Mike King

"I gave my daughter a Bible. That's how you make atheists."

This following article in the New York Times reports on the recent findings of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.  Ht to Kate Obermueller for bringing this to my attention.

Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN -- Published: September 28, 2010

"Researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,400 Americans and asked them 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous religious figures and the constitutional principles governing religion in public life.

On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith.

Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. The results were the same even after the researchers controlled for factors like age and racial differences."

THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING, ALTHOUGH NOT SURPRISING ARTICLE. 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE.

Eboo Patel

I had the privilege to meet with Eboo Patel on his whirlwind tour through Kansas City.  I got an e-mail last week from some of Eboo's associates about trying to connect the two of us.  Recently, Eboo Patel made the Top Ten List of America's Best Leaders of 2009 in U.S. News and World Report.  Eboo is a Muslim who was born in India but grew up in Chicago.  Eboo serves as an adviser to President Obama on Faith Issues. 

We met for for thirty minutes and had a very interesting discussion.  Eboo shaped language used by President Obama in the memorial service for the victims of the Fort Hood tragedy which was happening as we met.

See here for Eboo's response to the situation in The Washington Post. I really admire Eboo for the stand he is taking and his commitment to peacemaking.  I look forward to working with him in the future.

Here is an article featuring Eboo in the Kansas City Star.

Not a Christian, But a Follower of Jesus???

For some time it has been quite common for people living the Christian life to make a point that they are "followers of Jesus" instead of identifying as "Christians."  Dallas Willard is one of the first people I heard say this many years ago.  Jason Byassee addresses this in a very thoughtful manner in a recent post.  I really appreciate the stuff Jason Byassee writes.

"There’s some sleight of hand here. Imagine a banker in the current financial crisis objecting when you name her job description. “I’m not a banker, I’m a cashier.” You would be unimpressed. Or a Major League Baseball player seeking distance from the steroid scandal this way: “No no no, I’m not a baseball player, I’m a second baseman.” It’s as if my alma mater, Davidson College, disgraced itself in some horrible way. When people cluck their tongues at me, I cleverly respond: “Not me, I’m innocent, I’m not from Davidson, I’m just a Wildcat.” I’d be fooling no one. So too with these non-Christian Christians."

Read the entire post here.

A Fight Breaks out in Church of the Holy Sepluchre

Last year when we were in Jerusalem we were waiting in line to go into the "supposed tomb" of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepluchre.  The place was so crowded and the sectarian tension among the Christian groups claiming rights in the Church that it was a very unpleasant experience.  People were shoving and losing their tempers over who would be next into the tomb.  Finally, our daughter, Jessica just broke down in tears over the idea people could act like this around a place that was supposed to be celebrating the Risen Savior. 

Well things haven't improved.  Check out this video from the other day.  The tension between the Christian sects trying to maintain their territory in this place broke out into violence...

Then check out Ben Witherington's, Professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, post on this incident.

The U.S. Religious Landscape

The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey Reveals a Fluid and Diverse Pattern of Faith. 

An extensive new survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life details the religious affiliation of the American public and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. Based on interviews with more than 35,000 Americans age 18 and older, the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey finds that religious affiliation in the U.S. is both very diverse and extremely fluid.  Read article

Lost "Gospel of Judas" in the news

The Kansas City Star featured a front page article today entitled, Lost 'Gospel' Portrays Judas as a True Friend of Jesus.  Click to read.  I find this stuff so interesting.  The fact that this Gospel of Judas merited a mention by Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyon in the 2nd Century, as being inauthentic is so fascinating.  This manuscript written in Coptic has been lost for 1,700 years.  This text was embraced by the Gnostic sect because the narrative is shaped to support their theological and doctrinal views of life, matter, spirit and Jesus.  The manuscript was discovered in the 1970's near the Nile River approximately 100 miles south of Cairo.  The manuscript ended up on the black market until 2000.  The translation and preservation of the 26-page papyrus was led by the National Geographic Society. This should provide much interesting dialogue and debate in the coming months.  Bill Tammeus, a Religion Columnist for the KC Star blogs about it here.

Experts think they may have discovered the oldest Christian building ever found.

Some remarkable ruins have been unearthed in excavations taking place within a modern prison near Megiddo, Israel.  Having visited Israel 20 times and being in the MA in Christian History and Thought track at NTS makes this a very big interest for me.  I was getting ready to post on it after reading about it over the weekend and in the paper today.  Steve Greene e-mailed me this link about the finding.  Initial thinking is that the ruins which have obvious Christian connection may date back to the mid-third century.  This pre-dates the era of Christian Churches.  It would be associated with a time that Christians secretly worshiped in makeshift churches within private homes and buildings.  The mosaic, pottery and other artifacts show pre-Byzantine style.  The symbol of the fish was discovered in the mosaic along with writing mentioning "the God Jesus Christ."  I wonder how that will set with those who claim that the idea of "the God Jesus Christ" was the invention of the later historic church councils.  I hope I can see this with my own eyes on Israel trip #21.

 

Soldiers of Christ

Have you read this?

Here is an excerpt...

MacDonald leaves little doubt that the convention is meant to serve as a rallying cry for a new and particularly militant movement in Christian politics, one that is sometimes mistaken for another outbreak of mere revivalism. In fact, this movement is a curious hybrid of fundamentalists, Pentecostals, Southern Baptists, conservative Catholics, Charismatics, and other evangelicals, all of whom are at war doctrinally but who nonetheless share a belief that America is destined to become a Christian nation, led by Christian men who are in turn directed by God. For someone like me, who grew up in the church and was keenly aware of the rigid lines imposed by warring sects and denominations, the new alliances are startling. I notice uniformed officers from the Salvation Army at the convention, something that would have been unthinkable in the past. Lately, the leaders of the movement have even begun to reach out to the Mormons.

Habemus papam!

We have a Pope! Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, a close confidant of Pope John Paul II, Ratzinger has been called the greatest Catholic theological mind of the 20th century. He will no longer be Joseph, but Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope.  I am not optimistic about the new Pope, who has been a dogmatic conservative pulling back the reigns on ecumenical dialogue.  I just hope he doesn't mess with Vatican II.  We will see.

LaHaye and Larry...

I am on my way to the Emergent Conference in San Diego.  It should be a great week.  I changed planes in Salt Lake City.  Walking by a TV monitor, I briefly saw that Larry King was covering Time Magazine’s 25 most influential Evangelicals.  His guest, at least for the couple of minutes I could tolerate watching was Tim LaHaye.  LaHaye is the eschatological guru who has done quite well selling his Left Behind Series.  OK, does anyone else see a heretical aspect of LaHaye’s theology?  I am aware that some engrossed in these silly novels actually express excitement about the possibility of being a part of the Tribulation Force, fighting the Antichrist during the North American invention of this End-Time Scenario.  I went in the Delta Crown Room to try and catch some more of Larry King.  There are a half dozen TV's in there - none on King.  Instead I watch newsbreaks about the Pope being rushed to the hospital. 

Ashley, a friend of mine, who is working on her second doctorate at UMKC posted a response to my announcement last night of Time Magazine’s list.  Read Ashley’s comment. She pointed out that out of the 25 Influential Evangelicals, only 4 were women and 2 ethnic representatives.