Seriously, turn your computer off right now. Turn off your cell phone and your computer, and go outside. It's a beautiful time of year.
Or listen to this. (Thanks NPR.)
The World’s Fear Of The Truth-Telling Soul
1 year ago
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Blasphemy or good advertising?
This is a screen shot from my computer while looking up a verse reference that I used to be able to find easily before I grew so dependent on Bible search engines.
What a wonderful modern world we live in, no? The Bible is available for anyone with internet access to search in at least 50 languages, for free! Can't remember that verse reference but have a vague memory of a word or phrase contained in it? Just type it in! You can even refine the search if you have an idea of whether it's in the new or old testament. Pretty sweet, really. And, as you might expect you get this service for FREE, with the exception of having to view a few family-friendly, Christian-friendly banner ads for "Christian" products (that is, if products could accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.) Voice of the Martyrs will send you a FREE copy of their founder's personal testimony there on the left. But what's this banner across the top? It seems to be a reference to the Gospel of John chapter 1, identifying Jesus as the Word, the divine Logos that was with God in the beginning, whose light shines in the darkness, though the darkness has not understood or overcome it. Then it goes through its other two states:
Just to be clear, the banner reads "In the beginning was the Word. Now there are maps, charts, notes & more. The bestselling Bible in the #1 translation. Click to learn more. (Picture of NIV Study Bible.)"
Now, I'm all for the study of the Bible and the resources like maps, charts, notes, "& more." That stuff is great, it makes the message of the Bible more accessible, and it would be wonderful if we could sell more stuff like that and pay more scholars and professionals to produce more resources that would make studying the Bible easier for everyone. Great. I believe in the business of Bible study. Pay the professionals. Make the materials. Sell them. Wonderful. Translate the Bible into English in a way that does justice to the original Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic but phrases things in a way that most people don't have to struggle to understand. Yes. Great. That takes professionals. I'll pay for it.
But am I over-reacting? Or did that ad just say, "In the beginning was Jesus, but NOW there's maps, charts, and this awesome translation of the Bible with all these resources and notes attached to it!" (Implication: you don't need Jesus, you need our Bible product.)
I understand that this isn't the only way to interpret this ad, and hopefully the people who thought it up weren't thinking that it could be interpreted this way, but... seriously? How is this not blasphemy? Anyone who gets the reference "In the beginning was the Word" ought to be offended. Everyone else won't get the "cute joke" that they seem to be trying to make with the reference.
What a wonderful modern world we live in, no? The Bible is available for anyone with internet access to search in at least 50 languages, for free! Can't remember that verse reference but have a vague memory of a word or phrase contained in it? Just type it in! You can even refine the search if you have an idea of whether it's in the new or old testament. Pretty sweet, really. And, as you might expect you get this service for FREE, with the exception of having to view a few family-friendly, Christian-friendly banner ads for "Christian" products (that is, if products could accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.) Voice of the Martyrs will send you a FREE copy of their founder's personal testimony there on the left. But what's this banner across the top? It seems to be a reference to the Gospel of John chapter 1, identifying Jesus as the Word, the divine Logos that was with God in the beginning, whose light shines in the darkness, though the darkness has not understood or overcome it. Then it goes through its other two states:
Just to be clear, the banner reads "In the beginning was the Word. Now there are maps, charts, notes & more. The bestselling Bible in the #1 translation. Click to learn more. (Picture of NIV Study Bible.)"
Now, I'm all for the study of the Bible and the resources like maps, charts, notes, "& more." That stuff is great, it makes the message of the Bible more accessible, and it would be wonderful if we could sell more stuff like that and pay more scholars and professionals to produce more resources that would make studying the Bible easier for everyone. Great. I believe in the business of Bible study. Pay the professionals. Make the materials. Sell them. Wonderful. Translate the Bible into English in a way that does justice to the original Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic but phrases things in a way that most people don't have to struggle to understand. Yes. Great. That takes professionals. I'll pay for it.
But am I over-reacting? Or did that ad just say, "In the beginning was Jesus, but NOW there's maps, charts, and this awesome translation of the Bible with all these resources and notes attached to it!" (Implication: you don't need Jesus, you need our Bible product.)
