Sunday, December 14. 2008
Thanks to our pal Dr. Bob for finding this. Apparently Edward Feser and Heather (who we also like very much) have been having an exciting correspondence about religion and politics. Feser more or less begins thus: The source of my dispute with you is the criticism that you (like Kathleen Parker and others) have been making of religion – not of this or that kind of religion, and not of this or that individual religious believer, but of religion per se – to the effect that it is irrational, and that this irrationality has something to do with its purported lack of scientific grounding.
Read the whole thing (link above).
 God and Evolution, by Avery Cardinal Dulles in First Things (h/t, View from 1776). One quote:
Science can cast a brilliant light on the processes of nature and can vastly increase human power over the environment. Rightly used, it can notably improve the conditions of life here on earth. Future scientific discoveries about evolution will presumably enrich religion and theology, since God reveals himself through the book of nature as well as through redemptive history. Science, however, performs a disservice when it claims to be the only valid form of knowledge, displacing the aesthetic, the interpersonal, the philosophical, and the religious.
My experience has been that scientists and mathematicians tend to be humble about their ability to find ultimate Truths. It's non-scientists and those without scientific education who seem more likely to view science as a potential embodiment of Truth rather than as a collection of methods, data and theories - all of which change over time. As I see it, Evolutionary Theory has little or nothing to do with the life of the Spirit. I am reminded of this survey which found that most doctors are believers.
Galatians 5:15-26 (NIV) 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Paul's letter to the argumentative and self-righteous Galatian Christians was my mens' group study on Friday. "Resist the flesh by nailing it to the cross," says Martin Luther on this passage. Hmmm. Right now? A comment at Bible Gateway says this about Galatians: Moral failure in the church should not be a surprise, nor should it be considered fatal to the life of the church. What is important is the church's response when such failure occurs. The church may respond with harsh condemnation under the law. That response will crush the sinner and divide the church. That seems to have been what was happening in the churches in Galatia. The zealots for the law were merciless to sinners. But Paul wants to show that the occasion of sin is the opportunity for Spirit-led people to display the fruit of the Spirit in order to bring healing to the sinner and unity in the church.
and this: In order to bring healing to the sinner, we must have a compassionate view of the one who has sinned. Paul does not define the kind of sin, but he does describe the consequence of sin. He views the sinner as one who is caught in a sin. When a person sins, other people are hurt; other people are victims of that sin. But we must remember that sinners themselves are also in some sense victims of sin. Abusers have also been abused. They have been overtaken, ambushed and seized by sin. Paul is not excusing the sinner of personal responsibility. But he is recognizing the terrible captivating force of sin. Just as Jesus said, "Everyone who sins is a slave to sin" (Jn 8:34), so now Paul says that the one who sins is trapped by sin. When we view moral offenders as those who are enslaved and entrapped, we have a compassionate attitude toward them. We will want to help them break the bondage of sin over their life.
Friday, December 12. 2008
THE BELL
I KNOW WHO I AM
I am God's child (John 1:12)
I am Christ's friend (John 15:15 )
I am united with the Lord (1 Cor. 6:17)
I am bought with a price (1 Cor 6:19-20)
I am a saint (set apart for God). (Eph. 1:1)
I am a personal witness of Christ. (Acts 1:8)
I am the salt & light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14)
I am a member of the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27)
I am free forever from condemnation ( Rom. 8: 1-2)
I am a citizen of Heaven. I am significant (Phil 3:20)
I am free from any charge against me (Rom. 8:31 -34)
I am a minister of reconciliation for God (2 Cor 5:17-21)
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18)
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6)
I cannot be separated from the love of God (Rom 8:35-39)
I am established, anointed, sealed by God (2 Cor 1:21-22 )
I am assured all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28 )
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit (John 15:16 )
I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Eph. 3: 12 )
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13)
I am the branch of the true vine, a channel of His life (John 15: 1-5)
I am God's temple (1 Cor. 3: 16). I am complete in Christ (Col. 2: 10)
I am hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). I have been justified (Romans 5:1)
I am God's co-worker (1 Cor. 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1). I am God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
I am confident that the good works God has begun in me will be perfected. (Phil. 1: 50I have been redeemed and forgiven ( Col 1:14). I have been adopted as God's child (Eph 1:5) I belong to God
Sunday, December 7. 2008
 How Orson Bean found God: Powerline
The Coming of Love: Anchoress
Tuesday, December 2. 2008
Friday, November 28. 2008
Thursday, November 27. 2008
Thursday, November 13. 2008
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." That's the powerfully poetic way John's Gospel begins, echoing Genesis. (I am fairly certain I awoke this morning with those lines from John 1:1 in my head because I had been thinking, in my amateurish way, about Bird Dog's post on Monday about Important things that don't exist, virtual reality, and the power of abstract nouns.) We do not know who this "John" was, or whether the prologue (which scholars believe to be an early Christian hymn) was added some time after the Gospel was written around 90 AD. It's probably the most powerful beginning of anything in the Bible (after Genesis.) The NAD has the first verses thus:  1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be 4 through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; 5 the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 A man named John was sent from God. 7 He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him. 12 But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, 13 who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man's decision but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father's only Son, full of grace and truth.
