December 7, 2013

That All Men May Know His Work

By John Paine

“He seals up the hand of every man; that all men may know His work.”
Job 37:7 (NKJV)

While on a recent international fact-finding mission (OK…actually just a trip to Toronto for a family wedding), Marion and I visited the Royal Ontario Museum. Imagine the Sydney Opera House crash landing on the Smithsonian and you’ve pretty much got the setting. (Canadians do have a sense of humor.)

Royal Ontario Museum Entrance

Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario (Photo credit: Elli Davis)

We walked up from the subway having no idea what we were going to see. The cashier asked if we wanted tickets to the Mesopotamia exhibit (featuring artifacts on loan from the British Museum), so we were treated to a couple of hours of a really, really good history lesson.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia Exhibit

While we were buying our tickets, the cashier at the counter position next to us (his name was Rex) made some impious statement to a visiting couple about how glad he was that his parents hadn’t imposed any religious beliefs on him.  (Rex apparently hasn’t thought much about atheism as a religion.) I mention Rex’s sound bite because it followed me around the museum for quite a while; a sad reminder of how people can bristle right past the evidence.

The Mesopotamia exhibit was spectacular. This is the kind of stuff that was printed in my junior high history text, but went right over my head due to my lack of effort and interest. It turns out I missed a lot. Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on atheists. Continue reading

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Archaeology

December 3, 2013

Bible Secrets Revealed via the History Channel?

By Clarke Morledge
God took Enoch (Genesis 5:24). From Figures de la Bible, Gerald Hoet and others, 1728.

God took Enoch (Genesis 5:24). From Figures de la Bible, Gerald Hoet and others, 1728.

As I do not have cable TV, I never really get to watch the History Channel. But when some friends suggested that I check out the new History Channel series on the Bible Secrets Revealed, I thought I should investigate a little.

As it turns out, the History Channel does allow you to watch some of the previous episodes online fairly easily, at least for a limited time. I missed the window to see the first episode, “Lost in Translation“. However, I was able to view the next two episodes, “The Promised Land” and “The Forbidden Scriptures“. I will not attempt to give a full review but just offer some brief general observations and pointers to some resources for further study.

I like Bible documentaries because I always learn something from them, such as in this History Channel series, and it encourages me to dig deeper in the data even more for myself, even if I do not agree with everything presented. But what bothers me about some Bible documentaries is in the style of presentation and the overall narrative that the producers of the film are trying to convey. Genuine efforts to present views even handedly get unwittingly sidetracked by unexamined biases held by these documentary makers. Unfortunately, the History Channel’s latest film on this topic is no exception.
Continue reading

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December 1, 2013

The First Thanksgiving

By Clarke Morledge

I had a great Thanksgiving. How about you?

The turkey I ate was wonderful, just like what the Pilgrims ate….. or was it? Did they even have turkey to eat in 1621?

The study of American history is a tough thing to deal with for Christians. We are annoyed and quite accustomed to revisionists who want to exorcise Christianity out of America’s past. On the other hand, a lot of ideas about history that have been passed down to us over the generations do not always line up with the facts. Is there a responsible Christian way to approach our nation’s past?

Robert Tracy McKenzie, an historian at Wheaton College, has written a new book, The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About Loving God and Learning from History, that attempts to set the record straight (with a measure of humility with respect to the challenges to doing history) and still show us the Biblical and historical lessons that we can learn from our nation’s forebears.

Here is the book’s trailer and then a brief interview with the author addressing a question that many evangelical Christians merely assume to be true, “Were the Pilgrims just like us?”:

More discussion is available here at the Patheos Book Club.

Audio podcast with Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Society, interviewing McKenzie here.

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November 29, 2013

Flood, Faith, and Russell Crowe

By Clarke Morledge

From Hurricane Katrina to SuperStorm Sandy to various massive typhoons across the world, the thought of a Great Flood triggers thoughts of complete destruction.  No greater event as described in the Bible confronts us with the terrifying power of nature than Noah’s Flood. Yet the central theme in the Noah story is not mindless natural forces, but rather the supreme Holy authority of a Merciful Creator God faced with human disobedience.

Even popular culture is fascinated with Noah and God’s Flood.  I do not know how good a film this will really be, but a new movie staring Russell Crowe due in 2014 promises to explore the theme using the latest computer generated imagery techniques:

Film director Darren Aronofsky tells that the story of Noah had captivated him ever since he was about thirteen years old. What do we make of the narrative about Noah’s flood in Genesis 6-9 that would inspire a movie like this?
Continue reading

13 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Apologetics

November 26, 2013

Symposium 2013 Roundup Week Three

By John Paine

“Test everything. Hold on to the good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NIV84)

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2 (NIV84)

Among many other distinguishing characteristics, Christianity is all about the truth.  Christian believers do not have the burden of fideism, and can ask any question without fearing that their faith will be overturned by the answer.  In fact, the apostle Paul exhorted us to test everything.

Facts & Faith

We concluded our three-part Facts & Faith Symposium on Sunday night by showing and discussing Hugh Ross’ testimony in the Cosmic Fingerprints DVD, produced by Reasons To Believe.

We recorded the panel discussion and Q&A just as for Week Two, and here is the video:

[vimeo 80690471 w=490]

 

So What?

Why did we do this?  Doesn’t the topic of Creationism divide the church?  Was it worth it?   Continue reading

25 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Facts & Faith