Category: Of Random Interest

Masatoshi Koshiba, who just won 25% of this year’s Nobel Prize in physics (I didn’t even know you could be a 25% winner), graduated last in his class at Tokyo University over 50 years ago.

He only made two A’s in his last two years of college, both of which were in lab classes where the grade was based on attendance.

Hmmm.… makes you think, doesn’t it?

Evidently he took the Teacher’s words to heart: “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” (Ecc 12.12b, NIV)

The LA Times has the most interesting article I’ve seen in quite a while. It’s about a secretive group called The Fellowship, a Christian organization that has had massive influence in the public sphere.

For the last two decades, a Virginia mansion has been a private hideaway for world leaders, members of Congress, and even pop star Michael Jackson…

The Fellowship was a behind-the-scenes player at the Camp David Middle East accords in 1978, working with President Jimmy Carter to issue a worldwide call to prayer with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. During the Cold War, it helped finance an anti-communism propaganda film endorsed by the CIA and used by the Pentagon overseas.

Last year, the Fellowship helped arrange a secret meeting at Cedars between two warring leaders, Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame–one of the first of a series of discreet meetings between the two African leaders that eventually led to the signing of a peace accord in July.

Incidentally, they’re also the ones who sponsor the National Prayer Breakfast. There’s much more, and I encourage you to read all about it. (Thanks to Christianity Today for the link!)

A man in New Orleans was shot 25 times and lived. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

The victim was walking just before 3 a.m. when the attacker walked up to him and began firing a handgun, police said. “Once that weapon emptied, he produced a second weapon and continued to fire,” police said. “When the second weapon emptied, he produced yet a third and continued to fire.”

Read all about it!

And remember–never go walking in New Orleans at 3 a.m.

The Door (a religious humor magazine) deems Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be the Theologian of the Year. Our nation’s season of trial influenced The Door’s selection of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Theologian of the Year. Let’s face it. In perilous times, we need someone who can not only deconstruct the problem of evil, but kick its hiney. And that means Buffy and her Scooby Gang. Read all about it!

In an interesting coincidence, Annals of Improbable Research (a science humor magazine) has just issued the 2002 Ig Nobel prizes amityville horror the divx movie online to honor people whose achievements “cannot or should not be reproduced.” [update: the official 2002 list is online with references]

Among this year’s winners are Karl Kruszelnicki, a Sydney University researcher who wrote the paper on belly-button lint. Dr Kruszelnicki, at his own expense, studied 5000 belly-button lint samples. He concluded the lint was a combination of clothing fibres and skin cells that were led to the navel, via body hair, “as all roads lead to Rome”. “Your typical generator of belly-button lint or fluff is a slightly overweight, middle-aged male with a hairy abdomen,” he said. (source)

It’s been a few days since I posted any offbeat news items: here are some stupid human tricks.

Man Suffers Severe Burns Trying To Kill Lice: The 26-year-old doused a towel with rubbing alcohol, put it on his head and then lit a cigarette, police said. The towel caught fire and engulfed the man. He suffered burns on about 50 percent of his body, police said. Ouch–that had to hurt!

Canadian Man Tries To Bungee Jump Onto Ship–But His Cord Is Too Long: William Dean Sullivan miscalculated the ship’s speed and suffered minor head injuries on Sunday when he bounced off its tennis court, volleyball net and a deck railing, before being left dangling in mid-air as the ship sailed away, Vancouver Police said. Police said Sullivan has planned to bungee jump from the Lions Gate Bridge, which spans the entrance to Vancouver harbor, stopping just above the passing ship so he could then lower himself a short distance to the deck. That couldn’t have felt much better…

Finally, Man Clips 153 Clothespins To His Face For World Record: Garry said that attaching the pegs to his cheeks hurt the most and afterwards you could see he was in a lot of pain. There were marks on his skin that he said would last an hour and he had to keep rubbing his face. Aagh–what is it with people hurting themselves? I feel pain just reading these stories!

I just ran across two web pages that juxtapose too perfectly to pass up.

On a sad note, a stray cat was shot in the eye with a horse tranquilizer dart. The dart was 7″ long and the cat wandered around with the dart sticking out of its head for a week before being picked up by authorities. The Kansas City community is outraged.

On a funny note, that animal officer sure is lucky he didn’t pull that on these viking kittens!

Q: What does this have to do with Chi Alpha?
A: Nothing except that we have a good sense of humor!

Check out this optical illusion.

Pretty wild, huh?

