NT scholar Darrell Bock posts on this find in Nazareth…
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thinkChristianly Podcast
The Conservative-Christian Big Thinker (Robert George)
I came across this fascinating article on Dr. Robert George and it is worth a read. There are plenty of “big thinkers” out there in the Christian world – Alvin Plantinga, J.P. Moreland, N.T. Wright, Darrell Bock, William Lane Craig, Francis Beckwith (just to name a few), but they are right to focus on George of Princeton in this article.
(article) “On a September afternoon, about 60 prominent Christians assembled in the library of the Metropolitan Club on the east side of Central Park. It was a gathering of unusual diversity and power. Many in attendance were conservative evangelicals like the born-again Watergate felon Chuck Colson, who helped initiate the meeting. Metropolitan Jonah, the primate of the Orthodox Church in America, was there as well. And so were more than half a dozen of this country’s most influential Roman Catholic bishops, including Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Archbishop John Myers of Newark and Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia.
At the center of the event was Robert P. George, a Princeton University professor of jurisprudence and a Roman Catholic who is this country’s most influential conservative Christian thinker. Dressed in his usual uniform of three-piece suit, New College, Oxford cuff links and rimless glasses , George convened the meeting with a note of thanks and a reminder of its purpose. Alarmed at the liberal takeover of Washington and an apparent leadership vacuum among the Christian right, the group had come together to warn the country’s secular powers that the culture wars had not ended. As a starting point, George had drafted a 4,700-word manifesto that promised resistance to the point of civil disobedience against any legislation that might implicate their churches or charities in abortion, embryo-destructive research or same-sex marriage. Two months later….”(For more of this thoughtful and fair New York Times article, click here.)
Merry Christmas from think Christianly
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”–Matthew 1:23
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete.”–1 John 1:1-5
8 Ways to Thrive (not die) with Family
Here is a helpful post on conflict and family gatherings from the Hub…
“As we continue our series on conflict, what an opportunity many of us will have this Christmas. 🙂
Yes, we all know family is a blessing and wonderful, but quite honestly, most of us know it can be very stressful as well. Here are a couple of reminders as we enter what should be restful, sweet, good, memory making times.
1. Take a deep breath – Is what your mother, brother, or sister-n-law said, or going to say really worth ruining the sweet time you have? I know that words are extremely powerful, but for many of us, we need to learn how to ‘give them less power.’
2. Watch your tongue – As you have heard and will hear many times, An OUNCE of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If most of us would just take a deep breath, relax ONE moment before we speak, we would either say less damaging things or when someone says something Potentially damaging to us, we choose not to react.
3. Stop thinking of the past all the time. This is huge in family. Whenever someone in our family makes a comment to us, we see it in light of the previous 20, 35, or 50 years. It’s time to forget some of that (I know it’s hard, but it’s necessary). A short memory can be quite helpful in these situations.
4. If your comment does not build someone up, then keep it to yourself. Many times in family, we think it is our job to ‘share all the difficult stuff.’ You know what, unless you have an active, ongoing, close relationship with a family member, chances are ‘more critique’, or ‘less positive’ opinions should be shared by a person’s friend, not a family member.
5. Unsolicited advise is almost always received as criticism, not help.
6. We only have a few days together. Let’s be friends:) Friendships are positive. Let’s let our family times be positive.
7. Christmas is about Christ’s generosity of Spirit, not a spirit of negativity, stress, hurt, and history. If we will slow down enough to get the right perspective on our eyeballs, then He will give us what we need to make it much more enjoyable.
8. Don’t stay too long! Proverbs says,’Don’t stay too long in your brother’s house.’ That’s from the wisest man who ever lived. Amen.
Remember this week, God is with you.
Merry Christmas from all of us here at The Hub! (See more of their excellent resources here)
What is the real story of Santa Claus (a.k.a. St. Nicholas)? A Christian Perspective
Daddy, is Santa Claus real?
Where did the belief in Santa Claus come from? Here are some resources…
The True Saint Nicholas: Why He Matters to Christmas by William J. Bennett
The Legend of St. Nicholas: A Story of Christmas Giving