How many of us are there?

Last updated on: July 26, 2006 at 4:30 am by Scot McKnight

How many of us are there? 2006-07-26T04:30:18-05:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jordon Cooper, blogger par excellence (I used that French because he’s Canadian and want to establish a little credibility), posted about me yesterday and I aim to set the record straight today. He wonders if there is a clone out there writing in my name. He provides evidence that makes me think that there just might be someone else writing in my name.

Here’s the pointed question he writes in his review of Praying with the Church, which has to be the cleverest review yet:

The book does ask some interesting questions. The main one is how many Scot McKnights are there and which one wrote this book. Sure Scot may claim that there is only one of him but c’mon, he can’t expect us to believe that. He is writing a short book every day on his blog, he is watching sports, reviewing 18 books a day on his blog, teaching and then writing several books on the side. You draw your own conclusions but I am thinking he has a clone. I guess we will never know until Scot pulls a Terrell Owens and claims that he has been misquoted in his book or his weblog. Either way, the book is a good one and if you don’t have it yet, make sure you pick it up.

First, Jordon, thanks so much for noting this book on your blog. I really do appreciate it, but it’s time now to turn to the real issue: How many of us are there?
Last night I was with an editor of Christianity Today and he asked me when we got to the parking lot this question: “How do you do it? Do you just take 30 minutes off in the evening and work the rest of the day?”
It gets to where I think I’m doing something wrong, like I’m in that commercial where the woman peaks into the medicine cabinet in the bathroom of a friend and the shelves collapse and she wishes she “could get away” on a Southwest Airlines flight.
Jordon, there’s one of us and that “one of us” lives a very, very, very simple life. On days I’m home (which is all summer long), I get up early, I’m at the computer by 7am usually, and I sit there — apart from tea breaks and a banana at 10:30am and lunch for 15 minutes at noon or so — until about 4pm, at which time my Bichon Frise bugs me to go the refrig and give him four carrots cut in half. Then I make our salads for dinner, turn on CNN or FoxNews (depending on whether I want to get into a fight or not), and wait for Kris to get home. During that time I read a chp or two in a book that I’ll blog about, unless I’m game for making a kind of dinner that makes me work — like Ligurian pesto — and if that happens I don’t read.
(On days I teach, I get home between 4 and 6pm and slip right into the rest of this schedule.)
Then Kris comes home, we eat our salads, put on our walking shoes, and walk around the lake. Then I make dinner and we eat together. Then we say our evening prayers. And, that Jordon, is it: the rest of the night we chat, and take the dog outside, and I read and I check the e-mails and read some blogs, and then I go to bed about 11pm and get up to do it all over again.
I’ve been asked this enough that I should say something in my defense. I wrote very little when I began my career and one of my colleagues wondered aloud to me if I was squandering my time coaching my son’s basketball and baseball teams, but I really did work hard those years and built notebooks of information and I have been using that stuff ever since.
Then when I got to NPU it just all started pouring out of me, but I was still writing like a schmuck with a thick pen and lots of footnotes. The most readable I could make things was Turning to Jesus, and that wasn’t good enough in my opinion. So, I started working harder at learning to write in such a way that I was clear and fun and readable.
One day my colleague, Sonia Bodi, suggested I read Joseph Epstein, and I read in three months eight or nine of his books. My life changed. I found “my form” — the familiar essay. That discovery gave me a “voice.” (I’m telling you something pretty personal here, because this is what really happened to me and it changed how I write.) For 18 months, during which time I didn’t write all that much, I read volumes and volumes of essayists, and it taught me that if you want to write well, read good writers.
Now I also have to admit that most of you wouldn’t even know who I am had not Bob Smietana, the fine editor at Covenant Companion, urged me to start a blog. The blog gives me the opportunity to indulge my “scribbler’s itch.” I like to write, and this lets me write out thoughts without having to write a long article, find all the scholarly literature, and document it all with footnotes. I toss ideas out on the waves and see if they float, sink, or come back.
Perhaps this is obvious: this isn’t work for me. This is fun, and I’m grateful to get to do what I like.
On top of all this, I have a wonderful wife who encourages me to do this blog (she’s got ideas for me all the time but I can’t convince her to write posts herself) and who prefers the kind of quiet life I also prefer. So, she creates tranquility in the home. (Our kids are married and out of the house, except this week. Luke and Annika are here with their two dogs.)
Jordon, there’s one of me, but I’ll admit it is a simple, simple, simple life I lead.

Writing & Blogging

Previous Post

July 26, 2006

The Case for Liberal Evangelicals 2

Next Post

July 27, 2006 The Spirit is Life

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who led the Israelites into the Promised Land?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Moses Joshua Caleb Aaron