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The Bullying Consensus
Read more: The Bullying ConsensusIn a democratic society there is no greater or more powerful argument for a position than that it is the majority view. Majority positions are not just descriptive of a particular group, but go even further by implementing that position in a concrete way. In this way, we might say that the majority has the…
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“Appreciating” Art
Read more: “Appreciating” ArtIf you are like me and spend too much browsing around on the internet, you have probably run into this video: It’s quite entertaining because even though its ridiculous its not quite clear that this guy isn’t serious. If it wasn’t for the clips edited in on the end it could very well be confused for an…
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Why I don’t Believe in the “Rapture”
Read more: Why I don’t Believe in the “Rapture”I should admit from the outset that my own convictions concerning end-times events is pretty unformed. That being said, I have become unconvinced that what has become known as “the Rapture” is actually found in the Bible, at least in the way that I was taught growing up. In other words, I don’t believe that…
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Where is America in End Times Prophecy?
Read more: Where is America in End Times Prophecy?A very interesting article floated its way through my Facebook newsfeed this week in which Greg Laurie offers his thoughts on why the United States “the one nation that is strangely absent [from the End Times scenario] is the United States of America.” More specifically, it seems that Laurie is puzzled that it is not…
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Collapsing into Detail
Read more: Collapsing into DetailI think about problems spatially. I often find myself producing graphs or diagrams or drawings that, in my mind, make everything perfectly clear only to show them to someone else and be shocked by their confusion. Even abstractions get turned into pictures for me. This is especially true of the work I am now doing as…
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What is Forgiveness?
Read more: What is Forgiveness?In a couple of weeks I will be giving a short sermon on the subject of forgiveness. I knew from the outset that this was not a “safe” topic for me. Forgiveness does not come easy for me, especially in the places that it really matters, that is, in the places where the perceived wrongs…
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Is there such a thing as “the wrong side of history”?
Read more: Is there such a thing as “the wrong side of history”?This week as I was perusing my Facebook news-feed the following quote surfaced: “Humans motivated by lofty ideals are capable of inflicting great suffering with a clear conscience.” – Paul Hollander The concept intrigued me, but I was immediately curious about the original object of Hollander’s critique. Is he interested in the effects of “lofty ideals” as…
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Tradition, Scripture, History
Read more: Tradition, Scripture, HistoryAs a good Protestant I was always taught to be grateful for, but suspicious of the first, fiercely devoted to the second, and un-threatened by the third. When Tradition is found wanting it can be remolded; it is malleable where the other two are not. Scripture is cast in stone. It does not change and…
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Scholarship and Certainty
Read more: Scholarship and Certainty“At this point the reader who desires to follow us is expressly begged to discard, as far as he possibly can, any conceptions he may have formed of Pauline doctrine. Among all the innumerable Christians of the various churches, who believe that they share Paul’s views, there is to-day no single one who could be…
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The Problem with Using Hypothetical Situations to Form Actual Beliefs
Read more: The Problem with Using Hypothetical Situations to Form Actual BeliefsAnyone who has spent significant time in Christian circles has either heard or pondered the problem of the un-evangelized individual. The problem is usually phrased as a question: What happens, hypothetically, to someone who dies without ever hearing about Jesus Christ? There is a story behind this question: An all good, all loving, all powerful…