the singularity of being and nothingness
existdissolve
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Posts by existdissolve
On Materialist Conceptions of Origins, with Considerations of Human Language
Dec 3rd
About 2 weeks ago, while checking out the portfolio of a random web design firm, I ran across the website of an organization that was offering a free DVD which they claimed provided â??proofâ?? that evolution is wrong and that creationism is right. Unable to resist, I quickly surrendered my email and mailing address, and within 2 weeks (wow, what service!) I received my free DVD. Brimming over with excitement, I quickly abandoned my evening with family and popped it in the DVD player. I cranked the speakers to 11, grabbed a stiff glass of Diet Coke (on the rocks), and curled into my oversized leather couch, my eyes and ears prepared for outstanding revelations.
It turned out, to my immediate dismay, that this DVD was of a lecture series delivered by Kent Hovind, better known as â??Dr. Dino.â?? For those who are familiar with Hovindâ??s â??arguments,â?? I need say little more. For those who are unfamiliar, imagine arguing with someone whose main line of debate is mischaracterizations, over-generalizations, and deflection through cheesy jokes, insults, and terrible clip-art-ridden power-point shows. Enough said.
As I watched and listened to the 129 minutes of Mr. Hovindâ??s lecture, some things became immediately clear:
1.) He offered More >
Human Language and the Divine
Aug 10th
Over the last several monthsand especially within the last few daysI have been involved in numerous conversations about the nature and function of human language in describing God. What follows is not meant to be a fully-developed essay, but is rather intended to be somewhat of a summary of the lines of thinking I have pursued and the very tentative conclusions which I have reached.
Obviously, one of the most prescient issues is to what extent one can affirm that human language is capable of literally expressing and/or encapsulating truth about the nature of God. The initial, and I believe correct, answer is that human language is insufficient to do this. After all, we are speaking about a finite medium (human language) through which we attempt to speak about that which is infinite. To use a material example, such would be like the proverbial two-dimensional Flatlander attempting to shake the hand of the three-dimensional invader of the two-dimensional plane. While the Flatlander may be able to intersect a two-dimensional cross-section of the three-dimensional visitor, the Flatlander will be, by virtue of his difference, incapable of fully engaging or encapsulating the reality of his new higher-dimensional friend. In a similar and More >
God of the Feminine - Reflections on Genesis 1:26-27
Aug 3rd
As I have been studying the numerous connections between the structures and themes within the Hebrew Scriptures and other ancient Near Eastern literature, I have been particularly drawn towards the correlations between the respective creation stories. Although the Genesis text is by far the most popular creation text, there are numerous others that share very similar features that presumably influenced the final form of the Genesis text. One interesting feature of the creation-epic literature of the ancient Near East is the dual role of masculine and feminine divine figures in the act of creation. In numerous stories, gendered gods and goddesses are utilized to describe the unique way in which the creation came to be.
As I have been reflecting upon the significance of the identification of the masculine and feminine in the ANE creation stories, an interesting thought occurred to me: perhaps this male/female connection exists within the biblical text as well. The primary candidate for such a consideration, I believe, is Genesis 1:26-27:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the More >
More Correlations Between the Hebrew Scriptures and Ancient Near-Eastern Literature
Jul 20th
Continuing in my research concerning the parallels between Hebrew and other ancient Near Eastern writing, I would like to share some additional interesting correlations in some of the texts. In the following, I have quoted, at length, the various texts under considerations. At the end of each section is a concluding discussion about similarities. I would point the reader in the direction of these if they do not wish to read the cited texts at length.
The Birth of Moses and The Sargon Legend:
The Birth of Moses
Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi. The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him. The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw More >
The Influence of Ancient Egyptian Literature upon the Biblical Story of Joseph
Jul 10th
In my continuing study of the similarities between the Hebrew Scriptures and contemporaneous (and, in this case, pre-dating) ancient Near Eastern literature, I came across these two Egyptian tales. They are significant in length. However, take a few minutes to read them, and keep the biblical account of Joseph in mind… The Tale of Sinuhe I was a henchman who followed his lord, a servant of the Royal harim attending on the hereditary princess, the highly-praised Royal Consort of Sesostris in the pyramid-town of Khnem-esut, the Royal Daughter of Amenemmes in the Pyramid-town of Ka-nofru, even Nofru, the revered. In year 30, third month of Inundation, day 7, the god attained his horizon, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt Sehetepebre. He flew to heaven and was united with the sun’s disk; the flesh of the god was merged in him, who made him. Then was the Residence hushed; hearts were filled with mourning; the Great Portals were closed; the courtiers crouched head on lap; the people grieved. Now His Majesty had despatched an army to the land of the Temhi, and his eldest son was the captain thereof, the good god Sesostris. Even now he was returning, having carried More >
Reconstructing Justification by Faith
Jul 6th
In my previous post, I engaged the seminal texts which provide the backbone for the Prostestant conception of justification by faith, deconstructing the false notion that the works of the law to which Paul frequently referred are equivalent with action, unconditionally. Furthermore, I outlined how Pauls discussion of the works of the law is utilized as a polemic against the Judaizers of Pauls day who believed that justification was exclusivistically attained through identification with Jewish cultural and religious identification. Against these assertions, Paul argues that justification is not based upon becoming a Jew, but is rather located in identification with Christ through faith. As I have advocated, Paul does not, in his polemic against works of the law, mean to advocate that what one does (action) is immaterial to justification. Quite to the contrary, we will see that Paul understands act and attitude to be inseparably linked to one another and indelibly necessary to justification.
