http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra Always theological, sometimes systematic Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:06:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you’ve got Disjectamembra bookmarked and you plan on coming back, you should change your bookmark to here. That’s the Fred Sanders author-page at the new improved Scriptorium Daily. Disjectamembra will no longer be updated, and will go away pretty soon. But I’m still in ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/whered-i-go/ What’s remarkable about The Brothers Karamazov is the way Dostoyevsky put truly dangerous stuff into the book. He was trying to write a book that would help people, help a civilization. Doestoyevsky seems to have thought of his vocation as somewhat prophetic, and he trained his sensitive ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/dostoyevsky-plays-with-live-ammo/ F. B. Meyer (1847 – 1929) was a well-known Baptist pastor back around the turn of the twentieth century, but less famous today. Like so many of the great evangelicals of a hundred years ago, he combined in his life things that we have sadly learned to think ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/fact-faith-feeling-as-ancient-wisdom/ Gesture is everything in this whimsical depiction of a pony. What moment has the artist captured? The pony throws back her head and shakes her mane with such spirit that it is hard to believe her front hooves are solidly planted on the ground. It would ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/little-pony/ “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese,” quipped G. K. Chesterton circa 1910. But Chesterton lied. For by that time, James McIntyre (1827-1906), The Cheese Poet, had already lived an entire artistic career devoted to turophilia, the love of cheese. I ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/cheese-poetry/ In a 1998 article in Pro Ecclesia, Richard J. Mouw undertook a defense of “Evangelism: The Very Idea!” (Pro Ecclesia VII.2 (1998), 172-185). He begins by saying, “It has never been difficult to find people who take offense at the very idea of evangelism. The Christian community ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/evangelism-the-very-idea/ Last weekend was Purim on the Jewish calendar, and while I’m way too goy to have a real megillah, I did open my Bible and read the book of Esther. Down through the ages, Esther hasn’t drawn a lot of attention from Christian commentators, but there is ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/haman-out-mordecai-in/ An insight on the role of the Trinity in evangelism, from John Teter’s book Get the Word Out. Teter devotes the final three chapters to showing that “God is not distant in any dimension of our evangelism experience. He goes before us, he is behind us and ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/trinitarian-evangelism-sending-filling-following/ This cat (by an artist age 6.5) is all circles, curves, and friendliness. See how he extends his paws outward generously from his body. The only sharp corners on him are the points of his fuzzy ears. No claws on those teddy-bear paws, and no fangs ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/attentive-cat-mouse-with-cheese/ A colleague tipped me off to this howler at the New York Times. Under a picture of a crowd at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Times prints the caption: Worshipers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus is traditionally believed to be buried. But ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/is-the-new-york-times-smarter-than-a-fifth-grader/ One good thing I can say about James Cameron’s Lost Tomb of Jesus media blitz: It pays Christianity a great compliment by accepting the religion’s claim to be about something real. The basic idea motivating Cameron’s project is that if somebody finds the body of Jesus Christ, ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/old-joke-comes-true/ No, seriously! I was just walking through this graveyard near Los Angeles, and I look up, and there it was: Clear as day, “Jesús” written right on a grave stone. And as if that’s not enough to let you know that I of all people ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/i-totally-found-the-grave-of-jesus/ There is one place in scripture where the sheer greatness of the gospel is most profusely described: the blessing with which Paul opens the epistle to the Ephesians. Paul begins by praising God for the gift of the gospel, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/ephesians-and-the-god-sized-gospel/ I was reading a book once in which the author, having made a great theological point, went on to say “we would do well to note this and remember it.” Now this was a famously feisty Swiss author, given to using exclamation points and double dashes throughout his ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/noting-wilberforce/ William Wilberforce (1759-1833) admits in his Practical View that his definition of religion runs pretty close to what most people would call a definition of fanaticism (or, in 18th-century terminology, enthusiasm). He calls religion the implantation of a vigorous and active principle; it is seated in the heart, where ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/wilberforce-on-religion-drink-deep-or-taste-not/ Consider airplanes. They are simple structures, with a certain minimalist elegance. They are necessarily aerodynamic, with the happy result that their sleek horizontal lines appeal to the eye of any aesthete. The binding logic of motion and force dictate most of their structure, including the delicately nuanced ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/planes-and-more-planes/ Click here for a comic book explanation of icons. It was originally published as a chapter in Dr. Doctrine’s Christian Comix, issue 2 (InterVarsity Press, 1998). This was a way-ahead-of-its-time set of comic books that took on serious theological topics in a cartoon format. It was ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/an-icon-you-can-click-on/ The William Wilberforce movie is coming out, and I hear it’s pretty good. Here’s hoping the movie is at least good enough to get William Wilberforce back in the public eye. Wilberforce is justly famous as a man of action, and his legislative victories in the cause of justice ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/how-the-trinity-freed-the-slaves/ John Teter’s 2003 book Get the Word Out: How God Shapes and Sends His Witnesses is a great little introduction to evangelism. Teter is obviously very (veryvery) passionate, but he writes with a disarming breeziness. He develops his ideas through stories and personal illustrations, so by the time ... http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/john-teter-gets-the-word-out/ For Lent this year, I have decided to give up the liturgical calendar. It’s a big sacrifice, but I think I will learn a lot from this voluntary abstention. Could somebody please e-mail me when it’s time to start up again? That would be a big help. http://www.scriptoriumdaily.com/disjectamembra/archives/screening-lent/