the singularity of being and nothingness
Archive for June, 2007
Why I Do Not Kill Spiders Anymore
Jun 17th
The other day I was engaged in the obligatory yard and outside-ish work associated with owning a home and hoping to eek some little bit of equity out of it in the face of the currently murderous housing market (grr…). While I was brushing away some dead leaves by the door step, I uncovered a horrifically and unnaturally large, brown spider. While you imagine my freakishly girlish screams that accompanied this discovery, let me give some back story.
I hate spiders. Well, more appropriately, I hate them because I am afraid of them. All 190 pounds of me (yes, I know…) is scared of a less than 1 ounce creature that probably does not have the fortitude of fang to pierce my flesh to a meaningful depth. In the past, my normal reaction (after the aforementioned screaming, of course) has been to hurtle the spider in question toward no uncertain oblivion, first in the black-hole crushing weight inside of 20-ply paper towels (hey, it's a big spider!) between my fingers, then down the toilet to a final, watery doom. The incredible speed with which I execute divine fury against these creatures is only matched by the absolute terror which grips More >
Yet Another Reason Calvinism is Certain to Die
Jun 17th
Deviant Monk has recently posted an incredibly cogent discussion of the relationship of divine and human wills, connecting the conclusions to considerations of the meaningfulness of human will in light of the Incarnation. In this post, DM deconstructs the all-too-familiar strawman argument of Reformed thinking in relation to the "inability" of the human will.
This post confirms, in my mind, the assertion that the best way to overcome the Calvinistic argument is not to bother with arguments about Scripture (which, in Tertullian's words, will only lead to "headaches and stomachaches"). Rather, as Calvinism and its interpretation of Scripture are built upon some pretty absurd philosophical categories, the best way to kill Calvinism is to call the categories themselves into question, showing them to be entirely vacuous and untenable in the face of meaningful and consistent philosophical dialogue.
Also, it pisses off the Calvinists pretty good, which counts for at least 15 bonus points.
Share this: The Closing of the Evangelical Mind
Jun 17th
Let's just be completely perspicuous: evangelicalism is doomed.
It's leaders sense it. It's adherents feel it, uneasily. Everyone looking at it from the outside fully acknowledges it.
The most pitiable fact, however, is that evangelical's fatal wound is entirely self-inflicted. It's arsenic? Sola Scripura.
Why, the inquisitive reader may ask, is sola Scripture so deadly? The answer is quite simple, yet quite terrifying.
Sola Scriptura, in its simplest and most consistent form, is a presupposition that the Christian Scriptures are not only sufficient for determining divine truth, but moreover that they are exclusively privy to this role. Therefore, any other potential sources of authority–such as Christian tradition, historical theology, and even the creeds and councils of the ecumenical Church–while potentially useful in "expounding on the truth already present sufficiently in Scripture," are fundamentlly adiaphora–unessential to faith, right belief, and Christian praxis.
Obviously, one might question why this is a problem. After all, the Scriptures are obviously a crucial and irreplacable source of authority within the life of the Church. Should they not be given the primal and exclusive place of authority? The answer will depend upon how much one cares about the survival of the Christian Church.
Historically, the ecumenical church did not hold More >
No. 1 Pagan Representin'
Jun 17th
As regular readers of this blog are aware, I am no stranger to controversy. Many of the theological stances that I take are, shall we say, out of the mainstream of evangelical thought (although it must be noted that I have been heavily commented elsewhere by those committed to Catholic and Orthodox theology).
The consequence of these stances has been severe criticism from some of my detractors. While most are civil enough to disagree with me strongly, there are others who are quick to call into question my orthodoxy (which, interestingly enough, they do not ever actually show where my theology is astray of ecumenical orthodoxy…), my intentions, and even my salvation.
I have been called a heretic, an apostate, a gnostic, a "sophist," a Romanist, an existentialist, a post-modernist, etc. However, the other day I received probably the biggest "compliment"–a particularly fiery blogger labeled me "No. 1 Pagan."
Most would avoid this label, but I have decided to wear it with pride. To reinforce this, I was recently privileged to be award Deviant Monk's "Notable Pagan" award. DM describes the purpose of the award as follows:
The "Notable Pagan" award is given to those bloggers who are labeled "pagan", "heretic", or "blasphemer" by More >
Why Can't Creationists Be More Like Augustine…?