And while we’re on the subject of perception, peruse this Nature article about the subliminal image hidden in a Zen garden.

I’ve made some revisions to the core essays on this website: I think I’ve made them more readable and more informative. The ones that have undergone the most change are:

1) What Is Chi Alpha? (changed radically)
2) Common Questions About Supporting Missionaries (added new questions and intro)
3) Why Universities Need Missionaries (added a closing section)
4) How to Become a Partner In Ministry (changed the wording for clarity)

Let me know if you find anything unclear or confusing!

On the ain’t it pathetic front: A Yemeni man divorced his first wife because she was loud and argumentative and picked a deaf and mute woman as his new bride, a local newspaper said on Monday. Read the whole sad story.

Reading that triggered thoughts of Proverbs 27.15–16: A nagging wife is as annoying as the constant dripping on a rainy day. Trying to stop her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or hold something with greased hands. (New Living Translation, link)

For the interpretationally challenged, let me make it clear the the Bible is in no way endorsing the man’s actions. This is a descriptive passage of Scripture (making an observation about life as it is) and not a prescriptive passage (giving advice and commands to create life as it should be).

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a chance to respond to all the things that Nota Bene and Integrity Blog have said in reference to baptism.

Mea culpa–I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Which I understand is quite a sight, although I’ve never personally witnessed it. Which puts me in mind of Mike the Headless Chicken.

But I digress…

We’re discussing what it means to follow Jesus, and how baptism relates to that. The Catholic position is that baptism is the way one normally becomes a Christian. So far I’ve limited myself to discussing one specific passage that Sean first mentioned. They’ve made a LOT of observations since I’ve posted, so I encourage you to read their blogs to see what they’ve been saying. There’s no way I could respond to it all without this being my full-time job, so I’ll just do what I can. Hey guys: if I misunderstand, misrepresent, or fail to address what you consider to be your strongest arguments please let me know: I am being selective, but I’m trying to be selective with integrity.

In this post I’ll try to provide a broader understanding of baptism. It may be long, so buckle your seatbelts! My basic thesis will be that baptism is an expression of salvation, and not a means of salvation as held by certain churches. Baptism is of vital importance in the life of the believer and is more than an archaic ritual, yet it is not ultimately salvific.

Jack and Sean’s observations fall into two categories: scriptural and historical. 

I’d like to begin by offering my own scriptural observations.
The Bible is clear that salvation issues from placing one’s faith [belief plus trust] in Jesus. There are several relevant passages of Scripture, referencing a few should suffice: John 3.16–18, Acts 16.31, Romans 3.23–24, Galatians 3.26–27, Ephesians 2.8–9, 1 John 5.1.

These passages are clear: God adopts us into His family when we place our faith in Jesus. I don’t see such a clarity in the passages Jack references or in the ones that Sean references. I do see an emphasis on the importance of baptism, but I don’t see a demonstration of baptism as a means of salvation. 

The only texts Jack raised which might even seem to teach salvific baptism are towards the end of his post, The Church would also point to the words of Peter and Paul on how baptism incorporates us into the Body of Christ: Romans 6:3–4; Col 2:12 … 1 Cor 6:11. [note: I edited slightly for length]. In each of these verses, Paul is speaking descriptively: all the believers had been baptized, so he can speak of baptism as a synonym for being a believer.

Now I’d like to make a few historical comments:
First, I’d like to acknowledge that the early church clearly thought that baptism was salvific.

I’d also like to say that it’s an unpersuasive point. Theology evolves. Over time the church gradually comes to a deeper understanding of the ramifications of the Bible’s teaching and incorporates it into our theology. The most well-known example is the doctrine of the Trinity. All the clues were in the Bible, it just took the Church a few centuries to put them together in a consistent way.

The early church fathers were wrong about baptism. They clearly did not understand the Scriptures at this point. In fact, I’m willing to bet that there were divergent views among the early church theologians about baptism (I just don’t have the historical expertise to know them off the top of my head or the time to ferret them out).

I’d like to close by explaining what baptism does.
Jack asked me what exactly I think baptism does:
1) Baptism forces people to publicly profess their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.
2) Baptism requires a public display of solidarity with the Church.
3) Baptism is a test of obedience. Someone unwilling to follow Christ in such a small thing cannot be properly called a follower of Christ.
4) Baptism is an object lesson in faith, and provides excellent symbolism that can be used to help people understand the gospel.

Baptism does all these things, and probably a good deal more. It does not, however, save anyone.