The Scriptorium Daily

Category: Culture

  • The Apostles Creed and Abortion

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    Fred Sanders
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    Presbyterians Pro-Life is an organization which is fighting the good fight within the Presbyterian Church USA. PPL is speaking out in defense of the unborn and addressing the whole host of sexuality issues that are rocking that denomination. It’s hard to keep up with the little renewal groups within all the mainline denominations, but it…

  • B.C. by Johnny Hart: “This Warm, Mischievous Feeling”

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    Fred Sanders
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    Johnny Hart (1931-2007) died this past weekend (Sat. Apr. 7). His comic strips will continue to be published indefinitely, which is possible because his unsigned collaborators live on. It’s hard to believe, but B.C. ran in daily papers for over fifty years (from Feb. of 1958). Hart belongs in that Charles Schulz pantheon of classic…

  • The Theology of Homestar Runner

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    Fred Sanders
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    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…

  • St. Augustine and the Mainstream Media

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    Paul Spears
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    I admit it—I am a news junkie. The first thing I do when I get up in the morning is turn on the computer, and see what has been going on in the world since I last was awake. I often end my day pursuing the many news channels to see news and commentary on…

  • Driven To Distraction

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    Paul Spears
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    I hate cell phones (I have one) and iPods (I don’t have one). They are true indicators of our fallen world. Modern society seems to be constructed in a way that encourages/enables humans to keep a frenetic schedule at all times. In today’s fast moving world it is nearly impossible to pause long enough for…

  • Stripping the Altar

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    Scriptorium Admin
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    John Mark Reynolds, 2005. For Eastern Christians today is Good Friday. Last night we recollected Christ’s gift of Holy Communion to the Church. At the end of that most beautiful of services in the light of candles the altar was stripped. Every decoration was removed. Every sign of honor was taken from it.It is a…

  • Keeping Athens at Bay: Historical Case Study

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    Scriptorium Admin
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    John Mark Reynolds, 2005. How should a Christian relate to philosophy? Earlier, I tried to show that Christianity must account for philosophy, Athens. On the other hand, it cannot reduce divine revelation to human intellectual activity. There is nothing new in this idea. It was the path the church followed to discover some of the…

  • We Must Act Part II

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    Scriptorium Admin
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    John Mark Reynolds, 2005. Read Part I here. Athens and Jerusalem Break Apart For centuries, these two cities, Athens and Jerusalem, provided the boundaries for intellectual and cultural growth. They formed one new kingdom. Tensions between the rationalism of Athens and the faith of Jerusalem always existed, but each recognized the contributions made by the…

  • Hostage Becomes a Beacon of Hope in Atlanta

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    Guest Contributor
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    Greg Leith, 2005. The story of Atlanta suspected killer, Brian Nichols, age 33, is an interesting commentary on our day. Nichols was a jailed defendant in a rape trial who had overpowered a guard while being escorted to the courtroom. Later he took Ashely Smith, a young woman, hostage for 7 hours. During their sometimes…

  • We Must Act

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    Scriptorium Admin
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    John Mark Reynolds, 2005. Read Part II here. Private Virtues Are Not Enough The basement room was crowded. Children were shoved up against the wall with the few faithful servants who had followed them into exile. The father and mother requested a chair for their son, who was seriously ill. Just a few years ago,…

  • O Death

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    Scriptorium Admin
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    John Mark Reynolds, 2005. I never liked going to funerals. In my childhood, they were sad affairs and fairly formal. Later they became full of false cheerfulness and endless speeches about the departed. Secular funerals were the worst of all. Such events are full of courage, but not much else. Death is a bad thing…

  • The Three Essentials for Education: Part I

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    Scriptorium Admin
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    John Mark Reynolds, 2005. Read Part II here, and Part III here. Part I — Community If I tell you to be a good student, you think of being alone in a library or sitting in a room chewing on the end of a pencil as you work on a hard problem. There is little…