Jun 17th
When, then, the question is asked what we are to believe in regard to religion, it is not necessary to probe into the nature of things, as was done by those whom the Greeks call physici; nor need we be in alarm lest the Christian should be ignorant of the force and number of the elements,–the motion, and order, and eclipses of the heavenly bodies; the form of the heavens; the species and the natures of animals, plants, stones, fountains, rivers, mountains; about chronology and distances; the signs of coming storms; and a thousand other things which those philosophers either have found out, or think they have found out. For even these men themselves, endowed though they are with so much genius, burning with zeal, abounding in leisure, tracking some things by the aid of human conjecture, searching into others with the aids of history and experience, have not found out all things; and even their boasted discoveries are oftener mere guesses than certain knowledge. It is enough for the Christian to believe that the only cause of all created things, whether heavenly or earthly, whether visible or invisible, is the goodness of the Creator the one true God; and More >
The Meaning of Resurrection
Jun 17th
In the incarnation, the Son of God became one with human beings–with Adam. But only at this moment, when he accomplishes the supreme act of love by descending into the night of death, does he bring the journey of the incarnation to its completion. By his death he now clasps the hand of Adam, of every man and woman who awaits him, and brings them to the light. — Benedict XVI, Easter Vigil 2007
Is the not the resurrection–as the completion and pinnacle of Incarnation–what Easter is all about? In Christ, the uncreated God has become created that the beloved creation might be rescued from its shackles of sinfulness and self-destruction. Though we had, in our lust for violence and false-power, distorted and sought to destroy any remnants of the deity within us, the Creator did not forget us, nor did the love of God leave us to spiral into oblivion and non-being. Rather, in the supreme act of the immance of love, God has come to dwell with us that we–though poor, wretched and full of violence and hate–might be restored in the image of divinity. In the immortal words of the blessed St. Athanasius, the reality of Incarnation is that More >
Good Friday?
Jun 17th
The words, "Good Friday" seem like somewhat of a misnomer. What is good, after all, about the brutal execution of Jesus of Nazareth? In a world in which violence dominates all media and suffuses the understanding which we have of our world, how can there be anything "good" about what this day commemorates? Do we really need yet another violent and brutal image to add to our violence-overloaded modern lives?
In a very real sense, there is nothing "good" about this day. This day marks the apex of human sinfulness, when the full fury of humanity's enmity toward God was poured out on Christ. This day reveals the incredible juxtaposition of divine love and human hatred. In the incarnation, God comes to God's people with mercy, forgiveness and salvation, holding out the hope of reconciliation, restoration and recreation.
But this day also reveals the depths of the privation of good to in which humanity perpetually devolves, as its response to the immanence of love divine is brutality and violence infinitized, the virulence of the history of human hatred quantified in the execution of very God.
So then, there is nothing inherently "good" about what happened to Jesus some 2000 years More >
When Traveling Through Time, Don't Forget Yourself
Jun 17th
As anyone who reads this blog with any regularity (in spite of the inexcusable irregularity of my posts..) will know, I love subjects like cosmology, physics, quantum mechanics, etc. While I do not profess to have a working knowledge of any of these subjects (I really, really suck at math–there goes my dream of being a famous quantum physicist), I have read a fair amount of literature concerning them and have spent considerable time contemplating the relationship of discoveries in cosmology and physics to the task and meaning of theology.
This post is not about that kind of contemplation.
Rather, I really just want to talk about the issues that would, in my understanding, make time-travel incredibly difficult to conceive, much less actuate. Random, huh?
The classic conundrum of speculations about time-travel has been exhausted in literature, art, film, music, etc. Probably the most famous example is the movie Back to the Future. In this movie, Marty McFly is hurtled 30 years in the past while attempting to escape from terrorists (perhaps this could be a new Bush Administration policy). While still trying to understand what has occurred, Marty accidentally interferes with the first meeting of his then-teenage parents. Made to More >
Sin as Privation – Brief Conclusion
Jun 17th
In my previous post, I briefly discussed reasons why Christian theology must necessarily affirm the ontological non-existence of sin. I concluded that if sin is assigned a substantival nature; and if God is to be spoken of as source and sustainer of all that has existence; then one must unavoidably conclude that God has not only willed–per the good pleasure and desire of the divine will–the existence of evil, but has moreover been disingenuous in either calling creation "good", or condemning sin as something damnable and other than good.
As part of this conclusion, I noted that one of the major benefits that can be seen to accrue is that one circumvents, in a philosophically honest manner, the quagmire of the relation of the divinity to sin. As was shown, if sin lacks ontological existence, it is no bit of philosophical gymnastics to affirm that God has not created sin, for how can it be said that God created that which lacks existence? Therefore, by speaking of sin not as a "thing," but rather as privation of good, it is possible to not only deny the primal origin of sin in the Godhead (which is ultimately necessitated if sin has a More >
The Most Epic Concert Poster Ever!!!
Jun 17th
This is quite simply the most epic concert poster I have ever seen…thanks Jared!
BTW, I really am playing on March 9th (8:00 pm) at Solomon’s Porch in Wilmore, KY. If you consider me a friend, you will be in attendance. I’m just saying…
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