The Weblog of Old Solar Online Magazine http://www.oldsolar.com/currentblog.php http://www.oldsolar.com/permimages/blogicon.gif http://www.oldsolar.com/currentblog.php 32 32 I have given a lot of thought to Romans chapter 13. As a libertarian, I am not happy with many of the standard presentations I hear. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07192008 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:00:00 PST Somehow I got the impulse to Google "Songs from 1912." I was thinking about the Titanic, an interest of mine since the James Cameron movie. I noticed that Wikipedia has pages for songs from each year, and the page for each year (e.g. 1912 here.) links to the next. I started paging forward. Interesting stuff! http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07182008 Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:00:00 PST As a reader, I don't generally have a strong preference or dislike of any genre as such. Perhaps the genre I have found the least congenial would be the mystery genre, but even there, I have found some wonderful exceptions. The Dante Club was well worth the read. There are science fiction geeks, and no-nonsense types who avoid anything that doesn't have real world believability to it. I am in neither of those categories. I loved Dune, but would not likely find much enjoyment in a randomly chosen science fiction novel. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07152008 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:00:00 PST I love being able to locate information on shows through the Internet. As an adult, I am not so easy to scare. Friends tell me how they can't get images from I am Legend out of their minds when they're outside at night. The movie ceased to bother me when we left the theater. (And even then, being bothered was rather pleasant.) But when I was younger, it was another thing altogether. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07072008 Mon, 7 Jul 2008 12:00:00 PST Some years ago, I went to the full scale replica of Independence Hall at Knott's Berry Farm to hear a delivery of Patrick Henry's "Give me Liberty or Give me Death Speech." The man who delivered it was in full costume and delivered it with passion. It was a good way to spend the Fourth. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07042008 Fri, 4 Jul 2008 12:00:00 PST Issues, Etc. will return at 1PM PST today. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06302008 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:00:00 PST I was at a Liberty Fund conference recently, and some of the other attenders were proponents of Virtue Ethics. I found the conversation interesting, and wanted to know more. I was referred to Rosalind Hursthouse's On Virtue Ethics. I am reading and enjoying that book now. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06282008 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:00:00 PST I've just started listening to the oral arguments in District of Columbia v. Heller, a major gun case. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06262008 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:00:00 PST 1. One movie that made you laugh http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05132008 Tue, 13 May 2008 12:00:00 PST I decided to temporarily pare down my sidebar, especially under Lutheran blogs and the related blogs I had listed. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05112008 Sun, 11 May 2008 12:00:00 PST I just read that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken combined. This makes me feel better about my country. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05102008 Sat, 10 May 2008 12:00:00 PST My topic reminds me of an old joke. "There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't." http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04222008 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PST This topic is probably relevant to people far from my theological circles. It has to do with how I've observed minds change in the past. Mostly with how you find out people have changed their minds. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04192008 Sat, 19 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PST I recently ordered Derek Kidner's little commentary on the Book of Proverbs. (It really is little. It could almost fit into a shirt pocket.) I haven't usually been strongly drawn to the book of Proverbs, but I'm usually not put off by it, either. Kidner's book sounded interesting after a mention of it by Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio magazine. I have not been disappointed. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04162008 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PST In her comments to my previous post on the Hilighter Hermeneutic, Rebecca Johnson cited some awful training she had been subjected to regarding the use of Law and Gospel. This shows me that what I have been seeing as straw man argumentation might have real instances behind it. This makes it all the more important to distinguish good use of Law and Gospel from bad. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04142008 Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PST A commenter on another blog I frequent made reference to the way some people use the distinction between Law and Gospel as a "highlighter hermeneutic." I took this to be sarcasm. That is, the idea that we could go through Scripture and label each section either Law or Gospel was seen as very naïve. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04092008 Wed, 9 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PST The church warden at the Castle Church in Wittenberg was surprised this morning to find Martin Luther's tomb disturbed. The large stone on which the brass plaque with the Reformer's name and epitaph were inscribed had been turned over on its side. The warden approached slowly, expecting perhaps a post Easter miracle. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04012008 Tue, 1 Apr 2008 12:00:00 PST Different groups have different ways of communicating. How much we should take that into consideration is somewhat controversial. Some imagine that all communication should be transparent to any outsider. I suspect that idea is very naive. On the other side, I don't blame people for having their default position set at taking things at face value until they hear a good argument otherwise. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03312008 Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:00:00 PST It is cheap to own a slave. And it is cheaper still to be a slave. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03292008 Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:00:00 PST I was just on the phone with a friend discussing the movie "Into the Wild" and remembered a story that happened to me before blogging days. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03142008 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:00:00 PST I have often heard it said that the goal of Bible translation should be to render the Bible in good modern English. At one time I accepted this idea. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02252008 Mon, 25 Feb 2008 12:00:00 PST The parliament of Turkey has lifted a longstanding ban on women wearing head coverings in the universities. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02172008 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 12:00:00 PST One of the links on my sidebar is to an excellent site on faith and journalism called Get Religion. This blog addresses how the press fails or succeeds in communicating stories on religion. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02082008 Fri, 8 Feb 2008 12:00:00 PST My first Easter Vigil was probably celebrated at Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham around 1990. I am not certain. It could have been later that I first went to one. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02012008 Fri, 1 Feb 2008 12:00:00 PST There is a "meme" floating around that has the following instructions... http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01312008 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:00:00 PST When it comes to the Iraq war, I am a flip-flopper. But I think I can justify this. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01282008 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:00:00 PST When I read Steven Toulmin's Cosmopolis, I was intrigued by his discussion of how the modern age was focused on the timeless, and how the postmodern era was witnessing a return to the timely. I had a strong bias toward the timeless myself, and Toulmin's discussion challenged me to at least ponder whether this was all to the good. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01252008 Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:00:00 PST Journalist Norah Vincent decided to try an interesting experiment. It involved living as a man, instead of the woman she was born as, to see what the world of men looked like from the inside. Instead of the freedom of privilege she expected to find, she found unspoken constraints. Her account is alternatively enlightening and deeply supportive. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01222008 Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:00:00 PST Some BBC America programs have caught my attention lately. The one I'm finding myself most intrigued by is called Life on Mars. The premise is that a detective from our time got into a car crash and woke up in 1973. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01102008 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:00:00 PST If your brother sins, send him an e-mail; if he replies as you would wish, you have won your brother. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01062008 Sun, 6 Jan 2008 12:00:00 PST I just discovered an old version of A Christmas Carol I had not seen before. This was the 1938 version with Reginald Owen. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12212007 Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:00:00 PST When I was growing up, one of the staple Christmas albums was called The Great Songs of Christmas. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12112007 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 12:00:00 PST In addition to questions of whether or not public schooling should exist, there are often unasked questions as to what education ought to be. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12062007 Thu, 6 Dec 2007 12:00:00 PST At Phantasmagorical I found a link to Ann Rice's statement of her political position in the upcoming election. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12052007 Wed, 5 Dec 2007 12:00:00 PST I was reading in Jacques Ellul the other night as I prepared for the first in a series of Adult Bible Class lessons. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12032007 Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:00:00 PST The problem of evil is a huge problem. And no answer is satisfying as a solution. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11102007 Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:00:00 PST I was reading Julian of Norwich earlier today for a book review on a collection of readings in Christian history. The whole idea of spiritual exercises came to mind. I was thinking about how many of the meditations seem to be about "essences." The one doing the contemplating thinks of some very concrete thing, like the wounds of Jesus or "the mother" or "the father." And a new idea came to mind. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11082007 Thu, 8 Nov 2007 12:00:00 PST I have read and seen a lot of coverage of the Phelps family in recent days. I had heard of them long ago, but mostly forgotten them. Then the controversy over the lawsuit over their picketing of soldiers' funerals arose. My first impression was that this was a free speech issue. Then I did more reading. And pondering. I came to some conclusions. