Scriptural inerrancy

Pay attention, if you don't want to sign up to the doctrine of inerrancy:

The claim of inerrancy is that “in all their real affirmations these books are without error.”

It's from this very useful post by Justin Taylor.

US security

In the wake of that guy who tried to blow up his underpants on Flight 253, a former CIA intelligence operative writes about how terrorist tip-offs are processed within the CIA:

Ultimately, there are simply so many managers and administrators, in so many separate and loosely organized chains of command, that acquiring the intelligence is a stroke of luck, and getting it to where it needs to go, on time, is almost impossible.

Maureen Dowd complains:

We seemed to still be behind the curve and reactive, patting down grannies and 5-year-olds, confiscating snow globes and lip glosses.

Instead of modernity, we have airports where security is so retro that taking away pillows and blankies and bathroom breaks counts as a great leap forward.

If we can’t catch a Nigerian with a powerful explosive powder in his oddly feminine-looking underpants and a syringe full of acid, a man whose own father had alerted the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, a traveler whose ticket was paid for in cash and who didn’t check bags, whose visa renewal had been denied by the British, who had studied Arabic in Al Qaeda sanctuary Yemen, whose name was on a counterterrorism watch list, who can we catch?

We are headed toward the moment when screeners will watch watch-listers sashay through while we have to come to the airport in hospital gowns, flapping open in the back.

Thanks to Justin Taylor for both links.

They used to believe the world was flat

No they didn't.

(Justin Taylor)

We should name names

I've left a comment on Justin Taylor's blog, on the post entitled Keller and Powlison: Should You Pass on Bad Reports?.

Have a look and see if you agree.

Update I: The comment's gone but the question remains—the New Testament names Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5); Peter (Galatians 2); Euodia and Syntyche (Philippians 4) and 'Cretans' (Titus 2:12), and a number of individuals in 2 Tim 4. Then in the gospels we have Judas, Peter, and all of the disciples in one way or another shown up as betrayers, spineless, proud, inconsistent, hypocritical and foolish. In each instance, and more, bad reports are passed on for the benefit of readers. So the post by Tim Keller and David Powlison is a useful reminder, but flawed because it is selective in its attention to the biblical evidence.

Update II: Lisa in the comments for this post points to a useful discussion on the 9 Marks blog, covering similar ground.

Update III: Justin Taylor has just kindly sent me an e-mail letting me know that no comments were deleted. So any comment of mine or anyone elses that disappeared can be blamed on the evil technology demons!