Obama and BS (Biblical Scholar) Bob

Just in time for the presidential election, that "award-winning researcher, biblical scholar and one of the world's foremost authorities on end time prophecies," Dr. Bob Thiel, has launched a new book entitled Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States.

This book explains about how, by virtue of his background and policies, Barack Obama is fulfilling, and will continue to help fulfill, various prophecies that will lead to the destruction of the United States. 

Yes, I know most readers have no idea who Bob is, despite being an award-winning researcher, biblical scholar and a foremost authority - obviously you've all been out of the scholarly loop.  Bob is superbly qualified to write about this kinda stuff, what with being a published naturopath, and holding a mail-order ThD from Kochi, India.  He is best known for his apologetics on behalf of the Roderick C. Meredith sect, the Living Church of God, which produces the Tomorrow's World TV program and magazine. 

[T]hough not ordained as a deacon or elder, hands have twice been properly laid upon me for the Holy Spirit (once upon baptism & on 12/15/11 for a "double-portion" of the Holy Spirit) and I try to do what it seems God wants (1 Timothy 4:14-16). On 12/16/2011, evangelist Richard Ames publicly prayed that I would continue to do the work of God as I had been doing (internet, writing and advising LCG leadership, radio, etc.), which also received "Amen" concurrence from evangelists Roderick C. Meredith and Douglas Winnail. Richard Ames later on 12/16/11 called my writings, including my upcoming church history and prophecy book, an "additional witness." 

What greater recommendation couldst thou want!?  Eat your heart out Bart Ehrman!  But wait, there's more!  This essential tome is currently available free on Kindle, but only if you act now.  After today (Saturday, US time) you'll have to shell out a few bucks.

To be honest, I thought I could ignore Bob once I ditched the old Ambassador Watch blog, but this is just too bizarre to overlook.

(Thanks to Douglas Becker, who pointed out the availability of Dr. Bob's newest dopus opus.)

Rotten Apple

"A judge approved on Thursday a Justice Department settlement with three publishers accused of conspiring with Apple Inc and other publishers to push up the prices of electronic books."  (Full story here).

It figures!  Apple's shiny, Yuppie PR long ago lost its gloss.  The sooner Google, Samsung and (can't believe I'm saying this) the new Windows 8 blast Apple into puree, the better!  

Craziness Unlimited

One of the few benefits of belonging to a hierarchic church - the sort that tells you what you can and should believe - is that it imposes a cap on craziness.  Crazy stuff is limited by the capacity of the leaders to withhold or provide some kind of imprimatur.

What this effectively means is that, while your church may indeed teach some pretty weird stuff, it imposes its own discipline on those who wander too far off into total loopiness.  The leadership has limits too.  Not limits from below, based on egalitarianism or participatory governance.  Oh, heavens to Betsy no!  Their limits are what they can get away with without ending up in the tabloid press.

Not exactly ideal, but better than nothing.

Over the years I've observed in some detail the collapse of just such a fringe hierarchic church.  That thing, in its heyday, was wound as tight as a watch spring.  Urban legend has it that particularly compliant members would seek counsel from their minister before buying a car - just to check that the colour choice was appropriate!

Then came the great implosion.  The scattering to the winds of good, sincere, submissive Bible-believing Christians, cut loose from the authority structure that once both dominated and validated their lives.

Not a few immediately opted for the protection offered by splinter sects, aping the security package offered by the original brand.  Others, God bless 'em, reentered the real world, abandoning the sectarian mindset completely.

And then there were, and are, the incurable crazies, absolutely convinced that they, and they alone, have come through the trauma intact and tuned in to the pure gospel truth.  Confronted with a plethora of similar-minded options available to them, they focus on the minutiae that define their differences, and declare those minutiae essentials.

Many years ago I encountered an elderly ex-member of this group who I'll simply refer to as Ben.  Ben was a gentle chap, never married, who lived on a modest bit of isolated rural acreage in New Zealand's central North Island.  Since leaving the church (he'd had the tenacity to show the minister the door, no small thing in that church's culture) he'd spent a lot of time mulling over and writing up his ideas, becoming (unsurprisingly) more and more convinced by himself in the process.  The trouble was that Ben's knowledge was limited by his reading in the King James Bible, old church publications, and such monstrosities as Hislop's Two Babylons.  He became, in effect, a one-man sect, capable of launching into an angry 'prophetic' tirade if any of his ideas were challenged.  The man was probably better off before his liberation.  At least he had the moderating influence of a community then, even if a far from ideal one.