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11052007 Mon, 5 Nov 2007 12:00:00 PST I recently discovered commentator Karen Kwiatkowski at LewRockwell.com. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11032007 Sat, 3 Nov 2007 12:00:00 PST Here is a link to an mp3 of Judge Napolitano speaking at the Von Mises Institute's 25th Anniversary Celebration. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10302007 Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:00:00 PST If Orange County Register publisher R.C. Hoiles hated anything worse than unions, it was public schools...He preferred whorehouses, which, he'd point out, were voluntary, while public schools were not.... http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10242007 Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:00:00 PST Over at The League of the Scarlett Pimpernel, there is a discussion of The Declaration of Abroath, a Scottish document that is important as a source for ideas found in the Declaration of Independence. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10232007 Tue, 23 Oct 2007 12:00:00 PST What are my readers' favorite browsable books? http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10212007 Sun, 21 Oct 2007 12:00:00 PST I am reading a book now called The Least of These: Selected Readings in Christian History, edited by Eric R. Severson. The book is a collection of writings on Matthew 25:31-46, the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats. It ranges from Saint Irenaeus to George Whitefield. (No Keith Green.) http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10122007 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 12:00:00 PST ...the deacons had complained that they had told several boys to be quiet and not disturb the others during catechization, an the impudent rascals had clenched their fists at them and poured out English curses such as "Go to h..l!" "You son of a b..ch!" "God d..mn you!" etc. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10022007 Tue, 2 Oct 2007 12:00:00 PST I just finished a book called The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin. I had picked it up on Sunday after church. It was a quick read. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09262007 Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:00:00 PST I decided that my sidebar was getting stale. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09212007 Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:00:00 PST As many readers know by now, a student was tasered at a John Kerry speech at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I watched one video horrified, and then watched a second video which altered my attitude without fully changing my mind. The use of force was excessive, even if the student was more unruly than I had initially thought. Be that as it may, I want to use the incident as a jumping off point for a broader discussion. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09202007 Thu, 20 Sep 2007 12:00:00 PST I used to think anarchy was a stupid idea. Like many, I took the label a little too literally. "The term comes from 'archos', meaning rule, with the privative 'a', so it means 'no rule.'" Well, that clearly would not work. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09152007 Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:00:00 PST Over at Faith and Theology blog, I found an intriguing post that just needs to be shared. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09132007 Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:00:00 PST I think it's hard-wired into my family to think of dogs as people. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09062007 Thu, 6 Sep 2007 12:00:00 PST I just found a link to a Charlie Rose segment on YouTube. Rose interviews Moyers on his "upcoming" Genesis series. This was filmed in 1996. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08302007 Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST I would like to continue with my discussion of Moyers' Genesis conversations. I had way more to say when I sat down to write last time than could be said in one post. Many statements had to be left in a brief form which could easily be misunderstood. Where misunderstanding might be grave, I tried to explain what I was not saying. But listening further today, I realized that what I was trying to say was important. It does address some holes in the ways we read. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08272007 Mon, 27 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST Some years ago, I purchased the audiobook format of Bill Moyers' Genesis series. Moyers had joined a discussion group led by the Rabbi Burton Vizotsky where a group sat down just to discuss the Genesis stories. Moyers found the experience rewarding, and tried to create a public version of the group. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08252007 Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST I watched part three of Christiane Amanpour's 3-Part God's Warriors special. This part was on God's Christian Warriors. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08232007 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST Tonight's installment of Christiane Amanpour's CNN special God's Warriors was as interesting as it has promised to be. I found myself glued to the TV screen. I have often admired Amanpour's coverage of Middle Eastern topics. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08212007 Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST Richard Dawkins has produced some very interesting TV specials on faith in the modern world. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08202007 Mon, 20 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST When I first "became liturgical," I ran in both Episcopalian and Lutheran circles. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08132007 Mon, 13 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST In his essay "Modern Theology and Biblical Criticism" (found in Christian Reflections), C.S. Lewis says of the teachings of the Bible critics, that he is "sceptically ignorant" of their teachings. And he says the skepticism is the father of the ignorance. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08102007 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST "I once told the story to one of those theologians who unhappily (as it seems) strive to alter and water down our faith, and he deplored it: he wished to say, and hoped that the Vatican Council would say, something that would show the child's idea to be wrong. I guessed then that the poor wretch was losing the faith and indeed so, sadly, did it turn out." http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08042007 Sat, 4 Aug 2007 12:00:00 PST Jeremy Abel got me into using a service called BookMooch, a used book trading service. I've found that it changes how I buy books. I don't have to want a book so badly to "mooch" it, since I know I'll be mooching several in a month. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07262007 Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:00:00 PST I was looking up Clyde Kilby, and ran into a sermon by John Piper where he listed eleven practical steps to keeping alive to the beauty of God's world: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07182007 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:00:00 PST My mom bought a book called The Memory Book when I was young. Though I didn't adopt all the methods, I got quite a bit out of it. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07082007 Sun, 8 Jul 2007 12:00:00 PST Over at Gene Veith's blog, a discussion ensued as to the propriety of having American flags in the chancels of churches. Many opinions were expressed on both sides. I have generally been against such displays. But I was reminded of something when I read FatherHollywood's Fourth of July post and saw his graphic. I think there might be an appropriate way to display such, being patriotic, but without fearing that the church is groveling before Caesar.1:01 pm Pacific Standard Time[ posted by Rick Ritchie | 1 comment | http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07052007 Thu, 5 Jul 2007 12:00:00 PST July 4, 1856 was an interesting day in our nation's history. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07042007 Wed, 4 Jul 2007 12:00:00 PST The whole question of how we know what we know, or epistemology, has been a big topic of conversation among my fellow students from Concordia University. I find it interesting that conversations on the subject come up in the Lutheran blogosphere, but I am not always pleased with what I read. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07012007 Sun, 1 Jul 2007 12:00:00 PST I am happy to discover that someone out there is making all the arguments I think need to be made. The existence of this man makes me happier than the existence of Ron Paul makes me. (That's saying a lot.) http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06252007 Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:00:00 PST Today was the Anniversary of the Kelo Ruling http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06232007 Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:00:00 PST I forgot to add a few points to ponder from my last few weeks. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06202007 Wed, 20 Jun 2007 12:00:00 PST [Before I get to my list, I want my readers to consider creating a similar entry. I especially want to see answers from a few different bloggers out there: Kobra, Jeremy Abel, Tarheel.] http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06182007 Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:00:00 PST How could you mix C.S. Lewis and Ayn Rand? Well, I'm neither the first nor the last to make connections. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06092007 Sat, 9 Jun 2007 12:00:00 PST I have bitten off more than I can chew by tackling such a subject in a blog post. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06062007 Wed, 6 Jun 2007 12:00:00 PST I'm sure I have not reached the apex of knowledge on my subjects of choice. But I want to jot down some observations and offer a very brief intellectual autobiography on this subject. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05242007 Thu, 24 May 2007 12:00:00 PST Jeremy posted some great Anti-Federalist writing over at Eating Words, so I was inspired to dig up some worthy material. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05222007 Tue, 22 May 2007 12:00:00 PST I was a fan of the movie Titanic, and I still admit it. The movie broke all kinds of box office records, and is often spoken of in derision. One person snickers, and suddenly nobody wants to admit admiration. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05152007 Tue, 15 May 2007 12:00:00 PST I was reading through some archives of pieces by Ron Paul at Lew Rockwell.com. I came upon a particularly interesting one. This is one of several speeches against conscription delivered by Ron Paul in the U.S. House of Representatives, but I found that the value in this one went further than its argument on the single subject. The article includes a condensation of a speech given by Daniel Webster during the War of 1812. There are some real gems to be found here. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04182007 Wed, 18 Apr 2007 12:00:00 PST Rikki Fulton does a hilarious comedy sketch about a dour Church of Scotland minister. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04042007 Wed, 4 Apr 2007 12:00:00 PST I just saw the movie The 300 last night and loved it. For what it was supposed to be, I give it an A+. I might well agree with many of the charges people will level against, it, but those charges tend to assume it is a different genre of movie altogether. For them, I recommend the old The 300 Spartans, which I just watched for the first time about a year ago, before I knew this current version was coming out. