do you think that the iPad is made in the USA? Yes and no. The technology comes from California at Apple headquarters. However, the assembly of most iPads is done in China, as is that of iPhones and iPods.
In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world.
However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.
Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77.
Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chinese Chengdu plant.
“If Apple was warned, and didn’t act, that’s reprehensible,” said Nicholas Ashford, a former chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a group that advises the United States Labor Department. “But what’s morally repugnant in one country is accepted business practices in another, and companies take advantage of that.”
“Apple never cared about anything other than increasing product quality and decreasing production cost,” said Li Mingqi, who until April worked in management at Foxconn Technology, one of Apple’s most important manufacturing partners. Mr. Li, who is suing Foxconn over his dismissal, helped manage the Chengdu factory where the explosion occurred.
“Workers’ welfare has nothing to do with their interests,” he said.
According to a New York Times report, Apple has said it requires every discovered labor violation to be remedied, and suppliers that refuse are terminated. Privately, however, some former executives concede that finding new suppliers is time-consuming and costly. Foxconn is one of the few manufacturers in the world with the scale to build sufficient numbers of iPhones and iPads. So Apple is “not going to leave Foxconn and they’re not going to leave China,” said Heather White, a research fellow at Harvard and a former member of the Monitoring International Labor Standards committee at the National Academy of Sciences. “There’s a lot of rationalization.”
In a prior blog, I virtually canonized Steve Jobs. However, as the CEO of Apple he had to know that worker conditions in China were abysmal.
Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.
When asked how the more than 700,000 Apple jobs overseas could come back to the US, Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said. The questioner was the President.
Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option.
A former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation, and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”
The Apple outsourcing story is the reason jobs are lost in the US. When I taught Global Issues a decade ago, I could see what globalization was already doing. Wages in the US, with decades of influence by unions, were way out of balance with wages in countries like China, Mexico, and India.
The other day I listened to Donald Trump claim that the US is rebuilding China. He’s right. That’s because nothing like Foxconn City exists in the United States.
The facility has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. Over a quarter of Foxconn’s work force lives in company barracks and many workers earn less than $17 a day.
How can US companies afford to manufacture anything in the US?
I love my iPad. How it got into my hands stinks.
I own an iPad 2 and I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.
However, in doing the research on my own word invention…“iPadology,”…or the study of the iPad, I found some disconcerting information on how and where the stellar iPad is made.
Do you think that the iPad is made in the USA? Yes and no. The technology comes from California at Apple headquarters. However, the assembly of most iPads is done in China, as is that of iPhones and iPods.
In the last decade, Apple has become one of the mightiest, richest and most successful companies in the world.
However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.
Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk. Two years ago, 137 workers at an Apple supplier in eastern China were injured after they were ordered to use a poisonous chemical to clean iPhone screens. Within seven months last year, two explosions at iPad factories, including in Chengdu, killed four people and injured 77.
Apple had been alerted to hazardous conditions inside the Chinese Chengdu plant.
“If Apple was warned, and didn’t act, that’s reprehensible,” said Nicholas Ashford, a former chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, a group that advises the United States Labor Department. “But what’s morally repugnant in one country is accepted business practices in another, and companies take advantage of that.”
“Apple never cared about anything other than increasing product quality and decreasing production cost,” said Li Mingqi, who until April worked in management at Foxconn Technology, one of Apple’s most important manufacturing partners. Mr. Li, who is suing Foxconn over his dismissal, helped manage the Chengdu factory where the explosion occurred.
“Workers’ welfare has nothing to do with their interests,” he said.
According to a New York Times report, Apple has said it requires every discovered labor violation to be remedied, and suppliers that refuse are terminated. Privately, however, some former executives concede that finding new suppliers is time-consuming and costly. Foxconn is one of the few manufacturers in the world with the scale to build sufficient numbers of iPhones and iPads. So Apple is “not going to leave Foxconn and they’re not going to leave China,” said Heather White, a research fellow at Harvard and a former member of the Monitoring International Labor Standards committee at the National Academy of Sciences. “There’s a lot of rationalization.”
In a prior blog, I virtually canonized Steve Jobs. However, as the CEO of Apple he had to know that worker conditions in China were abysmal.
Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, few are. Almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year were manufactured overseas.
When asked how the more than 700,000 Apple jobs overseas could come back to the US, Jobs’s reply was unambiguous. “Those jobs aren’t coming back,” he said. The questioner was the President.
Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option.
A former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation, and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”
The Apple outsourcing story is the reason jobs are lost in the US. When I taught Global Issues a decade ago, I could see what globalization was already doing. Wages in the US, with decades of influence by unions, were way out of balance with wages in countries like China, Mexico, and India.
The other day I listened to Donald Trump claim that the US is rebuilding China. He’s right. That’s because nothing like Foxconn City exists in the United States.
The facility has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. Over a quarter of Foxconn’s work force lives in company barracks and many workers earn less than $17 a day.
How can US companies afford to manufacture anything in the US?
I love my iPad. How it got into my hands stinks.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Snowflake
With a winter waning away with weather that was wanting for
wishers of a winning snowfall, let’s stop to wonder at the beauty of a
snowflake. “No two snowflakes are alike” is a saying attributed to
Wilson Bentley, Vermont’s most famous resident and pioneer photographer
of individual snowflakes.
Of the billions and trillions of snowflakes that fall in NW lower Michigan in a normal winter season, there is often little notice given to the construct of this frozen speck of water.
Ski resorts rely on a goodly base of them. Those with pickup trucks and plows delight in daily snowfalls. Snowmobilers, with the abandon of the old West’s freegrazers, see no problem roaring their machines over others’ snow-laden property. (There is simply no policing possible of these violators of private property.)
On the other hand, snow deters traffic, causes fender-benders, and worse. Lots of money is spent by road commissions to keep roads free of snow. Mixtures of salt and snow create slush and rust deterioration of autos. Ten years of weekly commuting back and forth from near Ann Arbor left me with many moments of the sheer terror of black ice and memories of many vehicles in ditches or overturned. On one trip on I-96, I saw 15 vehicles in a row in the ditch because of slick roads.
However, the universe of the innocent snowflake is mind-boggling.
Enter Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht. In the mid-1990s his interest in the molecular dynamics of crystal growth resulted in detailed study of ice crystals and how they grow from water vapor. Using modern equipment and techniques, Libbrecht has surpassed the research of Bentley. While he can produce artificial snow at any time of the year at Caltech, his field research has taken him to all parts of North America where snow may be found. At least six books on snowflakes are listed on Amazon by Libbrecht. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Kenneth+G.+Libbrecht%27s+Snowflake+Books&x=16&y=18
Just take a look at the many, many varieties of snowflakes identified by Libbrecht viewable at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/class/class.htm.
With due credit given to Libbrecht, below are five of my favorites he has imaged.
No. 1 – Split plates and stars
No. 2 – Another stellar dendrite
No. 3 – A double plate
No. 4 – A 12-sided flake
No. 5 – A rimed crystal
If anyone can say that such beauty and order are happenstance, look at the efforts of artificial snow. You can see from the picture below that artificial snow is made of frozen water droplets, with none of the elaborate structure found in real snow crystals.
According to Libbrecht, snow machines shoot a mixture of water and compressed air out of nozzles. The water comes out as fine droplets, and the air cools as it decompresses, causing the droplets to freeze. A fan blows the ice particles onto the slopes.
I view Libbrecht’s images and come away with a profound sense of awe. His work is opening not only new frontiers of science, but gives to me a reaffirmation of the magnificence of the hand of the divine Artist.
“Ice and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.” (NAB Daniel 3:70)
Of the billions and trillions of snowflakes that fall in NW lower Michigan in a normal winter season, there is often little notice given to the construct of this frozen speck of water.
Ski resorts rely on a goodly base of them. Those with pickup trucks and plows delight in daily snowfalls. Snowmobilers, with the abandon of the old West’s freegrazers, see no problem roaring their machines over others’ snow-laden property. (There is simply no policing possible of these violators of private property.)
