thomstark.net
some call it dreams and visions
OMG Man 07: Oh My God!
Feb 8th
Now that I’ve spent several posts arguing (quite persuasively I might add) that Jesus is not presented as God in the New Testament, I’m going to quietly admit that he is in fact called God and then weasel my way out of it. I hope you enjoy watching me squirm. It’s disgusting really.
Jesus as [...]
OMG Man 06: God’s Name
Feb 6th
As evidence for the divinity of Jesus, many interpreters point to texts that seem to ascribe God’s unique divine name to Jesus, indicating Jesus’ participation in the unique divine nature. Some of these are claims made about Jesus, other are claims put on the lips of Jesus himself. Some attempts to make this case are [...]
OMG Man 05: Worship
Feb 6th
A common argument for evidence of the divinity of Jesus in the New Testament is the offering to Jesus of worship by both human beings and angels. After all, it was Jesus himself who said, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only” (Matt 4:10). Since Jesus did not prevent people from worshiping him, [...]
OMG Man 04: God’s Throne
Feb 5th
Many assume that the image of Jesus being seated on God’s throne, or at the right hand of God, is evidence that a claim is being made about Jesus’ divinity. After all, the logic goes, who can sit on God’s throne but God himself? But this is a misunderstanding of ancient royalty language. For instance, [...]
OMG Man 03: Son of Man
Feb 5th
It’s ironic that a title that essentially means “human being” has come to connote the idea of divinity in the minds of so many Christians. “Son of man” is a Hebrew idiom that just means, well, “man,” or gender inclusively, human dude/dudette. The prophet Ezekiel used it to refer to himself all the time, and [...]
OMG Man 02: Son of God
Feb 4th
I still hear people ask, “Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?” By that question, they always mean, “Do you believe Jesus is God?” I usually cringe when I hear it, only because I’ve forgotten how long ago it was when this Sunday School understanding of the appellative “Son of God” was stripped [...]
OMG Man 01: Transfiguration
Feb 4th
Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with [...]
Oh My God Man: Intro
Jan 31st
Most Christians think the confession of the divinity of Jesus is a basic Christian axiom, as at home in the New Testament as it is in the creeds and the Church Fathers. To deny the divinity of Christ is to become a heretic: to cease being Christian. I come from the Stone-Campbell tradition. Very few [...]
Howard Zinn Lives On at 87
Jan 27th
Today I am mourning the loss of the prophet Howard Zinn (1922-2010). Zinn died today of a heart attack at the age of 87. Zinn has been a peacemaker and political agitator for more than fifty years and will forever be enshrined in the annals of the people’s history, not only of the United States, [...]
The Turtle Dialogues
Jan 25th
A new blog has opened, called The Turtle Dialogues. People from Ozark Christian College will be especially interested in The Turtle Dialogues, because it is a site dedicated to posting interviews with former OCC students about their theological transformations or development since having graduated from OCC. The interviews are conducted by former OCC student Solomon Burchfield. [...]
Theodicky
Jan 19th
Maybe God isn’t dead. Maybe he’s just going deaf. Maybe he’s totally deaf in one ear, and partially deaf in the other. It’s understandable. He is getting to be a little ancient of days anymore. Eventually, everyone’s hearing starts to go. We’re made in God’s image after all, so I don’t know why we would [...]
A Decade in Film
Dec 29th
Well, we’ve about completed the first decade of the third millennium CE, and it hasn’t been a bad decade for movies, although there have been better. Anyway, I’ve made a little list of some of the great movies from this decade — 200 movies you might not have seen but ought to. I haven’t included [...]
Danger, Danger
Dec 28th
This is an old song from 2005. I wrote it for Tyler and Margo Stewart’s wedding. My friend Frank recorded it back in 2005, but Tyler and I both lost our copies of it. Frank just found it and sent it to me today. The recording is a little lame. For some reason I put [...]
Here and There
Dec 26th
Last week our power was out for 72 hours, so I wrote a new song. Today I made a rough recording of it. Right-mouse click on the link below to Save As and have a listen. (It’s best with good speakers, not laptop speakers. I’m not dissing your laptop speakers. I’m just saying, it isn’t [...]
There Are No Original Ideas
Dec 15th
Members of the earth’s earliest known civilization, the Sumerians, looked on in shock and confusion some 6,000 years ago as God, the Lord Almighty, created Heaven and Earth.
Read the whole story.
Jesus or Judy?
Dec 11th
When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? [...]
An Apology for My Language
Dec 4th
In light of some of the reaction to my recent post, in which I critiqued Terry Bowland’s latest chapel sermon at OCC, I would like to offer an apology. No, not that kind of apology. I’m not taking anything back or expressing any regrets. I am going to give a more traditional apology—a defense of [...]
On Getting Saved
Dec 3rd
Somebody asked me today, “What are we exactly saved from and what does the death and resurrection of Jesus mean in relationship to that?” This is a significant question. Evangelicalism preaches that you need to “get saved from your sins!” By this, Evangelicals typically mean that we need to enter into a personal relationship with [...]
Spike Strikes Back: Updated
Dec 1st
In the aftermath of the Terry Bowland sermon, OCC professor Damien Spikereit weighs in on the side of “the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ” (Acts 10:36). Prof. Shane Wood writes:
An important voice to this whole conversation is Damien Spikereit’s sermon in today’s chapel. It truly was a fantastic and well put together response to [...]