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03202007 Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:00:00 PST It has been suggested to me that my last post has drawn in comments on two separate issues, one of Luther's interpretation of the Fourth Commandment in the Large Catechism, and another on the nature of Confessional subscription for laymen. This was a natural outgrowth of how the discussion originally came up. But it is not proving to be best for discussion. In any case, I want to suggest that any comments on the nature of Confessional Subscription go here, rather than on the earlier post. That way a more theoretical discussion doesn't get hijacked by a more personal one. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03012007 Thu, 1 Mar 2007 12:00:00 PST The matter of confessional subscription is much more complicated than many would imagine. Even when we have taken it to the point where we say quia instead of quatenus. We know that quia subscription entails holding to the teaching of the Lutheran Confessions because they are in full agreement with Holy Scripture. But what about when we deal with a matter whose ground of authority is something else? http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02272007 Tue, 27 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST In my late high school and early college years, I did a stint at Calvary Chapel. Calvary prided itself on being non-denominational. It eschewed Systematic Theology. Heavy readers there were few, and made to feel odd. But I would say that people who did read tended either to like Spurgeon or Finney, two men who would likely not have accepted each other as Christians. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02242007 Sat, 24 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST I took a class at Gordon-Conwell called Historiography. Among other things, we had to read a lot of well-chosen journal articles on the subject. My favorite was a piece by Albert C. Outler titled Theodosius' Horse [from Church History, Vol. 57 (1988)], about how Alexandrine Christianity might have triumphed but for the emperor being thrown fatally from his horse. But there was another piece that also had a pithy point to it. Two academics were discussing places to visit in a major world city. One was drawn to some archives he would rarely have an opportunity to visit. Another wanted to see a newly built music hall. The first questioned this choice. Why would he want to go there, given the choice? The answer given was that "I am an historian, not an antiquarian." What had drawn the historian to his vocation was living humanity. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02212007 Wed, 21 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST My old friend Kepler has alerted me to a program called the Gender Genie which determines from vocabulary whether a given piece was written by a male or by a female. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02202007 Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST I just ran into an online article on Bishop Schori's being "boycotted" (the journalist's term) by some African bishops who refused to commune with her. I wished to comment on one section of the article. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02172007 Sat, 17 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST I was a congregational President some time back, and got a crash course in church polity, a subject about which I had had little interest in up to that point. Well, after seeing how crucial it is, I wish to write about it. Not to rehash anything that happened, as upsetting as some of it was, so much as to suggest some areas of undeveloped territory. Some of the problems we had may have had less to do with people insisting on their own way, though there was some of that, and more to do with not having a good way of meshing our different ruling documents. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02152007 Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST Last night I thought more of my Cro-Magnon guy. I was thinking of his language. Arguing the theological grid behind my speculations is too time-consuming to do. Rest assured, I know there are tensions and problems with this picture. I am not committed to it, and even think your reservations may prove fatal. But that is true of just about any picture I can come up with from Richard Dawkins to six literal days six thousand years ago. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02132007 Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST I just found another thing to be thankful to God for. I am thankful that in his revisiting of Old Testament Law in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus did not up the ante on the Fourth Commandment. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02082007 Thu, 08 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST I think it is probably best for everyone if I take these words at face value. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02072007 Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST Luther invited his opponents to show him where he erred. But he insisted they use Scripture or plain reason, not past church writings. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02062007 Tue, 06 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST I see that Pastor McCain has broached the topic of King David and his alleged mortal sin. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02052007 Mon, 05 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST A picture just appeared in my mind. It was occasioned by Pastor McCain's citation of Jesus telling the woman taken in adultery to "Go and sin no more." I think this passage is quite germane to what is going on in the blogosphere on this issue. If such a passage applies to this situation, I wonder who the players are. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02052007 Mon, 05 Feb 2007 20:00:00 PST We can learn something valuable here. Care needs to be given to words. But more care needs to be given to keep good works out of the subject of Justification than to stress their necessity to the Christian life. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02022007 Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:00:00 PST When I say that the revelation of God in Jesus Christ is against morality, I am not trying to say that it replaces one form of morality with another.... http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02012007 Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:00:00 PST In part of the larger exchange that has moved from Sanctification to Mortal and Venial Sins to Bonhoeffer, John Halton and demo21 got into a discussion of the necessity of certain works, and how to speak of them. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01292007 Mon, 29 Jan 2007 12:00:00 PST I fear that many Lutheran readers have no sense of Antithesis when they read. Especially if the books are written by "our guys", they assume that they agree on all points. Or most points. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01242007 Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:00:00 PST At Confessing Evangelical, a brouhaha has erupted over Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01222007 Mon, 22 Jan 2007 12:00:00 PST Along with the Third Use of the Law discussions, a discussion on Mortal and Venial Sins has arisen. I actually think this issue runs much deeper. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01152007 Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:00:00 PST This will be one of my more esoteric posts. And what I'm posting is not a conclusion. It isn't even a definitive complaint against the received opinion. It is more the registering of a dissatisfaction with the received view. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12292006 Fri, 29 Dec 2006 11:57:00 PST I knew little family history when I was young. Then a genealogist in the family sent us a 200 page book she had been compiling for years. On one page I find a recollection by my dad's aunt which included their Christmases in Topeka before and around the turn of the century. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12232006 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:43:00 PST I have Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia in my volume The Portable Thomas Jefferson. It looked a lot like Life on the Mississippi when I glanced it over before, so I wasn't too tempted to read it. But I'm reconsidering. I just found this gem in his chapter on the Aboringines [Native Americans].... http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12222006 Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:30:00 PST Theresa at Katie's Beer posted, and John Halton at Confessing Evangelical continued it. Anyway, this is not a meme where you get tagged, but do let us know if you decided to answer. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12182006 Mon, 18 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST In modern political discussions, it seems to me even when I'm reading the brightest and the best, dimensions get left out of the discussion, allowing what is possibly a clear view of some of the problems to lead to what is almost surely a narrow view of the possible solutions. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12142006 Thu, 14 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST The tough thing here is that as ripe as "the mystery of human life" is as a target, there is some conceptual overlap with language that goes far back into our history. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12122006 Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST I decided to weigh in on the "Third Use of the Law" discussion that began at Cyberberthren. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12082006 Fri, 8 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST Like many people, I enjoy debunking. Last night, I watched a holiday episode of Mythbusters where among other things, they busted the idea that you could cook a turkey on a radio tower. But I had some of C.S. Lewis's warnings against easy debunking ingrained into my soul early on. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12072006 Thu, 7 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST Kobra and I have been discussing America and Christian Ethics lately, and he alerted me to the discussion of Congressman Ellison's refusal to swear on the Bible. I think this is quite an interesting discussion. I agree with Prager on a few points, but I disagree with him on others. I think that this is a great case to bring up the way symbolism works in politics, and how symbolism and ethical thought don't always take us in the same direction. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12062006 Wed, 6 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST I picked up Michael Crichton's new book Next tonight. I've read several chapters and am loving it. Turning to the back of the book to see how long it was, I ran into the bibliography. I love his bibliographies, though they can have a deleterious effect on my wallet. What I was surprised to see was a couple entries by G.K. Chesterton in this book on genetic engineering. CPA's post "A garden not a jungle" got me thinking. This is material about which I've done a bit of pondering. I find the human relationship to dogs to be an uncanny one. It is not like our relationship to the rest of creation. People who can lump dogs and cats together have probably known neither. Even someone who prefers cats to dogs loves cats for very different reasons than dog lovers love dogs. (As a rule I love dogs. As a rule I mildly like cats, though there are exceptions.) http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12012006 Fri, 1 Dec 2006 12:00:00 PST There are some albums that are standards in my group of friends. Kings College Cambridge is one necessity. A Charlie Brown Christmas and Nat King Cole are a couple of others. