The Scriptorium Daily

Year: 2010

  • Mary Baker Eddy Seems to Have Died

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in

    Today (December 3) is the day in 1910 when Mary Baker Eddy, who taught that evil is an illusion and death is a failure of the imagination, died. To everybody else, this kind of thing seemed rather like a refutation of her own teaching, but to her followers in the church of so-called Christian so-called…

  • Ruusbroec: Tipsy on the Trinity

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Today (December 2) is the anniversary of the death of Jan van Ruusbroec, also called John of Ruysbroeck (1293-1381), a 14th-century Flemish mystical writer whose work is often considered a high point of medieval Christian mysticism. In a 1984 lecture in Kentucky, Louis Dupre called him “Western Christianity’s most articulate interpreter of the trinitarian mystical…

  • Christmas Playlists

    Christmas Playlists

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in

    For several years, my wife and I have had a tradition of sharing our favorite Christmas music with friends. It started as actual mix tapes in the mid 90s, but has been CDs since then. We have a pretty good collection of Christmas music, and of course we have excellent taste! Here are a few…

  • We'll "Figure Out" the Trinity, Get It?

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    This January I’ll be teaching an intensive class on the Trinity as part of Biola’s innovative IRIS program. It’ll be a three-week class that I’ll be co-teaching with nine other Biola profs, intentionally stirring together as many academic disciplines as we can fit into one experience of general education. The 200 students who register for…

  • Happy Birthday, C.S. Lewis

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Today (November 29) is the birthday of C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), the professor of English who just wanted to be left alone with his books and his handful of bookish friends. But he turned out to have a headful of exactly what the world needed: Christian faith that ran deep, that embraced the whole world…

  • Happy Birthday, John Bunyan

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Today (November 28) is the birthday of John Bunyan (1628-1688). Most famous for his Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan also authored a number of theological and devotional works of lasting value. They all have that Bunyan charm: The fluency with Scripture, the lightning-quick associative leaps, the natural vigor, the homespun power of the English language. If you…

  • Happy Birthday, Robert Lowth

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    by

    Joe Henderson
    in ,

    Robert Lowth (1710-1787) was born this day, November 27. Lowth (his name rhymes with south) was Bishop of Oxford and later London. He was best known his works on Biblical poetry and English grammar. In the 1740’s he delivered a series of lectures at Oxford that were published in 1753 as De sacra poesi Hebraeorum…

  • Happy Birthday, William Cowper

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Today (November 26) is the birthday of English hymn writer William Cowper (1731 – 1800), who collaborated with John Newton on the collection called Olney Hymns. The most famous of the Olney Hymns is of course Newton’s Amazing Grace. Newton also wrote the lion’s share of the hymns in the collection. Newton could out-produce, out-promote,…

  • Happy Thanksgiving from the Pumpkin Diner

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    There’s an attitude of gratitude at the pumpkin diner, as the meals-with-friends-and-family part of the holiday kicks in. You can either be grumbly and hateful, or humbly grateful, so which is it gonna be? Today’s special speshle is turkey ham, according to the little bird who posts the menu. This detail is a good example…

  • Going Deeper with the Trinity Book

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Here’s another set of reviews, responses, and reactions to my recent book The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything. Aaron Armstrong at Blogging Theologically says in his review that “we don’t have to settle for a shallow picture of God,” because God “wants us to experience all of Him—Father, Son and Spirit.”…

  • Unperplexed About the Church

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    There’s a series of books called Guides for the Perplexed, which is a Rambammish series title that promises to help you sort out your confusion. I don’t know how all the other books in the series are, but here’s one that really delivers on the promise: The Church: A Guide for the Perplexed, by Scriptorium’s…

  • Atlanta Crabapple Baptist Trinity!

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    by

    Fred Sanders
    in

    This Thursday I’ll be talking about Why the Trinity Matters at a special event at Crabapple Baptist Church in Atlanta. I’m down south for the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, and am thrilled that I get to escape for a while to a local church to talk Trinity. The event is free, starting…