I have come on board, using Parallels on a Mac, to be able to access the Logos Libronix System. I am still getting up to speed with this, but I also have found Galaxie Software's The Theological Journal Library CD (Volumes 1-10). With Libronix you can search years of journals for information. The collection is theologically quite conservative.

I am writing a lot now. Several individual articles are due between now and the end of the year. It has slowed down my blogging other than responding to comments. The first is an article on Discussing Christianity in a Non-Theocentric World. Here is a sample that discusses how we talk about the gospel in much preaching.

My friend, Dave Wrytzen, pastor in Midlothian, Texas, sent me his remarks about the New York's governor's scandal. It was so good, I decided to reproduce it here. It says things very well. Enjoy. 

Martin Hengel's new historical Jesus book, Jesus und das Judentum, concludes with a discussion of the witnesses to the resurrection. He begins with a careful walk through 1 Cor 15:3-8. He sees this confession Paul passed on as coming from the Jerusalem community, pointing to the eyewitness roots of the tradition.

Well, we are into the heart of the semester and I leave for a 10 day trip that includes lectures at the University of Michigan on Luke and on Why the Humanities Must Respect the Bible, as well as plenary speaking at the ETS Southeastern regional. So I have been deep into preparation. Add to that a hard disk wipeout and I have been out of pocket.

One of the roles of this blog is to track trends. One of the more interesting ones is what is ahead for the religious right. A fascinating look at this comes from David Kuo, former deputy director of faith initiatives for the White House under George W. Bush. He has published a piece called Not Your Father's Religious Right. The link is:

The New York Times has published a story on shifting religious affiliation. It is an important look at movements in our culture.

Those who claim to be unaffiliated have experienced the greatest growth (7.3 to 16.1%). This means that many are leaving the realm of religious attachment altogether.

Time Magazine has announced a story that shows that the History Channel is at work. They are planning a new special claiming the possible locating of where the Ark of the Covenant is. The Time story is at:

With thanks to my colleague, Michael Burer, I note a story that France's President wants to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive by having each French child learn the story of one of 11,000 French Jewish children killed by the Nazis. His explanation is that they need to understand what the "absence of God" has done in the last century.

As I leave for a week of ministry including a lectureship in Atlanta, Ga., I came across an interesting analysis of under 30s that fits what I see when I am on the road (and that is about half the weekends fo the year). On Crosswalk.com, C. Michael Craven has discussed the current cultural "branding" of Christianity that leaves many younger evangelicals uncomfortable.

The fifth issue April DeConick raises is found in the Gospel of Judas 56.17-18. The alternate translations here are:

 "You will exceed them all of them." (National Geographic Critical Edition)

or

"You will do worse than all of them." (April DeConick)

Many may not be aware of a joint statement issued last winter between moderate Islamic leaders and many evagelicals. It was a first tentative step toward a call for dialogue. It produced some reaction in the evangelical community, showing just how sensitive living in a pluralistic religious global context can be.

Last summer Pope Benedict XVI promised to Jewish leaders to address the wording of a key prayer tied to Good Friday celebratiosn that was said to offend Jews. That new prayer has been announced. The fact that the prayer continues to ask for the salvation of Jews has led to Jewish leaders' reaction against the new version as not having done enough.

The fourth error that DeConick points out has already produced agreement in the period after the original release. What the original National Geographic translation of 46.25-47.1 read as:

"They will curse your ascent to the holy [generation]" 

now reads as:

"...You will not ascend to the holy [generation]" (DeConick)

Nicholas Kristof is not an evengelical by his own admission, but he is concerned about issues of human rights around the world. Kristof is an editorial writer for the New York Times. He recently worte an editorial about how evengelicals are addressed in the public square and suggests that they may not be appreciated for what they are doing around the world.

The Episcopal church has posted a fascinating commentary by Richard Hughes giving conservative Christians a hard time for claiming that our nation was founded as a Christian nation. Clarity on this point IS important. Our Constitution does endorse religious freedom, separation of church and state, and does not provide for a state religion.

James Charlesworth gave the Jerusalem Post a long interview on January 24-25 about the Jesus Tomb. It can be found at this link:

Both James Tabor and April DeConick have responded to the Duke statement. Here is the link for primetimeJesus to see it.

DeConick: 

http://blog.bible.org/primetimejesus/content/april-deconick-weighs-jesus-tomb-conference-jan-25-08 

Tabor: