Just wanted to call your attention to some of the excellent comments on these two posts. I haven’t had time to respond to all of them, but I’m really glad to get comments of such caliber here. (Of course, the post on booze has generated more comments than either of them.)
Also, see this discussion in two parts at Three Hierarchies.
Plus, here’s an interesting article by Robert John Russell I discovered at the Center for Theological Inquiry website that deals with some of these issues, but with an emphasis on eschatology.
A Thinking Reed 