In Plato’s Gorgias, the character Callicles argues that morality is a device of the weak masses to limit the power of the truly strong who are their natural superiors. In this we get a ‘might makes right,’ ethic and is in a sense a proto-Nietzsche or Raskolnikov (from Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment). Callicles, who is an orator and who has no time for useless philosophy, does not care about truth, or nature, or the right...
In Centuries of Meditations, Thomas Treherne writes, When you love men, the world quickly becometh yours: and yourself become a greater treasure than the world is. For all their persons are your treasures, and all the things in Heaven and Earth that serve them, are yours. For those are the riches of Love, which minister to its Object. (II.64) As I’ve tried to discern God’s will for my life, I’ve rarely found myself satisfied with...
QUEEN “Thou know’st tis common, all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity” HAMLET Ay, madam, it is common. Hamlet, Act I, Scene II As Hamlet reflects upon the death of his father, he mourns the brevity of life and the painful triviality of death. We too feel this as we survey what has befallen Paris, Bamako, Brussels, Ankara and Istanbul. These cities and their citizens felt the unnatural commonness of death. ISIS...
One morning, my brother Googled “Bible verses for anxiety.” Many of the people closest to him were being affected with crippling anxiety and he wanted to know how to help. 18% of American adults suffer from diagnosable anxiety disorders, and many more of us regularly experience anxiety of differing degrees and types. I want to add to the long list of explanations and solutions this thesis: We can find hope knowing that anxiety is at...
Both Nietzsche and the collective Christian witness proclaim messages of the redemption of humanity from its current state. But just as their worldviews are different, so are their messages of redemption. In fact, the two worldviews are so different that one’s message of redemption is incompatible with the other’s framework. In a world that has been influenced both by Nietzsche and Christianity, it’s important to sift through the differences. Although Nietzsche and Christianity understand redemption...
As a general rule of thumb I try not to engage in Facebook or Twitter debates, but occasionally and by occasionally I mean often, I can’t help myself. Not all Facebook debates are doomed, I recently engaged in a meaningful back and forth with a friend on gun control that ended on a good note of understanding. However my number one pet peeve in debating others on serious issues is that frequently the topic at...
“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, But he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”— Amos 3:7 Why do Christians no longer have prophets like Israel did in the Old Testament or why don’t we have apostles like the Church did in the New Testament? In my interaction with Latter Day Saints (LDS) it has been incredibly clear the centrality of the prophet and apostles in Mormonism. The reasoning, as far as I...
“Lex orandi, lex credendi.” Or so goes the ancient Christian maxim, loosely translated, “As we worship, so we believe.” If the songs we sing shape the way we think, we should be very thoughtful about the way our churches are led in worship. Songs are short, memorable, and have the capacity to pack in a lot of ideas. Arius, the brilliant 5th century heretic, popularized his ideas with catchy songs and hymns. Marketing teams have...
I was reading Josh Carroll’s post about the disease called “Critiqueomania” and I found that I myself have had rather severe bouts of this plague. Some of these outbreaks have been part of my former angst, but others seemed very well meant. Some were definitely “Critiqueomania,” but there were other times where my criticism was well founded and was not coming from a place of pride or scholarly arrogance. So what do you do if it seems...
At many points in its colored history, the church’s unity and its holiness have appeared to come into conflict. On one side, people argue, “The only way we can call ourselves holy, is by staying united. Unity is holiness.”
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