The wilderness years continue for many of those who remember the former things.  The 'crash and burn' of one's once beloved belief system, anchored firmly in a hierarchic body that has since crumbled to dust, is a huge strain on anyone.  As the years pass, more of these lonely figures seem to be emerging, utterly convinced that they are the Lord's favoured one, soliciting tithes, finding "new truth", and railing against their near-brethren.

Pity their longsuffering spouses and families!

For some folk, regretfully, life inside the the walls of the asylum is probably preferable to the weight of freedom outside it.

The Not-so-Social Gospel

1. The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve apostles came to Jesus and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.” 2 But Jesus said to them, “Why not give them something to eat?” They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people."  3 For there were about five thousand men. And Jesus said to his disciples, “You know what?  You’re right.  Don’t waste your time and shekels.  It would be positively immoral for you to spend any of your hard-earned money for these people.  They knew full well that they were coming to a deserted place, and should have relied on themselves and brought more food.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s every five thousand men for themselves.”

Read the whole thing.  Brilliant!

The Jephthah Dilemma

A nice posting appears on the Auckland Theology blog by Caroline Blyth, called "Before you say a word..."  it's a shortlist of the stupider examples of 'verbal folly' (foot in mouth disease) recorded in the Good Book.  There's the story of Jephthah, the genius who vowed to make a burnt offering of the first thing to meet him on his return home - only to be met by his daughter (who was he expecting, his mother-in-law?)  Adam, the excuse-maker (it was the little woman who did it!), and Yahweh himself, enjoying a gentlemen's wager, and in doing so agreeing to the ruin of Job and the murder of his kids just so the Adversary could prove - or not prove - a point.

What do we do with stories like these, apart from grimace?  Even allowing for the characteristics of the various genre - what edifying lessons are there to be learned?  Preachers strain mightily in such tasks but, as it says in Ecclesiastes, usually bring forth little more than wind.  Is the very best possible something like "look before you leap"? 

In the case of Job it's generally agreed that the author has an intentionally subversive agenda, so perhaps we can cut some slack there.  Even then, literary subtlety in a largely preliterate society would, you have to suspect, have been an underdeveloped skill, and dangerously easy to misinterpret.  Do we risk imputing shades of meaning and depth where none were intended?  Obviously. The finger pointing in Eden is more a cause for hilarity than reflection, and a wonderful resource for cartoonists.  The Jephthah incident simply horrifies us, moreso because there's absolutely no indication in the text (Judges 11) that he did anything wrong by following through on the vow; the poor chap had no choice! 

So what  do those of us who love the Bible, warts and all, do with stories like these, apart from avoid shallow homilies?  Yes, you can "preach against the grain", but why bother with something so counterintuitive when we could all be enjoying a nice selection from Tolstoy instead?

I doubt there's a short answer.  Therein lies the problem.

From Vic to Slick

In 1980 or thereabouts I acquired my first computer, the simply amazing Commodore Vic-20. This was the age of the Atari, the Sinclair ZX81 and magazines that provided directions for Basic code that you could self-program by typing it out for yourself.  Data was stored on a tape drive! Yet the sheer magic of plugging in to a new world of possibilities, as it existed then, is hard to describe. And that was before the Internet!

Time trashes all technology. From the Vic-20 to its gruntier big brother the Amiga, then a forced migration to the dark side... l've been a loyal PC user ever since. Desk tops, laptops. Not for one minute was I seriously seduced by the now forgotten Acorn or the alternate Apple platform. Mixed fruit and nuts.

Now the game has changed.  I've only just clued into the advantages of the tablet. Mobile phones have morphed into Android devices, and now, with a Jelly Bean powered Nexus 7 in hand - well, it's like 1980 all over again.  Oh (with apologies to Dr. Seuss) the things you can do!

New Zealanders have been slower to make the move to tablets than most comparable societies, according to a NZ Herald report.  Part of this may reflect the delay in getting new models into the country, as the article suggests, but overpricing may be a bigger factor.  Another reason to be pleased that the Apple hegenomy has been breached.

Whether it's apparent at the moment, the desktop monitor, box and keyboard combo has effectively been reduced to retro furniture status, and the laptop's days are probably numbered.  Even the Kindle Touch that seemed so cool a few months ago now has an Edsel feel to it.

Scary!   What could possibly be next?

Son of David

It's true.  Jesus was the Son of David.  The proof isn't just textual, or a matter of faith.  The matter is beyond reasonable doubt.

But there's a small qualification.  So was Judas.

And Peter, and John...

And Caiaphas, Mary Magdalene, the demonaics, old Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

"... everyone alive in the Holy Land at the time of Jesus would have been able to claim David for an ancestor."

Check out the fascinating article in the BBC News Magazine.