Making our history one step at a time
Most accounts of secularization are pretty flat: the march of clear and virtuous reason against the suffocating faith of the Middle Ages. Charles Taylor gives much more detailed account than these over-simplifications-- and regardless of your background, Taylor's work is an engaging read.
Materialism (the idea that there are no supernatural causes) is such a fundamental assumption of modern science, rarely will anyone take the time to state it. But here, C. S. Lewis takes the existence of reason itself as a refutation of materialism. A great analysis by Reppert.
God doesn't ask us to be heresy hunters. We need to be willing to mourn with those that mourn, even as others criticize what we consider to be holy. And loving people will always be more important than making sure everyone is aware of your orthodoxy.
According to Huntsman, the gospel of John was designed to read yourself into the text. The Samaritan woman at the well, Nicodemus coming to the Lord in the night, Thomas's doubts-- all were meant to highlight the different routes we take coming to Christ.
I am not a moral relativist. But I am what I will call for lack of a better term an experiential relativist. I believe that everyone's experiences, and thus what can be expected of them at any given moment, is different. I try to avoid any hint that I am somehow on a higher plane... Continue Reading →
Peter Enn's new book is simultaneously entertaining and thought-provoking. Herein, I reflect on how Enn's book informs a Latter-Day Saint perspective. #harperonepartner #wisebible #howthebibleactuallyworks
I feel that too often we concern ourselves with if and when Christ forgave the woman in adultery. But if you drop your stone for a minute and put yourself in her shoes, you recognize the full import of Christ's message here.
Lesson from 4th century Christianity: if someone excommunicates you, you excommunicate them right back. This book covering the history of Constantine, the Nicene creed, and the Arian heresy is a fascinating mirror in which to reflect on the doctrinal disputes and approaches of our own day.
Irenaeus is the early Church's head of the correlation department. He wrote Against Heresies as an attempt to checkmate an early Christian heresy, Gnosticism, that put God as one of a long chain of gods (sound familiar?) and considered material existence evil.
