IVP - Addenda & Errata - August 2009 Archives

Interdenominational or Nondenominational?

Leave it to an editor to fuss over something like this. But in the never ending (but quirkily inconsistent) quest for accuracy I can get into a “corrective” mode when people use the terms interdenominational for nondenominational—or use them interchangeably. I recently found this interchangeable use in one of our books where I thought it least likely to occur. This reinforced my impression that perhaps I’m the only one bothered by this.

Laying Up for Winter

I’ve been noticing it for the past couple weeks. On my occasional morning runs up Tiger Mountain, Doug Fir cones are beginning to litter the trail. Some of them are shredded. Most are whole, and potential roller skates for unwary human feet. I can hear cones ricocheting through the branches and thumping into the undergrowth and forest duff below, and the sound of little feet scurrying in the barky trees. On the squirrel calendar, it’s time for cutting down cones and laying up provender for winter. The mountainside echoes with their industry, and my dog—who hardly wastes a worry over his next meal—makes sport of harassing this busy crew.

"I Read It"

Lately on a local radio station I’ve been hearing an ad for a course that will increase your reading speed and comprehension by tenfold or better. I was reminded of the Evelyn Wood program that was popular when I was a college student. I never took it but I had friends who did. This led me to think about what we mean when we say, “I read that book”?

The Joy of Ordering and Receiving "Real" Books

I was poking around in C.S. Lewis’s Letters the other day, looking for something I recall reading years ago, and I came across a passage in a letter to Arthur Greeves. Lewis is speaking of the fun of ordering and receiving books in the mail. He writes:

I quite agree with what you say about buying books, and love the planning and scheming beforehand, and if they come by post, finding the neat little parcel waiting for you on the hall table and rushing upstairs to open it in the privacy of your own room. (Letters of C. S. Lewis, edited by W. H. Lewis, p. 27)

Geoffrey W. Bromiley (1915-2009)

Fuller Seminary has posted a notice of Geoffrey Bromiley’s death last Friday. And Mark Galli at Christianity Today has posted some reflections. Those who pay attention to details like translators’ and editors’ names, will recognize the name Geoffrey Bromiley, the former professor of church history and historical theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. Galli was a student at Fuller and remembers him as his favorite professor. I too was a student at Fuller, and while I only had one course with Bromiley, I was awestruck by his abilities and productivity.

500th Anniversary of Calvin’s Baptism?

Friday, July 10, was the 500th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth. We don’t know on what day young Calvin was baptized, but biographers assume it took place soon after his birth. I’ll speculate that it took place on his 8th day, since that correlation with the optimal schedule for Jewish circumcision of male babies just seems fitting for Calvin. So you heard it here first: on Saturday, July 18, we should have celebrated John Calvin’s (infant) baptism. Or should we have?

The Lost World of Genesis One Again

Several weeks ago I blogged here and here on John Walton’s The Lost World of Genesis One. Over at Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed, Scot is reading and commenting on the book (along with RJS), and there is lively interaction in the comments section, with John Walton weighing in from time to time (e.g., see Wednesday, 8/5). This is an important book for evangelicals and deserves a wide reading and serious discussion. It’s great to watch this happening. Follow the blog—and read the book!