When Matt Myer Boulton saw all the comments responding to our giveaway post, he kindly offered to provide not one but three copies of the new Butterflyfish album. So here are the three lucky winners (please email Matt with your shipping address):
Well, the caption contest has been won by a clean sweep. The commenter identified as "Fat" received an overwhelming majority of votes for the caption: "I got it from the toilet - it's the only water I can reach." Congratulations!
For a prize, "Fat" may choose one of the following books, courtesy of IVP Academic, T&T Clark, and Brazos Press:
Douglas A. Sweeney, Jonathan Edwards and the Ministry of the Word: A Model of Faith and Thought (IVP 2009)
Jason E. Vickers, Wesley: A Guide for the Perplexed (T&T Clark 2009)
Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies (Brazos 2009)
Thanks for all the entertaining captions. I've chosen my six favourites, and you can vote for the winner in the poll.
Okay, when Maggi linked to this, I just knew it had to be our next caption contest. The winner will receive a nice new book.
Note: See also Bruce's disturbing Jesus caption contest: it'll scare the bejesus out of you.
The people have spoken! And Andrew is the winner of our bus sign contest. His caption won a decisive victory, with 29% of the votes. Here’s the winning bus sign:
And I think Dan deserves a runner-up prize for his wonderful sign (which came in second, with 15% of the votes):
The prizes come courtesy of the kind folks at IVP Academic – so Andrew and Dan can each email me to choose one of the following books:
Well, it’s hard to pick a winner – there were so many great entries in the bus sign caption contest. So I’ve chosen seven finalists, and you can now vote for your favourite in the poll at the top of the sidebar.
Meanwhile, here’s one that didn’t quite make it into the list of finalists – but it did give me a great laugh:
Over in the UK, the atheist bus campaign has been attracting a lot of media interest. Some Christian groups have chimed in with their own (predictably humourless) rival ads, and there have been various theological responses as well.
So anyway, I reckon it’s time to settle this dispute once and for all – and what better way to resolve age-old metaphysical questions than with a caption contest? I’ll send a free book to the person who invents the best bus sign. (You get bonus points if your sign persuades someone to change their deepest beliefs.)
Okay, using a highly advanced technique of random selection, I’ve decided to give the free copy of Nate’s book to Chad Marshall.
But don’t despair, dear readers – everyone’s a winner today! If you head on over to the Wipf & Stock website, all F&T readers can now (for a limited time) purchase Nate’s book at a special 40% discount – from $28 down to $16.80! Just add the book to your shopping cart, and then enter the special coupon code KERR40.
So don’t delay, get your apocalypse now: Christ, History and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission.
Thanks for all the terrific entries in our latest caption contest. Since the contest is a celebration of Nate’s new book, I asked him to pick the two winners. So here are his selected winners:
Aniu was a clear winner, with his extraordinary and hilarious list of 50 captions from Dylan’s song titles. You can read all 50 captions in Aniu’s comment – here are a few highlights:
Bob: ‘Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You’
Pope: ‘Tell Me That It Isn’t True’
Bob: ‘Saved’
Pope: ‘I Don’t Believe You’
Bob: ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’
Pope: ‘Idiot Wind’
Bob: ‘You’re Gonna Quit Me’
Pope: ‘Going, Going, Gone’
Bob: ‘Lay, Lady, Lay’
Pope: ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune’
Bob: ‘Tryin’ To Get To Heaven’
Pope: ‘Up To Me’
Bob: ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’
Pope: ‘I Shall Be Free’
And the second winner is Kurt, with this delightful caption: “The fact that the former pontiff did visibly shake to the noise emanating from Bob Dylan’s guitar turns out to be the greatest obstacle to his speedy beatification. The proponents of the ‘santo subito’ movement continue protesting that this is in no way a hint of devilish influences, but that the Pope already suffered from Parkinson’s disease at the time and, to the contrary, his calm demeanour during this gruesome torture is paramount to martyrdom and should further their cause decisively.”
Kurt and Anui will each receive a copy of Nate Kerr’s book, Christ, History and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission, courtesy of the good people at Cascade Books. (Kurt and Anui, please email me with your shipping address.)
