2009-01-17

Here's a testimony to the uncertainty of riches. "Alberta had been on track for a near-record surplus of $8.5 billion in this fiscal year, but most of that evaporated when oil prices tumbled from a summer high of US$176 to below US$40 this month." http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/01/16/edm-spending-cuts.html

Engwer comments on that idea that the virgin birth and birth narratives are derivative of pagan sources. Some points: Ben Witherington and Darrell Bock both comment that there is a consensus among scholars rejecting this view. Even skeptical scholar Raymond Brown rejects this. e.g. "If the marital situation between Joseph and Mary [portrayed in Matthew's gospel] were not a fact and could have been created according to the dictates of Christian imagination, it is difficult to see why a situation less open to scandal was not contrived." "Leaving aside formal biographies, one can make a better case that even Jews would have known (sometimes derisively) popular stories about the gods, but would they have wanted to imitate them in describing the Son of the Lord God of Israel? Most lines in the infancy narratives have patent OT parallels; it is very difficult to show that the evangelists drew upon the proposed and far more distant Greco-Roman parallels." Early opponent of Christianity Celcus thinks the virgin birth idea originated with Jesus (though he denies the truth of it), which is odd in light of modern claims that Paul didn't know about it. Why would the critics of Christianity think that the idea was circulating even in Jesus' lifetime, and if it originated later, why is there no evidence of earlier widespread ignorance and doctrinal contradiction? Matthew and Luke were used early on in the church and there is no indication that Pauline or Matthean communities rejected the idea, indeed, there is evidence of its acceptance. Engwer also points to Chris Price, who has a good two-part series on the virgin birth here and here. Chris Price On The Virgin Birth

Hays continues to comment on how a layman should deal with global warming. Greens won't allow a layman to suspend judgment in light of their agenda. But suspending judgment is wiser when you can't check the facts yourself and there isn't a consensus among experts. This makes deferral to authority more difficult. "Once upon a time, environmentalism had fairly modest and reasonable aims: clean air, clean water, safe food, national parks. But over time, it has evolved and coalesced into a radical worldview, involving elements of deep ecology, ecocentrism, ecosocialism, antinatalism, Earth liberation, &c. This is a radical, self-contained conceptual scheme." He points out that environmentalism is a neopagan alternative and we would do well to understand its ideological underpinnings. There's both hatred of America and self-hatred by Americans under environmentalism. The argument about corrupt scientists on business payrolls cuts both ways, since govn't grants and funds poured into such tech and research provide a lucrative opportunity for green scientists. Earth liberation

John Frame provides a potential prayer for the inauguration of Obama if he were asked to do it AND it was agreed that he could pray in the name of Christ. Inauguration Day Prayer #1- John Frame. Here is Thabiti Anyabwile's answer - view it as an opportunity? He's torn. Inauguration Day Prayer #2- Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile

Dan Phillips writes, "Proof #497 that actors should only say things smarter people write for them: Tom Hanks delivers himself of the opinion that Mormon supporters are "un-American."" 09