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11232006 Thu, 23 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST Is anyone else putting together iTunes Christmas albums this year? I've only started, and find the process to be beset by something approaching ADD. I click from link to link, artist to album to song and back. Though I'm pleased with the few results I've had. I'm up to four selections. (As I said, this is early on.) http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11212006 Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST The latest issue of Addenda, the newsletter from Mars Hill Audio, hit my inbox this morning. There is always a lot of great material to consider. From Addenda I hit the link to the back issues and the past conversations. One that caught my eye was a conversation with Dr. Russell Hittinger on whether society exists. This conversation occurs as an answer to Margaret Thatcher's claim that society does not exist. There are individual people and families, and it is those that the government must work through. Hittinger says that both conservatives and liberals failed to question Thatcher's assumption that society must mean government. He says that Catholic social teaching offers a robust and developed answer to this idea. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11202006 Mon, 20 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST As a follow-up to yesterday's post, I wanted to comment a bit on the discourse on the comments found underneath the video on the page at YouTube. I find it truly scary. It seems that a majority of the posts are some variation of either "Fascist pigs!" or "He should have been tazed more times." (Or "Republican" or "They should have tazed you.") Few are the thoughtful comments on either side. I find this disturbing because I want to live in neither a police state where everyone is okay with any police action whatsoever, nor an anarchic place where one year citizens throw rocks at the cops when they are doing their job and the next we're living under Sharia. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11172006 Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST Watch this video of a student being tazed at UCLA. Can you think of a good reason for this? Several things come to mind when I see things of this nature. One is that we don't have a context for what came before. I will often have to cut slack for police when I see things like this without knowing what provoked the situation. But this is in a library. What reason could they have for tazing someone? Do you feel safer watching this, or more like you don't know what may happen to you in a public setting? http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11162006 Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST The Ted Haggard scandal is by now pretty universally known. I felt like registering my own position on this. I do this knowing that each day might change the look of the situation. I do this more to discuss general principle than to get to the bottom of the actual situation. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11062006 Mon, 6 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST Max Weber was a great Sociologist (that is ALMOST an oxymoron) from a century ago. While most theories in the field last a few years at most, his have stood the test of time. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11022006 Thu, 2 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST From my title, everyone expects that this post will be about how another Hollywood liberal has said something stupid in the arena of politics. Actually, this post will head in another direction. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11012006 Wed, 1 Nov 2006 12:00:00 PST Two of journalist Uwe Siemon-Netto's presentations from this last weekend have been posted on his blog at the Concordia Institute of Lay Vocation. The titles are Priests in Aprons and Overalls and Bach, the Divine Spook. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10312006 Tue, 31 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto was in town this weekend to deliver a series of talks that were just wonderful to hear. Bach as the evangelist of Japan, Journalism, Luther's Two Kingdom Theory, the doctrine of Vocation and how it produces quality European cars, the breadth of the subject matter was breathtaking. There were many high points. But one high point on Saturday was Siemon-Netto's discussion of Luther's good Saxon overstatement. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10292006 Sun, 29 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST What was that Bible story where one of the twelve, his name was Ioudas in the Greek, sells his loved one for silver, and the loved one is taken away bound, thought dead, and turns up alive in the end, with a kingdom to share with the destitute? Oh yeah. The story of Joseph from Genesis. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10212006 Sat, 21 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST Last week I watched a Bill Moyers special called Is God Green?. It was about evangelical Christians bucking the Republican position on the environment. Much of it had to do with pollution of an egregious sort, where ground water was being contaminated and people were getting sick. Much of it also had to do with Global Warming. Different aspects of the question tended to be lumped together. But rather than address the facts of pollution, about which I have no expertise, I wish to discuss something else. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10212006 Sat, 21 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST Article VII of the Augsburg Confession tells us that the church is the assembly of saints in which the Gospel is taught purely and the sacraments are administered rightly. This is a simple definition in theory. In practice, it can be much more difficult either to use it to determine the status of a congregation, or to figure out what one's duties are in a given case. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10202006 Fri, 20 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST 22Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10182006 Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST This appears to be a matter where the more you dig, the more you find. And you have to zig-zag your way to the truth. I feel sorry that I do not know this matter better than I do. But the public discussion has not been as enlightening as it should be. Where is the leader who will offer an accurate history lesson on this subject before plunging in to what his side wants to do with the matter? Ronald Reagan was called the Great Communicator in part because he was able to do this. A listener had some sense that they were given an entryway into the discussion, rather than the sense of walking into the middle of an argument with two parties shouting "No it isn't!" "Yes it is!" and wondering "What do they mean by 'it'?" http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10152006 Sun, 15 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST Luther's teachings on the Fourth Commandment and Romans 13 come up fairly regularly in our blogging circles. (Perhaps in part because I bring them up myself.) But I want to press some questions that arise out of Lutheran teaching. I think much of the time the response to my writing by some is just a head-shaking. "He just wants to be able to get away with x." But there are other questions to be asked. When we put Luther's teachings together and then look at our own society, it may not be so clear what is to be done. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10142006 Sat, 14 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST A lot of what passes for theology is emotional and social. I'm not sure how inescapable this is. When I first discovered it, I discovered it in some small ways. Mistakes I had made myself. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10132006 Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST Between 1820 and 1875, in the midst of the transformation of the American economy into the most powerfully aggressive capitalist system in the world, American culture seemed bent on establishing a perpetual Mother's Day.... http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10122006 Thu, 12 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST Mystery Writer Dorothy L. Sayers once wrote a book called Have His Carcase, which was a play on the Latin legal term habeas corpus. Habeas corpus comes from the opening formula of a kind of document that has been around since medieval times. Even back then, long before the founding of America, it was recognized under common law that the detainee had rights. You had to charge the individual with a crime, and not simply detain them for no reason. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10092006 Mon, 9 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST ABC's 20/20 program is a favorite news show of mine. Even to say that I like a news show is rare. But John Stossel seems to find interesting subjects. A recent episode went over the differences between male and female brains. I find subjects like this fascinating. First off, I find brain research fascinating. I have read a lot on the subject, especially enjoying work by Antonio D'Amasio and V.S. Ramachandran. Secondly, I find the discussions of differences between men and women ring true. I'll admit there are lots of exceptions, and my key reason for wanting to know about the differences is not to place limits. But the differences really do matter. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10042006 Wed, 4 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST There is a bill in Congress "to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes" that gives the government broad powers over enemy combatants. People can argue over whether or not they consider this a good idea. I happen to think it is a bad one. But in any case, I would like them to consider what a former president had to say about such ideas. But first some of the text of the bill relating to Habeas Corpus: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10032006 Tue, 3 Oct 2006 12:00:00 PST This morning it hit me for the first time. The Shire melody from LOTR. I always felt as if it was familiar. But I hadn't really asked myself why. Then it hit me. "This is my Father's World." Just the first line (or I'm sure it would have been immediately recognized). I wondered how many others had seen it. I found some hits on Google, including this one where there are links. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09272006 Wed, 27 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST I am beginning a book called Great Cases in Constitutional Law. The issue of judicial activism has been raised early on, and it got me to thinking about Star Trek. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09242006 Sun, 24 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST Freedom is often misunderstood by people. It is especially misunderstood by liberals (though close behind them are the conservatives). There is one aspect of eighteenth century political theory that I find especially misunderstood. It is "freedom of association." Even where the principle is admitted, it is not seen how it is supposed to work. I see this especially in churches. In this post I wish to contrast how people act when they do and don't hold to the principle. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09222006 Fri, 22 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST I'm reading my second John Taylor Gatto book in a row. I began with Dumbing us Down, and now I'm reading The Underground History of American Education. The work in this book is impressive, I think. The trouble is, Gatto offers few footnotes. He explains that it seemed "of minor value to those who already resonate on the wavelength of the book, useless, even maddening, to those who do not." I disagree with this on several counts. First, it sounds a bit like the disclaimer at the beginning of the old movie "The Song of Bernadette." "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible." And this from a man who tells of the Jesuit who challenged him on accepting the unproven (page 211)! Yet there is more to his explanation. He calls his work a personal essay rather than a work of history. