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the singularity of being and nothingness
A Study Bible to End All Study Bibles
Jun 17th
This may have been out for a while, but I recently ran across it: "The New Defender's Study Bible: Understanding the Critical Issues of Faith from a Literal Creationist Viewpoint".
My initial reaction was laughter at such absurdity. After all, here is someone going to the trouble of writing an entire study Bible for the express purpose of promoting a 21st century conception of Creationism. However, as I thought about it, I quickly became quite disturbed. Consider the tagline that is included on the advertisements for this Study Bible:
Now the most complete and uncompromising study Bible defending the scientific accuracy of Scripture has been enlarged from 1,620 pages to 2,202 pages. With larger, easier to read type and 50% more commentary, this is the finest study Bible available.
I want to make sure anybody didn't miss that. First, this is "the finest study Bible available." Forget a study Bible that would train one in the historic orthodoxy of the Church; don't bother with a study Bible that would instruct one in the call to ethical formation. No, finally the finest study Bible available has arisen from the masses of others, and deals with the most important issue possible: Creationism.
Ridiculous.
But what is More >
Some Brief Thoughts on Limited Atonement
Jun 17th
A few weeks ago, I posted a discussion concerning the limitations of Penal Substitutionary Atonement theology, arguing that this theological perspective ultimately fails to attain to a philosophically meaningful conception of atonement in that, on the basis of its very methodology, it neglects to answer the primal question of atonement, e.g., that which occurs within humanity that humanity might be reconciled to God. This week, I simply wish to share a few brief thoughts about a very related concept: Limited Atonement.
One of the major impetuses for Limited Atonement, admittedly, is guarding against the danger of universalism. That is, how does one approach the discussion of the benefits and efficacy of Christ's atonement without devolving into unorthodox beliefs concerning the ultimate and unqualified reconciliation of all things to God in the eschaton? In many ways, Limited Atonement theology bypasses this crisis by arguing for a very strict and "limited" range of the efficacy of atonement; that is, Christ's atonement is only directed towards and efficacious on behalf of those for whom Christ dies. Within the complex of Limited Atonement theology, "those for whom Christ died" is understood as those who have been eternally ordained for salvation based exclusively upon the fiat More >
Miracles Considered, Conclusion
Jun 17th
In my previous post, I briefly discussed some problems which I believe to be inherent to popular conceptions of the miraculous. As outlined, this understanding is based upon the correlation of the miraculous to human ignorance, e.g., that which is miraculous is that which is beyond the [current] knowledge of human persons. The crux of my discussion, then, was that such an understanding of the miraculous is ultimately destructive, for as human knowledge increases, so will that which can be categorized as "miraculous" decrease proporitionally.
One of the examples which I used to illustrate this point was that of the controversy within many strands of religious thought concerning the seeming incongruence of evolutionary theory and biblical interpretation. Interestingly enough, as I was preparing for this follow-up post, I ran across an article describing the opening of a brand new "Creationism Museum" right here in Kentucky. The brainchild of the infamous Answers in Genesis Project, "Creationism Museum" exists purely to show that "science actually confirms biblical history."
Now of course, this post is not specifically made for the purpose of defining "biblical history," or of addressing the nature of modernistic conceptions of historicity and its self-justified equation of "truth" with the same. However, this More >
Brief Discourse on the Philosophical Tenability of Miracles Commonly Conceived
Jun 17th
My church just concluded a sermon series on the subject of miracles. On the whole, it was an interesting series and some good points were made. However, there was one particular part of the series that especially intrigued me, that being the definition of "miracle." To explain the concept, the speaker appealed to a Grahamian definition which is (roughly) as follows:
"A miracle is an event which occurs in space/time which can not be explained on the basis of knowledge concerning the laws and processes of the natural universe"
Thumbing through my desktop Oxford, the technical definition is not meaningfully different:
"An effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause."
At first glance, this definition of the miraculous seems quite sensical; after all, there is plenty of naturalistic phenomenon which cannot be explained on the basis of current knowledge of the physical universe. Is it not convenient, then, to be able to locate these phenomenon within a helpfully organizing philological (and perhaps metaphysical?) category? While such a linguistic grouping might be categorically helpful, I would suggest that such a definition of the miraculous is not only misleading, but More >
A Concert of Cosmological SIgnificance
Jun 17th
Yes, the planets are once again aligned and I am gracing the unwashed masses with another concert The theme of this one is "The Geometry of Eternity," a concept based upon a song of the same name. In this song, I connect C.S. Lewis' imagery of eternity (The Great Divorce) with some further reflections of my own. I suggest in this song that the "geometry" of eternity has little to do with the location of saint and sinner in terms of proximity to heaven or hell as materialistically conceived realities, but is rather realized in the relatedness of the individual to God and the attendant consequences of the same. Here is a snippet:
"Imagine a time, with no time / And separation without a space in between / To stand right next to life, and yet still die / To be sustained, but never fulfilled"
The rest of the songs amount to a sort of theological escapade wherein I walk through some of the more difficult and/or interesting theological issues of Christian belief, including but not limited to the nature of faith, eschatological frustration, atonement theology, human sinfulness, epistemological shifts in Christian thinking, etc.
See you there. Or else.
Share this: The Limitation of Limited Atonement
Jun 17th
Recently, the theological blog-o-sphere has been in an uproar over comments made by Liberty University's Jerry Falwell wherein he suggested that Limited Atonement theory (held by many within the Reformed camp) is a heterodox theological perspective.
I will not attempt to defend Falwell's statements, for there has been no ecumenical determination concerning particular views of the atonement. Therefore, it is not possible to make definitive statements about the orthodoxy or heterodoxy of particular views of the atonement (this, of course, requires a fair bit of qualification, but I will not pursue that here).
Although Falwell has over-stated the issue, I still believe that a very strong case can be made against the philosophical tenability of Limited Atonement theory. Therefore, it is to this discussion that I devote this post.
The most basic premise of LA is that Christ's sacrifice can, and must only be understood as efficacious for the salvation of those for whom it is offered. As traditional Christian belief eschews any notion of universalism (in that all will eventually be reconciled to the divine), LA presses that Christ's sacrifice is made only for those who are eventually reconciled to God, for if it were made for those who do not More >
Sweet, Sweet Irony
Jun 17th
Yesterday, I ruminated about a new-found respect and value to which I have comitted myself in regards to creation. I suggested that as the creation is itself the object of the redemption, restoration and recreation to be realized in the divine rule of God in the eschaton, so we should highly value the creation, rather than abusing and destroying it simply to sate our consumeristic desires and contrived "needs." As part of this reflection, I noted that I have committed myself to avoid deliberately harming spiders, a creature of which I am particularly afraid (and mildly disgusted…I mean, do they really need that many legs?).
However, my suspicions about the ultimately capricious orientation of the universe were confirmed this morning. I woke up from troubled slumber, a terrible migraine dulling my senses. As I showered, I noticed that my right arm was a little sore. As I more closely inspected the troublesome area, I recognized the tell-tale signs of my nemesis.
Yes, a spider bite.
Delicious irony.
Share this: 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 >
