Not that I always maintain regular posting, but I’ll not (probably?) be posting for a couple weeks, as I leave Sunday night (or Monday morning, actually) for Kolkata, India with a group from my church. We are helping Freeset refurbish their new building to expand their business. Freeset make fair-trade, organic, eco-friendly and pretty stinkin’ classy jute bags; and they are expanding to making t-shirts with the new building. Their reason for existence is to provide alternative employment for Indian women who want out of the sex trade – a form of human trafficking.
Team 1 (3 people) is already over there now; our team (Team 2 – 11 people) goes this weekend; and Team 3 (4 people) go later in February. We’ve got a great range of people going over, from tradesmen to those just willing to pitch in wherever needed.
One way to explain a clock is to talk about how its physical parts (sprockets, springs, wood, metal, etc.) function, etc. This will involve telling a story of how the design came about.
Another way to explain a clock is to talk about what its parts are composed of. This will involve telling a story about minerals, trees, etc.
Another way to explain a clock is to talk about the notion of ‘keeping time’. This will involve telling a story about such arbitrary and geocentric units of measure as ’seconds’, ‘minutes’, ‘hours’, ‘days’ and such.
Rest assured, I’m not hinting at an updated version of Paley’s watchmaker analogy. I’m merely noting that there are different ways to explain a ‘thing’. More »
A popular response to the idea of a God as the ultimate final explanation for all things is to ask, “Who made God, then?” It’s always hard to know how seriously the question is being put forward. More »
Always looking for a more compact/clear way to say things, here’s a current version of what I take to be the only logical possibilities (in no particular order!) for the origin of ‘all things’/'universe’/'multi-verse’/'everything’ (A.T.U.M.E.), with my comments in parentheses.
A.T.U.M.E. has no origin, because A.T.U.M.E. is an illusion (Thanks to Descartes for his observation — cognito ergo sum — that our act of thinking demonstrates, beyond reasonable doubt, that at least we exist.).
A.T.U.M.E. has no origin, because A.T.U.M.E. has always existed in some form (This claim is, of course, just as non-empirically verifiable as several others. First Cause argumentation, however, at least postulates a First, super-natural, Cause in relation to — in contrast with — every other, natural, cause.).
A.T.U.M.E. is self orign-ating (There is significant over-lap between 2 and 3 – the main difference being that 3 postulates some kind of origin/beginning/deriving source.)
A.T.U.M.E. is ‘other’ origin-ating (This seems to me to be the most logical/reasonable thing to believe, as it seems that explaining reality in terms of the very same reality is to not explain anything – whilst explaining the origin of reality in terms of an ‘other’ is to explain — quite literally — everything.)
I’m really appreciating how significant the theme of freedom is in the Bible.
Freedom is opposed to compulsion, captivity or slavery.
Utterly free of compulsion, God freely acts to create and sustain a free creation, particularly free and dangerous human beings, which constantly, continually and consistently become enslaved, manipulated, captive or otherwise enslaved to and by various kinds of anti-freedom things (aptly summarised as sin and evil). More »
Just before the 6 creation days in Genesis 1, the earth is described as ‘tohu va vohu’ (formless and void; or wild and waste; or chaotic and empty). It has no shape (un-formed) and has no stuff (un-filled).
The 6 days of creation (the ‘hexameron’) divide into 2 sets. The first set of 3 days is a ‘forming’ set, and the second set of 3 days is a ‘filling’ set. What was un-formed is formed, and what was un-filled is filled. More »
Watched JoyeuxNoël again with my wife – a truly great film, based on true events of one of the WWIChristmasTruces.
Apparently, the Germans first decorated their trenches with Christmas trees, and belting out Christmas carols – the first/main one is thought to have been ‘Stille Nacht’ (Silent Night). This prompted some (English) carol singing from the British side. This led to more singing, coming out of their trenches and meeting and conversing with one another, exchanging of gifts (whiskey, cigars, chocolate, etc.), sharing a Communion Service together (!), helping one another bury their dead, football (’soccer’) games, and various other acts of kindness.
It’s a tremendous story, and it’s worth your time reading some of the letters from the troops describing the events.
‘Negative’ and ‘Positive’ are opposite terms, just as ‘negate’ and ‘posit’ are.
I remember the first time I heard someone use the words ‘posit’ (a statement seeking to suggest/describe what the nature of a thing/idea/etc. is) and ‘negate’ (a statement seeking to suggest/describe what the nature of a thing/idea/etc. is not).
Often referred to as the via negativa, negative theology seeks to use negation (the act of negating) to know about God by establishing what God could or must not be. For example… More »
