score for religious people!

thanks to arthur c. brooks for writing up his research in a new book called Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism. here's a clip from a beliefnet article:

The book's basic findings are that conservatives who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the notion that the government should engage in income redistribution are the most generous Americans, by any measure.

Conversely, secular liberals who believe fervently in government entitlement programs give far less to charity. They want everyone's tax dollars to support charitable causes and are reluctant to write checks to those causes, even when governments don't provide them with enough money.

not surprizing to christians, since pure religion consists of helping orphans and widows in their distress james 1:27

careful what you listen to

Gin thu neuere leuen alle monnis spechen, Ne alle the thinge that thu herest stingen. (_Proverbs of Alfred_, c1300)

believe only half of what you see and nothing that you hear. i wonder if that goes for what we read as well. it's quite frightening to see what books are out there claiming some kind of expertise on a subject, when looking at the author's credentials shows that they aren't formally educated in it...
beware what may be lurking in the prose you read. it may do your brain more harm than good!

an athiest not to be taken seriously

a while back the topic of sam harris and his thoughts on religion came up at a blog i was frequenting. the blog post linked a youtube clip of him speaking at a convention. he made a comment that totally took a verse of the bible out of context and made a wild claim about christianity. i made the point that someone who is willing to stand up in front of people, pose as an authority on a subject, and then speak about something he a) knows nothing about, or b) is purposely misrepresenting is not to be taken seriously. the blog author has gone off the web, but i hope that he will read these responses to mr. harris' latest book specifically aimed at christianity.


ps - also at the end of the above link are some points about mr. harris' previous work.

is work worth anything?

read this, think about it. whatever you do, do it as for the Lord.

pax

thinking out loud

i have been wondering to myself, as of late, what is the use of this blogging thing anyways. is it a public journal? a place for me to put my ideas; to bounce them around off of random people that come traipsing though?

again i wonder if it is all very egocentric; a strange sort of group navel gazing. now that i think of it, that last comment is directed at a certain type of blog. there are blogs that i read and appreciate that focus on a specific topic. and family news blogs are a blessing in our dispersed age.

maybe those that blog are the ones that have eshewed gathering at the village pub or coffee house to swap stories, and engage in conversation to hash out our ideas.

and so for today, that is what i will conclude. for me anyways, my blog is my conversation with you the random reader who may sit in your chair, or on your sofa, and engage with me in witty debate, a search for truth, or appreciation of what beauties God has blessed our day with.

pax

martyrs

lest any of us forget, much of the world is still a dangerous place for christians. a quick stop by the voice of the martyrs will show you that we are still under threat of property confiscation, imprisonment, or execution for professing the name of Jesus. and throughout the civilized(?) world, speaking out regarding the truth will be met with vandalism and death threats. it's one thing to die for our faith... is it getting difficult, even in the west, to live for it?

logical fallacies

here is a great introduction to some issues in critical thinking and philosophical discourse. it is a gallery of logical fallacies. these are pitfalls to avoid in our own thinking and to watch out for in discussion with others. sloppy thinking is behind much of what ails society. don't be sloppy ;-)

simply christian

why christianity makes sense - by n. t. wright
this was a lovely gift. a book about christianity in the same vein as mere christianity is very welcome in this day of misinformation. it is unlike its predecessor in that nowadays, society at large is pretty much ignorant of christian beliefs. and so mr. wright goes about explaining the good news from a more basic level (therefore not getting to some stuff).

i quite enjoyed reading this book. it was well written. he proposed some interesting and thought provoking analogies to explain what is happening these days with the new-age movement, and other 'spiritual' stuff that is prevalent. for those who know why they believe Jesus, it will be a relaxing read. for those who don't believe it will be a level headed, readable introduction to the faith.

a nice read. thanks j.

worship

i was reading the link that i put up a couple posts ago about the biblical meanings of words, and how they are different than our modern meanings: the one about worship. the conclusion struck me as very relevant.

In conclusion: "Worship" is often used to refer just to the time of singing and music in our services, but it is clear from contextual study that worship is a life and lifestyle, not just acts in isolated pockets of time. Worship can mean serving in a soup kitchen, or going on a mission trip, or conducting a ministry of some sort -- and we may consider deeply how far our Western, individualistic perceptions have in some cases taken us from the NT ideal.

i recommend you read that essay, and give some thought to it. we are instructed to pray continually. i think that we are also called to live lives of worhip.

the modal fallacy

ah, the english language; a source of wonderful beauty and mind numbing consternation. the way we naturally express our thoughts in english doesn't help when trying to explain very specific philosophical nuances. the modal fallacy goes like this. we would naturally say something like this:

if john has one son and two daughters, he has to have at least one daughter.
john has one son and two daughters.
therefore john has to have at least one daughter.

