All I can say is wow

I could not believe my eyes when I read that Henry Morgentaler was awarded the Order of Canada today. Thankfully Canada Day is almost over so it wasn’t completely ruined for me. I cannot think of very many people who deserve this “honour” less than him. Here’s the intent of the Order of Canada:

The Order of Canada is the centrepiece of Canada’s honours system and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. The Order recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country. The Order of Canada’s motto is DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM (They desire a better country).

There is no question he has made difference in this country but I do not think that killing untold thousands of unborn people qualifies as enriching the lives of others. I do not think the country is better off for his presence either. Of course our supreme court and federal government have to take some of the blame for not implementing any type of abortion law for twenty years now.

What would happen if we all took the bus?

I read with interest this CBC report today which says that too many people in Vancouver are taking the bus! Their monthly passes sell out every month and they are considering printing more but only if they think the system can handle the extra load.

For years and years environmentalists have been insisting that everyone should take public transit. Now that gas prices are so high many more people are. What would happen if everyone took the bus? Obviously the system would collapse and anarchy would reign. Many would argue that the government should spend billions on increased public transit, but then they also complain about the Cambie Street fiasco and the Richmond “Sky Train.” Not surprisingly, those with the means will gladly plunk down $60,000 for a luxury vehicle but refuse to pay the taxes that are required to support an increased transit system.

I will make one prediction - if we all took the bus the sales of locking gas caps at Lordco would return to normal because only Coast Mountain would have any gas to steal.

Prince Caspian

We just got home from seeing Prince Caspian at SilverCity. In a word it was “long.” The cinematography is gorgeous and the acting is good but it tends to drag. As a movie in and of itself it seems incomplete…like the whole event is just a hiatus between the first movie and whatever will follow. I see it has taken in $115 million so far and we can thus be certain that the whatever will follow. As if there was any doubt! My wife said Prince Caspian looks twice as handsome on the big screen as he did in an interview so go see it!

Based on the previews here and before Iron Man which I saw a couple of weeks ago it looks like a very strong summer line up, unlike last year which I felt was disappointing.

Happy viewing!

Orthodozy and the Search for the Hysterical Jesus

That’s the title of my forthcoming book. It’s about why the world and even Christians find orthodoxy boring and would rather search for the hysterical Jesus than study the finer points of Christianity which have been the basis of the faith for millennia. Let me know if you think the title alone will sell a few thousand copies And suggest some corresponding cover art!

What is your hermeneutical bent?

I discovered Scot McKnight’s Hermeneutics Quiz today. It asks a series of questions regarding how you view certain issues relating to scripture and its relationship to the modern world and then you rank your position on a scale of 1-5. The results place you in one of there categories: conservative, moderate, or progressive. I scored a 52 which puts me at the limits of conservative, one point off from being a moderate. Obviously, twenty questions a hermeneutic does not make, but I would much rather be conservative than progressive so it got that right :). For more information on the quiz see this Christianity Today Leadership Journal page. I think its most valuable contribution is to get people to think about why they hold the scriptural interpretations they do and how they hold it in relation to others who read the Bible with a different viewpoint and/or agenda.

Mary and Joseph needed Air Canada

Luke 2:42ff: When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up after the custom of the feast; ^43and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not; ^44but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey; and they sought for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance: ^45and when they found him not, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking for him. ^46And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers

An extended family managed to leave their 23 month old child in the Vancouver airport but Air Canada came to the rescue and they didn’t have to spend three days looking for him. Of course at that age I don’t think he would have been in the airport chaplain’s office quizzing him or her on on matters of doctrine.

“the family was scattered in different parts of the plane to Winnipeg and still didn’t know the child had been left behind….Air Canada staff began checking flights that had left, and ‘we eventually determined who his parents might be … and the flight crew talked to them,’ Mah said. ‘They didn’t realize until then that the baby had been left behind.’

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/05/14/child-plane.html

Mormon Handbook of Instructions

is now available online. I read this today on Slashdot where it has garnered 978 comments so far, which goes to show that if you really want to keep your religious manuals secret you probably shouldn’t threaten to sue people. Quite frankly, from the examples given most people would be bored to sleep reading it. I won’t bore you or risk being sued myself so jump on over.

Einstein letter for sale

Apparently Einstein was a little more antagonistic towards Christianity than is usually reported. A letter up for auction this week includes this juicy tidbit:

“the word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.”

It would be nice to have the whole letter to determine context but from the picture it is a pretty short note and can’t include too much context.

Cf. http://www.cbc.ca/cp/science/080513/g051308A.html

Julius Caesar is Alive!

Ok, actually they have discovered a life-like bust of him in the Rhone River in France. Follow this link for the picture: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2008/05/14/bust-caesar.html. It is said to date from 49 to 46 B.C. Apparently archaeologists think this may show him as he actually appeared instead of the stylized busts that we normally see. By the looks of things he was punched in the nose by the sculptor.

More on Christadelphians

Today’s Logos’ blog post refers to a post by Michael Heiser in which he looks at John 10:30-33 using Logos’ syntax search. He is seeking to undermine the JW and Mormon argument that these verses do not refer to Jesus divinity because of the lack of the definite article. I once mentioned these verses to a JW as a reason why I believe that Jesus is God and he replied it was a Jew who made this statement so of course it was wrong. I protested that Jews are certainly monotheists and therefore they must have understood that Jesus was claiming to be God. His response assured me that JWs have a low opinion of Jews. I have never met a Christadelphian but I did read their online response to John 10:30 and others (Jn 1:1+, Phil 2:6-9, Isa 9:6, Jn 20:28).
Unfortunately they concentrate on Jn 10:30 and ignore the context. Their argument is rather limited: “Even the sentence in its structure indicates two persons: ‘I’ + ‘the Father” equals 2.” If you want to even begin to understand these verses you need to look at the context.
1. Did Jesus claim to be God? Yes = he is God; No = what did he mean?
2. No. Did he mean as the Christadelphians assert: “Christ and his Father were one in the same sense that Christ prayed the disciples would be one (Jn. 17:11), and a man and his wife are one (Mark 10:7-8), and the church is one (Gal. 3:28). One in purpose and thought, not in being”? Yes = he is not God; No = what did he mean?
3. How did his audience respond to his remarks? He claimed to be God (no one seemed to accept that at this time); He was claiming to be one in purpose and thought with God. In other words, he was a prophet or a man after God’s own heart like David. From the response of the Jews in seeking to stone him they clearly thought he was claiming to be God: “The Jews answered him, saying, ‘For a good work we would not stone you; but for blasphemy; and because that you, being a man, make yourself God.’” Christadelphians must therefore conclude that Jesus was totally misunderstood and that although he was claiming one thing his audience wanted to kill him because they thought he was saying something else. Personally, if a group of people wanted to kill me due to a misunderstanding of what I said I would quickly clear up that misunderstanding!
4. The other option is to take the stance that Jesus was a good man and the Jews hated good men so they made up false charges against him. This was the approach of the JW I mentioned above. This makes the argument rather personal and is unnecessary I believe. I would be interested to know what any Christadelphians think of this so please drop me a comment.