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09212006 Thu, 21 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST I was wondering where I read this. I have told the story to people, and everyone always (rightly) wants to know where it came from. Yesterday I found a possible source: John Taylor Gatto's book Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. Here is the story: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09152006 Fri, 15 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST CPA's comments on a recent post got me thinking about where I am with scholarship on women's issues again. Granted, the post took that discussion as a point of departure, but as with many such posts, I was more interested in what it meant for the process of thinking about the issue than any answer on the issue itself. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09092006 Sat, 9 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST Earlier today I stumbled across a blog where someone started series of comments making allegations about a respected Christian leader. The individual was accused of slander. The individual responded by saying the charges were of things that were public record. Perhaps some were. But what struck me as I searched some links was that some of the so-called evidence was not the kind of thing that would hold up in a court of law. And it got me thinking. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09082006 Fri, 8 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST Scott Hafemann was my professor for a class at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary called "Interpreting the New Testament." NT Interp was one of the most difficult courses at the school. In fact, I heard a rumor that some student from Harvard Divinity School got special permission to apply the course to his doctoral work, only to quit the course when it proved too difficult. In any case, that story was believable to Dr. Hafemann's students. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09072006 Thu, 7 Sep 2006 12:00:00 PST Vox Day recently quoted an article from WorldNetDaily that stated the following: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08302006 Wed, 30 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST When it comes to conservative versus liberal arguments, I feel like I've been playing a game of chutes and ladders. Some principles I have held for a long time prove to be in conflict, and one wins out over another. Later, a yet deeper principle reverses the reversal. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08242006 Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST I just read an online news article about a woman teacher of 54 years who was fired by First Baptist Church in Watertown City, NY. She was dismissed on account of the church's adopting a literalist reading of 1 Timothy about a woman holding authority over a man. The pastor noted that he thought she was competent to hold any other job, just not in church. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08222006 Tue, 22 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST I am in love with Bernstein's Chichester Psalms. They're sung in Hebrew. The setting is modern, but modern in the classical tradition. By that I mean that there is a lot of melody, but the melody is freer, as you would find in Romanticism, rather than tighter, as in Baroque or Classical. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08162006 Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST Do the Constitution and Bylaws of your church state that the Scriptures and the Confessions are the ultimate norms of the congregation? They should. But even if they do, how do we ensure that this is so in practice? How do we avoid readings where whatever is not expressly forbidden in the Constitution and Bylaws is allowed? http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08142006 Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST You scored as Luther. You are Martin Luther. You'll stick with the words of Scripture, and defend this with earthy expressions. You believe in an orthodox Christology. You believe that the bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ, but aren't too sure about where he goes after the meal, and so you don't accept reservation of the Blessed Sacrament or Eucharistic devotions.Luther63%Catholic44%Zwingli0%Unitarian0%Calvin0%Eucharistic theologycreated with QuizFarm.com http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08102006 Thu, 10 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST After hearing about the terror plots in Britain, my first inclination is to look back and see what the terrorists may have been attempting to commemorate. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08092006 Wed, 9 Aug 2006 12:00:00 PST I've been tagged by Jeremy. I enjoy book memes, so here goes. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07262006 Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST So what are some of my readers' favorite reference books? Are there some that you just enjoy taking down off the shelf to pore over? Any that regularly find their way back onto your desk or floor? What are they? http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07242006 Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST I visited Faith Lutheran Church of Capistrano Beach this morning, as my mentor, Dr. Rod Rosenbladt was doing both Bible class and preaching. I wanted to see if perchance his sermons were posted yet on the church site. No, not yet, but visiting the site I was reminded that I had promised Kobra a link when George Forell's talk was posted. Here it is.8:38 pm Pacific Standard Time[ posted by Rick Ritchie | 4 comments | http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07232006 Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST There was a song I hated even at the tender age of six. I still hate it now for many of the same reasons. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07222006 Sat, 22 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST [ posted by Rick Ritchie | 5 comments | http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07172006 Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST Teaching apologetics is an interesting venture. This summer I taught an Apologetics course at Colorado Christian University over the internet. It was my first attempt at online teaching, and I learned a lot. I think most of my choices worked well, and my most apparent mistakes were those I would likely have made even if I had taught the course in a traditional on-site format. Perhaps my most carefully crafted assignment still had a degree of ambiguity about it that the students didn't understand what I was asking for, though the end products were uniform in nature (without being plagiarized from each other). http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07152006 Sat, 15 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST Long consideration has convinced me that the churches of the Reformation have not been fully reformed. There remains an issue that has escaped the attention of any church until now. This is the use of baked bread at the Lord's Supper. I know that many people have innocently participated in Communion celbrations where such bread was used. But they did this in ignorance. Today, the day of ignorance is over. I hope to enlighten people so that they do not continue such unsanctified practices. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07132006 Thu, 13 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST The Thomony site run by Kobra (the artist formerly known as Theophorus) and Monergon is not updated super often. But Kobra has been on a roll lately. Everyone should drop by and join the conversation. Especially on his "Damn the Androgyny" (which inspired my "Being Schooled versus Being Educated" post) and "Welcome to the Bates' Motel." This is good cultural criticism on topics that deserve more discussion.2:50 pm Pacific Standard Time[ posted by Rick Ritchie | Comments | http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07082006 Sat, 8 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST I had done some programming earlier in June that seems to have made the Old Solar main site dysfunctional. The code to make the beginning of a story into a blurb had been changed, and on Old Solar, it read in the entire article, which interfered with proper display, to say the least. (Though the new code was an improvement for the blog.) http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07062006 Thu, 6 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST My current post is inspired by Kobra's post yesterday. He wrote on androgyny, and how pussified the American male has become. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07052006 Wed, 5 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST When I was a child, I knew the country was becoming less free. My parents would talk about setting off firecrackers on the Fourth when they were children. I knew our safe-and-sane fireworks were much safer than their now illegal firecrackers had been. Yet I figured that by the time I reached adulthood, we wouldn't have fireworks available any more. I was right. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07032006 Mon, 3 Jul 2006 12:00:00 PST Lutheran Coffee is uniformly bad. I'm going to argue that this is related to the tendency of Lutherans to misapply the Fourth Commandment. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06282006 Wed, 28 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST The elephant in the room when it comes to politics is missed because it is so big. In fact, large scale IS the elephant in the room. People cite the Founding Fathers or the Reformers or St. Paul, and make immediate applications of what they spoke of to our current situations. Now in one sense, this is virtuous. There are all kinds of people I disagree with who like to say things like, "But Thomas Jefferson was speaking in a time when there were no Atomic Bombs. So how can what he had to say be relevant?" It could be relevant because Thomas Jefferson knew how to be self-critical and shield his writings from mere timeliness by asking what was universal to human situations. I think good old documents remain relevant to us over time. Figuring out just how they apply to our situation is another story. This requires effort. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06272006 Tue, 27 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST When I was in seminary, I had an experience that confirmed me in an opinion that had only been hazily forming up to that point. Before I tell you the opinion, though, I'll tell you the story. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06212006 Wed, 21 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST I saw a Father's Day post at The Terrible Swede, and belatedly decided to post one, myself. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06202006 Tue, 20 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST When I was about twelve years old, I came across the exclamation "Pshaw." I asked out loud in the car, "What's Pshaw?" and made the mistake of pronouncing it phonetically. Well, it was the joke for the rest of the trip, as family members used the phonetic pronunciation as an exclamation for the next week or so. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06152006 Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST I was a fan of Narnia from the age of nine. That was when a few days before my birthday I had made a tentative decision to put religious questions on the back burner for the rest of my life. I figured I would never be sure enough of my faith to know I was going to heaven, and not knowing would drive me nuts. I was given four of the Chronicles for my birthday. I knew the author was a Christian, and that was almost enough to make me decide not to read. But the blurbs on the back were too inviting to ignore. