Gene Edward Veith Jr.'s Blog, page 399
June 25, 2013
Happy Augsburg Confession day!
Today, June 25, is the anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, which happened in 1530. Now it was not just one monk saying “Here I stand.” The Reformation had become a movement. Read it today. (Non-Lutherans, what do you think?) After the jump, background on the event and how this particular confession ties [...]
Anglicans starting a “pagan church”
The Church of England is breaking new ground in being “missional,” in the sense of changing the church to fit a particular culture. It is going after the “spiritual but not religious” crowd by starting what they are calling “a pagan church.” From the London Telegraph: The church is training ministers to create “a pagan [...]
Conference on gay marriage & gay ministry
Are you familiar with Doxology, the Lutheran institute on pastoral care (as well as care for pastors)? Led by Rev. Harold Senkbeil (who has written widely on Christian spirituality and who has applied it very effectively as a pastor) and Dr. Beverly Yahnke (the most brilliant and the most reliable Christian psychologist I have ever [...]
Dropping abortion instruction in med schools
The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article that bemoans what pro-lifers would celebrate: Fewer and fewer med schools and teaching hospitals are training new doctors in how to perform abortions. From Heidi Landecker in As States Try to Curb Abortion, Future Doctors Fight for Training – Students – The Chronicle of Higher Education. [subscription [...]
Obama dissed by Snowden’s escape
China and Russia both gave NSA-whistleblower Edward Snowden safe passage on his way to asylum in Ecuador. This, despite direct American pleas to stop him and turn him over. Russia and China, usually on the receiving end of America’s criticisms for their violations of human rights, can now accuse the U.S. of violating the civil [...]
June 24, 2013
Liturgical Baptists
A principle of the evangelical church growth movement is that worship should change to reflect the culture–right? So some Baptists in Russia have adopted Eastern-Orthodox style liturgy, complete with incense and icons. Also a church government with bishops and archbishops. (So if the culture likes to worship that way, would church growth advocates adopt it [...]
Celibacy & friendship
Wesley Hill is a gay Christian who agrees with the Biblical teachings on homosexuality and is celibate. He writes for First Things, among other places, and provides a useful perspective on the current controversies about gays and the church. In a response to the shutting down of Exodus International, he makes the point that the [...]
Meeting online yields happier marriages
Who says the new information technology is messing up human life? A new study has found that couples who first met online have happier marriages and fewer divorces than those who first met in the real world. From via Freakonomics » Couples Who Meet Online Have Better Marriages: A new study by the University of [...]
June 21, 2013
Non-biological bodies & digital immortality
The director of engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil–who has written a couple of books on these subjects– told a conference that in about 30 years, we will be able to download our minds into the internet to achieve “digital immortality.” We will also be able to dispense with our physical bodies in favor of “non-biological [...]
More from Gospel Coalition’s “Fact Checker”
We posted about Glenn Stanton’s “Fact Checker” post at Gospel Coalition challenging the notion that college tends to undermine the faith of its students. Here are some other topics he takes up: Does ‘Abba’ Mean ‘Daddy’? C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton Quotes Burning Your Ships for Jesus Misquoting Francis of Assisi The Cross an Electric [...]