John draws a parallel between Christ's relationship to God (God in a human form) to Creation itself (God's idea, made real and tangible). In doing so, he uses the untranslatable Greek term "logos," which we translated in English to the humdrum "word." While being no student of epistemology, it was clear to me that the author was introducing a note of Platonic Idealism (the basis of all modern mathematics, and lots of other stuff too) to the early followers of Christ. (Here's the Wiki on Christ the Logos.) "Logos" aside, whenever I wonder what words are all about I tend to go back to Roger Brown's classic Words and Things. Epistemolologic altitudes just make a practical fellow like me dizzily short on oxygen in the same way that contemplating the cosmos does: it makes me want to split some firewood, practice my drives, clean out some stalls, or have a Scotch. Well, I will leave Logos and Platonic Idealism to the experts and scholars and our better-informed commenters. My preferred image of Christ is William Holman Hunt's "The Light of the World," (image) where I have seen it hanging in St. Paul's Cathedral right down from Bread Street (where John Milton grew up, and where the Mermaid Tavern used to be). That image of the offer of illumination, with Christ knocking at the cottage door, works best for me. As does Psalm 131, David's song of ascent to prayer: 1 My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
Monday, November 10. 2008
 Mankiw and ghosts.
Indeed, ideas do not "exist," nor does wealth, no does the "mind," nor do emotions, nor does math. How much of our lives are driven by nouns that do not exist in any material way? Plato discovered Virtual Reality, and the epistemological message for today is that we all live in a mostly invisible Virtual Reality. It's no wonder we're all half-insane because our minds mess us up, and thus it's no wonder we love things we can touch like wood, metal, books, pretty girls (or boys, as the case may be), and plants. Still, invisible things are often the most important and powerful. Like God. Photo: A Theo gal. She exists materially, but whether you can touch her or not is another subject. That's up to her.
Continue reading "Important things that don't "exist""
Wednesday, November 5. 2008
A quote from an essay on forgiveness in literature, Why Mephistopheles had to work overtime, by Michael Dirda: Perhaps the most striking musical expression of forgiveness occurs in Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro. Caught pursuing a servant girl, Count Almaviva pleads for forgiveness for his duplicity and attempted infidelity. The countess, in a supreme moment of charity, grants him his tearful wish, even as she half-knows that he’s sure to betray her again. Mozart’s music at this point shifts its whole tonal character, and immediately achieves a kind of hushed holiness. It’s just breathtaking when heard. Similarly, Leonard Bernstein’s music to Candide concludes with a general forgiveness of sins and injuries. In a beautiful last chorus all the characters admit that they have been “neither pure, nor wise, nor good.” But from now, “We’ll do the best we know. We’ll build our house and chop our wood. And make our garden grow.”
Read the whole thing. I forgive because I constantly need forgiveness - even though holding grudges is much more fun. However, I never forget. Here's "Contessa, perdono:"
Sunday, November 2. 2008
Eternal Father, the hymn associated with both the Royal Navy and the US Navy, and sailors and boatmen everywhere. The Brits might not be believers anymore, but they sure know how to do choirs. Words here. (Thanks, Theo):
Sunday, October 19. 2008
Matthew 22:1-14 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, | 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, | 22:3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. | 22:4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. | 22:5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: | 22:6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. | 22:7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. | 22:8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. | 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. | 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. | 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: | 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. | 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. | 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen. |
Sunday, October 12. 2008
This is where our Gwynnie will be waking this morning, far from any internet connectivity but where the Manitoba heavens declare the glory of God and where the ducks and geese are (sometimes) abundant (and Ruffed Grouse too and, in good years, Sharp-Tailed Grouse). This year, all of the duck boats have new quiet Yamaha engines, which is a good thing, because I had to row 5 miles last time I was there when the old Johnson died. Not that I really mind rowing, but rowing into a wind and current tests one's perseverence. Not that such tests of character are not good things, either... I should be there too, but I'm not. He promised a photo gallery when he returns. He brought his new camera with him. 