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06142006 Wed, 14 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST I've been teaching an online apologetics course at Colorado Christian University. Part of the class involves joining my students in a chatroom and moderating a discussion. My key goal when we discuss the books is to make sure they are being read WELL. (I much prefer this even to THOROUGHLY.) And I have found that Mortimer Adler's counsel in How to Read a Book about paying attention to titles is a very simple piece of advice with far-ranging effects. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06112006 Sun, 11 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST I've been a CD guy for a long time. I can still remember some of my earliest ones. My first one was a baroque CD. Others in the first four included U2's The Joshua Tree and Handel's Messiah. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06052006 Mon, 5 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST I went up to the Reagan Library with a large group of friends yesterday. It was a very worthwhile visit. I especially liked the replica of the Oval Office, the large chunk of the Berlin Wall, and the collection of movie costumes from actors who had played cavalrymen (Ronald Reagan, Kevin Costner, and Tom Cruise among others). http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06042006 Sun, 4 Jun 2006 12:00:00 PST I went to church Sunday and George Forell was visiting and taught the adult education class. The title was officially on Luther and Paradox. But the heart of what Dr. Forell shared, after some wonderful introduction, was "Three Things that make Luther Important Today." http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05302006 Tue, 30 May 2006 12:00:00 PST I am starting something new. (My friends are never surprised to hear these words from me!) I'm beginning to study Modern Greek. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05242006 Wed, 24 May 2006 12:00:00 PST I just received my current issue of Addenda from Mars Hill Audio, and it contained the following surprising statement: "It has long been assumed by people who care about such things that no recordings of those talks survived. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05162006 Tue, 16 May 2006 12:00:00 PST A QUOTE FROM 1825 A few years ago it seemed as if everyone was trying at the same moment to discover the best way to make coffee; this was a result, almost certainly, of the fact that the chief of state drank a great deal of it. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05152006 Mon, 15 May 2006 12:00:00 PST I think the current immigration debate is fundamentally wrong-headed. My favorite fellow Lutheran blogger Kobra (And it takes a lot to horn in over ConfessingEvangelical.) has talked about how he's going to go ballistic if someone says that immigrants don't have rights because they aren't citizens. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05062006 Sat, 6 May 2006 12:00:00 PST Micah has been arguing that preaching the Gospel is the one exception to Romans 13. I think there are many more. I argue for looking at the original intitution of what God has established to figure out the boundary lines. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05052006 Fri, 5 May 2006 12:00:00 PST Over on the blog Theomony, Theophorus posted a piece titled "Got Rights" on immigration. He took a Christian libertarian stance with which I agree. The discussion was focused on whether or not non citizens have rights. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04292006 Sat, 29 Apr 2006 12:00:00 PST I am a bit of a fan of the Titanic. Not merely James Cameron's movie of that title, though I will freely confess that I still love the movie. But also other works related to the topic. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04242006 Mon, 24 Apr 2006 12:00:00 PST This is one of the most interesting phrases in Scripture. It just occured to me. Look it up in your Strong's, but better yet, just think back on what you know. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04152006 Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:00:00 PST We had a terrible El Nino year some years back. Being Mr. Allergic, I ended up with pounding sinus headaches due to a mold allergy. Three days a week I was taking enough Benadryl to kill a horse. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04142006 Fri, 14 Apr 2006 12:00:00 PST I just saw a Primetime episode that devoted a segment to a recently discovered document. The document is a Gospel According to Judas. Were this gospel to be believed, we would have to alter our conception of Judas, since it portrays Judas as betraying Jesus at Jesus' behest. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04062006 Thu, 6 Apr 2006 12:00:00 PST As a follow up to my last post, I was checking for deals and found out that the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is being sold on e-Bay! I was actually looking up LCMS hoping to find a good Learning Content Management System, a kind of educational software that makes it easy to create curriculum and keep track of test scores. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04012006 Sat, 1 Apr 2006 12:00:00 PST The idea of selling one's soul to the devil has long been a theme in literature. But now we have this story of an atheist who decided to sell his soul on e-Bay. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03152006 Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST I went to a concert on Saturday afternoon which reminded me what live music can do. The concert was held at the new Disney Hall in Los Angeles. This is a beautiful venue. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03132006 Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST I have a term I've invented that I'd like to share. The term is "vanilla speculation." This is a term I use to describe what people often do when they don't even know they are speculating. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03102006 Fri, 10 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST Posted both on Here We Stand and Three Hierarchies is a discussion of Erasmus and Luther on grace. Josh S. began with noting that Erasmus's Diatribe was a better piece of work than Luther had led him to expect. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03092006 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST I saw the Disney movie Eight Below over the weekend with some friends. All three of us loved the movie. I had wanted to see it since a very few seconds into the first trailer. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03062006 Mon, 6 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST Ten Top Facts Visitors Must Know Before Joining the Lutheran Church! Scientists believe that the Lutheran Church began billions of years ago as an enormous ball of dust and gas. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03052006 Sun, 5 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST Reading Justice Antonin Scalia has been an educational experience. He has never been my favorite justice. But of the ones I often disagree with, I have learned the most from considering how he looks at the Law. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03022006 Thu, 2 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST I've been enjoying various posts on Crunchy Cons that I have seen on Christopher Atwood's Three Hierarchies, Jeremy Abel's Living Among Mysteries, and NRO's Crunchy Con Blog. Most recently, Jeremy posted a list of books from Crunchy Cons, the book. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03012006 Wed, 1 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST A friend's blog mentioned the term "living document" (negatively) in relation to the U.S. Constitution. I started to think about the subject again, and decided to do some research into what people mean when they use the term. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03012006 Wed, 1 Mar 2006 12:00:00 PST "He's a conservative, but not my kind of conservative." http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02282006 Tue, 28 Feb 2006 12:00:00 PST I turned forty today. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02262006 Sun, 26 Feb 2006 12:00:00 PST George Forell and John Warwick Montgomery were at Concordia University Irvine last night to deliver addresses on the Freedom of the Christian. Dr. Forell began the evening with an address on the subject of Martin Luther's treatise on The Freedom of the Christian. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02202006 Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:00:00 PST Did you know that February 12, 2006 is Evolution Sunday? I know. You imagined it was the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany. But 412 congregations in 49 states have voted to commemorate Darwin instead. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02082006 Wed, 8 Feb 2006 12:00:00 PST I just noticed an article announcing a scheduled Christmas 2007 release of a second Chronicles of Narnia movie. Prince Caspian is slated for production! http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02022006 Thu, 2 Feb 2006 12:00:00 PST I have a small collection of old magazines. I find that they allow a person entryway into the past in a way that other media do not. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01262006 Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:00:00 PST A few months back, Christopher Atwood included an extended passage from The Minister's Wooing by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The dialog from the passage was superb. It was enough to wash away the stain of what I though I remembered of another extended passage from Uncle Tom's Cabin, a book which I had not at that point read. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01252006 Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:00:00 PST In my last post, I gave some thoughts on what the movie Brokeback Mountain might mean in relation to the book. A friend read my piece and then suggested I might see the movie before posting the piece on another site. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01142006 Sat, 14 Jan 2006 12:00:00 PST This is not exactly a movie review. I haven't seen the movie. I did read the short story upon which it was based in the local library. It can be read very quickly. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01132006 Fri, 13 Jan 2006 12:00:00 PST I've spent the week teaching a course at Colorado Christian University. It was titled American Christianity. I took a course by the same title at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary under Garth Rosell. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=01072006 Sat, 7 Jan 2006 12:00:00 PST I'm tempted to skip writing a defense of Aslan and just build a temple to him, hoping that worship of the ectype passes on to the archetype. But as a Lutheran I avoid invented forms of worship. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12192005 Mon, 19 Dec 2005 12:00:00 PST For anyone who got excited about John Halton's announcement of Radio 3 on the BBC's all day Bach programming, but then forgot about it in the meantime, here is your reminder. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12172005 Sat, 17 Dec 2005 12:00:00 PST I saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe last Friday. I was neither as thrilled as I had hoped, nor deeply disappointed. I was on-and-off satisfied, something I did not quite expect. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12142005 Wed, 14 Dec 2005 12:00:00 PST I'm currently reading a book called The Political Writings of William Penn. In it, there is a piece called "The People's Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted". It concerns trial by jury, and records a case where William Penn and his friend William Mead were hauled into court on charges that they "unlawfully and tumultuously did assemble and congregate themselves together, to the disturbance of the peace of the said Lord the King. