How Explicit Was the Idolatrous Indoctrination of Children in Nazi Germany?

A youth rally song they were taught:

We are the happy Hitler Youth;
We have no need for Christian virtue;
For Adolf Hitler is our intercessor
And our redeemer.
No priest, no evil one
Can keep us
From feeling like Hitler’s children.
No Christ do we follow, but Horst Wessel!
Away with incense and holy water pots.

From Justin Taylor

(Nazis and Hitler as Savior)

Chesterton Quote

"Everywhere there is speed, noise and confusion; but nowhere deep happiness and quiet hearts."

-- apparently G.K. Chesterton, source unknown

J.I. Packer Quote on the True Priority for Every Human Being

From the last page of J.I. Packer's 1973 classic, Knowing God:

We have been brought to the point where we both can and must get our life's priorities straight. From current Christian publications you might think that the most vital issue for any real or would-be Christian in the world today is church union, or social witness, or dialogue with other Christians and other faiths, or refuting this or that -ism, or developing a Christian philosophy and culture, or what have you. But our line of study makes the present day concentration on these things look like a gigantic conspiracy of misdirection. Of course, it is not that; the issues themselves are real and must be dealt with in their place. But it is tragic that, in paying attention to them, so many in our day seem to have been distracted from what was, and is, and always will be, the true priority for every human being. That is, learning to know God in Christ.
 

Good quote on Conflict

I don't know the source of the following quote, but it's god:

Conflict is what it is... an opportunity that shows who you are and what you believe.... it is painful and purposeful...

A good definition of Pornography

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2354: Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2011/10/a-good-working-definition.php

The Fraud of Alex Haley's "Roots"

I recently watched the miniseries "Roots" and "Roots: The Next Generations" for the first time and found both to be excellent productions that were extremely moving. However, it turns out that they might be more fiction than fact:

"[T]he story of just what Haley brought off is an example of how history and tragic fact can be pillaged by an individual willing to exploit whatever the naive might consider sacred."

From http://articles.nydailynews.com/1998-04-12/news/18069737_1_hoax-philip-nobile-african-ancestry

Your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by (Samuel Rutherford)

"Your heart is not the compass Christ saileth by. He will give you leave to sing as you please, but he will not dance to your tune. It is not referred to you and your thoughts, what Christ will do with the charters betwixt you and him. Your own misbelief hath torn them, but he hath the principle in heaven with himself. Your thoughts are no parts of the new covenant; dreams change not Christ."

---Samuel Rutherford, Letter to Earlston, Younger, June 16, 1637 (Puritan Paperback, p. 87)

Online Bible Study Tools

I'm copying and pasting someone else's post here so I'll be able to keep all of the very helpful links that he listed
From http://bibliahebraica.blogspot.com/2011/08/online-bible-study-tools.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BibliaHebraica+%28Biblia+Hebraica%29

Online Bible Study Tools

via Biblia Hebraica et Graeca by Douglas Mangum on 8/14/11

Over the past few years, I've found myself increasingly reading my Bible and working on Bible studies without a physical Bible in hand. Websites, smartphone apps, and Bible software programs have made it less and less necessary for me to open a book. There are pros and cons to this, but there is no denying that our relationship with the written word is changing rapidly.

I was asked recently how I do Bible study and what digital tools were out there, so in this post, I want to list some of the online Bibles and Bible study tools that I've come across. I also use a number of Bible study apps for iPhone and have tried every single one I could find, so I may discuss those in the future. I've also used a number of good Bible software programs. (Go here for a good post comparing available Bible software programs. He's tried out more than I have.)

For plain, old access to the Bible text, I most often go to the online ESV. If I want access to a number of versions to compare or a different version than ESV, I use BibleGateway.com. It has many versions to choose from and is easy to use. They've started adding additonal resources like commentaries and dictionaries. Since I have print versions of both the ESV Study Bible and the NLT Study Bible, I also get online access to their content. This is nice because study Bibles are big and heavy. I also use Biblia.com because it will sync with the resources in my Logos 4 library, but even without that feature, it provides access to many study tools and Bible versions. If you register for an account with the site, you get access to an additional 31 resources. I'm not sure if Biblia.com is meant to replace it eventually, but for now, Bible versions are also accessible at http://bible.logos.com/.

There are many websites now that provide access to Bible versions and classic Bible reference works that are in public domain. I've known about StudyLight.org for a while, but not used it much. I recently discovered BibleStudyTools.com that claims to have the Web's largest library of online Bible study resources. I haven't tested the claim, but there was a lot of available content. I will probably use it more in the future. I used to use the NET Bible but hadn't visited their site for a while. It has a clean fresh look and easy to use interface, so I recommend it if you want to use that version for reading or study. They also have a lot of free articles available at Bible.org. Some are by known Bible scholars, teachers, and pastors.

I like Biblos.com and Blue Letter Bible because they have Bible versions in Hebrew and Greek. They also have Bible dictionaries, maps, and encyclopedia articles. The Unbound Bible also has many versions including Hebrew and Greek and some public domain study tools, but their web interface is very basic. I also discovered that Lifeway has an online Bible library which also looks like mainly public domain Bible reference works and translations, but I haven't spent much time using it.

The bottom line is that all the Bible study resources offered for free are essentially the same set of public domain works. Bible.org is the exception and the text notes alone for the NET Bible are very helpful. I spend most of my time at the online ESV Study Bible but I just might start using Bible.org as a close second. My goal is to direct you to some websites that might help you with your Bible study, but remember there are limits to what you'll be able to get for free and sometimes the old classics from 100 years ago aren't exactly up to date on their interpretations. If you're serious about having access to some of the best digital tools available for Bible study and research, you might just want to check out a Bible software program like Logos 4.

Quote: Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

Real Theology is not complicated; it helps us grasp how simple the faith really is

Now that's what I call real theology! Isn't this exactly why we need theological specialists: not to make the faith more complicated and obscure, but to help us grasp how simple it really is?

 

http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2011/04/rowan-williams-letter-to-six-year-old.html