After describing the long evolution of the church building sanctuary, the authors describe the pulpit, which “elevates the clergy to a position of prominence… it puts the preacher at center ’stage’ – separating and replacing him high above God’s people.”
http://blendedworship.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/viola-and-barna-pagan-church-buildings/
Our review of the Ehrman/D'Souza debate will probably differ from others. We were not looking for the clever knock out punch, but increased insight into our opponent.
Here is an assessment of the debate by its moderator, Larry Taunton, who is the head of the Fixed Point Foundation.
http://www.fixed-point.org/index.php/blog/216-whywesuffer
On October 7,2009, The Wartburg Watch took a trip to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to listen to the debate entitled: God and the Problem of Suffering. This debate was sponsored by the Carolina Apologetics Club, which utilized the Fixed Point Foundation and its resources in order to put on a world-class debate. It was advertised on campus thusly.
“Dinesh D'Souza is a best-selling American author and speaker who has become a front line defender of Christianity. D'Souza is an accomplished debater and former policy analyst in the Reagan administration. His most recent publication, What's So Great about Christianity, is a defense of the Christian faith.
Bart Ehrman is a distinguished professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A best-selling author, Ehrman holds a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary and is perhaps most famous for his contribution to the study of the "historical Jesus." In many of his best-selling books, Ehrman challenges traditional Christian beliefs about the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, and other aspects of Christian faith. He recently wrote the book God's Problem, addressing the Bible's views on the problem of suffering.
The debate will be moderated by Larry Taunton, executive director of Fixed Point Foundation”.
It is crucial to realize the importance that Bart Ehrman holds in these circles. He relishes in demolishing the simplistic arguments that Christian students bring to the classroom. He claims an evangelical heritage, attending Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College before losing his faith at Princeton. He has written a number of books highlighting Biblical “errors” and theological missteps. Many arrogant Christians, including a few pastors, have attempted to “demolish” him and usually end up on the receiving end of a club. However, Ehrman has his weaknesses, which are becoming evident the more he publishes and debates.
Dinesh D’Souza cut his teeth on challenging the entrenched political bureaucracy at Dartmouth College while a student and became a powerhouse within the neo-conservative movement. However, as a committed Catholic, he has begun to move into the issue of the defense of Christianity in light of the prominence of the New Atheism.
What is the bottom line from our perspective? It was a great beginning and even accomplished something important. What frustrates us to no end is the instant criticism from local Calvinista, JD Greear as well as Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary which featured JD's remarks on it’s blog. Here is the criticism:
http://jdgreear.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/10/ehrman-dsouza-debate.html
“I have to admit that I was not all that pleased with the outcome of the Bart Ehrman-Dinesh D'Souza debate last night. I have enjoyed a number of D'Souza's writings, and am much more (obviously) in his camp, but don't feel that he well represented the biblical position on the problem of evil. Ehrman was at his best, raising all the right questions. I found D'Souza's answers mostly flat, unsatisfying, and not really representative of the biblical/Christian position.
Older posts should now all be available. Comments will be appearing as we transfer them from the original location.
© 2010 The Wartburg Watch is proudly powered by WordPress | Constructor Theme
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).