Although there’s no runners-up prize, I’d also like to give an honourable mention to the following captions:
Dylan, unaware that the guest of honor in the white dress was a male, dedicated and then played his most heartfelt rendition of Lay, Lady, Lay. (Ken)
The Pope, bored out of his mind, thinks to himself, “Next time I see him coming I better run…” (Discard)
The new series “Vatican Idol” kicked off with a bang last night as judge JPII appeared bored during Bob Dylan’s performance. The Pope quipped that the folk legend simply lacked the triple threat that the Vatican was looking for: singing, dancing and acting. Dylan was eliminated and Beyonce later advanced after a glowing endorsement from JPII. (Mike)
It may look boring here, but let’s just say that when the dust settled and the after party wrapped up the next morning, somehow JP went home in the cowboy hat and Dylan was wearing the fancy dress. (Chad)
Pope: “This is such a nice reception for Stanley and John. I wonder how they booked Dylan?” (Tim – referring to a previous contest)
Thanks to the kind folks at Cascade Books, I now have a couple of giveaway copies of Nate Kerr’s new book. So it’s time for another caption contest – here’s a photo of Bob Dylan’s performance for Pope John Paul II in Bologna, 1997:
The best two captions will win a free copy of Nate’s wonderful book, Christ, History and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission.
Okay, time to give away some books. Thanks for all the colourful entries – there were lots of excellent comments, and 
it was really impossible to choose the best one. So I’ve chosen three from the long list of comments (you can read all the comments here):
First of all, I really liked David Bruner’s comment, which spoke very nicely of Barth’s breadth, his joy, and his emphasis on mission (“I feel like IV/3 is the real secret gem of CD” – yes, absolutely!).
Second, I chose Keith Williams’ entertaining three points: “1. On a first read, I barely understand anything; 2. On a second read, I feel like I’m plumbing new depths of theological insight; 3. On a third read, I’m not sure I’ve understood anything.” Something all readers of Barth can relate to!
Finally, I couldn’t overlook Halden’s comment – it’s short and to the point (1. Barth’s doctrine of election; 2. his Romans commentary; 3. his radical politics), but it gets extra points for summing up everything I like best about Barth. Plus, anyone with a blog as good as Halden’s really deserves a free book once in a while.
So each of these folks will receive an advance copy of Bruce McCormack’s new book, Orthodox and Modern: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth. Many thanks to Baker Academic for providing these complimentary copies – and thanks to everyone who participated! Stay tuned shortly for a full review of the book.
Bruce McCormack’s brilliant collection of essays is due for release within the next couple of weeks: Orthodox and Modern: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth (Baker Academic, 2008). Thanks to the kind folks at Baker, we have some free advance copies to give away. So if you’d like a copy, just leave a comment here listing three things you like about Karl Barth (or, if you prefer, you can list three things you loathe about Karl Barth). The most interesting or entertaining comment(s) will receive a free copy of the book.
Thanks for all the entertaining entries in yesterday’s caption contest. You won’t be surprised to hear that the winner is Dave Belcher. Here’s Dave’s knock-down entry:
“In a surprise move at the Vatican this weekend, Pope Benedict XVI performed a spontaneous same-sex union of renowned theologians John Milbank and Stanley Hauerwas.”
Thanks, Dave – you’ve given us all a lot to ponder. Anyway, Dave is the lucky winner of a new copy of Bruce McCormack’s magnificent soon-to-be-released collection: Orthodox and Modern: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth (courtesy of Baker Academic). You’ll be hearing more about this book soon.
Here’s a picture from last week’s conference in Rome: Milbank and Hauerwas meet Benedict XVI. (Thanks to Luke Bretherton for the pic.) A free book for the best caption…
Congratulations to Sally, who has won the caption contest with 42% of the votes. You can see a map of all the votes here. Here’s her excellent winning caption: “By George! I’ve finally got it! A cunning plan! I shall become an alternative healer in a slightly tacky clinic in suburbia. No one will ever find me.” Congrats to Sally – and please email me, Sally, to tell me which book you’d like to receive.
I think Ken also deserves special mention for his caption, which was a convincing second place (20% of the votes). “The bag of toys slung over his right shoulder, the sobbing of children resounding in his ears, the grinch surveyed his ruin and grinned.” Since I’m a sucker for Dr Seuss, I’ll also send Ken a book as a runner-up prize. (So please email me, Ken, with your preferred title.)
Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest!
Thanks for all the delightful entries in the Rowan Williams caption contest. There were so many good entries, I’ve found it hard to pick a winner. So I’ve chosen my five favourite captions, and I’ll let you vote for the winner in the poll below:
Okay, I stole this idea from Mike Bird. But let’s see who can come up with the best caption for this photo:
The winner of the contest will receive their choice of one of the following books:
In response to my question – what do Karl Barth and Dr Seuss have in common? – our friend Tortoise has written a delightful piece of Seussian poetry. You do not want to miss this! (UPDATE: The folks at WJKP liked this poem so much, they’ve kindly provided Tortoise with an additional giveaway copy of The Parables of Dr. Seuss.)
And in response to the recent review of Dr Seuss, Weekend Fisher also has an exceptionally good post. She observes that Dr Seuss is distorted whenever we “try to take a ‘deeper meaning’ than joy and delight from his books…. Wonder and gladness are precisely the deeper meaning of those books.”
