Writing well is hard work. I have been trying to improve my writing skills as I work on my dissertation. Dan Edelen, who is working on a novel, lists five Essential Books on Writing. I haven’t read any of the books on his list, but I might check them out.
Dan’s writing project is different than mine, so here are two other books that are helpful for those who are doing academic writing.
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser. As the subtitle says, this is a classic. The current edition is the 30th anniversary edition. The book is divided into four sections, entitled “Principles,” “Methods,” “Forms,” and “Attitudes.” This is a book about the craft of writing rather than a book about grammar (you will need one of those as well). The author shares many examples from a wide range of literature as well as from his own writing projects. Especially helpful are his examples of editing changes that he has made in his own work.
Quality Research Papers by Nancy Jean Vyhmeister is written for those writing research papers in religion and theology. This is a good basic introduction to writing research papers, theses, and dissertations with special attention to those writing theological papers. I have found that other books on research writing are focused on either scientific or social science research, neither of which provide a good model for theological writing. In contrasting theological writing with the social sciences she says “In fact, scholars on that side of the campus may look at the ‘method’ used in seminary research and find only ‘madness’” (p. 26). But that is because that they do not understand that theological truth is discovered through study of the Scriptures rather then through sociological or anthropological field work.
World Magazine has an insightful article on How Christianity is Changing China. (You need to subscribe to read the entire article. I don’t normally link to articles that require a subscription, but this is a magazine well worth reading.)
Justin Taylor writes on “Reinventing Jesus” and Textual Criticism. He summarizes some of the important issues regarding the accuracy of the text of the New Testament.
Valedictorian Brittany McComb of Foothill High School in Henderson, NV delivered her original graduation speech — complete with two references to the Lord, nine mentions of God and one mention of Christ — instead of the politically-correct version approved by school administrators. . . But before she was half-way through, the school cut her microphone. Apparently freedom of speech doesn’t apply to Christians sharing about what matters most to them.
BBC News reports about a strange art display.
“An artist’s sculpture has been rejected by the Royal Academy of Arts which has instead opted to display the wooden support it was put on.” They thought that the display stand looked better than the art piece! (Sighted on Mark Roberts blog.)
Dan Edelen shares his concerns about the curriculum usually used for Children’s Sunday School and VBS. The underlying assumption behind almost all children’s curriculum used in churches is that the kids are already regenerate (the theological term for “born again”). He writes:
Somehow we’ve created this sheen about kids that says that all of them are flesh-and-blood Precious Moments figurines. That bedrock assumption fuels almost all learning materials aimed at little kids. But here’s the truth: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Unless someone is born again, they have no relationship with God. Yet all of the Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Summer Camp curricula I’ve ever come across overlooked that truth and naturally assumed that somehow every kid got magically saved by little fairy evangelists that hovered around their pillows for ten years and whispered the Gospel in their ears.
The problem is that the kids grow up with the idea that because their parents take them to church, they are automatically Christians. As a result, they do not have a clear idea what it means to be a Christian. Instead, the lessons tend to focus on good behavior, with the result that we often end up training a group of little legalists instead of leading them into a saving relationship with Christ. No wonder “85% of kids drift away from church between the ages of thirteen and sixteen” (from Dan’s post).
I realize that it can be risky for pastors and Sunday School teachers to suggest to church people that their little ones or their teens might not be saved, but those parents who are more mature spiritually will appreciate our genuine concern for the eternal welfare of their kids.
This also has implications for the way in which we share the Gospel with children. Dan writes,
While we’re at it, let’s also clarify that “Ashley, did you ask Jesus into your heart?” coupled with little Ashley’s head nod does not equate to knowing that Ashley is born again. In fact, what’s the deal in so many churches with cajoling kids into asking Jesus into their hearts? My Bible doesn’t list that as being the mechanism for salvation. We know what the Bible says about leading a little one astray, don’t we? Well, evidently not.
The Bible does not ever tell us to “ask Jesus into our hearts.” Children come to salvation the same way that adults do, namely by “repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). I don’t think that it is possible to come to salvation without admitting that we are sinners and acknowledging that Jesus took on Himself the punishment that we deserve. Without that, we are preaching “another gospel” that would have been unrecognizable to Jesus or to Paul.
I do not have a great deal of experience teaching children, so those of you who have experience teaching Children at church can tell me whether you think this criticism of the curriculum is too harsh. I realize that most of those who work in children’s ministry are faithful and hard working, but I agree with Dan in wishing that the publishers would give us better material.
What do you think?
Amy Hall of the A-Team Blog writes about The The Heart of Intelligent Design Theory. Find out why the reasoning behind ID is similar to that in other fields used to distinguish between deliberate choice and natural causes.
