Summer 2000

Volume XV, Number 2

In This Issue

• A Reader in an Oral Culture by Christine Swanson

  Reading Pietisten while surrounded by plantain trees with leaves four-feet long and grass that can be up to eight-feet high, I realize how important the pietist book culture has been to me. Let me begin, in oral culture style, with a story.

• The Beloved Disciple by Henry Gustafson

  The identity of the Beloved Disciple remains a mystery. He is unnamed. He appears only in the Fourth Gospel, and there only in a few narratives near the end of the Gospel story.

• Probing a Very Large Universe by Elder M. Lindahl

  What is the universe? Do other earths exist, and are they inhabited? Are there countless solar systems? What is space? Does it make sense to talk about up or down; inner or outer space? Is space finite and limited, infinite and endless, or what? What is time? How are space and time related? Is the universe aging, and will it finally run down? What is the relation between God and the universe?

• Covenant Chris Crafts Abroad

  Covenant Chris Crafts recently sent a representative to Sweden.

• Waldenstrom's Commentary James 1:17-27 with Waldenström’s Commentary by Paul Peter Waldenström and translated by Tommy Carlson
• Travelling With Ellen — Reprt from Ecuador II by Ellen Bergstrom

  One of the first things that struck me in the Houston airport, arriving in the United States after five months in Ecuador (besides my amazement at how fast everyone walks and the wonders of clean public bathrooms where it is possible to actually flush the toilet paper), was all the different types of people.

• Roadside Remembrances by Owen Youngman

  Childhood habits are hard to break. Even today, it is the churches I notice when visiting a new location and the churches I seek out when selecting which landmarks to fit in while exploring. In fact, it’s true even in old locations; one of my favorite Christmas gifts last year was a book of photographs of churches around Chicago.

• Books Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg reviewed by Tom Condon

  Marcus Borg, from my viewpoint, neatly diagnoses the central issue of our times: a deep misconception in our view of the world (in this case, its religious core) and of the sociopolitical structures arising from it. Then, constructively, he shows how, by a labor of critical rethinking, we might revise our view, or paradigm, of Creation, our place and purpose in it, and, so, our earthly aims, relations, and actions.

• The Making of a Reader The Making of a Reader: Part Four by David Hawkinson

  We learn to read Bible in bits and pieces. We begin with individual stories, usually unattached to what happens before and after. This is the way of reading taught in most Sunday School curriculums, confirmation programs, and even the weekly reading and preaching of Biblical texts in worship. As a result, we often miss the narrative flow, the rhythms and pace of the unfolding drama, and the impact of one scene set against another. In the synagogue, by contrast, the entire Torah, the first five books of the Bible, is read once a year in its entirety, beginning to end.

• Tributes Tribute to C. Leslie Strand by Phil Johnson

  Why was it that Les Strand was widely and deeply loved? Why was he so valued by many? Memories of his kindness, gentleness, good humor, gracious manners, and personable presence come immediately to mind.

• Tributes Tribute to Dr. Phil Anderson by David Hawkinson

  Whenever or wherever the gathering was or whoever was there at the time, Phil was an intimate part of the occasion. He was fully present and interested. He was alive to the moment, the personalities, the issues, and the atmosphere. He was centered, attentive, concerned, humorous, genuine, and gracious. I want to reflect upon this quality of his life for just a moment.

• Tributes Tribute to Evonne Stenberg by Phil Johnson

  The range of her impact and influence became quickly and dramatically clear. More that 600 persons flooded Bethlehem Covenant Church in Minneapolis for the memorial service.

Regular Features

• On the Aisle Minnesota and Hollywood: The Coen Brothers by Max Carlson

  Minnesota should be proud of making a significant impact in film in Hollywood these past few decades. I’m talking about the remarkable work of the Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel. They were born and raised in Minneapolis and went to school at St. Louis Park High School. Their mother works at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

• News and Notes: Weddings

  Online Editor Marries Science Teacher; Another Pietisten Volunteer Married

• Sightings in Christian Music by Glen Wiberg

  Kit Swanson, a Peace Corps volunteer, has been teaching in a university in Buea, Cameroon, West Africa, and one of her courses is Old English Literature. In a letter to her parents, Dave and Ann Swanson of the Bethlehem Covenant Church, Kit describes her class of 200-plus students and "a sightings in Christian music" that is quite remarkable.

• Pastoral Popularity by Arthur W. Anderson

  Early in my ministry, I attended Covenant ministerial meetings at Park Avenue Covenant church in Minneapolis. I liked them because they gave novices like me the chance to be around the bellwethers of the Covenant as well as to compare notes with my peers.

• Practical, Therapeutic, Theological Thought How Can We Stop Shrinking? by Penrod

  In the August, 2000 issue of Harper’s I read: "Average number of words in the written vocabulary of a 6 to 14-year-old American child in 1945: 25,000. Average number today: 10,000."

• Cooking with Gunny Gunny’s Crab Dewey by Gunny
• Out and About by Phil Johnson

  How Coya Came Home; A Night of Poetry; Cutting the cake again for the first time

• Sport Prophecy Summer Doldrums—July, 2000 by Eric

  I always hate trying to come up with a prediction in the summer.

• Post: Readers Respond

Poetry

• Poetry My Imagination Wanders by Evan Leister