Justin Taylor interviews OT professor James K. Hoffmeier on his new book, The Immigration Crisis: Immigrants, Aliens, and the Bible. It’s a bit weighty, but this is a difficult issue with many lives and livelihoods at stake. Here’s an excerpt:

It seems to me that in the public square those who are using the Bible in the immigration debate assume that the Bible endorses the idea of providing sanctuary for illegal aliens. Do you agree?

The OT Law is very clear about the practice of sanctuary or accessing the cities of refuge. The former was for those living in proximity to the Tabernacle or Temple, while the city of refuge were scattered throughout Israel for easier access.

The purpose of sanctuary was not to avoid the law or one’s sentence, but to get a fair trial in the case and only in the case of accidental death (cf. Ex. 21:12-14; Num. 35:11-15, 22-29; Josh. 20:1-9).

So when American cities offer their cities as sanctuary from federal law, or when churches offer their facilities as a refuge for illegal immigrants who have been tried and order deported, they are neither following the letter or spirit of the OT law.

A recent example of this was the case of Elvira Arellano, a woman who had been ordered deported by a judge because of her undocumented status. She was given sanctuary in a United Methodist Church in Chicago for more than a year. In my view, such a practice neither follows the letter or the spirit of the biblical law regarding sanctuary.

Hugh suggests, “If you talked to people the way advertising talked to people, they’d punch you in the face.”

Hugh Macleod has a new book on creativity called, Ignore Everybody. Roy Jacobsen appears to recommend it. Is that right, Roy?

You can get Judge Napolitano’s book, A Nation of Sheep, which is his argument against American loss of freedom at BookCloseouts.com for $9.00 for a limited time. It’s also on Amazon here. His latest book, Dred Scott’s Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America, looks excellent too. Make sure your library has a copy or three of both books.

“the original American frontiersman” as described by John Ross

Jared is meekly discussing the grace behind the book, Have a New Husband by Friday: How to Change His Attitude, Behavior, and Communication in 5 Days.

It turns a woman’s spouse into a project, a problem, not a person made in the image of God to be loved and given the gospel in word and deed to. It is legalistic, basically. . . . it’s gross. It plays on the stereotype of men as children who need wives to make them better, more suitable and acceptable.

David Nilsen reviews Michael Horton’s book, Christless Christianity:

One famous Evangelical pastor has recently made popular the phrase, “deeds, not creeds.” Evangelicals have their doctrine right, this pastor tells us, they just aren’t living it. Against such sentiments, Dr. Horton argues that many Evangelicals actually do not have their doctrine right, or at least they aren’t preaching it correctly. Evangelicals have confused the important categories of Law and Gospel, turning the Gospel message (which is supposed to be the good news of something that Christ has already done for us), into the Gospel program. If you’ll only live out the Gospel (by reading your Bible every day, joining a certain group at church, and learning how to be a Christ-like example to others), you’ll be healthy, wealthy and wise. The question to be answered is, “What would Jesus do?” rather than, “What has Jesus done?”