In Romans 3, Paul has completed his tour de force against the Judaizers, definitively eschewing the belief that justification with God is found through the Jewish system. To illustrate the alternative which he proposes (justification by faith), Paul conjures the example of Abraham:
1 What More >
Works=Actions…Or Do They?
Jun 26th
Over the last few days, I have been engaged in some rather lengthy and in-depth discussions of the concept of justification-by-faith with others, especially those from the Reformed tradition. As I have discussed this concept, I have come to the conclusion that the common conception of justification-by-faith, apart from works is a loaded and incorrect concept. In the following, I shall outline the objections which I have to this theology.
Per the standard explanation of justification-by-faith, humans are justified when they place their faith in Christ, hence justification by faith. As sinful humans cannot even be looked upon by a holy God, there must be a way by which humans are somehow changed from sinful to holy, from rejected to accepted of God. The doctrine of justification by faith advocates that this occurs through an imputation of righteousness. In this imputation, the righteousness of Christ, the only perfect human, is placed over or imputed to the one who has faith. Because of this imputation, God is now able to look down upon the sinner (who is still a sinner, BTW). However, instead of seeing sin, filth and wretchedness, God sees only the righteousness of Christ which literally clothes the one More >
Sumerian Kings' Lists and Genesis 5 - Part Deux
Jun 15th
My first post concerning this issue raised a lot of questions and spurred a lot of dialogue. Regardless of whether or not a consensus has been achieved amongst those who supported my opinions and those who did not, it did serve to create conversation, raise more questions, and better articulate and outline the salient issues that are involved in the act of interpretation. I believe this dialogue is important, especially in relation to texts that are shrouded in contexts which we will never be able to fully penetrate. Hopefully, this second post can move the conversation to other possibilities for thinking and reflection as well.
As I have continued to study this issue, I have come across some interesting information. For example, consider the following data set:
Name /Age When Son Born / Remaining Years / Total Years ——————————————————————— 1. Adam / 130 / 800 / 930 2. Seth / 105 / 807 / 912 3. Enosh / 90 / 815 / 905 4. Kenan / 70 / 840 / 910 5. Mahalalel / 65 / 830 / 895 6. Jared / 162 / 800 / 962 7. Enoch / 65 / 300 / 365 8. Methuselah / 187 / More >
Sumerian Kings' Lists and Genesis 5
Jun 12th
For one of my classes this summer, I am reading Kenton L. Sparks Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible in which Sparks meticulously draws comparisons and outlines the relationships between the content, form and structure of the Hebrew Scriptures with other texts from periods and people groups predating, consonant with and following the potential dates of authorship of the various biblical texts. While I am barely into this text so far, I have come across some very interesting information. For example, remember the genealogy of Genesis 5? In this section of Genesis, 10 persons, from Adam to Noah, are outlined, including their respective lengths of life. As Sparks points out, the genealogy in Genesis 5 is oddly out of place in Mesopotamian literature of the time, for the genealogies of other peoples did not include time frames. Rather, they were simply genealogies that outlined the descendency of families and tribes. However, and interestingly, there was a genre of literature that did include chronological information king lists. For example, consider the following Mesopotamian/Sumerian kings list: Name Length of Reign 1. Alulim————-28,000 2. Alagar————-36,000 3. EnmenluAnna—-43,200 4. EnmengalAnna—-28,800 5. Dumuzi————36,000 6. EnsipaziAnna——28,800 7. Enmeduranki—21,000 8. Ubar-Tutu——-18,600 Obviously, as compared to More >
Universal Reconciliation and the Deconstruction of Personhood
Jun 6th
One of the scandals of religion is that of exclusivity, the belief that the adherents of the particular religion will receive “X” benefits and those who don’t…will not. In reaction to these claims of exclusivity, there are many who attempt to equalize the playing field, so to speak. These advocate that if there is God who rewards humans with “X,” then all humans, without qualification, will receive “X” unconditionally.
There is one level, of course, on which this idea (i.e., universal reconciliation) is an appealing concept. After all, it is difficult to imagine eternal separation from reconciled life with God. As callous as we humans can oftentimes be towards others, there is something innately disturbing about the idea of another person existing in dysfunctional relationship with God for all of eternity. Such reflections quickly lead to sentimentalized conceptions of eternity in which all, unequivocally, are reconciled to God and others.
Unfortunately, the sentiments of universal reconciliation disastrously ignore the issues that lie at the heart of the meaning of reconciliation and forgiveness. In reality, such a move co-opts the crises of reconciliation and forgiveness, replacing them with the opiate of universalism. However, this anaesthetizing of the severe consequences of relationship and its potential dysfunctions More >
