Richard Dawkins reading some of the emails he’s received.
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I listened to the audiobook of Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt a couple of years ago.
I got it out of the library because I was looking for any audiobook in their small collection I was remotely interested in. I wasn’t at all sure I’d really want to listen to it.
I started it one day when I was bored. I found myself very much drawn into the story and unexpectedly moved by it. It was a story about Jesus as a child when he was beginning to sense he was different from others, without fully knowing why. I thought the author portrayed the loneliness of being different very well. And the historical context. And it was a well-written novel in general. This is what I wrote about the book at the time
The other day I was in a bookstore and started looking at the second book in the series, Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. That interested me enough to check it out of the library and read it.
I liked the beginning part of this book a lot. It’s exciting and the author continues to depict the loneliness for Jesus of being different well.
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According to an article on Mental Floss (h/t Nick Fiedler)
During World War II, the British secret service hatched a master plan to smuggle escape gear to captured Allied soldiers inside Germany. Their secret weapon? Monopoly boxes. The original notion was simple enough: Find a way to sneak useful items into prison camps in an unassuming form. But the idea to use Monopoly came from a series of happy coincidences, all of which started with maps.
I googled this topic a bit more.
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If you had to choose between someone with good character and no faith (no belief in God) or someone with faith and no character which would you prefer?
If Jesus had to make that choice which do you think he’d prefer (if you have an opinion about that)?
Posted in General Conversation | 37 Comments »Continuing my train series: last week Joe mentioned being squashed onto a British train. It reminded me of this, although I’m fairly sure they haven’t gone to these extremes in the UK
Posted in Videos | 4 Comments »Rick Warren on Nightline this week (h/t Hemant)
Interviewer: [...] test that you’re giving these two men?
Rick Warren: I’m testing their character, I’m testing their convictions, I’m testing their confidence –
Interviewer: A religion test?
Rick Warren: No, absolutely not. I’m totally opposed to religious tests for the Presidency. I think it’s appropriate to know what a person believes, what their religion is; but I don’t think that’s the test for the Presidency.
Interviewer: I’ve heard you say you want to understand what their personal relationship with Jesus is. Does that mean a Jew or a Muslim would be out as far as you’re concerned?
Rick Warren: Not at all, not at all. I could vote for a Jewish President easily. The only kind of President I don’t think I could vote for would be an atheist. I could not vote for an atheist President because I just think that’s pretty arrogant. I think that the Presidency is too big for any human individual and I think we do need God.
You can see the video excerpt here (I can’t embed this particular clip – embedding is disabled)
The way some Christians equate arrogance with not believing in God has bothered me for a while.
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I’m fascinated by how popular The Shack by William P. (“Paul”) Young has become.
I read and reviewed it back in April when my friend Pam Hogeweide kindly gave me a copy. As I mentioned in my review, I didn’t think it’s especially well-written. However I can see that Christians might find some of the concepts in it powerful and encouraging.
Is it possible that this book, written by a father who is not a trained Christian leader for his kids, is able to achieve something that isn’t being achieved by churches and sermons and other Christian messages by professional Christians? Or is the controversy selling the book? A number of conservative Christians have criticized the underlying theology and imagery in it. Or maybe both?
I was interested to hear a recent radio interview with Paul which also featured Pam Hogeweide and Bob Hyatt.
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I’ve been enjoying watching the Olympics.
I don’t usually watch much sports but it’s fun seeing various activities done the best they can possibly be done. Yesterday the womens table tennis made us laugh and wonder if it was sped up because it was so fast. The meticulous timing and control and artistry in the diving and gymnastics is amazing. And the elegance as the swimmers streak through the water and turn without missing a beat. I couldn’t believe how long the female marathon winner kept running after she was finished, waving to the audience. And I enjoyed watching Shelly-Ann Fraser win the 100 metres because she looked like she was having so much fun.
I like seeing participants congratulate those competing against them
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Check out what happens after the train goes through.
Posted in Videos | 8 Comments »This is a copy of a post I guest-posted at Friendly Christian today
Bill [Cecchini, host of Friendly Christian] asked me this question:
If you were to die and find out that God DOES exist, do you think you’d go to heaven or hell?
A few years ago I came to the conclusion that if such a thing as hell existed in the universe of an all-powerful all-knowing Being who is all-good and all-compassionate, that all-powerful Being would do something to prevent any human going there. Because even the thought of any human being tortured forever would literally be hell to that all-powerful all-knowing all-good and all-compassionate Being. Even when I’m frustrated with my kids I don’t wish eternal torture on them. And obviously I’m not all-good and all-compassionate although I try not to be a complete jerk.
If the universe is being run by a sadistic monster, maybe a lot of people including me will find themselves in hell.
Actually I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it either way. I have no control over who runs the universe.
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