Lets stage our own Greenslide. If every member of your church joined the Greens and advocated for the environment, for social justice, and for a less rabidly anti-Christian platform we’d have the makings of a fantastic party.

(Via St. Eutychus.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

* In this video she’s about 18 months old.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

PS – hot tip: if you give a talk at church, don’t watch an incredibly sped up version. It highlights your, ahem, repertoire of gestures.

There were, however, a couple of mitigating factors at play that you should know about. I was 15. I’d never heard of him. I listened to about 20 seconds of each track in the shop, and it sounded ok, so I bought it. (When I got it home I realised that it’s exactly the same as those 20 seconds, repeated over and over and over and ….) It’s at the very bottom of my CD collection, having been played through once only.

But I do own the CD. And as a sax player, I cringe each and every time I hear someone speaking approvingly of him.

Which is why this essay by Pat Metheney on the musical and cultural value—or lack thereof—of Kenny G’s music is so awesome:

By disrespecting Louis, his legacy and by default, everyone who has ever tried to do something positive with improvised music and what it can be, Kenny G has created a new low point in modern culture – something that we all should be totally embarrassed about – and afraid of.

(h/t kottke)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another debate, this one entitled Jesus: Messiah, Myth, or Legend?, was held at Macquarie University on March 16, 2010. The event was co-sponsored by the Christian group I’m part of, Macquarie University Christian Union, and the Macquarie University Atheist League.

The speakers were Dan Barker and Chris Forbes.
Dan Barker is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (USA), was a former teenage evangelical preacher and an ordained minister, but is now one of America’s leading atheists. Dr Chris Forbes is a Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, and Deputy Chairman of the Society for the Study of Early Christianity. His areas of interest include New Testament history, and the intersection of early Christianity and Graeco-Roman culture.

It was a really good debate, and very well attended by all sorts of people. Further, it didn’t suffer from the format in the same way as the previous debate. It was, however, incredibly one-sided. In my opinion, Barker was thrashed. This is one of the best defences of Jesus as a historical figure I’ve heard.

Have a listen, and see how what you think.

(Note: the debate goes for well over an hour, so the file is relatively large: ~70 MB.)

A debate on whether the Bible is an Acceptable Guide for Morality was held at Macquarie University on March 16, 2010. The event was co-sponsored by the Christian group I’m part of, Macquarie University Christian Union, and the Macquarie University Atheist League.

The speakers were Dan Barker and Greg Clarke.
Dan Barker is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (USA), was a former teenage evangelical preacher and an ordained minister, but is now one of America’s leading atheists. Dr Greg Clarke is co-founder and director of the Centre for Public Christianity. His PhD in literature was focussed on how theology is discussed in the arts and humanities. He is primarily interested in talking about the importance of Christianity for understanding the meaning of life.

It was a fascinating exchange, but left me feeling deeply sorry for Dan. It also suffered a little from the debate format. The speakers were at cross purposes most of the time, so I think it needed to be a little more conversational than it was. Have a listen, and see how you react.

(Note: the debate goes for well over an hour, so the file is relatively large: ~70 MB.)

[h/t bathgate]

Interestingly, this correspondence does not necessarily imply that the source text was concerned with the referent of the target text. The exegetical tradition of employing texts to refer to whole passages and themes was a common part of Jesus’ teaching, and was carried on by his disciples.^[2] The circumstances of Judas’ death for example, related in Acts 1:20, are not taken to be the subject matter of the Psalm itself. Peter’s application of the Psalm to him is, however, in continuity with the original context, as Judas was the one who betrayed the eschatological Son of David and received a form of divine retribution. Such careful reading of OT texts in their original contexts before attempting a Christian application can, says Peterson, be a valid form of biblical reading today.^[3] The example of the inspired preachers and authors of the NT show us that the church stands in the history of God’s faithful dealings with his people.

[1] Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 417; Hays, Echoes, 96–97.↩

[2] David G. Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles (Pillar New Testament Commentary Series; Nottingham: Apollos, 2009), 125. ↩

[3] Peterson, The Acts of the Apostles, 125–26 ↩