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12132005 Tue, 13 Dec 2005 12:00:00 PST Christopher Atwood and I have had some discussions of Romans 13 and the American Revolution. I think Atwood is inclined to the position that, though the American government was a legitimate authority once it was established, the insurrection was wrong. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12082005 Thu, 8 Dec 2005 12:00:00 PST Hat tip to Jeremy Abel regarding Yahoo Avatars (Click the picture to make your own). But I don't want my whole entry to be on those. I can do a tie-in to something else. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=12012005 Thu, 1 Dec 2005 12:00:00 PST I just finished John Winthrop's sermon "A Modell of Christian Charity." As I stated in an earlier post, I was cautiously optimistic that it would be better than Cushman's sermon. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11262005 Sat, 26 Nov 2005 12:00:00 PST I began reading a book put out by the Library of America titled American Sermons. This book has an endowment to keep in permanently in print. It is a collection of sermons from the colonial era to the present. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11242005 Thu, 24 Nov 2005 12:00:00 PST I've already posted the following at the Theologica blog at WorldMag. But I want to see what Lutheran response might be. Or responses from any other readers who read this blog. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11162005 Wed, 16 Nov 2005 12:00:00 PST On Boars Head Tavern I found a link to a blog called Atlas Shrugs. There I found a link to the following video. The coverage is a bit different from that of the major networks. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11082005 Tue, 8 Nov 2005 12:00:00 PST I discovered LibraryThing through Jeremy Abel's blog "Living Among Mysteries." There was a little section that showed several random books from his library. That was one of the coolest blog features I had yet seen, and it said it was powered by LibraryThing. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11062005 Sun, 6 Nov 2005 12:00:00 PST I checked all but eleven movies as finished, so posting would be boring. Instead I'll comment on a few. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11022005 Wed, 2 Nov 2005 12:00:00 PST Within a lodge or broken bark/The tender Babe was found,/A ragged robe of rabbit skin/Enwrapp'd his beauty round; http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=11012005 Tue, 1 Nov 2005 12:00:00 PST Some time ago, I posted an article on the main Old Solar site about the decision of three local Episcopal congregations to leave the jurisdiction of the ECUSA (Episcopal Church in the U. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10312005 Mon, 31 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST I have had two people recommend Part to me recently. My brother in Florida, who heard a theology professor from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando praise Part as a modern Bach. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10272005 Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST A recent poll asked Americans to pick among the following options: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10242005 Mon, 24 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST If most students would end up reading both Richard Dawkins and Michael Behe on their own, would it matter so much whether they were assigned reading? http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10192005 Wed, 19 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10142005 Fri, 14 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST I've been invited by David Wayne (A PCA pastor, and like me, a fan of the 1938 "Adventures of Robin Hood" with Errol Flynn) to participate in WorldMag's new Theologica blog. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10052005 Wed, 5 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST In a move that surprised all speculators, President Bush nominated Henrietta Mears to fill the vacancy left by Sandra Day O'Connor's resignation. Media sources say that their mistake was to assume that his list only included those who had visited him at Camp David. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10042005 Tue, 4 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST Los Angeles needs a watchman who can make credible threats to those who threaten the city. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=10012005 Sat, 1 Oct 2005 12:00:00 PST At Beggars All, Tim the Enchanter has posted an account of his wrestlings with Lutheran teaching on the inseparability of the Spirit and the Word in the midst of tough spiritual battle conditions. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09282005 Wed, 28 Sep 2005 12:00:00 PST When I was young, my church's library gave out free bookmarks. These had Bible passages printed on them, along with beautiful pictures. One bookmark had Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus from John 3, and a picture of the earthrise taken by Apollo 8 astronauts from the moon. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09262005 Mon, 26 Sep 2005 12:00:00 PST Chris Williams has posted some information on Tolkien's Christian influences. I wanted to look into the Norse ones. Not to counter Chris's point, as I think scholars are right who say that what Tolkien was aiming for was a rewriting of Norse history to make it compatible with Christianity. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09212005 Wed, 21 Sep 2005 12:00:00 PST Here is a link to an article by Ken Myers on funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. In it he says that two different questions need to be answered when this issue comes up. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09172005 Sat, 17 Sep 2005 12:00:00 PST In the first quarter of my sophomore year in college, I took a History of Western Music course. It was a year long series, and I took the first two of the three. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09162005 Fri, 16 Sep 2005 12:00:00 PST I have a pet peeve. It has to do with how information is arranged. I find this of computer books, and even worse, of help files that have been written in the last ten years. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09092005 Fri, 9 Sep 2005 12:00:00 PST This is a sad day. Justice William Rehnquist has died. Even in his final illness he appeared a giant, as he lumbered to the fore of the innauguration and towered over President Bush when he swore him into his second term. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=09062005 Tue, 6 Sep 2005 12:00:00 PST I wanted to write a short piece commending JamesBowman.net for its movie reviews. I originally found the site when I was Googling the term "honor culture." I had read someone talking about certain of the Old Testament cultures, as well as the culture of the series "The Sopranos" referred to as honor cultures. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08302005 Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST The London Zoo has created a new exhibit where three male and five female Homo sapiens are on display to make the point that humans are just primates. Of course, as we all know, humans wear bikinis and thongs with leaves sewn on them in their natural environment. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08272005 Sat, 27 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST I found the following link at the dissonant bible site: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08242005 Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has rightly been attacked by the media. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08232005 Tue, 23 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST I just found this quote by David Deutsch in an article that came out shortly after September 11th. Deutsch is the physicist whose theories on the nature of reality informed Michael Crichton's book Timeline. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08222005 Mon, 22 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST A friend just forwarded me this link from the LCMS site. It lists Linda Clawson as a commissioned lay minister: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08202005 Sat, 20 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST I read an article by Dennis Prager recently where Prager distinguished between the concepts of morality and holiness. This article was a longer article in a series on Judeo-Christian values. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08152005 Mon, 15 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST I was over at the dissonant bible site and a question was asked about passages we found dissonant. I mentioned Matthew 23:29-39. But I noticed something I had not seen before. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08132005 Sat, 13 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST There is a buzz in the media about the existence of South Park Conservatives, following the publication of Brian C. Anderson's book by the same title. In a sense, the title is brilliant. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08122005 Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST John Halton's article on vegetarianism reminded me of a subject I had wanted to blog on before. Some Christians have been so New-Agey that the New Agers should be fined for plagiarism. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08112005 Thu, 11 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST The cover story in the current issue of Logia is very worth reading. It is available here in pdf form. In this article, Jon D. Vieker offers an account of the hymns and hymn writers of early LCMS hymnals. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08102005 Wed, 10 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST On this day in 1877, Walter Bauer was born in Koenigsberg, Germany. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08082005 Mon, 8 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST Cities have been quick to take advantage of new powers gained after the Supreme Court reinterpreted the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment so that private use now qualifies as public use. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08032005 Wed, 3 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=08012005 Mon, 1 Aug 2005 12:00:00 PST I was just sitting down to read Homer's Odyssey when I stumbled on the following passage. Odysseus has made it home after twenty years only to find a group of men vying for his wife's hand in marriage. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07262005 Tue, 26 Jul 2005 12:00:00 PST Last night a friend came over and we talked about Homer's Odyssey together. (Quite a discussion just on books ten and eleven.) I also had rented "Jason and the Argonauts" since he had never seen it before. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07222005 Fri, 22 Jul 2005 12:00:00 PST I found Atwood's posting of this, so I decided to try it. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07192005 Tue, 19 Jul 2005 12:00:00 PST On this day in 100 B.C., Julius Caesar was born. So put some candles on a caesar salad and celebrate. (Hint: This probably works best on a grilled chicken caesar salad. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07122005 Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:00:00 PST I found this set of questions on John Halton's blog. He said he was willing to do this meme despite promises otherwise since it didn't involve tagging other people. (I'm tempted to tag someone and then blame him just to mess with things. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07092005 Sat, 9 Jul 2005 12:00:00 PST One of my favorite book discoveries of the last five years is David Hackett Fischer's Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America. One of Fischer's most interesting discussions (which is saying a lot, since there isn't a boring page in the 900 pages of his tome, and I bore easily) is about "Freedom Ways. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07042005 Mon, 4 Jul 2005 12:00:00 PST I went to the local library in a very downcast mood the other day. There are times that I get overwhelmed by the way the church seems to focus so much energy on worldly concerns and so little on the Word. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=07032005 Sun, 3 Jul 2005 12:00:00 PST The Supreme Court issued two muddy Ten Commandments rulings this week, but what I want to talk about now is the muddiness of some who wish to see the Ten Commandments displayed. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06282005 Tue, 28 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST What kind of statement is it that all men like long hair on women? http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06252005 Sat, 25 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST On this day in 1579, John Fletcher, a companion of Francis Drake, held a religious service from the Book of Common Prayer -- in California. It was the first religious service in English in the New World. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06242005 Fri, 24 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST Today is a bad day in the history of Supreme Court decisions. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06232005 Thu, 23 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST You scored as Martin Luther. The daddy of the Reformation. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06222005 Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST I got tagged by John Halton. I cheated a little and added question 4 1/2 myself. But it may make things interesting. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06222005 Wed, 22 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST This morning, as I went from link to link on Pope Benedict XVI to find out what he has been up to in the early days of his reign, I ran into an article by Hal Lindsey on the prophecies of the 12th century St. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06032005 Fri, 3 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST I don't know how far the news of our local landslide has reached. But the Bluebird Canyon landslide is about a mile from St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Laguna Beach where I attend. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=06012005 Wed, 1 Jun 2005 12:00:00 PST Limited Atonement was the last point of Calvinism I accepted, and the first one I dumped. I have done some writing on the topic, and some day may produce a magnum opus on the subject. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05302005 Mon, 30 May 2005 12:00:00 PST NBC's Revelations series ended tonight. As an hour of TV, it was a very good one. The suspense kept me interested to the end. As the End of The World, however, it was kind of a letdown. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05182005 Wed, 18 May 2005 12:00:00 PST I propose, subject to the patience of the reader, to devote two or three articles to prophecy. Like all healthy-minded prophets, sacred and profane, I can only prophesy when I am in a rage and think things look ugly for everybody. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05122005 Thu, 12 May 2005 12:00:00 PST John Halton at Confessing Evangelical posted on a new edition of the Book of Concord. I decided I would rave about another "Concord" book. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05102005 Tue, 10 May 2005 12:00:00 PST http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05092005 Mon, 9 May 2005 12:00:00 PST I would like to pursue my line of thinking on Romans 13 a little more deeply. One thing that is sorely needed is a proper vocabulary with which to speak of these things. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05062005 Fri, 6 May 2005 12:00:00 PST The "End of Days" is nearer than when we first began watching. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05052005 Thu, 5 May 2005 12:00:00 PST Martin Luther was one of the most courageous men the church has known. He challenged the pretences of the day, and restored the authority of Scripture within the church. The church that bears his name owes him an inestimable debt. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05032005 Tue, 3 May 2005 12:00:00 PST This entry is in response to a question asked about my commentary on the NBC series Revelations. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=05012005 Sun, 1 May 2005 12:00:00 PST NBC's series Revelations is still good, three weeks into it. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04272005 Wed, 27 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST One of my most trusted news sources, the Onion, has a must-read piece titled Papal Election Brings End to Worldwide Unsupervised Catholic Sin Binge. Had I read this earlier, I might have converted to Catholicism for the interregnum. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04232005 Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST I watched the second episode of Revelations last night. It looks even more promising than it did the first night. The first night, it had appeared that there was a baby born that was supposed to be Christ. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04212005 Thu, 21 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST I hadn't planned to watch Revelations. But somebody turned it on and persuaded me to watch. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04182005 Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST In looking up information on the Papal Conclave, I found a couple of interesting sites. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04182005 Mon, 18 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST Some other Lutheran bloggers (John Halton at Confessing Evangelical and Erich at Beggars All) have had some interesting discussions of branding. I almost always agree with their take on whatever incident got them writing in the first place. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04142005 Thu, 14 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST Contrasts between "The Cloud of Unknowing" and Bonhoeffer's "Meditating on the Word" http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04122005 Tue, 12 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST John Halton has written a biting analysis of an account of Easter at Saddleback Community Church. He rewrote Acts 2 as it would have been written if Saddleback had been around at the time: http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04092005 Sat, 9 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST As it was for many, for me this past week has been one of looking back on the life of John Paul II. But I have found that my view has been altered by looking at the lives of other popes at the same time. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=04042005 Mon, 4 Apr 2005 12:00:00 PST I was late in getting interested in the Schiavo case. When I first began formulating an opinion a few weeks ago, I was inclined to think the courts had made the right decision. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03312005 Thu, 31 Mar 2005 12:00:00 PST Saturday I made the mistake of turning on the History Channel around 5pm. They were showing the Jesus of Nazareth miniseries by Franco Zeffirelli, and I had only missed the first half hour. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03292005 Tue, 29 Mar 2005 12:00:00 PST I picked up the Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes at the Huntington Beach Public Library* a couple of days ago for 50 cents. It had a great anecdote about Oscar Wilde and his quick response to a bore at a party. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03252005 Fri, 25 Mar 2005 12:00:00 PST A comment by wildboar on my last posting reminded me that I should list some of the Lutheran Church's architectural glories, in addition to its current foibles. My last posting was on how so many of our current buildings look like tennis clubs. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03142005 Mon, 14 Mar 2005 12:00:00 PST We were in Cambridge, Massachusetts for the drafting of the Cambridge Declaration. My mentor (who shall remain nameless here so that some gnat-straining, camel swallowing LCMS bureaucrat can't fault him for some imaginary infraction) and one of his former students and I skipped out one afternoon to go touring Boston. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03042005 Fri, 4 Mar 2005 12:00:00 PST This is my first quiz posting on my blog site. And no, I did not shade my answers to get this result. There were far too many possibilities. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=03012005 Tue, 1 Mar 2005 12:00:00 PST Watching coverage of the Pope's health reminded me of what a different world we live in now than some decades ago. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02252005 Fri, 25 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST I just read a column by Doug Giles on Runaway Prophets. Giles explains how God can be very direct and even harsh in dealing with those who fail to fulfill their destiny. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02222005 Tue, 22 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST These ambiguities, redundancies, and deficiencies recall those attributed by Dr. Franz Kuhn to a certain Chinese encyclopedia called the Heavenly Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge. In its distant pages it is written that animals are divided into (a) those that belong to the emperor; (b) embalmed ones; (c) those that are trained; (d) suckling pigs; (e) mermaids; (f) fabulous ones; (g) stray dogs; (h) those that are included in this classification; (i) those that tremble as if they were mad; (j) innumerable ones; (k) those drawn with a very fine camel's-hair brush; (l) etcetera; (m) those that have just broken the flower vase; (n) those that at a distance resemble flies. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02212005 Mon, 21 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST Prince Charles's engagement to Camilla Parker Bowles has caused a stir in the blogosphere. I have been on the worldmag blog and seen a long train of comments on an article on this subject. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02162005 Wed, 16 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST I just found the new issue of Addenda, the monthly e-mail newsletter from MARS HILL AUDIO, in my inbox this morning. It contains a link to an article called The Classics in the Slums, by Jonathan Rose. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02152005 Tue, 15 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02122005 Sat, 12 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST This morning, a friend sent me a link to an article where a writer was ranting about how in the whole budget process, nobody asks the question as to whether or not budget items are Constitutional. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02112005 Fri, 11 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST In Lutheran theology, we have a term sedes doctrinae, or in English, 'seats of doctrine'. This term refers to the fact that certain Biblical passages are at the epicenter of the Bible's teaching on a subject. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02072005 Mon, 7 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST The older I get, the more I am convinced that proper reading the Bible is something that happens over time. Nobody gets it the first time through. Granted, we are fallen. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02032005 Thu, 3 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST At St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Laguna Beach, CA, we hosted a marathon reading of the book of Genesis a couple of weeks ago. We had a dozen adults from the church together on a Sunday afternoon taking turns reading a chapter or two at a time. http://www.oldsolar.com/singlefile.php?singlefile=02022005 Wed, 2 Feb 2005 12:00:00 PST