On the other hand, snow deters traffic, causes fender-benders, and worse. Lots of money is spent by road commissions to keep roads free of snow. Mixtures of salt and snow create slush and rust deterioration of autos. Ten years of weekly commuting back and forth from near Ann Arbor left me with many moments of the sheer terror of black ice and memories of many vehicles in ditches or overturned. On one trip on I-96, I saw 15 vehicles in a row in the ditch because of slick roads.
However, the universe of the innocent snowflake is mind-boggling.
Enter Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht. In the mid-1990s his interest in the molecular dynamics of crystal growth resulted in detailed study of ice crystals and how they grow from water vapor. Using modern equipment and techniques, Libbrecht has surpassed the research of Bentley. While he can produce artificial snow at any time of the year at Caltech, his field research has taken him to all parts of North America where snow may be found. At least six books on snowflakes are listed on Amazon by Libbrecht. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Kenneth+G.+Libbrecht%27s+Snowflake+Books&x=16&y=18
Just take a look at the many, many varieties of snowflakes identified by Libbrecht viewable at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/class/class.htm.
With due credit given to Libbrecht, below are five of my favorites he has imaged.
No. 1 – Split plates and stars
No. 2 – Another stellar dendrite
No. 3 – A double plate
No. 4 – A 12-sided flake
No. 5 – A rimed crystal
If anyone can say that such beauty and order are happenstance, look at the efforts of artificial snow. You can see from the picture below that artificial snow is made of frozen water droplets, with none of the elaborate structure found in real snow crystals.
According to Libbrecht, snow machines shoot a mixture of water and compressed air out of nozzles. The water comes out as fine droplets, and the air cools as it decompresses, causing the droplets to freeze. A fan blows the ice particles onto the slopes.
I view Libbrecht’s images and come away with a profound sense of awe. His work is opening not only new frontiers of science, but gives to me a reaffirmation of the magnificence of the hand of the divine Artist.
“Ice and snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.” (NAB Daniel 3:70)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Theology of Sports
Does God intervene in sports? This is the question that has
captivated the news recently. Pundits, sports announcers, some of the
clergy of various denominations, newspaper articles, etc., have all had
their say about the recent remarkable feats of Denver Bronco’s
quarterback Tim Tebow.
The Heisman trophy winner, who helped the Florida gators win two national championships, has amazed football fans of all ages this past season with seemingly impossible come-from-behind plays. The team was 1–4 before Tebow became the starter, but immediately began winning with him on the field, often by coming from behind late in the 4th quarter, until they won the AFC West title.
While pregnant, his mother suffered a life-threatening infection with a pathogenic amoeba. Doctors recommended that his mother have an abortion. She declined. Tebow is the youngest of five children, all of whom were home schooled in order that the parents’ Christian beliefs be instilled. Tebow’s father, Robert, is a Baptist minister. Tebow’s mother and Tim appeared in a 30 second pro-life TV spot in the 2010 Super Bowl.
So did God intervene in the life and career of Tim Tebow? I would suspect that his mother’s decision to carry him to birth was due to her trust in God, and that God rewarded her with an extraordinary son.
As to his exploits on the football field, there is no reason why God cannot do as He pleases in directing the universe. Since football and other sports are often the result of human successes and failures, measured in inches or seconds, even the best teams or athletes have their natural ups and downs. Is God involved?
Theology says that without His permission, nothing would exist. So, yes, God is involved in that way.
However, to say that God micromanages this or that detail in human life would go contrary to the concept of man’s free will. This is a gift He has given mankind. He doesn’t want puppets or marionettes that dangle with strings attached to a mechanical manipulator in the hand of the Creator.
There are those philosophers who contend, or grudgingly admit, that God created the universe and let it evolve according to laws of science. These philosophers think of a “hands-off” Being who does not get involved with mankind’s ordinary pursuits.
In Christianity, we are taught to pray the Our Father. In this prayer, “Thy will be done” is a powerful component. Yet, if one looks at the first miracle that Christ performed, at the wedding feast at Cana, it appeared that He was reluctant to honor His Mother Mary’s request to do something about the lack of wine. He even objected to his mother that it wasn’t his time yet to perform miracles.
Undaunted, Mary told the servants to do whatever Her Son told them. We know the results. I draw from this incident the fact that prayer is effective. I also draw from this incident, that God can and does intervene in human events.
