Craig at Doctrinetalk.com has posted a comment about Speaking in Tongues that asks some great questions and should lead to a good discussion.

 Check it out here.

I finally got around to adding Doctrinetalk.com to our blogroll. I know I wrote about it earlier, but I wanted to once again suggest that everyone check it out. It's just like us…without all the bitterness.

Craig has some great insight and I think you will enjoy reading he has to say.  

I just stumbled upon a blog written by an ex-City Church member. I haven't had time to go through all of it, but I read his review of one of Judah's messages, which sounded similar to a few reviews written here, and then I read the About Me section which has a most excellent email exchange between Craig (the blog author) and Wendell Smith.

  I came across a rather interesting website recently called Evil Bible . I found it interesting because I think the author of the site brings up some valid points that should be addressed, especially in his Bible Contradictions section.  In it he asks this question:    

"If the Bible was divinely inspired, then why would it have so many really obvious contradictions?"

I don't have an answer for him, but maybe you can help. Here are a few of my "favorite" examples:

     59. Seed time and harvest were never to cease
          Gen 8:22
         Seed time and harvest did cease for seven years
          Gen 41:54,56/ Gen 45:6

     76. Christ was crucified at the third hour
          Mark 15:25
         Christ was not crucified until the sixth hour
          John 19:14,15

    130. Poverty a blessing
           Luke 6:20,24/ Jams 2:5
          Riches a blessing
           Prov 10:15/ Job 22:23,24/ Job 42:12
          Neither poverty nor riches a blessing
           Prov 30:8,9

     Think not that I come to send peace on earth: I came not to send
     peace, but a sword.
     - Matthew 10:34

     … all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
     - Matthew 26:52

—————————————————————————-

    Thou shalt not kill
     - Exodus 20:13

     Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his
     side… and slay every man his brother…
     - Exodus 32:27

—————————————————————————-

     Lay not up for yourself treasures upon the earth…
     - Matthew 6:19

     In the house of the righteous is much treasure…
     - Proverbs 15:6

—————————————————————————-

     Whosoever shall say Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire.
     - Matthew 5:22

     [Jesus said] Ye fools and blind.
     - Matthew 23:17

On another note, I really appreciated his donation section: I may want to steal it.

Buy me a Beer!

    Writing stuff for this web site and debating theists in my discussion forum takes up a lot of my time and makes me VERY THIRSTY.   If you like my web site and want to buy me a beer, you can do this by donating money to my beer fund.

Suggested dontations:

$3.00  A domestic beer at a local pub.

$5.50  An import or microbrew at a nice restaurant.

$10.00 A 12-pack of beer

$20.00 A case of beer.

$50.00 A quarter keg

$3,700,000 A small microbrewery

$17,345,675,659  Controlling interest in Anheuser -Bush

For the record, I do not agree with his position, but think he has many valid points worth discussing.

The man behind Blogging the Bible, David Plovitz, recently held on online chat, where he answered this question:

Arlington, Va.: What's been the most surprising thing in blogging?

David Plotz: The most surprising thing. Hmm. I guess it's how morally complicated the book is. When you hear "The Bible," you think: morality, righteousness, the goodness of God, the holiness of it all. And then you read the stories themselves, and they're incredibly confusing, morally. The Bible, at least the Hebrew Bible, does not offer clear guidance about how we are supposed to behave. What kind of lesson do you learn from the stories in Joshua, where God orders the wholesale slaughter of the other tribes in the Promised Land?

What is so demanding, and exciting, about the book is the way it pushes you to face moral complexity, and not settle for the simplest, easiest lesson.

I agree.

Mr. Plovitz also makes this comparison about King David.

New York: I was wondering if reading the Bible has given you insight into contemporary politics.

David Plotz: There are some stories where the modern political analogies jump out at you — I am thinking particularly about King David, who is so much like Bill Clinton in his appetites, his sins, his loves, his faith, his brilliance, his empathy.

Ha! Bill Clinton as a modern King David. I'll be honest, I've never thought of that before. I'm kind of skeptical; I may have to go back re-read 1 Samuel.

Just came across this blog by a Jewish man who is reading the Bible for the first time and blogging his reaction.

He writes:

My goal is pretty simple. I want to find out what happens when an ignorant person actually reads the book on which his religion is based. I think I'm in the same position as many other lazy but faithful people (Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus). I love Judaism; I love (most of) the lessons it has taught me about how to live in the world; and yet I realized I am fundamentally ignorant about its foundation, its essential document.

I think he's sticking with the Old Testament, but it's still a pretty entertaining project.

