Artifacts of a Life Once Lived

Looking out on the world there seems to me a facade of strong walls. When did we place so much faith in systems? Economic, Medical, Mechanical, Military, Educational, Governmental, Religious systems. After all, honestly, it appears to me that the world is a nervous, jittery place. People are always talking about the last big disaster or the current declining economical situation or the dilapidating political sphere. Who will save us now! Though it is unlikely that we admit it, worry seems to be the common air we breath and thus the venture capitalist's in order to secure their futures are promising secure futures to us (built, ironically, upon borrowed money). I'm not one to talk much about the socio-economic position of our country and the globalized western world, but I can sense an pretentious spirit of optimistic strength in a mad system of money-making machines. It is though that all things will continue as they have! Sure, maybe they will, but what have we created in our...

Reality shows us a captivating treasury of types, the exuberance of an evanescent play and alteration of forms. Isn't that so beautiful? So poignantly perceptive? So innovatively fascinating? Such a fantastically careful description of the 'real'? Who could say such a thing? What kind of person could think such high and lofty thoughts? Only a philosopher of the aerial, ethereal, the esoteric.. right? The one and only, Friedrich Nietzsche. He's the same guy who wrote this: Morality, insofar as it condemns on its own grounds, and not from the point of view of life's perspectives and objectives, is a specific error for which on should have no sympathy, an idiosyncrasy of degenerates which has done an unspeakable amount of harm! Can the same spring pour forth both fresh water and salt water? I guess the answer is, Yes... See this proves it! The Bible is errant!!

EXPELLED!!! That frightening word flashed in front of my eyes for several days as myself and a few others known for our involvement in the "physics scandal of '99" found ourselves sitting, waiting to hear of our judgment from our high school principle. That's right, we cheated, and we cheated badly! From experience, I know the word is down right scary. O! the shame, the misfortune, the badness of that word. I cringe when I think about it. And NOW I am sitting cringing in my chair scared, not because I might be given the boot again from my current educational program, but because of a digital mass of electronic bytes (and human bites) collected by Ben Stein and his cohorts. What passes as documentary should more properly be called propaganda. DARWIN! THE ATHEISTS! THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE! Responsible for enslaving the universities to philosophical discrimination through brainwash science. Responsible for mass killing and hatred of mankind and all sorts of unmentionable ...

Notes-From-Offcenter has a good post concerning the decline of value/virtue in the academy in the wake of rationalism's dogmatic fantasy for fact. You can READ HERE. A side note: also from Creedal standpoint a great read is a short book by one Charles Habib Malik called "A Christian Critique of the University." I found this book particularly helpful and deeply affective. Also, I always recommend John Henry Newmans " Idea of a University ." David Berlinski, a brilliant mathematician and scientist, has published a new work with a chiding title. His new book, The Devil's Delusion plays off the title of Richard Dawkins scathing assessment of Religion in The God Delusion. Read about the work at Random House's website. Take this to heart and hear. Inhabitatio Dei has posted a brief but convicting blurb. I could not have said it better, but what he says scares me, because I fear what he speaks of is true of me. I have fallen victim and been deceived to lo...

On the wiseness of living wisely: What is more probable? Death or Riches? Isn't there some statistic that says something like 20% of the world owns 80% of the worlds wealth? I know, 85% of statistics are made up anyway, so who can trust that? Well, this statistic is not made up. 100% of men and women die ... (however a literal reading of the Old Testament suggests two people did not actually die [Enoch and Elijah], so given this testimony, actually the number is like 99.99999999999999999999999999999999%) Unfortunately I do not know the ratio of the rich to the non-rich. I suppose first you would have to define what is meant by "rich". Let's just say for the sake of the argument that 10% of the world strikes it rich. However, 5% of the rich sooner or later loose their riches. Ok... so 100% of the world dies and only 10% of the world becomes rich and only 5% stay rich. Why do not 100% of the world prepare for death? Wisdom teaches that riches make themselves wings and f...