On a personal level, when I was principal of a parochial school, and it was faced with financial difficulties, the school board was about to vote to eliminate the high school portion of the school. The boys basketball team played in a district elimination game the night before the school board meeting. They won. The next evening, the school board voted to continue the school in its entirety. The boys went on to win the district finals. Today, the school continues on K-12, over 40 years later.
The Heisman trophy winner, who helped the Florida gators win two national championships, has amazed football fans of all ages this past season with seemingly impossible come-from-behind plays. The team was 1–4 before Tebow became the starter, but immediately began winning with him on the field, often by coming from behind late in the 4th quarter, until they won the AFC West title.
While pregnant, his mother suffered a life-threatening infection with a pathogenic amoeba. Doctors recommended that his mother have an abortion. She declined. Tebow is the youngest of five children, all of whom were home schooled in order that the parents’ Christian beliefs be instilled. Tebow’s father, Robert, is a Baptist minister. Tebow’s mother and Tim appeared in a 30 second pro-life TV spot in the 2010 Super Bowl.
So did God intervene in the life and career of Tim Tebow? I would suspect that his mother’s decision to carry him to birth was due to her trust in God, and that God rewarded her with an extraordinary son.
As to his exploits on the football field, there is no reason why God cannot do as He pleases in directing the universe. Since football and other sports are often the result of human successes and failures, measured in inches or seconds, even the best teams or athletes have their natural ups and downs. Is God involved?
Theology says that without His permission, nothing would exist. So, yes, God is involved in that way.
However, to say that God micromanages this or that detail in human life would go contrary to the concept of man’s free will. This is a gift He has given mankind. He doesn’t want puppets or marionettes that dangle with strings attached to a mechanical manipulator in the hand of the Creator.
There are those philosophers who contend, or grudgingly admit, that God created the universe and let it evolve according to laws of science. These philosophers think of a “hands-off” Being who does not get involved with mankind’s ordinary pursuits.
In Christianity, we are taught to pray the Our Father. In this prayer, “Thy will be done” is a powerful component. Yet, if one looks at the first miracle that Christ performed, at the wedding feast at Cana, it appeared that He was reluctant to honor His Mother Mary’s request to do something about the lack of wine. He even objected to his mother that it wasn’t his time yet to perform miracles.
Undaunted, Mary told the servants to do whatever Her Son told them. We know the results. I draw from this incident the fact that prayer is effective. I also draw from this incident, that God can and does intervene in human events.
On a personal level, when I was principal of a parochial school, and it was faced with financial difficulties, the school board was about to vote to eliminate the high school portion of the school. The boys basketball team played in a district elimination game the night before the school board meeting. They won. The next evening, the school board voted to continue the school in its entirety. The boys went on to win the district finals. Today, the school continues on K-12, over 40 years later.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Funny Religious Stories
Since I have never been able to retell a humorous story (I always
screw up the punch line), I relied on Google for the following pieces —
with adaptations so as not to be offensive!
An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home.
When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling.
For a time, no one said anything. Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness, and avaricious behavior that made them squirm in their seats.
Finally, the banker said, “Preacher, why did you ask us to come?”
The old preacher mustered up his strength and then said weakly, “Jesus died between two thieves, and that’s how I want to go.”
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … on the opening day of deer season the church is closed.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … a member of the church requests to be buried in his 4-wheel-drive truck because “It ain’t never been in a hole it couldn’t get out of”
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … the choir is known as the “OK Chorale”.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … in a congregation of 500 members, there are only seven last names in the church directory.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … people think “rapture” is what you get when you lift something too heavy.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … the choir robes were donated by (and embroidered with the logo from) Billy Bob’s Barbecue.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … the collection plates are really hubcaps from a 1956 Chevy pick up truck.
Then, their pastor retired, and a new one was hired. Not only could the new pastor see right through the brothers’ deception, but he also spoke well and true, and the church membership grew in numbers. A fund-raising campaign was started to build a new assembly.
