The Scriptorium Daily

Author: Fred Sanders

  • Council of Chalcedon

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Chalcedon means classic christology. Of course Chalcedon was a city near Constantinople, but the theological meeting held there in 451 was so important and influential that for the rest of Christian history the name “Chalcedon” has been a pointer to the right doctrine about Jesus Christ in distinction from errors. Chalcedon was a fifth-century council,…

  • Let the Little Children Come (Old Karl Barth Comes Back to the Matter Itself)

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    Fred Sanders
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    How important is holy week, with its multiple church services and dramatic re-experiencing of the death and resurrection of Christ? How important is it to set aside time and attention for it? How important is it to walk your kids through it at whatever level is appropriate for their age? Consider Karl Barth (1886-1968). Somewhere…

  • Driveway Flat Cat

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    Fred Sanders
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    Three thoughts on “Driveway Flat Cat.” 1. The title may sound like a tragedy, but it’s actually a pretty happy thing: A sidewalk chalk sketch of a cheerful bipedal feline, possibly wearing clothes, possibly jumping up off of the curved blue line beneath him. 2. Art on paper is tame and easily warehoused, but this…

  • The Theology of Homestar Runner

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Back in the ’60s, Robert L. Short had a surprise bestseller with a book on The Gospel According to Peanuts. Short had a lot to work with in a strip like Peanuts, whose creator Charles Schulz was documentably preoccupied with spiritual matters. But finding the theology of Homestar Runner is another matter altogether. There isn’t…

  • Classic Car

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    Fred Sanders
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    Great attention has been paid to the contours of this car body. From the steep climb of the car’s snub nose to the semicircular arc of its rear, this car is one clean contour. In fact, if you start at the front you can see two lines that don’t quite come together. Those are actually…

  • Cat in Rocket

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    Fred Sanders
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    Wheeee, I’m a cat in a rocket! I’m zooming around at high speeds, a feline making a beeline (if you will). No stopping this cat, no sir. I’m just zooming around and around and… hey, why am I zooming around? I’m just going in circles! I’m — I’m– I’m on a rocket ride at an…

  • Van Morrison Wants a Danish and You Have Ringworm

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    Fred Sanders
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    I’ve got a weakness for spectacularly bad music, and I’m also a fan of Van Morrison. Normally these two passions of mine have nothing to do with each other. But once upon a time, long about 1967, young genius Van Morrison was contractually obligated to make another album for a producer he was quite finished…

  • Pray for Ideas (George Washington Carver)

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    Fred Sanders
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    My wife just read a biography of George Washington Carver (subtitled The Man Who Overcame, by Lawrence Elliot (Prentice-Hall, 1966). Like most biographies of Carver, this one is out to edify and inspire the reader at all costs, and the lessons do come flying out of it pretty fast. I know it’s sophisticated in these…

  • What Books Should I Read on the Trinity? A Top Ten List

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    Fred Sanders
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    Every few months I get e-mails from people asking what books I would recommend on the Trinity. These are not requests for the latest scholarly work. They’re not focused inquiries with specific topics in mind. Nor are they requests for the greatest books of all time on the doctrine of the Trinity, the kind of…

  • Council of Ephesus, 431

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    Fred Sanders
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    Theologians can say a lot about Jesus. The sub-topic within Christian theology known as christology is a big one. But from the simple faith of a new believer up through a scholar who has made christology the work of an academic lifetime, the central question is about the identity of Jesus. Who is this person?…

  • Life of the Butterfly

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    Fred Sanders
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    O Butterfly, you fling yourself into the air with reckless abandon, smiling as you climb into the sky. But what’s this? A single egg drops from the mother butterfly as she flies? In reality, butterflies tend to lay between a hundred and two hundred eggs. We know this not from observation but from reliable authorities.…

  • Bible Conundrums 1901

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    Fred Sanders
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    “This little book makes few pretensions which give it a claim upon the attention of a wise and busy world.” If that’s the kind of first sentence that makes you set a book aside, O wise and busy reader, then click away now. But so began a humble little volume by Fred A. Wilson (b.…