Saturday, October 31, 2009

The Lost History of Christianity

Seaver College W. David Baird Distinguished Lecture Series presents Dr. Phillip Jenkins, lecturing on "The Lost History of Christianity".

Jenkins is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities at Pennsylvania State University. His specialty is Christianity in the southern hemisphere, and he will explore the myths surrounding the history of the religion.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

CNN on Bible Seizure in Malaysia

Bibles seized as Malaysia minorities fear fundamentalism

By Saeed Ahmed, CNN

October 29, 2009 -- Updated 1254 GMT (2054 HKT)

Non-Muslims in Malaysia fear that Islamism is seeping into the moderate nation's fabric.

(CNN) -- Authorities in Malaysia have seized more than 20,000 Bibles in recent months because they refer to God as "Allah," Christian leaders said Thursday.

The seizures have fed fears among minority groups, which see signs of encroaching Islamic fundamentalism in the predominantly Muslim but multi-racial country.

"There is a growing sense of Islamic assertion, yes," said the Rev. Hermen Shastri, general-secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia. "There is some concern."

The Bibles were written in the country's official language, Malay -- in which the word for God is "Allah," as it is in Arabic.

However, Malaysia's government says the word is exclusive to Islam.

Its use in Christian publications is likely to confuse Muslims and draw them to Christianity, the government says. So it has banned use of the word in Christian literature.

Helping Hands

In light of the recent natural disasters in Indonesia and the Philippines, the Johor Bahru Pastor Fellowship is initiating a relief project. Please help.

The Perfect Paediatrician

Monday, October 26, 2009

Who is a Bioethicist?

This post from blog.bioethics.net contains an interesting argument between two famous bioethicists, Arthur Caplan and Zeke Emanuel on who may be claim to be a bioethicist.

Facts alone won't suffice for the field of bioethics
by Arthur Caplan
When you get old enough as a practitioner in any field young people seek your advice about what they should do if they want to do what you do. Given that my age seems to be increasing exponentially this has been happening to me with increasing frequency. Undergraduates, high school students, medical students, those pursuing degrees in law and nursing and even those interested in a mid-career change have been asking me what they need to do if they want to pursue a career in bioethics.

The Literary Bar in Malaysia

There are a lack of serious writers in Malaysia and National Laureate shares his thoughts in the Star newspaper. Interestingly he thinks that there is no racial bias in awarding the National Laureate when he is the 10th and all ten are Malays.

Sunday October 25, 2009

Raising the literary bar

By ANDREW SIA

Our new National Laureate talks about the need for more serious works and an alternative media.

The malaise of Malay literature starts from schools, Anwar says. “In the school system, we don’t encourage too much serious discussions. It’s about following the format or scheme to answer questions. So when they grow up, there is the lack of a critical mind. ”

After writing for over 40 years, Anwar Ridhwan still believes in quality over quantity.

read more

Saturday, October 24, 2009

15,000 bibles detained by Malaysian Government

In the Religious Liberty Watch blog, nkm notes that 15,000 Bibles are detained by the Malaysian authorities and gives his opinion.

15000 Bibles Detained by Malaysian Government this Past Year

By nkw

It is bad enough that Malaysian government officials continue to seize and detain the Al Kitab (Malay Bible) at their whims and fancies. It is worse as the government is supposed to have a gentlemen’s agreement dating from the mid 1980s with the leaders of the Malaysian Church that allows the Al Kitab to be used within church premises.

Elizabeth Tai highlights in the Star newspaper about book banning in Malaysia and what a sad state of affair it is.

It’s arbitrary, my dear

By ELIZABETH TAI

Given broad, vague guidelines that keep changing, publishers and authors are hard- pressed to decipher what books get banned.

ON March 9, 2001, a day after the start of the Kampung Medan clashes in Kuala Lumpur, Suaram chairperson K. Arumugam was chased by 20 motorcyclists when he drove into the area.

The experience affected him so much that he decided to write a book about it.

Right to Read, held in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago, aimed to get people to ask why books are banned, and what happens when access to information is restricted.

After spending two years on research and RM10,000 on printing, 5,000 copies of March 8 (written in Tamil) rolled off the press in April 2006.

Nine months later – on Jan 19, 2007 – Elizabeth Wong (now Selangor exco member) informed Arumugam that his book, which had sold about 3,000 copies by then, had been banned.

Shanghai Bund at Night

Memories of Shanghai 2009 #4: River Cruise

The Bund (simplified Chinese: 外滩; traditional Chinese: 外灘; pinyin: Wàitān) is an area of Huangpu District in central Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The area centres on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas. The Bund is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Mystical-Political Theology

The latest from Thinking Faith...

Book Review: The Relevance Of Bernard Lonergan’s Notion Of Self-Appropriation To A Mystical-Political Theology by Ian B. Bell
Reviewed by Gerard Whelan SJ
In outlining his project for a ‘mystical-political theology’, Ian Bell offers a summary of some representative thinkers in both mystical theology and political theology and seeks to relate the thought of the Canadian Jesuit Bernard Lonergan to each of these currents. The book addresses issues of paramount importance with answers of real significance, and I hope it will whet an appetite to study further this remarkable thinker, Bernard Lonergan, whose thought has the widest of applications and potential importance today.

Read more >>

Walking the Yu Garden in Shanghai

Memories of Shanghai 2009 #3: The Yuyuan Garden- The Garden of Peace and Comfort

Yuyuan Garden (Simplified Chinese: 豫园; Traditional Chinese: 豫園; Pinyin: Yùyuán), located in the center of the Old City next to the Chenghuangmiao in Shanghai, China, is considered one of the most lavish and finest Chinese gardens in the region.

The garden was first established in 1559 as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan, who spent almost 20 years building a garden to please his father Pan En, a high-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty, during his father's old age. Over the years, the gardens fell into disrepair until about 1760 when bought by merchants, then suffered extensive damage in the 19th century. In 1842, during the Opium Wars, the British army occupied the Town God Temple for five days. During the Taiping Rebellion the gardens were occupied by imperial troops, and damaged again by the Japanese in 1942. They were repaired by the Shanghai government from 1956-1961, opened to the public in 1961, and declared a national monument in 1982.

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 11, Number 43

Reformed Perspectives Magazine Volume 11, Number 43 (October 25 to October 31, 2009), is now available. The following articles are featured in this issue:

The Doctrine of the Word of God
God’s Word as His Meaningful Authority
By: John M. Frame
Webpage PDF Word

1 Timothy 6:1-2
A Sermon
By: Scott Lindsay
Webpage PDF Word

Befriending the Soul to Live the Good Life, Part III
An Article
By: Mark A. Pinson
Webpage PDF Word

A Basket of Fragments, Part VIII
An Article
By: Robert Murray M'Cheyne
Webpage PDF Word

The Old and the New Man in Believers
An Article
By: Thomas Boston
Webpage PDF Word

The Ten Commandments, Part III
Sermons from the Heidelberg Catechism
By: G. Van Reenen
Webpage PDF Word