In the next section, we come to the hinge of Hart’s objections. And it provides us with a textbook case of what happens when very intelligent people go beyond what it is written. Certain indisputable truths provide the premises for them, and then they reason from those premises until they come to a conclusion that …
The Breakers of Jehovah
Yesterday’s message was on Psalm 42. The title comes from verse 7 — “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” This is just one of many passages that has direct relevance to our on-going discussions in the “Doors of the Sea” thread.
One Follows His Reasoning
“If I had to choose an image to sum up our times, I would not choose from among the usual ones, such as the Nuclear Age, the Technological Society, the Age of Anxiety, the Computer Generation, the Affluent Society, or the Space Era. I would call it the Age of Noise” (Michael D. O’Brian, A …
Hands in Pockets, Whistling
Hart’s second section in the second half of his book depends almost entirely on good writing, a goodly dose of mysticism and lots of handwaving. Here is how that section concludes: “It is impossible for the infinite God of love directly or positively to will evil (physical or moral), even in a provisional or transitory …
Georgia On My Mind
Since the Russian tanks began to roll into Georgia, I have been mulling it over, reading about it, and wanted to offer just a few cautions. As fun as it might be to have the Russians for enemies again, right back in the psychic spot they occupied my entire childhood, the snarl over there ain’t …
Logos Bible Software
Not counting the first Texas Instruments computer-like thing, the first PC we owned was an IBM XT. It had ten megabytes of memory on the hard drive, and I recall marveling at how roomy that was. Ginormous capacity, and I thought that I would have to type pretty much forever in order fill it up. …
Imitation of Christ as a Nose of Wax
In the last chapter of the book, Boyd’s pacifism comes out in full force, and he argues for it by answering the most common questions he receives whenever he addresses the themes of this book. Although many things could be said about all this, I want to limit myself to two. First, the way Boyd …
Not Preachy
“On one level these novels [Narnia stories] are tremendous adventures, and on another they are rich theological treatises that teach truth without failing into the tedious habit of preaching to children. The search for truth is simply part of the excitement” (Michael D. O’Brian, A Landscape With Dragons, p. 125).
Despite an Occasional Verbal Flourish
The second part of Hart’s book is his positive statement of “Divine Victory.” The first section of this second half sets the pieces on the board for us. “To behave or live according to nature is for some of us the very definition of sagacity, sanity, or even virtue” (p. 45). This is what the …
The Rebirth of Christian Story
“Because the Holy Spirit is always pouring out life upon God’s people, we must never succumb to the temptation to think that the false culture has won. Despite its apparent powers, its noise, and its glamour, it is a moribund system that has not much longer to live . . . A regeneration of Christian …