Psalm 19: A Psalm of David | 1 | The heavens declare the glory of God;| | | and the firmament showeth his handiwork. |
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| | 2 | Day unto day uttereth speech,| | | and night unto night showeth knowledge. |
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| | 3 | There is no speech nor language,| | | where their voice is not heard. |
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| | 4 | Their line is gone out through all the earth,| | | and their words to the end of the world. | | In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, |
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| | 5 | which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,| | | and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. |
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| | 6 | His going forth is from the end of the heaven,| | | and his circuit unto the ends of it: | | and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. |
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| | 7 | The law of the LORD is perfect,| | | converting the soul: | | the testimony of the LORD is sure, | | making wise the simple. |
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| | 8 | The statutes of the LORD are right,| | | rejoicing the heart: | | the commandment of the LORD is pure, | | enlightening the eyes. |
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| | 9 | The fear of the LORD is clean,| | | enduring for ever: | | the judgments of the LORD are true | | and righteous altogether. |
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| | 10 | More to be desired are they than gold,| | | yea, than much fine gold: | | sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. |
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| | 11 | Moreover by them is thy servant warned:| | | and in keeping of them there is great reward. |
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| | 12 | Who can understand his errors?| | | Cleanse thou me from secret faults. |
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| | 13 | Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;| | | let them not have dominion over me: | | then shall I be upright, | | and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. |
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| | 14 | Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,| | | be acceptable in thy sight, | | O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. |
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Saturday, October 11. 2008
Dalrymple discusses "False Apology Syndrome." He views it as "moral exhibitionism." Norm begs to differ, says that social collectivities themselves have moral responsibilities. Is an apology a request for forgiveness? Or is it just good manners? SC&A wonders whether the world needs more hate and less forgiveness and "tolerance." The above are all reactions to essays in the periodical In Character, in their Forgiveness issue.
Thursday, October 9. 2008
Dr. Bob has some quotes from the hip pomo writer David Foster Wallace, who commtted suicide in September. Here's one: In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already — it’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up-front in daily consciousness. Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. And so on.
Saturday, October 4. 2008
Why humans are unable to imagine death: Scientific American. But we do imagine it, don't we? Or try? The Mayans viewed it as floating on a foggy ocean, and I like that image. We Christians have no clear image of Paradise, other than being "with" God - whatever that means.
Sunday, September 28. 2008
Matthew 21:23-32 23When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 28“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
Friday, September 26. 2008
Jim Manzil at NRO writes, about Weinberg's Without God in the NY Review of Books: Steven Weinberg (Nobelist in physics) says this in the recent essay “Without God” in the New York Review of Books: [T]he worldview of science is rather chilling. Not only do we not find any point to life laid out for us in nature, no objective basis for our moral principles, no correspondence between what we think is the moral law and the laws of nature, of the sort imagined by philosophers from Anaximander and Plato to Emerson. We even learn that the emotions that we most treasure, our love for our wives and husbands and children, are made possible by chemical processes in our brains that are what they are as a result of natural selection acting on chance mutations over millions of years. And yet we must not sink into nihilism or stifle our emotions.
Really – why not?
Indeed, the materialistic, "scientific," and utilitarian views of life are cold as ice. But real scientists aren't cold. They are as emotional and "spiritual" as everybody else.
From Grow A Brain: Have you heard the one about the actress who was late for an audition? She’s driving around and around and there is no parking anywhere. She says aloud, “Dear all powerful and merciful God please find me a place to park - I’ll do anything for you.” As she finishes praying, a space opens up and she says, “Never mind - I found one."
Sunday, September 21. 2008
Matthew 9: 9-13 | 9 | And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. | | 10 | And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. | | 11 | And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? | | 12 | But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. | | 13 | But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. |
Sunday, September 14. 2008
Tom Brewton directed us to a new piece by Richard Neuhaus in First Things, A New Order of Religious Freedom. It's about religion and politics. One quote: More than he wanted to be remembered for having been president, Mr. Jefferson wanted to be remembered as the author of the Virginia “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.” In the text of the bill he underlined this sentence: “The opinions of men are not the object of civil government, nor under its jurisdiction.” In a republic of free citizens, every opinion, every prejudice, every aspiration, every moral argument has access to the public square in which we deliberate the ordering of our life together.
Another: In a democracy that is free and robust, an opinion is no more disqualified for being religious than for being atheistic, or psychoanalytic, or Marxist, or just plain dumb. There is, or at least there ought to be, no legal or constitutional question about the admission of religion to the public square; there is only a question about the free and equal participation of citizens in our public business. Religion is not a reified thing that threatens to intrude upon our common life. Religion in public is but the public opinion of those citizens who appeal to religion in public.
18:21 Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" 18:22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 18:23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 18:24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 18:25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 18:26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 18:27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 18:28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.' 18:29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 18:30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 18:31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 18:32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 18:33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' 18:34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 18:35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."
Friday, September 12. 2008
Overcoming Bias, in a discussion of science and the supernatural, quotes Richard Carrier's definition: A "supernatural" explanation appeals to ontologically basic mental things, mental entities that cannot be reduced to nonmental entities.
Doesn't most of our lives consist of ontologically basic mental things: wishes, fantasies, thoughts, dreams, emotions, ideas?
Sunday, September 7. 2008
Fun with metaphysics. It's always easy to forget that "no absolutes" is an absolute itself. Dr. Bob.
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