Tim Keller and David Powlison offer some biblical reflections on what we should do when we hear negative criticism about an individual. Justin Taylor indicates that such biblical reflection is particularly important for bloggers.
Aug 052008
Aug 042008
Here is Darrell Bock on Gesine Robinson on the recently-hyped Gospel of Judas.
Aug 042008
I have come across a wealth of interesting quotes as I prepare for New Testament Introduction class next term. Here’s one on the importance of Marcion (remember Marcion, the 2nd century semi-gnostic theologian who created his own canon?) in the development of the church’s canon consciousness:
The theological and methodological deficiencies of [Marcion's] canon should not…prevent us from appreciating the fundamental importance of the attempt. Marcion’s bible tabled once for all the question of a new canon, that is, the question of the ‘authentic’ witnesses to the original gospel, which were to provide the standard of all later tradition and the norm for the preaching of the Church. The Church as she was then situatied could not ignore this question if she wished to hold her own. But there was still a long way to go, through crises and controversies of many different kinds, before an answer was found. That answer stands today as our New Testament; but at the outset of the conflict such a thing did not exist. (Campenhausen, Hans. The Formation of the Christian Bible. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1972. p165).
It’s a powerful reminder of God’s gracious providence in history, especially in times of trial and opposition. A man who fought against God’s gospel with incredible passion and consistency ultimately spurred the Church on to recognize what we know today as the New Testament.
Aug 032008
As a computer nerd who nevertheless has a strange love of LPs and dusty old books, I found this article interesting. Here are a couple of highlights:
While 73 percent of American adults use the Internet (only 35 percent 65 or older), according to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, it’s likely that many of them would rather have a president who can get Osama bin Laden than get online. And there is a common belief that says being president should be more a “vision” job than a “management” job, and that the clutter of a digital life can only distract from the Big Picture and Deep Thoughts a leader should be concerned with. In other words, would we really want a president “friending” from the Oval Office, scouring Wikipedia for information on Iran’s nuclear program or fielding e-mail from someone claiming to be “Nigerian general” seeking an American bank account for embezzled millions?
Computers have become something of a cultural marker — in politics and in the real world. Proficiency with them suggests a basic familiarity with the day-to-day experience of most Americans — just as ignorance to them can suggest someone is “out of touch,” or “old.”
“I do understand the importance of the computer,” Mr. McCain reassured in The San Francisco Chronicle last week. “I understand the importance of the blogs.” He said, “I am forcing myself — let me put it this way, I am using the computer more and more every day.” But keeping up with technology “doesn’t mean that I have to e-mail people,” he said. “Now, I read e-mails.” The staff is “constantly showing them to me as the news breaks during the day.”
Read the whole thing.
If you use Openoffice.org or run a Linux operating system, saving any document as a PDF is easy. There is also a plugin for recent versions of Microsoft Office that can do this. But what about exporting web pages, or documents created by other software? For this you will need a “Print to PDF” driver. A “Print to PDF” Driver works exactly like any other printer, only instead of actually printing your document it generates a PDF in a folder of your choosing. This is very easy to set up: here are the details.
Linux provides the same functionality. Most distributions include a driver that does this: just go to your printer settings dialog, “Add” a printer, and look for an entry like “Print to PDF.” I’m sure MAC users have something similar, so perhaps one of our MAC readers could post a comment regarding how to set that up.
