Gog & Myblog

For most commentators, the answer is an emphatic “Yes! Thiselton (2000) quotes Rousselle (“Body Politics in Ancient Rome”), “A veil or hood constituted a warning: it signified that the wearer was a respectable woman and that no man dare approach her,” i.e., as one potentially or actually sexually “available”. Thiselton later draws what he sees as an application: “To employ a dress code which hints at sexual availability while leading worship is unthinkable.” While that certainly is “unthinkable”, so is a woman leading the worship of the church, regardless of her wardrobe (14:34-38). Despite spending 48 pages commenting on this section of Scripture, Thiselton does not cite a single primary source to confirm his assertions about the covering in Corinthian culture. Blomberg (1994) says, “If an external head covering is meant, Paul probably wants married women to wear a shawl over their hair and shoulders, as many Greek women still did in public, and not to resemble those who discard...

Tuskeegee National Forest is about 10 minutes from where I live. At around 11,000 acres, it's the smallest national park. I frequently find myself driving around its dirt roads in order to get some fresh air and meditate. I've also done a good bit of running and hiking around its trails. In 2012, while I was training for a marathon, most of my "long runs", anything over 10 miles, were done there on early Sunday mornings. The forest is regularly logged and you will see very few large trees, but most of the land is wooded with young (less than 20 year old) pine. There is a decent variety of wildlife but it is rare to see anything in my experience. A couple of times I have seen whitetail deer and once I saw a dead boar. I found a skull one time which seemed to belong to a fox or coyote. Interesting links: Some info about the fores t Trail map Bigfoot sighting...

Was Jesus primarily the same as or different from mankind? However we answer will define the rest of our lives. We will only answer that question by simultaneously answering two other questions: "What is the true essence of mankind?" and "What is the true essence of Jesus?" It might be considered a natural consequence of legend-making that while he lived on earth Jesus seemed nothing more than a man but after he died he seemed nothing less than a god. But those who think such things willfully ignore that the perspective of his followers changed not decades but days after his death. This leaves no time for mythological evolution, but it does make the title question more difficult to answer. It also produces the urge to frame that answer with temporal caveats: "Before his death he was primarily the same as, but after his death he is primarily different from mankind." But these are turbulent philosophical waters in which to swim. If such a basic question cann...

The above quote is from Tacitus, the first century Roman historian, speaking of the funerary celebrations of the emperor Augustus. Tacitus records that some men only praised Augustus for political reasons: they wanted to win Tiberius' favor. But sensible people knew there was both good and evil in the late emperor. It's too easy to make modern applications. It is a foolish man that cannot see that no political candidate or office-holder is completely good.  This is because no human is completely good. There is no human Messiah, and those saying otherwise tend to have much to gain from our being deceived. Nor is any human or politician completely bad. At least none are created that way. It does nothing to hide our littleness of mind when we can only see the bad in someone, however disagreeable their ideology.  Be sensible.

Last year a highly-credentialed psychologist/professor at the University of Toronto popped into the social scene after publicly decrying a piece of Canadian legislation intending to make illegal the use of certain pronouns in certain contexts. His name is Jordan Peterson. I've since grown to appreciate and be thankful for the way he is able to elucidate profound cultural subjects. I'm generally grateful for people who are able to talk reasonably and logically about difficult and divisive issues. It is sad to see the deep fissures that segment our nation and every nation. This is a divided world but there are some people who genuinely want to create positive change. I'll probably post more about Dr. Peterson in a future entry.

In order to avoid the appearance of an open-ended endorsement of this particular person, I will refer to them as "X" (although I have heard him quoted warmly by one dearly beloved preacher). A few years ago as I was preparing to serve as a translator in Central America, I picked up the Spanish translation of a popular biography of WWII era theologian X. While my beliefs (and, the Bible, I tend to think) diverge sharply from some of X's published thoughts, it is hard to read his story without being impressed with his general character. I would like to share a few quotes from X's writings. Caveat lector , for I am producing my own English translation of a Spanish translation of X's German writings. So, the idea should be basically the same as the original, but the wording may be quite different. In fact, I am hoping that to be the case to prevent anyone from figuring out X's identity. But these were quotes I found to be powerful and thought-provoking...

I downloaded a new audio bible app yesterday and listened to Marquis Laughlin's rendition of the majority of Matthew today. I was blown away. That may sound like an exaggeration, but it's not. I have listened to many audio Bibles, but Marquis has made me see Jesus in a totally new way. Passages I had read and heard read my whole life suddenly made my jaw drop. Things Jesus said that I used to take for granted suddenly sounded incredibly shocking, at times harsh, even offensive. There was nothing that Jesus said that was forgettable. I hung on Jesus' every word. He commanded my respect and that of those with me as crowds of us listened to him teach. So often Jesus is presented as this ethereal, transcendent, hippie-type. But listening today, he sounded more like the Matrix's Morpheus, someone tough and strong, gritty even, with superhuman knowledge of a realm beyond my vision. Jesus wanted to lead me and the rest of his followers into a challenging and dangerous adventur...