The Scriptorium Daily

Category: Blog

  • Frosty T. Snowman, deceased

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Frosty Theophilus Snowman has melted away due to natural causes near The Village, just a few days after causing a major public disturbance. His exact age is unknown, but friends estimate that he was at least 57 years old. Frosty, remembered by friends as “a jolly, happy soul,” outlived his creators, Walter “Jack” Rollins, Gene…

  • Theologians Who Died in 2007

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    2007 saw the deaths of some major figures in contemporary theology and biblical studies. Here are the ones that I can remember. *T. F. Torrance (1913-2007). Time will tell exactly how high he ranks, but this Scottish theologian is somewhere near the top of the list of major twentieth century theologians. Torrance was a hard…

  • Scriptorium’s Greatest Hits for 2007

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    2007 has been a big year for The Scriptorium Daily. Intellectual celebrity J. P. Moreland and fellow professor Matt Jenson joined our team in April, and we have been posting at full power since then, adding our first podcasts and a very active “Noteworthy Links” section that provides three thought-provoking articles to click through to…

  • The Times They Are A-Changin’

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    Melissa Schubert
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    As the newest contributor to the Scriptorium Daily I fittingly have been asked to wish you all a Happy New Year. As a matter of introduction, I am Melissa Schubert, a professor of literature in the Torrey Honors Institute. I am fascinated, especially at the turning of the year, by the ways that we keep,…

  • Christian Imagery

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    Fred Sanders
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    This is an article that appeared in the Christmas Day edition of the Orange County Register back in 2001. It was written by award-winning religion reporter Carol McGraw (now of the Colorado Springs Gazette) and featured a large illustration by the Register’s staff illustrator Lisa Mertins. It was a fun Christmas morning piece, and is…

  • The Day After Christmas

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    Fred Sanders
    in ,

    Here’s a song, here’s a gift for the day after Christmas When the presents have been opened And your spirit has crashed. When all the colored lights are turned off And the yule log is an ember And you’ve returned that crap to K-Mart And the tree is in the trash. You’ve got to hold…

  • A Silent Night, in the Fulness of Time

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    And I Joseph was walking, and was not walking; and I looked up into the sky, and saw the sky astonished; and I looked up to the pole of the heavens, and saw it standing, and the birds of the air keeping still. … And I saw the sheep walking, and the sheep stood still;…

  • Saint Nicholas / Santa Claus Songs

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    Fred Sanders
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    Santa Claus, bless his heart, may be a corporate shill who is constantly used to elbow Christ out of Christmas, but he is based on a historical figure who had a different agenda. St. Nicholas of Myra, a bishop in what we now call Turkey, lived in the fourth century. He must have been quite…

  • Sing Carols: Nothing Can Vex the Devil More

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    Fred Sanders
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    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), somewhere deep in his American epic poem Christus: A Mystery, puts these words in the mouth of Martin Luther (1483-1546): Nothing can vex the Devil more Than the name of him whom we adore. Therefore doth it delight me best To stand in the choir among the rest, With the great…

  • Wedding Prayer at Christmas

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    Here is a prayer I said at the wedding of two friends today, Dec. 21, 2007. Congratulations to Mark and Shelley. Our Father in heaven, We thank you and praise you for all you are and for all you have done. You are the one who said in the beginning, “let light shine out of…

  • The Wisdom of Wyschogrod: On Being Biblical and Historical

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    Matt Jenson
    in

    Michael Wyschogrod is an American Orthodox Jewish theologian. He writes a piece asking the question: ‘Why Was and Is the Theology of Karl Barth of Interest to a Jewish Theologian?’ Wyschogrod resonates with the theology of divine initiative and the theology of the Word that both play such central roles in Barth’s theology. Of particular…

  • A Christ Worth Christmas

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    Fred Sanders
    in

    The Glory of the Manger is a great little book of Christmas meditations by Samuel M. Zwemer (1867-1952), the “Apostle to Islam.” The whole book is available online (a 730k pdf here, and a bunch of his other writings here) Zwemer’s most famous book was called The Glory of the Cross, and this Manger book…