Fewer Broken Pieces

How old is the earth, anyway?  What effect does evolution have on Christian theology?  Steve Martin is facilitating a mini blog conference on the topic.  Dr. Peter Enns examines the issue by means of his review of The Bible, Rocks and Time.  This summer Robin Parry tackled the issue of the flood in a series of posts entitled “Did Noah’s Flood Happen?”:

1. An Historical Overview
2. The Evidence says ‘No’
3. Theological Reflections, pt 1
4. Theological Reflections, part 2 (Genesis in ancient context)

Happy reading.

I am currently involved in a discussion about the moral calculus of war and abortion, particularly in how they relate to voting. Bobby Grow argues that abortion is worse than war. Halden counters that abortion and war should really be considered the same, since they both involve violence. I am inclined to agree that the “innocence” rubric used by Bobby is problematic in this context. When it comes to war, it makes much more sense to say “combatant” and “non-combatant,” because innocence may have very little to do with whether or not someone has taken up arms, especially in the case of military conscription. That being said, I still agree with Bobby contra Halden that abortion should indeed be considered more morally outrageous.

I go on to suggest that both abortion and war should be disqualifiers in a candidate, even though one may be worse than the other. Using binary logic in the presidential elections is bad because there are more than two options and there is also the option of not voting (the Null vote). So, even though abortion may be worse than war, it makes no sense to use that as a point of distinction between two evils. Put both parties on notice about their unacceptable positions and save your vote for someone who is not merely the lesser of two evils.

Ben Myers at Faith and Theology sponsored a most delightful caption contest for the following photo:

Stanley Hauerwas, John Milbank, and Pope Benedict XVI

Dave Belcher’s winning caption can be seen here.  Yes, check it out - you’ll be glad you did.

I would like to propose a new corollary to Godwin’s law:

As a Christian blog discussion grows longer, the probability of someone questioning the author’s salvation approaches one.

I will call it Halden’s law - not because he coined it, but because he is often the victim of it.

Every once in a while I will post links some of the most intriguing articles I am reading on the internet.

• God’s Politics? (parts one and two) Douglas Harink guest posts at Faith & Theology about Jim Wallis’ God’s Politics. A thought-provoking proposition:

Unless Christian discourse about God, faith and the church is allowed in the first place to be absolutely free of its usefulness for Americanism, it will always be idolatrous.

• The Lutheran Zephyr examines the responses of Senators McCain and Obama to Rick Warren’s question about evil.
• D.W. Horstkoetter has some early impressions of J. Kameron Carter’s Race: A Theological Account.
• Over at Inhabitatio Dei, Halden and others struggle with the ethics of critical discourse in the Church. This is largely a discussion on what it means to speak the truth in love.