Archives For November 2011

HCSB vs. ESV vs. NIV

Andy Naselli —  November 30, 2011 — 5 Comments

Two months ago Liberty University hosted a discussion on Bible translation between three Bible translators:

  1. Ray Clendenen (HCSB)
  2. Wayne Grudem (ESV)
  3. Doug Moo (NIV)

I watched the three presentations and Q&A this week, and they helpfully introduce the issue.

I’m looking forward to B&H’s book next year that will present four perspectives on Bible translation authored by the three men above plus Philip Comfort (NLT), edited by Dave Croteau and Andreas Köstenberger.

Related:

  1. The Best All-Around Book on Bible Translation
  2. How to Disagree about Bible Translation Philosophy

Here are fifteen of my favorite Christmas songs:

  1. “The 12 Days of Christmas” (live; studio) | Straight No Chaser | Holiday Spirits | video
  2. “Angels’ Carol” | John Rutter, the Cambridge Singers | Christmas with the Cambridge Singers | video
  3. The Christmas Can-Can” | Straight No Chaser | Christmas Cheers | video
  4. Christmas Fantasy for Orchestra” | Dan and Heidi Goeller | The Word Became Flesh
  5. Everlasting Life” | The Rushingbrook Children’s Choir | The Most Wonderful Birthday of All
  6. “Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” | Dan Forrest | Prepare Him Room
  7. Joy to the World” | Empire Brass | Joy to the World
  8. Linus & Lucy” | Vince Guaraldi Trio | A Charlie Brown Christmas
  9. A Little Christmas Music: Medley a la Mozart” | The King’s Singers, Kiri Te Kanawa | A Little Christmas Music
  10. “Lo! How a Rose” | SMS Men’s Chorus | King of Glory
  11. Magnificat” | Keith and Kristyn Getty | An Irish Christmas
  12. Mary, Did You Know?” | Kathleen Battle, accompanied by Christopher Parkening | Angel’s Glory | lyrics
  13. Sleep, Jesus, Sleep” | Shannon Harris (Josh Harris’s wife), Sovereign Grace Music | Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man
  14. “Somewhere in My Memory” | John Williams, the Boston Pops Orchestra | Joy to the World
  15. Suo Gan,” the instrumental part from 1:11 to 2:19 | Irish Tenors | Home for Christmas

What are some of your favorite songs?

Are Profits Moral?

Andy Naselli —  November 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

Four men—two businessmen and two theologians—coauthor an answer to that question and reach this conclusion:

Clearly, in the biblical system of ethics, profit is godly if it is gained in God’s way. And surprisingly, this means that not making a profit may also be a sin against God, one’s neighbor and oneself!

Adam Smith established by rational evaluation that profit making was an inherent part of human conduct as it worked itself out in the social environment of human culture. What Adam Smith described was actually a traditional perspective of the Reformed tradition as evidenced by Max Weber. This is not only evident in Weber’s analysis, however. It is in fact established by a careful reading of the Reformed tradition’s classic ethical treatise, the Westminster Larger Catechism. And this serves to underscore how an inherent hostility to profits gained in a just manner is actually an expression of the socialistic spirit that emanates  from Marx’s Communist Manifesto.

While there clearly can be “obscene profits” under the Calvinistic system, that is, a violation of one’s duty to God and man in acquiring profits, it must also be maintained that profit making itself is not inherently obscene. If such were not the case, the parable of the talents given by our Lord could not righteously include the words to the faithful steward in Matthew 25:26–27, “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest” (NIV).

—Philip J. Clements, Peter Lillback, Wayne Grudem, and John Weiser, “Are Profits Moral? Answers from a Comparison of Adam Smith, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and the Westminster Larger Catechism,” in Business Ethics Today: Foundations (ed. Philip J. Clements; Philadelphia: Westminster Seminary Press, 2011), 160–61.

Related:

1. Phil Clements interviews Peter Lillback about the Reformed faith and capitalism:

2. Wayne Grudem begins to answer the question, “What is at risk for business if we lose a Christian worldview?”

3. “If I Become Rich, Won’t Someone Else Become Poor?

