Wednesday 26 January 2011

Stark choices (2)

John Collins
"... biblical scholars, especially those of a more theological bent, have engaged incessantly in an enterprise of apologetics, to try to explain away apparent mistakes or to justify ethical attitudes that we now find unacceptable in the modern world.
"Human sacrifice and genocide are atrocities, whether we find them in the Bible or not. Attempts to save Jesus from apocalyptic delusion are unpersuasive. Those who strive to evade that conclusion only become "enablers," who are complicit in the negative effects of these texts on modern communities."

John J. Collins in the foreword to The Human Faces of God.

11 comments:

  1. So what I told you was true... from a certain point of view.
    Luke: A certain point of view?
    Obi-Wan: Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view...

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  2. In his 268 pages of What Scripture Reveals When It Gets God Wrong and Why Inerrancy Tries To Hide It, author Thom Stark footnotes John Collins, more times than just about anybody else, including our favorite punching bags William Craig and Hector Avalos.

    If Thom Stark quoted me that many times, I'd be inclined to write a forward for him, too.

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  3. William Lane Craig... another cheap apologist in an expensive suit. Hector Avalos - a prophetic voice who, like all good prophets, riles the apologists. Nothing new under the sun.

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  4. Actually, Paul, Dr. Collins agreed to write the foreword after reading the blog series and book proposal, prior to the writing of the book in its current form; he wasn't aware I'd be citing him so much. The blog series didn't cite him once, to my recollection.

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  5. Well, Thom, as a sinner, I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and my fervent hope is that you find eternal peace with God by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

    Paul

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  6. Thom, great to have you following the discussion. Look forward to any comments you might want to offer as the series continues.

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  7. AP, you get the sanctimonious arrogance award for presumptious smugness. Congratulations.

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  8. AP,

    Thanks! I hope so too.

    Gavin,

    Thanks for hosting the discussion! I'm very much looking forward to following along, and if I have something substantive to say (doubtful), I'll be sure to chime in. Regardless, at the end of your series I will link to the whole thing and write a response on the book's website.

    All the best!

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  9. I've just begun to hear things about this Collins and his book.

    Does he pass himself off as an evangelical?

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  10. Collins is a Roman Catholic.

    I come from an Evangelical background.

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