I understand that this isn't the only way to interpret this ad, and hopefully the people who thought it up weren't thinking that it could be interpreted this way, but... seriously? How is this not blasphemy? Anyone who gets the reference "In the beginning was the Word" ought to be offended. Everyone else won't get the "cute joke" that they seem to be trying to make with the reference.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Why do I blog?
There have been times in my life when I have become obsessed with the blogosphere. They are often short-lived and I am glad for it.
What do you read blogs for? Entertainment? Research? (Arguably the latter could be properly identified as a sub-category of the former...) Dialectical theological debate? Keeping up with old friends and acquaintances?
Often with me it tends to be a mixture of motivations and goals, but if I'm really honest it almost always starts with boredom. "I need some entertainment," I think. "Let's check the blogs."
Next I do something completely narcissistic. I check in with my own blog. Often I re-read the things I have written and think about how much I agree with them. "Yeah, that's good stuff," I think. I look for comments, little signals that I'm popular and important. But pretty soon I get bored with my own thoughts. So I go look for others.
At this point I find something I agree or disagree with. And I leave comments. My very important and highly valued praise or my superb, dismantling criticism pepper the melting pot of ideas like the saffron of the textual idea world.
Now sometimes, when somebody says something I really disagree with, I leave a critical comment, and come back several times that day to see what they said in response. This is where the obsession comes in. Pretty soon, they come back with a retort, and I shoot back, and we're having a "friendly" competition over who is smarter in the very public arena of cyberspace. We can be talking about the loftiest, holiest ideas, but as my obsessed behavior reveals it is about more than the ideas. It is about my ego.
It seems like such a waste that such an incredible blessing like the internet be resigned to the mire of my sinful nature. There must be a way to interact with people over the internet that isn't all about proving my worth to myself or others through what I write.
Some things I don't do often enough that seem to help:
1. Pray before posting. Pray to Jesus. Ask Him to fill my fingers with His words rather than my own self-centered ones. Then only type words that I wouldn't be ashamed of if He read them. (Because He is reading them!)
2. Recognize my humanity. Recognize that a lot of the time I'm dumb, selfish, and only see things the way I want to see them rather than the way they actually are.
3. Recognize the humanity of others. Other people have the same limitations that I have, and other people are people. There's a post-er behind every post and that person is made in the image of God, and Jesus died on the cross for that person.
Any other suggestions?
What do you read blogs for? Entertainment? Research? (Arguably the latter could be properly identified as a sub-category of the former...) Dialectical theological debate? Keeping up with old friends and acquaintances?
Often with me it tends to be a mixture of motivations and goals, but if I'm really honest it almost always starts with boredom. "I need some entertainment," I think. "Let's check the blogs."
Next I do something completely narcissistic. I check in with my own blog. Often I re-read the things I have written and think about how much I agree with them. "Yeah, that's good stuff," I think. I look for comments, little signals that I'm popular and important. But pretty soon I get bored with my own thoughts. So I go look for others.
At this point I find something I agree or disagree with. And I leave comments. My very important and highly valued praise or my superb, dismantling criticism pepper the melting pot of ideas like the saffron of the textual idea world.
Now sometimes, when somebody says something I really disagree with, I leave a critical comment, and come back several times that day to see what they said in response. This is where the obsession comes in. Pretty soon, they come back with a retort, and I shoot back, and we're having a "friendly" competition over who is smarter in the very public arena of cyberspace. We can be talking about the loftiest, holiest ideas, but as my obsessed behavior reveals it is about more than the ideas. It is about my ego.
It seems like such a waste that such an incredible blessing like the internet be resigned to the mire of my sinful nature. There must be a way to interact with people over the internet that isn't all about proving my worth to myself or others through what I write.
Some things I don't do often enough that seem to help:
1. Pray before posting. Pray to Jesus. Ask Him to fill my fingers with His words rather than my own self-centered ones. Then only type words that I wouldn't be ashamed of if He read them. (Because He is reading them!)
2. Recognize my humanity. Recognize that a lot of the time I'm dumb, selfish, and only see things the way I want to see them rather than the way they actually are.
3. Recognize the humanity of others. Other people have the same limitations that I have, and other people are people. There's a post-er behind every post and that person is made in the image of God, and Jesus died on the cross for that person.
Any other suggestions?
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