God cannot lie, can he? Inspiration necessarily leads to a conceptualization or identification of doctrine of inerrancy. Truthfulness motivates the teaching of inspiration and thus inerrancy. Said differently, inspiration serves to maintain the truthfulness of Scripture. Truth, then, reflects the actuality of a reality. Scripture keeps what really is real. The events of Scripture witness to a true reality, though possibly from different perspectives. Scripture stands against error, that is, Scripture cannot, because of its truthfulness, be found with error. Error and Truth cannot exist in the mind of God with regards to reality. What is is in the mind of God. What is not is not presented as real in the mind of God and thus the Scriptures. So Scripture directly reflects truthful reality to the same degree that the reality of the image reflects itself in the mirror. Scripture stands in conjunction with the truthfulness of God. If God is errant, then Scripture can err. But if God cannot...

tonight is kind of a crappy night. thats because today was a particularly crappy day. I guess i will just sulk in the crappiness. sometimes we have crappy days. sometimes crappy things happen to us even though we dont even want them. sometimes we have crappy days because of things out of our control. sometimes i wish i was a stoic and then maybe some of the crappy stuff wouldnt be so crappy. i suppose it could be crappier. sometimes i ask myself, where is god when all this crappy stuff happens. i suppose he would answer, "i'm right here, right in the middle of the crappy stuff," but sometimes its really hard to see when your eyes are covered with crappy.

Ancient words of the reflective soul: I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving, that you have made me in your image, so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults, so darkened by the smoke of sin, that it cannot do that for which it was made, unless you renew and refashion it. Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height, for my understanding is in no way equal to that, but I do desire to understand a little of your truth which my heart already believes and loves. I do not seek to understand so that I may believe, but I believe so that I may understand; and what is more, I believe that unless I do believe I shall not understand. Anselm, Proslogion in The Prayers and Meditations of Saint Anselm with the Proslogion , ed. B. Ward.

Maybe it's just me, but I find it interesting that there is a seemingly increasing front against the cultural American Christianity known as Evangelicalism, not to mention against God himself (thank you Christopher Hitchens , Sam Harris , Richard Dawkins , et. al.). I say this because of some recent books published where each author at one time considered himself a conscious, consenting troop in the evangelical front. I find this trend particularly interesting, because I myself, an "evangelical" (though I might act a lot like our beloved Apostle Peter when confronted with a potentially threatening situation concerning my allegiances to the evangelical identity, though not concerning my faith [knock on wood...]) must seriously consider the issues raised within these publications. John Marks, author of: Reasons to Believe: One Man's Journey Among the Evangelicals and the Faith He Left Behind? Bart Ehrman, author of: God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our ...

Intro: When Christians - both Protestants and Catholics alike - talk about Scripture, authority, tradition, intellect, and how it is that they have come to view the world in which they exist, how they believe that it began and how they think it will end, and how to live rightly in the face of its seeming unconquerable evil, most Christians will unashamedly and without a thoughtless moment speak that it is only within the ancient pages of the Scriptures that they find their basis for knowledge, reality, true virtue, and ultimately their final hope. In all actuality this reality of reliance upon Scripture is only the result of the goodness and favor of the Lord, for, as confessing evangelicals we believe it is only through his Word that the world is made alive because of the working of the Spirit in the creation through that Word. To that end, it is only with great thankfulness that we approach the Scriptures as the only true eternal revelation, being authoritative over all creation,...

Chesterton on the greatness of AMERICAN VIRTUE . Please bear in mind the notion of "sarcasm."

Sometimes we need to reflect on where we are and where we have come from and where we are going. I am in desperate need of reflection. I have been given so much information over eight years of education (specifically Christian), yet I have had so little time to stop, process/evaluate, and adjust. Is there a breaking point? I think there is. There is a point where I have to admit to myself that I cannot grasp, let alone consider, all of the difficulties raised in my encounters with new and continuously evolving knowledge. What is more is that there are a seeming infinite more problems that I will never even encounter for the simple reason of my finiteness! These four years at Seminary have been an agonizing time of learning, growing, testing, failing, succeeding, hurting, loving, maturing, and just plain old perplexity. I have come so far from where I once was (I refer mostly to my religious loyalties), yet I have reached a point of sincere befuddlement. It seems that my education has ...

"Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have." For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 8:11 What kind of person ought I to be? I am tempted to say that the kind of person I ought to be is the kind of person that is revered by society. What kind of person is most revered by society? In particular, western society? I feel pretty confident enough to say in front of a crowed that it would seem that the most powerful people, those who appear to carry significant weight in the public sphere, are those who are revered by society. Who are the most power...

