Presbyterian minister and Biblical language scholar Conrad Hyers has been the primary help for me on issues of the Bible and Science. I’m sorry so little of Hyers is on the web. His book, The Meaning of Creation, is a mandatory read for those interested in this subject. Hyers’ simplicity and amazing respect for the Bible stands in real contrast to what is done to and with the Bible by those who require science to validate their faith.

The Rise and Fall of Creationism

Biblical Literalism

AIG thought Hyers worth a mention in this column.

And yes, your Google search will reveal that most of Hyers’ work was done in the area of the Bible and humor.

What science and religion books have been helpful to you?

I’ve never met Jared Wilson. We spoke on the phone once because, frankly, I’m desperate for friends. He doesn’t owe me money. We don’t have a book review treaty signed. He’s not going to like my book nearly as much as I’ve enjoyed his, and that’s OK.

Jared isn’t a well-known author or megachurch pastor. His blog, Gospeldrivenchurch.com, is an indicator that he has gifts to write, preach and teach, but blogging or preaching isn’t writing a book. (Take it from me. I know what I’m talking about on that one.) Jared doesn’t head up a ministry that will buy 10,000 copies of his book sight unseen or have reserved spots on all the conference schedules next year. I have no idea if he’s going to be successful as an author or will simply be another solid pastor who happened to write a book.

What I know is that Jared has written a book about Jesus that, for many of the readers of this bog and for vast numbers of evangelicals, should be THE book about Jesus they read in the next few months, because it may be the best popular level book written this year to re-introduce the Christ of scripture to the people who say they know him. [Continue reading]

Our friend Alan Creech has three items of interest.

First, Alan Creech Rosaries Aids to Prayer, like Ropes and Little Beads, has a new web site. Easier to navigate, RSS feed, all the whistles and bells.

Second, Alan is doing a podcast on spiritual formation. It’s called Oremus and many of you who pray the hours, etc will enjoy it. You can subscribe via iTunes.

Finally, if you like what you see on Alan’s pages, remember that he’s doing freelance web design for a living. He’s got a very distinctive style that’s clean and elegant. He’s a real artist in this medium. Consider employing him for your site. He does personal and commercial work. You can see his work and business here.

For those of you who wonder, the Liturgical Gangstas and the Evangelical Untouchables will return as summer ends.

There is and should be much discussion of Derek Webb’s new album, Stockholm Syndrome. For example, read Denny Burk’s take here, or if you are intrepid, the BHT discussion that occurred yesterday, primarily between Jared Wilson and myself.

If you haven’t heard the edgy and controversial “What Matters More,” you can hear it at Youtube. I heard that Campolo riff on comparative shock over profanity or starvation years ago, but in today’s atmosphere of prissy piety, it’s needed more than ever. Applause from me. [Continue reading]

Someone significant died yesterday. At least for writers, poets and artists in Kentucky.

James Baker Hall. Poet. Artist. Writer. Teacher. Mentor. Former Poet Laureate of Kentucky, 2001-2003.

Hall has been an inspiration to generations of Kentucky writers and poets. He’s had a deep influence on my son, Clay.

I know that the passing of mentors can be some of life’s most important crossroads. We ask ourselves what we learned from them and how we can keep them alive in our memories and work.

Hall will live on in his wonderful photographs, vivid prose and emotionally adventurous poetry. Take a few moments and discover a little about him. And perhaps share some thoughts about your own mentors and how they have affected you.

Enjoy two of his poems. [Continue reading]

My daughter, Noel Spencer Cordle, is starting a series of posts on what can be learned from various women in the Bible

Visit her blog and subscribe. She’s a wonderful writer and these studies will be worthwhile, especially for young women/wives.

The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning

Justification by grace through faith is the theologian’s learned phrase for what Chesterton once called “the furious love of God.” He is not moody or capricious; he knows no seasons of change. He has a single relentless stance toward us: he loves us. He is the only God man has ever heard of who loves sinners. False gods — the gods of human manufacturing — despise sinners, but the Father of Jesus loves all, no matter what they do. But of course this is almost too incredible for us to accept. Nevertheless, the central affirmation of the Reformation stands: through no merit of ours, but by his mercy, we have been restored to a right relationship with God through the life, death, and resurrection of his beloved Son. This is the Good News, the gospel of grace.-Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel.