All of a sudden, one of the brothers died. The remaining brother sought out the new pastor the day before the funeral and handed him a check for the amount needed to finish paying for the new building. “I have only one condition,” he said. “At the funeral, you must say my brother was a saint.” The pastor gave his word, and deposited the check.
The next day, at the funeral, the pastor did not hold back. “He was an evil man,” he said. “He cheated on his wife and abused his family.” After going on like this, he finally concluded, “But, compared to his brother, he was a SAINT.”
Saint Peter addresses this guy, ‘Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?’
The guy replies, ‘I’m Joe Cohen, taxi driver, of Noo Yawk City.’
St. Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi driver, ‘Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’
The taxi driver goes into Heaven with his robe and staff, and it’s the minister’s turn. He stands erect and booms out, ‘I am Joseph Snow, pastor of Calvary Church for the last forty-three years.’
St. Peter consults his list.
He says to the minister, ‘Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’
‘Just a minute,’ says the minister. ‘That man was a taxi driver, and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. How can this be?’
‘Up here, we work by results,’ says Saint Peter. ‘While you preached, people slept, while he drove, people prayed.’
Smoking or Non-smoking?”
Announcement in the church bulletin for a National PRAYER & FASTING Conference: “The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.”
Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.
Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
“Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.”
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice. Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered.
Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.
The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 pm.-prayer and medication to follow.
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
- Preachers dying wish
An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home.
When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling.
For a time, no one said anything. Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness, and avaricious behavior that made them squirm in their seats.
Finally, the banker said, “Preacher, why did you ask us to come?”
The old preacher mustered up his strength and then said weakly, “Jesus died between two thieves, and that’s how I want to go.”
- Redneck Church
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … on the opening day of deer season the church is closed.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … a member of the church requests to be buried in his 4-wheel-drive truck because “It ain’t never been in a hole it couldn’t get out of”
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … the choir is known as the “OK Chorale”.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … in a congregation of 500 members, there are only seven last names in the church directory.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … people think “rapture” is what you get when you lift something too heavy.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … the choir robes were donated by (and embroidered with the logo from) Billy Bob’s Barbecue.
You Know You’re in a Redneck Church if … the collection plates are really hubcaps from a 1956 Chevy pick up truck.
- The two Brothers
Then, their pastor retired, and a new one was hired. Not only could the new pastor see right through the brothers’ deception, but he also spoke well and true, and the church membership grew in numbers. A fund-raising campaign was started to build a new assembly.
All of a sudden, one of the brothers died. The remaining brother sought out the new pastor the day before the funeral and handed him a check for the amount needed to finish paying for the new building. “I have only one condition,” he said. “At the funeral, you must say my brother was a saint.” The pastor gave his word, and deposited the check.
The next day, at the funeral, the pastor did not hold back. “He was an evil man,” he said. “He cheated on his wife and abused his family.” After going on like this, he finally concluded, “But, compared to his brother, he was a SAINT.”
- RESULTS
Saint Peter addresses this guy, ‘Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?’
The guy replies, ‘I’m Joe Cohen, taxi driver, of Noo Yawk City.’
St. Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi driver, ‘Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’
The taxi driver goes into Heaven with his robe and staff, and it’s the minister’s turn. He stands erect and booms out, ‘I am Joseph Snow, pastor of Calvary Church for the last forty-three years.’
St. Peter consults his list.
He says to the minister, ‘Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’
‘Just a minute,’ says the minister. ‘That man was a taxi driver, and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. How can this be?’
‘Up here, we work by results,’ says Saint Peter. ‘While you preached, people slept, while he drove, people prayed.’
- Church sign
Smoking or Non-smoking?”
- His first wedding
- Morning people
- Church Bulletin Announcements
Announcement in the church bulletin for a National PRAYER & FASTING Conference: “The cost for attending the Fasting and Prayer conference includes meals.”
Our youth basketball team is back in action Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.
Miss Charlene Mason sang “I will not pass this way again” giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
“Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don’t forget your husbands.”
The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been canceled due to a conflict.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community.
Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.
At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be “What is Hell?” Come early and listen to our choir practice. Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person(s) you want remembered.
Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.
The church will host an evening of fine dining, superb entertainment, and gracious hostility.
Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 pm.-prayer and medication to follow.
Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.
Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The Congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)