Hen Scratches 30-08-07

Important Update: I have been posting a lot of wrong links recently due to "link bleed". I'll try to fix this. My apologies to those whose posts or articles have missed out. Thanks, Iyov, for pointing this out.

Urgent Update: The owner of the pit bull came home earlier than unexpected and Daisy has returned home. The cat has settled down again. The owners of the fish had to go away again, so I still have the fish. Sadly, that was due to the death of a beloved family member.

And, it turns out that because of our construction boom, you have to take a number and wait in line for a new bathtub, so I expect to see the plumber again just before Christmas. Sigh. However, those of God's created kingdom, who were at my house, survived the summer.

Keeping to my intent to publish what I find that is the best, what I appreciate in others, let me mention,

1. The dialogue between Thabiti Anyabwile and Jeremy on Race and Ethnicity.

First, Anyabwile writes and Jeremy critiques, then Anyabwile responds and Jeremy replies. I have been following this with interest although I have minor quibble, I am somewhat reluctant to agree with what Jeremy writes about "image" in the Bible,

One worry I have is that I see no biblical warrant for taking the image of God to be anything more than being given a mission to represent God (which is what an image does for a god in the ancient near east). It is thus the same as being given the mandate to steward creation as God's representative on earth.

Given that Seth is in the image of his father, and Christ is the express image of God, I see image as being more than just being given a mission to represent someone. On this topic, I used the story of Samuel Ajayi Crowther as one of the main texts for my MA thesis. It is well worth reading.

2. An interesting article in the Vancouver Sun yesterday announced that in Canada the majority accepts mixed marriages,

When Fran and Norio Ota married 36 years ago, they were a rarity. She was a Caucasian woman working as a missionary in Japan and he was her Japanese language teacher, but they didn't think there was anything unusual about crossing those lines for love.

The article reports that 92% of Canadians approve of mixed black-white marriages, while only 77% of Americans approve. The outcome is that in Canada, 43% of black Canadians have non-black partners, while in the States only 10%.

I admit that there is a huge historical and demographic difference between the two countries. However, Bibby, then goes on to say that this reticence in Canada to have an opinion about other peoples marriages extends to same-sex marriage. So we are more liberal, but this is a good thing!

(This article has different content online and in paper. Odd.)

3. There are so many commentaries reviewed that I feel a bit like Alice,

a) Commentary on Micah

b) Study Bibles

c) New Interpreter's Study Bible

d) Nicholas of Lyra

e) A Good Plug for the KJV here. Thanks John, I haven't put one in for a while.

4. Thanks to Henry here and here, and Wayne for sending me this post. Fabulous. I always love pics of those 19th century female pastors.