Category Archives: Uncategorized

On observing July 4 as an American Christian

When the Fourth of July falls on a Sunday, Christians need to be careful about how they relate patriotism and worship.

In Memoriam: Richard N. Longenecker, 1930–2021 (EerdWord)

Remembering Eerdmans author Richard Longenecker.

The American Abyss, by Timothy Snyder

The American republic is in serious danger. That danger will not dissolve when Joe Biden is inaugurated as president. That danger will not dissolve if Donald Trump is sent to prison or has a heart attack and dies tomorrow. What follows here is an article published in The New York Times Magazine on January 9.Continue reading “The American Abyss, by Timothy Snyder”

ReMEMbering Psalm 119:97–104

Oh, how I love your law!It is my meditation all day long.Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,for it is always with me.I have more understanding than all my teachers,for your decrees are my meditation.I understand more than the aged,for I keep your precepts.I hold back my feet from every evil way,in order toContinue reading “ReMEMbering Psalm 119:97–104”

Are you calling Trump a fascist?

Jason Stanley, a Yale University philosophy professor, published How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them in 2018. The paperback was released this May with a new preface summing up developments since 2018. In short: the fascist talk in the US and elsewhere is being concretized in fascist policies, and democratic institutions are beingContinue reading “Are you calling Trump a fascist?”

Ngram Viewer and the human condition

Whoa, the Google Ngram Viewer databases have been updated! They now incorporate usages right up through 2019. When did that happen? As I recall, the English-language database recently stopped somewhere in the aughts. Or maybe the last update was through 2015. The previous database segment for English appears to be 2012–2015. Never used the NgramContinue reading “Ngram Viewer and the human condition”

A day of freedom

  TO MY FACEBOOK FRIENDS,to childhood friends,   sharers of mixed memories      of coming of age in Old Virginia,to new friends who connected recently,   because our ideas interest each other,to family members, close and distant,   those I share life with,      and the distant cousins we never see,to my formal teachers over the years,   saints and quasi-parents in my esteem,to the other peopleContinue reading “A day of freedom”

Knowing oneself, knowing others (Psalm 139)

Psalm 119, section He, highlights knowledge of God and knowledge of self. In Psalm 139, this question of knowledge of self is paramount: Who knows the truth about me, the truth inside me? Do I know it myself? Do you know the truth inside me? Inside yourself? Does anyone? Am I in a position toContinue reading “Knowing oneself, knowing others (Psalm 139)”

I have a friend who loves making the Bible strange

I have a friend who loves making the Bible strange.He finds the quirky places,reads them out,wide-eyed,astonished,and scans your face,looking for you to be astonished too. He finds places that don’t line upwith what they always said in church.And if you have been thinkingthat these texts are comfortable,that they line up perfectly—then look again: are youContinue reading “I have a friend who loves making the Bible strange”