Robert L. Short, The Parables of Dr. Seuss (WJKP, 2008), 95 pp.; Karl Barth, Fifty Prayers (WJKP, 2008), 63 pp. (review copies courtesy of WJKP)
Here’s a couple of nice little books (Thing One and Thing Two), both just released from WJKP. In our first book, Robert Short offers an entertaining reading of Dr Seuss’s stories as 
Christian “parables.” I adore Dr Seuss – I’m always begging my kids to let me read more Dr Seuss, instead of those bland and banal Disney books that clutter their shelves. So I enjoyed this book’s playful engagement with Dr Seuss’s stories.
Admittedly, Robert Short’s analysis is not a very nuanced one; and it’s a shame he neglects both Dr Seuss’s sharp political edge and his extraordinary aesthetics (first and foremost, these books are great because they’re works of true poetry).
Ultimately, Dr Seuss’s writing can’t be turned into neat theological “parables” (although many of them are certainly political parables). So I can’t help cringing a little when Short tells me that Christ = the Cat, or that Christ’s body and blood = green eggs and ham, or indeed that Sam-I-am represents the name of God! (I’ll let you in on a secret: he’s called “Sam-I-am” because it rhymes with “eggs-and-ham”…) But all this can be taken in good fun, and Short is clearly enjoying himself with bucketloads of playful exaggeration.
In any case, there are some nice insights along the way – for example, in the chapter on I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew, Short remarks: “The difference is that Christian faith has an infinitely greater appreciation of trouble than the world does” (p. 51). An excellent point!
And Short is right to observe that Dr Seuss’s stories possess a “profundity-in-simplicity” which allows them to make a real impact. These stories, he remarks, are deceptive in their simplicity. “Charming, childlike little tales suddenly become meaningful…. They sneak up on us. They become Trojan horses or sugar-coated medicine. They are the wise Cat in the otherwise empty hat” (p. 66).
On a somewhat more serious note, our second book brings together fifty of Karl Barth’s prayers, written for before and after 
his sermons. In the foreword (these prayers were originally published in German in 1962), Barth explains his growing discomfort with the traditional liturgical prayers, since they remained too disconnected from the language and content of his sermons. “For a while,” he says, “I sought help by replacing the petitions of the order of liturgy not with extemporaneous prayers (I have never dared to risk such a thing), but with freely bringing together biblical passages from the Psalms.” Only in his later years did he begin to write his own prayers as part of his sermon preparation. The resulting prayers are stirring, colloquial, often profound, and always blissfully concise – as Barth remarks in the foreword, “the spice for all parts of all spiritual and theological sayings should consist in brevity!”
Barth decided to publish these prayers in the hope that they would be used both in assembled worship and privately. The book thus arranges the fifty prayers according to the liturgical year, with some additional thematic sections (e.g. prayers for funerals). The prayers will certainly be of interest to researchers and students of Barth – but if we are to use the book as it was intended, our proper response should be to pray these prayers, to call upon God in weakness and humility and gratitude and joy. Here are a few short excerpts:
“Lord, our God, you know who we are: People with good and bad consciences; satisfied and dissatisfied, sure and unsure people; Christians out of convictions and Christians out of habit; believers, half-believers, and unbelievers. You know where we come from…. But now we all stand before you…” (p. 1).
“Lord our God, you wanted to live not only in heaven, but also with us, here on earth; not only to be high and great, but also to be small and lowly, as we are; not only to rule, but also to serve us; not only to be God in eternity, but also be born as a person, to live, and to die” (p. 11).
“None of us is a great Christian; rather, we are all very small Christians. But your grace is sufficient for us. Awaken us to the small joy and thankfulness that we are capable of, the timid faith that we bring, the incomplete obedience that we cannot refuse – to the hope in the greatness, wholeness, and completeness that you have prepared for us in the death of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and that you have promised us in his resurrection from the dead” (pp. 29-30).
GIVEAWAY: Anyway, I’ve got a copy of The Parables of Dr Seuss to give away. So if you’d like a copy, just name one thing that Barth and Dr Seuss have in common. The most interesting or imaginative comment wins the book.
A few hours ago, F&T had its 400,000th visitor. To mark the occasion, I’ll be sending a free book to the lucky visitor. This person hailed from Portland, Oregon, and s/he was reading F&T on a computer with the IP address 76.105.246.# (Comcast Cable). This visitor came here from a link at Halden’s blog. (Come to think of it, perhaps it was Halden himself? – I think he lives in Portland.)
Anyway, please let me know if you’re the visitor in question, so that I can send you your prize. And, to everyone who reads this blog: thanks for visiting!
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