Bedside table

I just crossed another one off my reading list: The Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love. The author (Augustine) hasn't written much lately, but his books have staying power.

So I asked the question you probably would. What's an "enchiridion?" Turns out it's Greek for "handbook" or "manual." So it's essentially a handbook on Christianity, written in the fifth century.

If you wanted a contemporary "Handbook on (fill in your faith tradition)," what would you want it to include? That is, if you kept a book about your faith on the bedside table, what questions would you want it to answer? Which topics covered? Which terms defined? Which mysteries uncovered?

Original posts at http://wrigleypreacher.blogspot.com

A preacher, reporter and teacher walk into a bar ...

I couldn't remember who said it: a preacher should carry a Bible under one arm and a newspaper under the other. Turns out the quote is probably apocryphal but most often attributed to 20th century German theologian Karl Barth.

I'm willing to invoke Barth's support of the two arenas in which I've spent most of my life, the newspaper business and the church. It appears there's another advocate,* none other than Ben Franklin. In a letter to the Ministry of France in March 1778, Franklin reportedly wrote:

"A Bible and a newspaper in every house, a good school in every district -all studied and appreciated as they merit -are the principal support of virtue, morality, and civil liberty."

Old Ben apparently saw that a thriving society looked something like the three-cornered hat resting upon his head, with faith, a free press and education making up the three. May your Bible be tattered with use, your newspaper subscription never lapse, and your local school a source of pride.

* In addition to the First Amendment, which had something fairly important to say about religion and the press.

Original posts at http://wrigleypreacher.blogspot.com