Come on, Chris

This past April, ardent self-proclaimed anti-theist Christopher Hitchens published his monthly article in Vanity Fair about the Old Testament's Ten Commandments. His article, "The New Commandments," leads with an intentionally evocative subhead: "The Ten Commandments were set in stone, but it may be time for a re-chisel. With all due humility, the author [Hitchens] takes on the job, pruning the ethically dubious, challenging the impossible, and rectifying some serious omissions."

Hitchens proceeds to work through each of the Bible's Ten Commandments (OT, Deuteronomy 5:6-21), giving various explanations about how that particular commandment came to be and its function within Ancient Israel. Then comes his grand conclusion:

What emerges from the first review is this: the Ten Commandments were derived from situational ethics. They show every symptom of having been man-made and improvised under pressure. They are addressed to a nomadic tribe whose main economy is primitive agriculture and whose wealth is sometimes counted in people as well as animals. They are also addressed to a group that has been promised the land and flocks of other people: the Amalekites and Midianites and others whom God orders them to kill, rape, enslave, or exterminate. And this, too, is important because at every step of their arduous journey the Israelites are reminded to keep to the laws, not because they are right but just because they will lead them to become conquerors (of, as it happens, almost the only part of the Middle East that has no oil).

As if this conclusion isn't convincing enough, Hitchens again rehearses the content from each commandment, this second time explaining what needs to be "pruned" from the commandments for a new context. And then after liberating his readers too-accepting minds, he offers a final verdict concerning one of history’s most recognizable teachings:

It’s difficult to take oneself with sufficient seriousness to begin any sentence with the words “Thou shalt not.” But who cannot summon the confidence to say: Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or color. Do not ever use people as private property. Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations. Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child. Do not condemn people for their inborn nature—why would God create so many homosexuals only in order to torture and destroy them? Be aware that you too are an animal and dependent on the web of nature, and think and act accordingly. Do not imagine that you can escape judgment if you rob people with a false prospectus rather than with a knife. Turn off that fucking cell phone—you have no idea how unimportant your call is to us. Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions. Be willing to renounce any god or any religion if any holy commandments should contradict any of the above. In short: Do not swallow your moral code in tablet form.

Since sometime during my college years, I've casually kept up with what Hitchens says. Naturally, I disagree with almost everything he propagates concerning Christianity and religion. But I have always appreciated Hitchens' breath of knowledge and his clever use of language in communicating his fervent dislike of any form of theism.

"The New Commandments" represents a fail by Hitchens. I expect more from this admired atheist. Aside from his surprisingly sloppy use of words, the author's conclusions about the intent and extent of the Ten Commandments are foreign to anything in the texts themselves, and Hitchens' lazy use of sources doesn't inspire much confidence in his research. Now, of course, an article in Vanity Fair isn't held to the rigorous standards of an academic journal. But if he intends to displace a body of teaching Jews, Christians and secular persons have embraced for thousands of years, then Hitchens should put a little more thought into his arguments. And where is that humility about which his subhead talks?

NY Times top ten of '10

Here is the New York Times top ten books published in 2010. An intriguing mixture of biography, collected writings and fiction, the list provides a nice spring-board to reading deep-and-widely.

a story of creation, pt. 4

Straining for life, for a place next to Him,

Adam tasted the inverse of his with.

Breath, which once anticipated an enduring career,

now kneels at the merciless feet of time.

a story of creation, pt. 3

Of God-talk, the center, the crest of nature

and the peak of Holy Writ;

the eldest of God's work

and the final priest.

Adam introduced death, for life, yearning,

trading nourishment for fruit.

In order to die, arriving,

the Son revoked first-man's curse,

seeking death but life, finding.

Sleeping with his mighty act,

then, living for all his own,

the New King called ground sky and dark light,

raising after falling.

Christians and Biblical Law

Tom Schreiner recently published a book about the relationship between Christians today and Old Testament law. His book quite simply asks and answers 40 different questions related to the subject. The book is approachable and enjoyable -- especially to those interested in the New Perspective on Paul (but don't know too much about it).

I sat down with Dr. Schreiner and discussed his newest publication; you can read our conversation here (pages 8-9).

Here is my reportishreview of the book.

40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law (Kregel $17.99), Thomas R. Schreiner

Asked to consider the most important issues in life, probably not too many people put understanding Old Testament law on their list. But an understanding about how the law relates to Christians today is paramount; understanding how the New Testament church relates to the law means understanding how God saves people from sin.

Toward that understanding, Thomas R. Schreiner, James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, interacts with various questions about the relationship between Christianity and the Old Testament law in his new book, 40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law. For questions ranging from “What does the word law mean in Scripture?” to “Is the Sabbath still required for Christians?” Schreiner offers six to 10 pages introducing the question, naming some key positions and presenting what he thinks is the biblical answer to the respective question.

“[The issue of Christians’ relationship to the law] is absolutely central because justification and law relate to how we are right with God; and that’s the most important question in life. So when people are discussing the nature of the Gospel, and how we are right with God, that’s not a trivial issue,” Schreiner said about the importance of his subject.

Schreiner divides his book’s 40 questions into five parts: the law in the Old Testament, the law in Paul, the law in the gospels and Acts, the law in the general epistles and the law and contemporary issues. The second section concerning Paul makes up the largest portion on the book. And much of the discussion centers on what is known as the New Perspective on Paul, which is primarily a discussion about how Paul viewed the Old Testament law and Second Temple Judaism, an idea first introduced by E.P. Sanders and later promoted by James Dunn and N.T. Wright. The New Perspective has found its way, primarily through Wright, into evangelical circles, and so Schreiner devotes substantial space to overviewing the issues presented by the New Perspective.

Closely related to the New Perspective is Schreiner’s sub-section about Paul’s teaching about justification. There, the author focuses on issues of salvation though faith versus salvation through works, the potential moral laxity resulting if justification is simply by faith, the apparent conflict between the teachings of James and Paul and several other key issues related to salvation.

Throughout 40 Questions about Christians and Biblical Law, Schreiner draws both from his scholarly acumen and pastoral experience to present a work that will serve the church as both a primer to more substantial works about the law and as an accessible resource for those looking for understanding about specific issues related to the biblical law.

a story of creation, pt. 2

Mean-spirited waters and roaring skies torment

what, before the bite, they caressed.

Pining age and tenacious disease now descend

in war against the garden upended.

a story of creation, pt. 1

Highlighted with dew, green you created;

armored without, small life you protected;

seasoned with movement, pools you expanded.

A song of your artistry

and a picture of your rhyme,

the earth stands as a trophy of your skill

and a gift for your kind.