A Thinking Reed

  • The perils of the “virtuous minority”

    Marvin continues his series on vegetarianism wth a post on the eschatological expectation that predation and violence are aspects of creation which will ultimately be done away with. Vegetarianism, then, can be seen as a “living into the kingdom,” a kind of anticipation of what is to come: In the present age one cannot dismiss…

  • Question

    I like this page layout, but the font seems awfully small, and apparently it’s a pain in the keister to change font size on WP. Do readers have an opinion? UPDATE: This seems like somewhat less of an eye strain, but no images, hmmm…

  • Veggie tales

    Marvin has started a series on vegetarianism – first two installments are here and here. Kim at Crossroads discusses a New Yorker review of Tristram Stuart’s The Bloodless Revolution. (I blogged on the Nation review here.)

  • Pluralism and the work of Christ

    Any discussion of religious diversity and salvation (see last post) ultimately has to come to terms with what salvation means. It’s pointless to debate how people “get saved” if we don’t know what people are supposed to be saved from (or for). Following custom, I’ll distinguish between exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist views on religious diversity:…

  • Bishop Hanson on the salvation of non-Christians

    This is interesting: an ELCA blogger wrote to Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson about his take on Episcopal Presiding Bishop Schori’s controversial (at least in the hothouse of the blogosphere) remarks on the salvation of non-Christians (via I Am a Christian Too). And Bp. Hanson actually wrote back. Bishop Hanson’s reply is very sensible – you…

  • Augustine’s Enchiridion 9: Redemption, grace and free will

    Having discussed the fall, Augustine begins to turn his attention to redemption. He makes an interesting suggestion at the beginning of Chapter 9 (later echoed by Anselm in Cur Deus Homo) that there is something fitting or even necessary that the angels who fell and are permanently banished from heaven should be replaced by a…

  • Woo hoo! Heaven, here I come!

    You know the Bible 100%!   Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses – you know it all! You are fantastic! Ultimate Bible QuizCreate MySpace Quizzes Via Derek the Ænglican, who also points out an error…

  • ISG museum

    This Saturday we went with some friends to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum here in Boston. I was very taken with this piece by Fra Angelico of the Death and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Unfortunately the image doesn’t do justice to it – the gold and blue are so bright and vibrant – really…

  • My beef with “My Beef with Vegetarianism”

    It’s no secret that vegetarians and animal rights proponents usually don’t get much respect. I recently saw a “60 Minutes” segment featuring Andy Rooney, that embodiment of crusty old conventional wisdom, where he began by saying “Like most people, I think vegetarians are crazy.” And in fairness that stereotype may even be somewhat justified. Even…

  • FT goes hi-tech

    First Things has done a snazzy redesign of their website and added a feature where print subscribers (such as yours truly) can get immediate online access to the new issue’s articles. Also noteworthy from the current issue (and available for public consumption): Evangelical theologian Timothy George on “Evangelicals and the Mother of God.”