I have owned every book that Brennan Manning has ever written.

As Christian books go, they are among the most divisive and provocative you’ll ever read or discuss. A reviewer of the current book at the discernment blog The Discerning Reader is typical of the kind of assessment Manning elicits from the Knights of Reformed Orthodoxy. I could use up blog space, but there’s no real point. You can read it for yourself. If you’ve spent much time around Manning, you’ll soon be able to write this kind of criticism in your sleep. It’s been going on for years.

I remember when one of my co-workers asked me for something good to read. I’d just finished Abba’s Child, a book quite similar to The Furious Longing of God, and I passed it on to her. In a couple of weeks, the book was returned with a note in between the pages. The note was angry, and like the review cited above, pronounced the book a waste of time.

Brennan isn’t for everyone. I learned that long ago. But he sure is for me, I can tell you that. [Continue reading]

The Next Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah

Soong-Chan Rah is assistant professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago. He has been a church planter and a consistent voice for recognizing the cultural captivity of the evangelical movement and recognizing the contributions of an ethnically and culturally diverse present-future evangelicalism.

I was interested in this book for two reasons. First, it intersects with some of what I have written in “The Coming Evangelical Collapse.” Secondly, it was cited by Leith Anderson in his criticisms of that article. [Continue reading]

Here’s a previous IM essay on this topic: “What Do Gays and Lesbians Hear? (When They Are With Evangelicals.)”

UPDATE: I appreciate Andrew’s kind words in the comments. I have to confess that I’m a little disappointed that the emphasis of Andrew’s book- relationships and conversations- seems to be lost, and the discussion is drawn immediately toward “what should churches do to those people?” As I said, this book will not be the normal reading experience. Andrew is trying to do something- in his own experience first- that is incredibly difficult: pay the price to love those who are very angry with us.

This book has been as profoundly unsettling as Sara Miles’ Take This Bread. It’s Jesus shaped Christianity, and it does not leave you alone. It is not what you’re prepared for. It will hit you like Jesus’ love for the unacceptable hit his world..

Love is An Orientation. Andrew Marin. “Elevating the conversation with the gay community.” Inter-Varsity Press.

I’m hoping to write a book in the next few months. I have something I want to say and I think it’s important. I hope all of you buy it, and I wouldn’t mind if a few million people bought it and I could change my life accordingly.

But I want you to hear what I am about to say: If you had two books to choose from, whatever I will write and what Andrew Marin has written in Love Is An Orientation, I would want you to buy Andrew’s book.

What Andrew Marin has written in this book isn’t just interesting. It is absolutely vital that evangelicals hear what Marin is saying about the state of things between Gays and Evangelicals. This is a message that may be more important than any issue evangelicals are currently discussing short of the content of the Gospel itself. [Continue reading]

Introducing Paul: The Man, His Mission and His Message. Well-known New Testament scholar and theological writer Michael Bird has written a basic introduction to the life, mission and message of the apostle Paul. It is a book whose intention reminds me of Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, the classic Pauline introduction by F. F. Bruce. In less than 200 pages, Bird not only covers the basics, but he acquaints the uninitiated with the basics of the various discussions and controversies going on in Pauline studies. Often, discussions here at IM will go just beyond the knowledge level of the informed layperson and requests for brief scholarly summaries are forthcoming. As far as Pauline studies are concerned, this is exactly the book needed to answer those queries. I recommend this book for college students and new Bible students. As far as basic books go, this is certainly an excellent basic text for any study of Paul. Bird makes the point that Paul is often remade into the image of contemporary Christians who love to teach his epistles. This book helps us keep a touchstone on the read Paul.

Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion. Richard Foster and Gayle Beebe have produced a survey of Christian spirituality and spiritual formation that covers seven major “paths” and a large number of significant Christians whose lives and writings expound the paths selected. This is a large book, but the individual chapters are in the 10-15 page range. For a survey text on Christian spirituality, this would be an excellent book. Foster has always excelled at helping Christians appreciate the large variety of spiritualities and paths of spiritual formation that grow out of various Christian traditions. By using 3-4 persons as examples of each path, and drawing those persons from a broad historical and denominational background, the reader will certainly encounter everything from Quakers to Catholics, classical spiritual writers to contemporary guides. This is another book that will acquaint the reader with the foundational aspects of much larger and more complex issues. I recommend it for college students, anyone teaching spirituality and the IM reader who gets tired of hearing names mentioned that he/she knows nothing about. (This really is a good book, and those of you who have been told to avoid Richard Foster will see in this book what good work he has done for the church.)

While I haven’t mentioned him often on this blog, I’m very impressed with the work of theologian and Bible teacher Christopher J.H. Wright. Wright, like his obvious hero, John Stott, is undertaking serious Biblical theology in the cause of the church’s missional self-understanding. His recent book, The Mission of God, may be the best survey of the Bible as a text for being and doing church that is available for evangelicals.

Wright’s current book, The God I Don’t Understand, is, in his own words, a “meandering” exploration of three themes: the Biblical problem of evil/violence (particularly in reference to violence in the Bible itself), a theology of the cross and an overview of Biblical eschatology. But underneath this seemingly casual approach are first class examinations of some of the most troubling issues and questions that Christians face and ask. [Continue reading]

I enjoy doing recommendations and reviews most of the time. If the product I’m recommending is absolutely amazing, and I know the IM audience is going to enjoy it, then it’s a real pleasure.

It’s an absolute, unqualified pleasure to recommend to you the Good Shepherd Institute’s 4 session course and 80 minute DVD, Singing the Faith: Living the Lutheran Musical Heritage. (Available for $29.99 from IM’s sponsor, New Reformation Press.)

If you love hymns, reformation theology, great music, great singing and performance, great organ accompaniment and performance….if the classic tradition of Lutheran hymns from the Reformation until today is something you appreciate, this is a must have product. [Continue reading]

My favorite interview is always with Steve Brown, Etc. Here’s today’s episode, with yours truly as the interviewee.

If you aren’t regularly listening to this program, checking out the Guest Room and Steve’s Old White Guy blog, you’re missing some of the best content in the Christian blogosphere. (I never miss this show. It’s regularly provocative.)

BTW…I love Steve, but I did say Osteen isn’t one of us

THINKING ABOUT BEING AN IM ADVERTISER? If you are contemplating talking with me about an ad, take a look at our Technorati numbers. Compare them to some of the places that are using your ad.

Interesting fact: Michael Babcock teaches humanities at Liberty University and has written a first class book saying the church’s emphasis on the culture war instead of the Gospel was a mistake.

Interesting fact: Even though Babcock is a creationist (a minor point in this book,) I haven’t read anyone who has put the errors of evangelicalism in its focus on the culture war more clearly or persuasively. Stereotypes fall apart in this book.

Interesting fact: Babcock is obviously an admirer of Jerry Falwell and deeply committed to the mission of America’s largest fundamentalist university, but he does a five-star job describing the quixotic ambitions of Falwell, Ralph Reed and many other culture warriors. [Continue reading]

New Reformation Press has been a great sponsor for InternetMonk.com, and many of you have stopped in to buy teaching, books and the best t-shirts on the web.

Now New Reformation Press has some new products that I want to make IM readers aware of, and I hope you’ll stop by and take a look at all of them.

Singing the Faith is a DVD resource that does a first class job taking you on a tour of Lutheran and Protestant hymnody.

Anonymous 4 has long been a favorite classical vocal group, and NRP is carrying some of their music. If you’ve never heard them you are in for a treat. A beautiful sound that compares to nothing else.

For those who enjoy a more contemporary sound, Josh Garrels is a brilliant song craftsman, using a variety of styles to create truly unique music. NRP is carrying three of his cds. You can also find him on Youtube.

NRP is also carrying the new Concordia “Pocket sized” version of the Lutheran Confessions.

I hope you support these guys who have worked with me for more than a year and have really been a dream sponsor. Their support makes a big difference for our family, and your support of them makes that possible. Don’t overlook the many excellent Bible study and Reformation theology resources they make available.

Click the icon on the sidebar or visit them at New Reformation Press.