I have sometimes lamented our contemporary loss of any sense of antiquity, grandeur, or nobility. I have argued that the trivialization of Bible stories in things like Veggie Tales represents a far greater tone deafness to the story as God told it than any gain it represents in knowledge of broad plot outlines, or in …
More On the Stars and Bars
At last, some specifics. A traditional Irish band named Potatohead submitted a letter to the editor in this evening’s Daily News that helps us identify the source of at least one of the Confederate battle flag stories. But before getting into this, let us just say that this band (every time I heard them) played …
Response to Tumult
When God moves in reformation, it always causes a stir, and it always causes controversy. Take care that you do not give way to the flesh in either circumstance. Receive what God is doing in our midst with gladness and simplicity. But know that Americans have a two-hundred year history of mangling a right understanding …
Torture and Terror
Marvin Olasky set off some vigorous discussion over at Worldmagblog by quoting Thomas Sowell, and asking what people thought. Some of it spilled my way, with someone writing and asking what I thought. Here is how Marvin framed the question: “Re. the recent Senate debate on banning torture, Thomas Sowell writes, ‘If a captured terrorist …
Dualism Is Bad
What is the difference between everyday abstractions, propositions, and definitions and then the same things in the hands of the philosophers? The answer is that philosophers tend to fall, somehow, someway, into the error of reification. That is, they try to answer the question of whether “thus and such” exists through some kind of metaphysical …
Reseerch Perfesser
Tom Garfield wrote a letter to the editor setting the record straight on the alleged neo-Confederate nature of Logos School. In that letter he challenged Nick Gier’s great abilities in sitting loose to the facts, and invited him up to Logos School to have a look around for himself. You know, looking around for yourself …
Living Simply
Much philosophical endeavor is occupied with trying to answer questions that ought never to have been asked. I am reminded of Bill Cosby’s old joke about it. Philosophy majors want to ask questions like “why is there air?” when the PE majors knew the answer already. Air is for blowing up volleyballs. The world is …
Abstractions are Bad
Abstractions don’t exist, if by existence you mean having a certain weight or color. Neither do propositions, if by existence you mean material embodiment. And of course, by such criteria, God the Father doesn’t exist either. But of course, abstractions still function just fine, provided the people using them are grounded in an incarnational and …
Creme de la Creme
A few days ago, a comment on one of my posts noted that Southern Slavery As It Was had been dropped from the banned and/or challenged list of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression. Today when I had a moment, I went to check, and, sure enough, there our booklet wasn’t. In other words, …
Publishing Is Warfare
Some of you may have noticed that over the weekend the Canon Press images on my bookrack off to the right went blank. This little glitch on my blog was the result of a major renovation, overhaul and upgrade of the Canon Press web site. I would strongly encourage all of you (and your sisters …