Clarke Morledge -- Computer Network Engineer, College of William and Mary...
I hiked the Mount of the Holy Cross, one of the famous Colorado Fourteeners, with some friends in July, 2012. My buddy, Mike Scott, snapped this photo of me on the summit.
The saddle between Grays and Torreys Peaks in Colorado. I am the guy in the red jacket.
I love hiking in the Colorado Rockies. In 2006, a buddy of mine and I hiked two of Colorado’s famous “fourteeners,” mountains that rise above 14,000 feet, in one day. In the photo, I am walking up from the saddle connecting these two huge peaks, with Grays Peak to my back and the photo being taken from a few hundred feet below the summit of Torreys Peak. I love this picture because it eerily captures the pure desolation at such heights, with the clouds just crossing this “valley” between the two mountain summits. If you click on the photo for more detail, you can barely make out the dozens of other climbers that day as they made their way between these beautiful peaks.
This camera shot fits well with the topic at hand, the relationship between inerrancy “summits” and the “valleys” of biblical interpretation. Continue reading
It was March 7, 1965, a day remembered in the civil rights movement as “Bloody Sunday.” A group of African Americans were planning to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama to demand that they be given the legal right to vote without any unnecessary encumbrances. Six hundred men and women began their march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, only to be greeted by a line of state troopers waiting for them with billy clubs and gas masks, and members of an all-white county posse, composed of men who had been deputized to participate only the night before. The non-violent marchers were told to go back home or “go to your church.” Television cameras, such as these scenes from CBS, were broadcast around the world showing how the marchers were run over and beaten by “law enforcement.”
In the 2014 film by Ava DuVernay , Selma, the general outline of the story is depicted, showing how the marchers were eventually able to complete their march to Montgomery, which resulted in President Lyndon Johnson urging Congress to pass the Voters Rights Act of 1965. Critics have made much of DuVernay’s negative portrayal of President Johnson as being directly antagonistic towards the efforts of Martin Luther King, Jr., so one might complain of the tendency to oversimplify the narrative regarding what happened in Selma, and King himself was far from perfect.
Nevertheless, as I was watching the film, I kept thinking to myself, where were the followers of Jesus on that “Bloody Sunday” morning? As the state troopers were putting on their gas masks, they acknowledged that among the marchers were many Christians. And yet, I wonder where were the white Christians? Were the white Christians of Selma all in their churches that morning worshipping God? Upon hearing the television reports, did they come out and lend a hand to their African American brothers and sisters in the Lord as they were bleeding in the streets?
There were many who saw the events of “Bloody Sunday” unfold before them on their television sets across the world, and some responded by traveling to Alabama to participate in a future attempted march. One of these was a Unitarian Univeralist minister from Boston, James Reeb. Much like the Samaritans in first century Palestine, who were viewed in John 4:19-25 as theologically suspect with their call to worship on Mount Gerizim instead of the correct place, Jerusalem, Unitarian Univeralists fifty years ago as well as today are viewed as being theologically suspect among evangelicals. Yet why was it that someone like James Reeb became a martyr for the civil rights movement when he was beaten to death by white supremacists in Selma, and not a more theologically-sound born again Christian? Is it fair to say as in the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, that James Reeb was like a modern day “Samaritan?”
Examples of violence in history across the religious spectrum are invoked by journalists and political leaders in order to give us perspective. For many, the actions associated with extreme Islamic jihad are comparable to the aggressive militancy of the Crusades waged by Western Europeans in the Middle East during the medieval era. Countless readers of history, both from Christian and Islamic backgrounds, accept the narrative made famous by 20th century medieval historian Sir Steven Runciman that the Crusades remain the classic example of unprovoked, religious intolerance and unbridled fanaticism.
So, is this a fair comparison? Did the offensive actions of those medieval Crusaders provoke modern day extreme Islamic jihad? Or were the Crusades primarily intended to be an act of defense against the juggernaut advance of militant Islam over the preceding centuries?
Let’s face it. History can get really complicated, particularly when talking about violence, especially religiously motivated violence. How do we sort these things out?
Thomas F. Madden is a professor of medieval history at Saint Louis University. He is one of the leading academic historians on the Crusades. Many of the things Madden talks about regarding common misunderstandings of the Crusades may surprise you. Madden gave the following talk before a Catholic audience (here is a summary of his main points):
I just came home from our church’s Ash Wednesday service, with some charcoal on my forehead, reminding me and others around me of our own mortality.
I know that many evangelical Christians do not celebrate Ash Wednesday, or the season of Lent, for that matter, because it is not directly taught within the Bible. I can understand that, but the unfortunate rumors that the season of Lent has pagan roots is without foundation. Instead, the practice of Lent is thoroughly grounded in a tradition begun in the early church, for which traditionally-minded liturgical churches continue to celebrate, along with a growing number of evangelical churches. So while the specific practice of Lent is not mentioned in the Bible, the concepts of repentance and self-examination as we prepare our hearts to meet the crucified and risen Christ celebrated on Easter Sunday are most definitely grounded in Scripture.
For more on the history of Ash Wednesday and Lent, see this Veracity posting from last year. Columbia Publishing House, an arm of the Missouri-Synod Lutheran Church, produced the following video, a short under-3-minute introduction to what Lent is all about:
What do cultural celebrities like Bill Nye, Richard Dawkins, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Bart Ehrman, and Bill Maher all have in common? In different ways, the represent different forms of skepticism about the Christian faith.
In a recent Sunday School class on “Personal Discipleship,” I was asked this question: Who are the most influential skeptics today?
How does one go about answering such a question? According to Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, in his magisterial A Secular Age, a few hundred years ago it was virtually impossible not to believe in God. But nowadays, the shift is remarkable: for many in 21st century Western culture, it is very easy, almost inescapable, to not believe in God. Skepticism defines the current cultural mood, something that would have been mostly unthinkable just a few centuries ago.
Instead of trying to come up with some type of “Top Ten” skeptics list, I think it best to list out some of the more skeptical personalities today, each person representing a different type of skepticism that an evangelical Christian believer might encounter in their conversations with their neighbors, co-workers and even family members. So here we go…. Continue reading