Recently I’ve been reading two new Bible translations:

  1. The Expanded Bible: Explore the Depths of the Scriptures While You Read. Translated by Tremper Longman III, Mark L. Strauss, and Daniel Taylor. Nashville: Nelson, 2011. 1910 pp. [Preview the front matter and the Gospel of John.]
  2. The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation of the New Testament. Translated by N. T. Wright. New York: HarperOne, 2011. 526 pp. [Preview it using Amazon's "Look Inside" feature.]

Neither translation is one that churches will adopt as their primary one for preaching, teaching, and memorizing. But Continue Reading…

Steve Jobs

Andy Naselli —  November 21, 2011 — Leave a comment

Last week I read Steve Jobs, the recent biography by Walter Isaacson.

(The audiobook is about 24 hours long, and I listened to it in 12 hours on double speed. The narrator reads very slowly.)

Fascinating.

If I had to summarize Steve Jobs with just two words, I’d choose these:

  1. genius
  2. jerk

Reflections on the book and the man:

  1. Tim Challies
  2. Mark Ward
  3. Stephen Altrogge
  4. Malcolm Gladwell

A Security Camera for Parents

Andy Naselli —  November 21, 2011 — 2 Comments

I work at home. My wife and I are usually downstairs, and our two little girls sleep upstairs. And we often want to see how they’re doing when they’re upstairs:

  1. Are they asleep or awake? We wonder this (1) shortly after we put them down for naps or for bed, (2) periodically while they are supposed to be sleeping, and (3) when we anticipate them waking up.
  2. Are they OK? We may wonder this if we hear a strange noise or hear them crying or simply want to check on them for peace of mind—whether they’re playing or supposed to be sleeping.

We used to creep upstairs as silently as we could and crack open a bedroom door to check on them, but often this would wake them up.

So I researched baby monitors and security cameras to see if I could find one that meets five criteria:

  1. Wireless. We wanted to mount it in our children’s rooms, where there are no computers, modems, or routers.
  2. Streaming. We wanted to easily stream the video on a computer (Mac or PC), iPhone (or other web-enabled smartphone), iPod Touch, and iPad—whether connected to the Internet via our home WiFi or another way when away from home.
  3. Day/Night. We wanted a clear picture regardless of the lighting in the room.
  4. Audio. We wanted the option to hear as well as see what’s happening.
  5. Secure. We wanted the video to be password-protected.

Last year we decided to get a Sharx Security Camera, which meets all five criteria, and we love it. Continue Reading…

This is the most readable defense of capitalism I’ve read (and it’s more relevant than ever with the recent “Occupy Wall Street”-type protests):

Jay W. Richards. Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem. New York: HarperOne, 2009.

Richards debunks eight myths, which are listed in the book’s table of contents:

  1. Can’t We Build a Just Society? Myth no. 1: The Nirvana Myth (contrasting capitalism with an unrealizable ideal rather than with its live alternatives)
  2. What Would Jesus Do? Myth no. 2: The Piety Myth (focusing on our good intentions rather than the unintended consequences of our actions)
  3. Doesn’t Capitalism Foster Unfair Competition? Myth no. 3: The Zero-sum Game Myth (believing that trade requires a winner and a loser)
  4. If I Become Rich, Won’t Someone Else Become Poor? Myth no. 4: The Materialist Myth (believing that intellect cannot create new wealth)
  5. Isn’t Capitalism Based on Greed? Myth no. 5: The Greed Myth (believing that the essence of capitalism is greed)
  6. Hasn’t Christianity Always Opposed Capitalism? Myth no. 6: The Usury Myth (believing that charging interest on money is always exploitive)
  7. Doesn’t Capitalism Always Lead to an Ugly Consumerist Culture? Myth no. 7: The Artsy Myth (confusing aesthetic judgments with economic arguments)
  8. Are We Going to Use Up All the Resources? Myth no. 8: The Freeze Frame Myth (believing that things always stay the same—for example, assuming population trends will continue indefinitely or treating “rich” and “poor” as static categories)
  9. Conclusion: Working All Things Together for Good
  10. Appendix: Is the “Spontaneous Order” of the Market Evidence of a Universe without Purpose?

Here are some excerpts from chapter 4:

Winston Churchill summed up the dilemma with characteristic wit: “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.” Most of us know perfectly well that socialist solutions are worse than the disease. (p. 83)

Continue Reading…