He's currently on the Book of Job, and he has this take:

While not reading Job, I apparently developed a gross misconception about what it was. Like everyone with a pulse, I knew the basic outlines: God bets Satan—a gentleman's bet, no cash at stake—that His most upright servant, Job, will remain faithful even in the face of catastrophe. God and Satan afflict Job, and he endures patiently.

But as I am learning from the first few chapters, I seem to have wildly misunderstood the story in two ways. First, I assumed the book was the story of Job's trials—an endless series of unfortunate events, punctuated by Satanic (and divine) laughter. In fact, God and Satan wipe out Job by the middle of Chapter 2. The next 40 chapters are just argument. Second, because I believe clichés, I thought that Job would be patient (see: "patient as Job"). He's the opposite of patient. He's frustrated, enraged, petulant, and agitated about his situation. He can't believe how badly he has been screwed, and he's desperate to fix it, right now.

Speaking of people making money off Jesus… Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, authors of the Left Behind series, are having trouble selling their new book: John's Story: The Last Eyewitness.

My friend who writes at Popsurfing wonders why their new book is struggling?

I'm not quite sure why this new series (a proposed look at all four authors of the Gospels) has failed entirely to reach even their core audience. Perhaps it's the title? Catholics, at least, acknowledge that the Gospels were NOT written by eyewitnesses to Jesus; they were written decades later by people who got their info second and third hand.

Do Catholics really acknowledge this? And no, that's not the reason the book has failed to sell. It's because the Left Behind series wasn't very good.  Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins just got lucky and cashed in on the Millenium Scare with their Left Behind series.

If they want to make money, then Jerry B. Jenkins needs to get back to what made him great in the first place: The Dallas O'Neil Series.

The Pew Research Center recently did a study on Generation Next. (People age 18-25.)

On issues of Religion, the study determined that:

The combined 2006 data also show that nearly as many Gen Next Christians as older Christians describe themselves as “born again” or evangelical Christians (36% vs. 39%).

However, 20% of today’s 18-25 year-olds say they have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic. Only 11% of those over age 25 fall into this category.

Gen Nexters are among the least likely to attend church regularly: 32% attend at least once a week compared with 40% of those over age 25, and 16% say they never attend (compared with12% among the older age groups).

In terms of religion and public life, Gen Nexters are divided about whether churches should keep out of political matters or express their views: 43% say churches should keep out and 54% say they should express their views.

Nexters views on this issue are nearly identical to Gen Xers and Boomers. It is the oldest age group, arguably the most religious, that leans toward saying the church should keep out of political matters (52% keep out vs. 44% express views). Even so, Nexters are among the most likely to say the will of the American people, not the Bible, should be a more important influence on U.S. laws.

Take from it what you will.

Here are a couple of videos sent in by readers of the blog:

The first video describes Heaven, if Heaven was set in an Office.

- God, Inc.

The second video is several clips of Benny Hinn slaying people in the spirit, set to the tune of Bodies by Drowning Pool. I'm not sure whether the video is making fun of Benny or honoring him. But either way, it's Hinn in all his glory and power. And it's more than a little creepy.

- Benny Hinn: Let the Bodies hit the Floor

Newsweek and The Washington Post have created a website called On Faith. It's a site dedicated to discussing Religious issues. Think of it as this blog without all the sarcasm and profanity. (And fun. It's kind of boring.)

On the site, Cal Thomas posted a short blog discussing atheism called the Atheist Wager. I suspect this is Cal's response to Sam Harris' book Letter to a Christian Nation, which makes the argument for atheism.

(Side note: So many people have mentioned it to me, I hope to read Letter to a Christian Nation one of these days. I have a short window of reading time after the college football season ends, and before March Madness begins and I'm going to try to fit it in then. Though I'll probably just get involved in the MTV trainwreck that is The Real World: Denver.)

Anyway, here's Cal's take on Atheism:

In conversing with an atheist, it is important to understand that such a person will never be brought to faith by information alone, because the same information is available to everyone. If information were sufficient to make a believer out of an atheist, then all would believe.

It takes more faith not to believe in God than to believe in Him. It is also intellectually lazy. You have to believe the vastness of the universe “happened” without a Designer and that unique things like fingerprints and snowflakes occurred by pure chance.

An atheist wagers his or her present and eternal future that he or she is right. If the atheist is right and there is no God, there are no consequences. But if the atheist is wrong and there is a God and a Heaven for those who come to Him on His terms, and a Hell for those who reject Him, then that has the most important consequences.

I do not have the power to persuade anyone that God is, but I can demonstrate the difference He has made in my life and relationships – including with atheists – and pray that the One who brought me to belief will do so with them.

I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I thought I'd throw this out to our readers to get their take. Let me just say I think Cal oversimplifies Faith. Also, Cal better hope that the Muslim's are wrong. Because if they're right, he's still going to Hell.