but think about it... that's rubbish. he doesn't' have to have any kids; daughters or sons. it is true that if john has one son and two daughters he will have at least one daughter, but it's not true that he must. in other words it is incorrect to mistake a logically necessary condition, as a logically necessary truth.

this holds for a number of philosophical problems. they are dependent on this misusing of modal concepts. if you're interested, please check out this article by Norman Swartz.

what does it all mean....

as christians reading the bible, and looking back on bible times, it is necessary that we understand what the authors meant when they talked of certain subjects. the culture of the ancient near east was very different to our modern western one. it's very dangerous for us to read the words of the bible using our modern vocabulary and understanding. thankfully there are serious scholars, of various faiths (or lack thereof) who study the way that people in the culture of the ancient near east thought and acted. three sources of this kind of information are: Malina's The New Testament World, Malina and Neyrey's Portraits of Paul: An Archaeology of Ancient Personality and deSilva's Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity.

to give a quick taste of what's inside, please check out these essays, they may change the way you think about your christian walk: what is faith, what is hope, what is love, what is mercy, what is worship, what is humility, what is repentance?

pax

code debunking

hi all. just in case you haven't read any really good articles debunking the rubbish in that book named after a renaissance man named leonardo, read this. if nothing else, mr. brown has got non-christians asking questions about christianity; this is good. so let's be prepared to answer them!

gridblog #1 - the good book

yes, i'm a little late to the blog-party, but here are my 2p...

the book is God's inerrant word. that statement has taken lifetimes of people far better qualified than i to explain. therefore i'll just give you some of my thoughts on what an impact that has on my life.

it is the revealed truth of how God relates to humanity, and how he expects us to behave as his children. it tells me how to relate to God, and everyone else in creation.

lately the all embracing nature of its truth has been changing the ways i look at many things in life. the presuppositions we bring to our day to day existence. how our world view is shaped, and the implications that has for how we live.

not to say that it's crystal clear and simple to apply. the christian walk might well not be so interesting if it was...

pax

the cornett has arrived

last tuesday, my cornett from CMI finally arrived. it has been a long wait, but so far i'd say it was worth it. i have progressed from making rude, flatulent, noises to making sounds that might be considered to have a pitch! i think that i have got something close to an octave range on it now: d' - d''. according to the tutor book i should need to get to at least c' - a''' (historically the range of a cornett is g - d''', or maximally f - g'''!?). that's a ways off for this aspiring musician. here are some pix of my new fave toy:

what colour is the sky in your world?

i don't remember when the thought first occurred to me. the first recollection i have of it is talking to my brother in the kitchen on le jeune. what colour do you see the sky as? if i was in your head would i recognize it as blue? or would it look green or pink?

we all know the sky is blue because we have been told so. common colours are named, and we have accepted certain archetypal representations to point to. the sky is blue, grass is green, blood is red, paper is white, and so on. but, if i was in your head, would what your brain perceives look to me like that? there's no way to know. maybe if i could see what you see, it would be a psychedelic vision of fluorescent pink skies, blue trees, streets paved with gold, and populated with gray scale people.

could this account for people with a good sense for the visual arts? the colours they perceive line up well with the population average? and perhaps people who have the most aweful fashion sense... maybe it does look good to them... hmmm...

so, what colour is the sky in your world?

maverick philosopher

i have been doing a lot of reading about philosophy and appologetics the last while, thanks to my brother-in-law's brother-in-law. a recent addition to my links section has been that of the maverick philosopher. i have enjoyed reading a number of his blog posts. it's pretty heavy stuff, so be warned! thankfully he seems to be towards my way of thinking (as much as i've read so far anyways ;-) i hope to learn lots from his site. i would definitely recommend. his refutations of naturalism, scientism, positivism and relativism are brain expanding and welcome. enjoy!

slinging

following a link from my friend tim to wildwoodsurvival
to read an article about making fire with a chocolate bar and a pop can, i also came across a link to slinging. yes, i mean as in the ancient weapon of 'dangerous dave'! as with all things now, the revival of this ancient projectile flinging device has gone online. all i can say is, very cool.

colour science

what do you get when you mix psychology, physiology, computers, and a can of paint? i'm sure that these guys could help you figure it out... color matters.

colours affect moods. colours affect vision, your body, and have applications on a whole pile of stuff. does colour affect taste? these guys have an answer.

i am a christian

following my own admonition of a month back i want to share what i believe and why.

i believe there is one God. i believe that Jesus is his son.

currently my evidences consist of the Bible, testimony contained therein, and external historical evidences corroborating it's claims.

ah... summer...

the summer dresses
flowers twirling on parade
forgotten things stir