Spring Musings — May 9, 2025
Riddleblog and Blessed Hope Updates:
I have uploaded a series entitled the “Forgotten Apologist — E. J. Carnell.” An overlooked and tragic figure, Carnell’s apologetic insights are nevertheless well-worth consideration
The Blessed Hope Podcast is between seasons. I’ll begin work soon on season four, a deep dive into 2 Corinthians, tentatively titled “Life in the Midst of Death” (taken from Moo’s Theology of Paul’s Letters)
Thinking Out Loud:
The second season of Wolf Hall on PBS is truly outstanding. Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell and Damien Lewis as Henry VIII are phenomenal. Well worth watching!
April showers bring . . . a yard full of weeds in May
Shouldn’t Bernie Sanders and AOC be complaining about plutarchy and not oligarchy?
Men seem to universally love The Three Stooges, while women hate them. Women seem to love Jane Austin, men do not
I caught a bit of the NFL draft (even though I don’t watch NFL football). Most of the teams have giant entourages in their draft rooms—between 30-50 people. Why? I can see the GM, the head coach, a few position coaches, a scout or two, and a lawyer who handles the contracts being present. That’s what? Ten guys. Why so many? Too many chefs spoil the broth
Speaking of the draft, the dramatic fall of Shedeur Sanders to the 144th player selected has nothing to do with race, but with teams not wanting anything to do with an entitled young man and his father. We Yankees fans remember Dion’s first big league at bat—drawing a dollar sign in the dirt just outside the batter’s box. Grossly unprofessional. Dion’s a phenomenal two-sport athlete, but as my father-in-law used to say, “I spent a week with so and so yesterday.” Dion does not wear well
Recently Read:
Guy Manuell’s new book, The People in Paul’s Letters: A Compendium of Characters is a useful resource for readers and students of the letters of Paul. Manuell goes through all the letters of Paul and discusses each person named in them—covering their background, their relationship to Paul, and the role they play in the apostolic church. These individuals are treated with a surprising amount of detail. This may not be something you would read all the way through, but you will probably consult it frequently.
I’ve long enjoyed F. F. Bruce’s The Pauline Circle (a similar volume), but Manuell’s volume surpasses Bruce in several ways. It is much more comprehensive and up to date in terms of historiography and Pauline scholarship.
One slight caveat—Manuell has a rather quirky view of the role of deacons (diakonos) seeing this as a reference to all Christians, and not an office—despite1 Timothy 3’s assertion to the contrary. He also departs from traditional dating and chronology of Paul’s letters at places and argues for an Ephesian imprisonment for Paul (as many now do), before the apostle’s final imprisonment and death in Rome at the hand of Nero. But Manuell affirms the historicity of all of Paul’s letters and offers a thought-provoking study of Paul’s life, work, and travels as seen through the lens of those people mentioned by Paul.
If you are a student of Paul, this will be a worthy addition to your library.
Recommended Links:
How should Protestants view the papacy? W. Robert Godfrey has the answer
If you’ve ever wondered, “does Trump know what he is doing with tariffs?” As David Bahnsen explains, “no, Trump is clueless.” A great intro to the issues surrounding tariffs, but you will need to ignore Bahnsen’s passing nod to Doug Wilson and Bahnsen’s utopian brand of postmillennialism— “trust me, it will eventually get better.” Didn’t Jesus say something about the days of Noah?” (Matthew 24:37-39)
The garden mentioned in John’s gospel where Jesus was buried (John 19:41) has, apparently, been discovered. Garden tomb in Jerusalem
The silence of evangelical leaders about these “waterless clouds” (to use Jude’s term) and grifters setting up shop in the White House proves that proximity to power is far more important to some than faithfulness to Christian doctrine and practice. A prosperity heretic has an office in the White House, and there is also a growing influence of no-sola “evangelicals.” Never thought I’d say this, I actually miss Billy Graham’s influence on our presidents
It may be far worse than we thought—professing Christians no longer believe the most basic doctrines
Fun Links:
When movie creatures actually exist. Rodents of unusual size
I had an ant farm once and those critters incarcerated came from my backyard. But things change. Ants in your pants
We know what happened to Walter White in Breaking Bad, but we didn’t know that Walter White’s dad is still alive
The richest TV evangelist I’ve never heard of — Edir Macedo of Brazil
Taxes have been around since Adam left Eden. Thankfully, there will be no IRS in the new heaven and earth
You might want to think carefully about going through an airport scanner—there may be unintended consequences
It is supposed to be a baptism, but that looks more like the way I kill weeds with Roundup
Previous Musings:
A Whole Lotta of Musings (Spring 2025)
Video: Every married man has experienced this on multiple occasions