Reading the Bible in 2009

It's not too late to start a plan. An old college friend has provided a link to an exceptionally good one.

His reasons:

1. 1. It takes you through the entire Bible, but not sequentially. This is important because I've quit in April when I was struggling through 3-4 chapters a day in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The plan typically gives you two New Testament readings, an Old Testament passage, and a Psalms or Proverbs. The diversity is really helpful.
   2. It allows for 5 missed days per month. I wish that I could say that I like this because it gives me 5 extra days to do other readings...but the real story is I appreciate the grace of 5 days per month.
   3. It balances various genres of Biblical literature. Typically the plan features a narrative, some kind of poetry, and an epistle. My heart is touched differently through each.
   4. I appreciate the accountability of a sheet that records my reading.

the Bibles of the Presidents

An interactive look at the Bibles used by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, and a few other guys. Barack Obama reportedly plans to use the same Bible as Lincoln at his first inauguration.

"you don't win any apologetic merit badges by demanding a 7-day creation when the point of that story has nothing to do with a calendar week."

You in fact should take at least one demerit for doing so -- and you will, from those you are seeking to evangelize."yeah, but!" comes the response for many, if not all, of you loyal readers. "Yeah but what about the word 'day'? Don't we need to get very interested in how the word 'yom' is used in Genesis 1 so we can finally put to bed how old the universe is?"

Frank on the point on Genesis 3. He started here.

Conrad Heyers examines the language of Genesis

Careful consideration of Genesis 1 in its historical and theological context indicates that it uses a very different kind of narrative form and linguistic usage than those used in modern natural histories. Much of the controversy over creation and evolution is, therefore, inappropriate and misleading.

Read.

Was the universe "born" in 4004 BC? I can guess what my nonChristian friends who stop by here would say, but what about my Christian friends (and family)?

Biblical inerrancy

Challies v. iMonk, according to Sullivan who chooses a side. At least Sullivan called Michael Spencer by name - he dismissed Tim Challies as nothing more than a "fundamentalist." I wonder if Sullivan would like it if others simply referred to him as "that queer, pseudo-Christian limey."

I'm sure iMonk knows that getting that que... I mean, Sullivan's blessing isn't necessarily a good thing.

Update: I'm pleased to see that Challies handles Sullivan's dismissive link with grace.

Nehemiah's wall

Archeologists believe they have found the wall mentioned by the prophet Nehemiah.

Artifacts including pottery shards and arrowheads found under the tower suggested that both the tower and the nearby wall are from the 5th century B.C., the time of Nehemiah, Mazar said this week. Scholars previously thought the wall dated to the Hasmonean period from about 142 B.C. to 37 B.C.

The findings suggest that the structure was actually part of the same city wall the Bible says Nehemiah rebuilt, Mazar said. The Book of Nehemiah gives a detailed description of construction of the walls, destroyed earlier by the Babylonians.

Here is more on this discovery.

Blogging the Bible

David Plotz has finished blogging his way through the Old Testament.