Century marks

Christian Century, August 9, 2003

READING MATTERS: The most literate cities in the United States, according to criteria developed by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, are (in this order): Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, Washington, Louisville, Portland (Oregon) and Cincinnati. To see how your city ranks, go to www.uww.edu/cities.> TERMS YOU DIDN'T LEARN IN SEMINARY: Exebegesis: textual interpretation that scares the pants off you. Hypocrypha: extracanonical documents that pretend to be part of the apocrypha but aren't. Parooz-sia: a divine appearance bringing about the end of the world in a slow, icky way. Kantikle of Kanticles: seldom-sung love song based on Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (from "Theological Terms from the Esoteric Dictionary of Quasi-Spiritual Mistaken Knowledge," in the Door Magazine, July-August).

"Don't be unduly influenced by the badmouthing of business that goes on in parts of our culture. Sure, corporations like yours are powerful. Sure, power like that is threatened by the good news of the Kingdom [of God]. Sure, power corruptS. But this is true of all human institutions, even churches and Christian colleges. Remember: power also blesses, when it is exercised according to that good news."

--Telford Work, professor at Westmont College, responding on his Web site to a former student who asked whether he should get out of business and go into some form of ministry (www.telfordwork.net).

"You need only do three things in this country to avoid poverty--finish high school, marry before having a child, and marry after the age of 20. Only 8 percent of the families who do this are poor; 79 percent of those who fail to do this are poor."

--James Q. Wilson, citing former President Clinton adviser William Gaston (Family Ministry, Spring)

"The oppressor needs the Abrahamic religions to be reminded of the imperatives for historical justice; while the heirs of the oppressed need a Buddhist discipline to free them from historical resentment. Two therapies for a truthful memory; these words have immense resonance just now."

--Archbishop Rowan Williams in a review of Andrew Shanks's What Is Truth? (Times Literary Supplement, July 4)