In this recent piece in Books & Culture, I think Prof. Jacobs makes a lot of excellent points. Can this blog be an exception? (As this blog is, as well as this one.) I hope so! Specifically, I hope that the following factors can minimize the problems Jacobs discusses: posting at a decent pace (no Instapundit-like continuous flow) leaving the comments open occasional weeding out… Read More »Linkage: blogs an “enemy of thought”
As we’ve seen, the “Athanasian Creed” appears to be incoherent, that is, inconsistent with itself. One response is to creatively interpret it in a way which does seem coherent. We will explore this approach in many future episodes. Another response is to stick with the other catholic creeds, such as the “Apostles’” and Nicene creeds, rejecting the “Athanasian” Creed as unnecessary and unhelpful. That’s what’s… Read More »podcast 4 – Anglicans vs. “Athanasius”
H/T Oliver Crisp on Facebook. From the fun theologygrams. Seems there is no rest for the weary. Only one way out: a big, comfortable, ground-hugging, smokescreen of mystery. Make it really big, wait till it spreads, and then make your getaway, before it dissipates. Quickly!
How many gods are too many? 1? (atheism) 2? (monotheism) Or: Bring ’em on – there can never be too many! Woohoo! (polytheism) On his blog Siris our friend Brandon Watson has been doing a book review of an interesting book by a polytheist named John Michael Greer, called A World Full of Gods. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about monotheism and polytheism, and I… Read More »Brandon reviews a book on polytheism
What a great beard!
Franz Brentano (1838-1917), a forerunner of the phenomenological movement and the analytic movement, was of great influence on folk such as Edmund Husserl, Alexius Meinong, Anton Marty, Carl Stumpf, and Kasimir Twardowski. He is best known for his work Psychology From an Empirical Standpoint (1874). And in that work he is best known for his view that the mark of the mental is intentionality:
Every mental phenomenon is characterized by what the Scholastics of the Middle Ages called the intentional (or mental) inexistence of an object, and what we might call, though not wholly unambiguously, reference to a content, direction toward an object (which is not to be understood here as meaning a thing), or immanent objectivity. Every mental phenomenon includes something as object within itself… (Brentano, Psychology, 88)Read More »Brentano and the Trinity, Part 1 (Joseph)
Dr. Win Corduan responds to this site (which probably appears to many as a credible source). I’ve enjoyed a couple of Dr. Corduan’s books, in particular this one. Corduan continues: part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10. (Whew!) Seems that he’s finished a new edition of the book I mention above – cool! Update: new interview with Dr. Corduan:… Read More »Win Corduan compares Christ and Krishna
Wasn’t expecting to find the Trinity on my late-night Walmart run! Actually, a pair of “trinities”, with co-equal prices. Decorating the mantle or end-table with religious statues has never been more affordable. I know you’re intrigued by these low, low prices. If you live in Tucson, Arizona, you might be able to get the last ones. I don’t know what the deal is with Jesus’ knee and calf.… Read More »a good deal on some trinities @ Walmart
Check out this excellent podcast by Bill Craig and Kevin Harris at Reasonable Faith. I really liked this discussion. I would only have suggested two additional topics: So, we should deny the “classical” doctrine of divine impassibility, right? And, if someone were perfectly disposed to feel and act in the ways described in this episode, in ways compatible with all other perfections, that one would… Read More »Craig and Harris: a mistaken view of love
Leading scholar Dr. Richard Bauckham has done a public service by chewing thoroughly through the “Lost Gospel”: Dr. Mark Goodacre has posted Dr. Bauckham’s article(s) here. Let’s just say, he determines that it is all bun and no meat. A few teasers: They seem to be proposing a unique genre of ancient literature. Why should we believe them? It seems to be simply a way of getting… Read More »a real scholar on the so-called “Lost Gospel”
I’ve received some excellent feedback on my two podcast episodes with Dr. Josh Thurow (University of Texas at San Antonio) on theories of atonement in Christian theology. Now, courtesy of Notre Dame’s Center for Philosophy of Religion (subscribe here) you can hear and see him explaining the basic ideas. Here’s your mini-course on atonement. First, watch these: Now, listen to the trinities podcast episodes, which… Read More »a mini-course on atonement by Dr. Josh Thurow
Thanks to Vlastimil Vohánka for referring us to this discussion between Maverick Philosopher Bill Vallicella and Dr. Lukas Novak of Charles University, Prague. As I understand it, a suppositum is supposed to be an ultimate subject of characteristics / properties, as distinct from non-ultimate subjects. My individual human nature is supposed to be suppositum, but Christ’s is not. One ought to be a little suspicious… Read More »Linkage: Vallicella and Lukas on Supposita
Here’s one reason why some theologians love to appeal to “mystery.” Regarding the second half of the second Christian century, the great church history von Harnack observes, …an urgent impulse necessarily made itself felt to define the contents and value of the Redeemer’s life and work, not, primarily, from the point of view of the proclamation of the Gospel, and the hopes of a future state,… Read More »von Harnack on logos theories and mystery
Another interesting and intelligent podcast by Dr. William Lane Craig. Is the so-called “mitochondrial Eve” a problem? How about “chromosomal Adam“? He and his co-host Kevin Harris comment on a recent article by the always charming Jerry Coyne. To my knowledge, this is the only episode of the Reasonable Faith podcast in which the word “Jeebus” is discussed.
Whoever says he believes what he does not at all understand, knows not what belief is, knows also not what he believes; and therefore, he believes in fact nothing, but it only seems to him [he believes]… Certainly nobody can believe something other than what he considers true… If reason is not necessary to grasp the articles of faith, then consequently it follows that the… Read More »on believing what you don’t at all understand
Check it out: a whole site and blog devoted to art featuring impossible objects! I can’t help but think that the picture above had a trinitarian inspiration: according to the babelfish, it means “You must in such a way live”. (German speaking readers – feel free to correct the translation.) I read this as addressed to the Trinity. If so, this pic would be an… Read More »Linkage: Impossible World Site and Blog (Dale)
Check out this post by Dan Wallace over at Parchment and Pen. I teach religious studies, and regularly encounter this one: Myth 1: The Bible has been translated so many times we can’t possibly get back to the original. Wallace’s answer is absolutely right. #2 is also an important point. Wallace might have added that quotation marks are never in the Greek manuscripts; they didn’t… Read More »Dan Wallace: 5 Myths About Bible Translation
Four vivid, moving, memorable depictions of Love.
A post on some previous post commentary – no one can navel-gaze like a philosopher! 🙂 Here’s a pictorial recap, and some additional thoughts on the comments here, in response to Scott and JT. The point of all this: we’re exploring why people who call themselves “social trinitarians” don’t like what they call “Latin” theories, and specifically the claim that those “Latin” theories can’t do justice to the loving relationships between the persons of the Trinity.Read More »on interpersonal love and stick figures (Dale)
After my 2004 piece in which I gave three arguments against “social” trinitarianism, I had the privilege of being taken to Hask refuted twice by the excellent veteran Christian philosopher William Hasker. This last summer, I finally got around to replying. I wrote a long piece and sent it to Religious Studies, who had published my original article and one of Hasker’s replies. They generously… Read More »Reply to Hasker re: My Divine Deception Arguments
