I was really shocked to read in the AUC alumni magazine that came in today’s mail that a good friend, Gwen Ashley, had died back in April. In these days of instantaneous communication, you wonder how something like this still happens. She had been a secretary at the Atlantic Union Conference and then was the…

Sign translation troubles in Wales and China–via Volokh.

Woodrow W. Whidden II, Ellen White on the Humanity of Christ: A Chronological Study. Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1997. In this volume Woodrow Whidden summarizes chronologically Ellen White’s thoughts on the human nature of Christ. The background to this study is that this became a controversial subject in Adventist teaching in the 1950s, when…

George R. Knight, A User-Friendly Guide to the 1888 Message (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 1998). My personal introduction to the “1888 Message” came when, as a junior at Broadview Academy in 1977, I came across some issues of The Layworker in the library, and saw an advertisement for a set of free tapes by…

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m heading up to Walla Walla, WA, Sunday morning to take a week long intensive course on “The Development of Seventh-day Adventist Theology” with George Knight. He had us to a lot of reading in advance (some of it in his own books), and I thought I’d post some of my…

David Hamstra reviews Rome Sweet Home.

“Suppose a nation, rich and poor, high and low, ten millions in number, all assembled together; not more than one or two millions will have lands, houses, or any personal property; if we take into the account the women and children, or even if we leave them out of the question, a great majority of…

So, if someone was going to be in Spokane for a day, what would you recommend they see or do?

Komonchak @ Commonweal.

Pro-life students have been arrested and jailed at the College of Alameda in California for exercising their right to free speech. This college earlier threatened to expel two students for praying with a faculty member.

See Paul McCain’s post.

This Friday, October 31, is Reformation Day, the anniversary of the day back in 1517 that Martin Luther posted his “95 Theses on Indulgences.” Justification by faith alone, the hallmark of the movement, wasn’t just one doctrine among many, but was for Luther the “chief article” which must critique all that the church says or…

One of the key books that I read on my journey to Catholicism was John Henry Newman’s Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine. I was first introduced to it when I was a graduate student in church history at Loma Linda University; Paul Landa had me read it for a course on the History…

Bishop Joseph Martino crashed a political forum at a church in his diocese, and gave them a piece of his mind.  The main issue was the Catholic approach to abortion, and there were a number of panelists. What got his goat was that they passed out and discussed the USCCB document on “Faithful Citizenship,” but…

Chutzpah (KHʊt’ spə): Utter nerve; effrontery. Pope Benedict XVI had the chutzpah to claim that “the distinction between religion and politics is a specific achievement of Christianity and one of its fundamental historical and cultural contributions.” I think David Gibson at the Catholic blog, dotCommonweal, is on to something when he says, “this statement seems…

The Journey Home is a program on the independent Catholic network, EWTN, featuring stories of converts to Catholicism. It is hosted by Marcus Grodi, a former Presbyterian minister, who is the director of the Coming Home Network, an independent Catholic ministry to support converts, particularly clergy. I was one of the first CHN members; it…

One of my favorite authors, Tony Hillerman, has died at 83.

In 1994 I took a trip to one of the most beautiful countries in the Americas … Guatemala. I had never seen a volcano, before, but flying into Guatemala city I saw a whole line of them sticking up above the clouds like islands. It was Semana Santa, Holy Week, and the streets of the…

I’m heading out a week from Sunday to go to Walla Walla, Washington; this will be my first trip to the Pacific Northwest. I’ll be taking a week long intensive course on the Development of Seventh-day Adventist Theology from George Knight. I’ve been doing lots of required reading for the class last week and this,…

LTC Darrel Vandeveld, prosecutor at Gitmo, resigned recently–after Fr. John Dear advised him, “Quit.” LA Times notes he’s the fourth prosecutor to resign under protest. Neither of the main candidates has made Gitmo an issue.

A schismatic Catholic church in Midland, TX, is under fire for having a sign that says, “Annihilate Islam.” Video. Transcript. Except that it doesn’t say that–not as if it were a command. Rather, the reference is historical. The sign says, “Lepanto October 1571, Mary & Her Rosary Annihilate Islam.” This was a decisive victory of…

New NT translation: The Voice. A friend who is one of the translators sent me the link. More when I get a copy. Here’s an article about it from the Houston Chronicle.

The folks in Waller County, NW of Houston, seem to be a little slow to learn. For thirty years they have been obstructing the right to vote of students at Prairie View A&M University (a historically black university). County officials have consistently lost court battles, but they haven’t learned. In the latest go round, they…

I remember my first Bell bicycle helmet, which I got the summer of ’79 at a bike shop in North Haven, CT. They were new, back then, and big, and clunky, and expensive–If I recall correctly, it was around $50 (an on-line inflation calculator says that’s equivalent to $150 today). Take a look. I was…

Michael Bloomberg is set to run for a third term. The City Council decided to give it to him–despite the fact that term limits had been imposed by public referenda over a decade ago. Paul Moses comments at Commonweal. Newsday: [Queens Democrat Tony Avella said,] “You’re not conning anybody. The public of this city knows…

Yep.

Better not be in a hurry to hop over to Freebird–you’ll be getting a $180 fine.

Prison footage of John McCain.

Hillary Clinton: “Al Franken was taking on the vast right-wing conspiracy before other people even admitted it existed.”

Early voting started today. I got it out of the way.