Research Topic Cont.: My case is essentially this: Modern Evangelical method of interpretation as a result of adopting a scientific approach to scripture rejects (not outrightly, but the proof is in the pudding)the reading, and thus interpretation, of scripture with predisposed confessions to doctrinal statements in hand(such as creeds or confessions which were the result significant church councils). In my case for maintaining a confessional/creedal interpretation of scripture the point will surely be made that the Reformers attempted to free us from the bondage of Tradition for after all, it is that Tradition which empowered the abuses and disasters of the Catholic church. What about the reformation? Were the Reformers set on freeing the people of God from the "Church" and thus its tradition because they had found their method of interpretation to lead elsewhere, away from the "Church's" traditions? Or said differently, were the Reformers rejecting Tradition o...

What is the good life? In America it generally means one or a combination of the following: money, career, success, influence, power, prestige, luxury, affluence, etc. Here is A MUCH NEEDED REMINDER on the current ideal of the American dream contrasted to a biblical portrait of the "good" life.

Research Topic Cont.: Does maintaining Sola Scriptura negate the appropriation of the confessions/creeds in exegetical study? Did the reformers have methodology in mind when they stated Sola Scriptura ? Said differently, Does 'proper' exegesis require the setting aside of confessional allegiances of faith in the act of interpreting the text? If no, then to what confessions or creeds do exegetes/interpreters alike confess? There are so many creeds and confessions today! Just pick up John Leith's "Creeds of the Churches" and you will find several hundred pages of creeds and confessions. That is the question I will engage next. But for the moment, take creeds/confessions to mean that which has been agreed upon at Nicaea and in the Apostles Creed/Rule of Faith . How does contemporary evangelicalism generally view the creeds/confessions? My own encounters and experiences with evangelicals over the years have confirmed that most people (in non-denominational/independ...

Research Topic: Methodology has replaced the confessions within the broader evangelical community's hermeneutical pursuit. The evangelical community will not deny that it carries with it the long standing tradition of Christian history, however it has denied the rightful place of the confessions as being a lens through which the scriptures are read. Fascinations with "objectivism" and "empiricism" has diluted the strength of modern scholarly interpretation. (Though much of that can be attributed to the fact that many modern "interpreters" are unbelievers without the eternal Spirit of God.) The interpretation of scripture in the evangelical community must embrace the confessions in its dialogue with the text as normative. "We have, however, the catholic faith in the Creed, known to the faithful and committed to memory, contained in a form of expression as concise as has been rendered admissible by the circumstances of the case; the purpose of which...

Non Fui, Non Sum, Non Curo Somtimes I wish it were true.

IN RESPONSE TO: What Is A Submissive Wife, Anyway? http://drjimwest.wordpress.com/2008/01/12/what-is-a-submissive-wife-anyway/ English Versions which include “cooperate” in the NT: 1. The Message (Mt. 5:9) - “cooperate” for “peacemakers” This word is not semantically related to “upotasso.” 2. Amplified Bible (1 Cor. 16:16; 2 Cor. 1:11; 3 Jn. 1:8) *** HIGHLY IMPORTANT - PLEASE NOTE:1Cor. 16:16 is interesting because it contains “submit” and “cooperate” in the same verse (NET). Submit translated from “upotasso” and cooperate translated from “sunergeo”. “Sunergeo” has the idea of “to engage in cooperative endeavor, work together with, assist, help, etc” (BDAG). This verse might demonstrate that Paul (even though he was a first century ignoramus, misogynist, sexist pig) knew the distinction between submitting and cooperating. Jim, you might want to check this one out. The same author (we think, at least I do) who wrote Ephesians (St. Paul) had a keen awareness for the usage of words as i...

Crazy for God Some reflections on the book. I'm glad to have read it, if nothing for the fact that Franky found what I am looking for and came to despise it. Greatness. Fame. Influence. Popularity. He had it all. He came to realize that mainstream evangelicalism is not a faithful body, but a fruitful business. He found that politics drove the "evangelical engine" more than sincere life-in-in-your-face faith. He points out some significant sweeping generalizations. Evangelicals are money driven. Evangelicals are independence driven. Evangelicals are activist driven. Evangelicals are make-me-feel-good-about-myself driven. If these are true (and I am sure they are to an extent) does he not need to face them? Do I not need to face them? Am I not "socially engineered" to a degree by the communities that I have run in? His story of his life is stunning. He finds freedom to share, with unashamed honesty, the brokenness of his family. How his father Francis beat his mo...