Category: English

The Ultimate “Adiaphora” – The Words of Worship

In my theology studies, one of the strangest things I did was a dictionary study for worship. I came across the list (at least part of it) yesterday and decided to put it out here. Continue reading The Ultimate “Adiaphora” – The Words of Worship

Grace

I have been contemplating a lot on grace in the last few days, and especially in the context of universal salvation. A part of my thought has been around Bonhoeffer’s notion of cheap grace.

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ. Continue reading Grace

Social Media and Teenagers

The content of this post appeared in Icelandic undir the title “Facebook notkun unglinga” in March 2012 and focused solely on Facebook. It is now rewritten in (a broken) English with broader focus, looking at social media sites in general.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture through “Æskulýðssjóður” has given YMCA/YWCA in Iceland a small grant to create curriculum for youth directors, parents and children about Social Media use. The original post in Iceland is being used as an introduction to that curriculum. Continue reading Social Media and Teenagers

Dagbókarbrot frá janúar 2010

H.E.L.P. HAITI (14:00, Jan 11 2010)

Í dag var kannski skrítnast að hlusta á nemendurna hjá HELP, td hann Jean-Wilner. Þeir vilja breyta heiminum og byrja á Haiti. PPT sýningin sýndi það. HELP nemar nýta menntun sína í Haiti en flytja ekki erlendis eftir nám eins og stór hluti háskólanema gerir. Þeir virðast skilja þakklæti. Continue reading Dagbókarbrot frá janúar 2010

Statistical Polar adventures – Lecture at University of Iceland

The third talk in the statistics colloquium series 2011-2012 at the University of Iceland will be given on Friday November 18th, see details below.

Speaker: Jenný Brynjarsdóttir, Postdoctoral Fellow, Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI)
Title: Statistical Polar adventures – Downscaling temperatures over the Antarctic using a dimension reduced space-time modeling approach
Location: Room V-152 in VR-II building on the UI campus
Time: Friday November 18th, at 12:10 to 13:00.

Abstract: Dimension reduced approaches to spatio-temporal modeling are usually based on modeling the spatial structure in terms of a low number of specified basis functions. The temporal evolution of the space-time process is then modeled through the amplitudes of the basis functions. A common choice of bases are data-dependent basis vectors such as Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs), also known as Principal Components. I will discuss ways to extend these ideas to modeling of two spatio-temporal processes where the primary goal is to predict one process from the other. I incorporate these methods in a Bayesian hierarchical model and show an example of downscaling surface temperatures over the Antarctic.

Fast Five

Freedom without responsibility, is not a real freedom. To be free does not take away our responsibility for each other. The message is clear in the movie about the Fast Folks. We are responsible for our own kin, our people, our family. We are called to care for the community we belong to, are part of. Continue reading Fast Five

Intriguing Thought about the Cross

One of my absolute favorite “boyish” theologians (isl. strákaguðfræðingur) is Rev. Nick Billardello. It is probably important to point out that in my mind “boyish” theology is a name for a theology that gets straight to the point, is not afraid to sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” when it is appropriate (and sometimes when it is not), and has a Summer Camp, athletic, “jumping from a cliff into the streaming river” feel to it. Being a “boyish” theologian is to understand that God is here among us. We should have fun together and proclaim God’s reign without hesitation. Continue reading Intriguing Thought about the Cross

Rising Restrictions on Religion

“Rising Restrictions on Religion,” a recent report by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that restrictions on religious beliefs and practices rose between mid-2006 and mid-2009 in 23 of the world’s 198 countries 12%, decreased in 12 countries 6% and remained essentially unchanged in 163 countries 82%.

via Rising Restrictions on Religion – The Pew Charitable Trusts. (via Arni Svanur)

Evolving God

On my way to Iceland I decided to listen to Krista Tippet’s interview with Robert Wright about his understanding of god, based on his reading, mostly of the Hebrew Scripture. Robert Wright is a self acclaimed agnostic, and his thoughts are exciting for me as a religious person. They are honest, kind of scientific, and respectful in their way of addressing religious systems from the outside.

His book The Evolution of God (Back Bay Readers’ Pick) sounds interesting.

Fall and Future

My family has finally drafted the next few steps on our journey. Jenny has accepted a two year Post Doc position at Duke University and SAMSI, but SAMSI is a partnership of Duke University, North Carolina State University (NCSU), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and the National Institute of Statistical Sciences (NISS). There she will have a wonderful opportunity to work with some of the most talented people in her field of Statistics. SAMSI is located in the Research Triangle Park, kind of in between Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham. Continue reading Fall and Future

Community Writing

When studying Biblical texts, one of the obstacles I constantly have to deal with is the notion that an indicated author is not neccesary the author in a modern understanding of the word. We don’t know if it was Mark that wrote Mark, and if it was there are probably some add-ons that are not his or hers. For some this sounds like we are dealing with fraud or forgery, someone claiming to be something that he is not. The reality is more complicated than that though.
Continue reading Community Writing