Head-dibs

This is not a typical book review for the book actually began with an album, so one finds it difficult to talk about one to the exclusion of the other. “Clockwork Angels” began as the concept album (released June 12, 2012) by the band Rush. Lyricist and drummer Neil Peart teamed with novelist Kevin Anderson to produced this thought-provoking adventure based on lyrics from the band’s 19th album. The cover art (below) is shared between album and book and displays layers of intrigue. Fans of the band will understand without explanation the meaning of “2112,” noting the time indicated on the clock-face (in military time). The symbols on the cover refer to the chemicals of alchemy, but not alchemy in the classical sense. This alchemy is the powersource for a steam-punk world. Musically, the band surprises the listener with some bold adventures into genre not often associated with Rush. They are loud with style in all the right places. The contrasting softer passages demonstr...

Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader has a contender! Just found a book I am going to review it before I actually read it. Judy Jones and William Wilson (there’s an education in that name--calling to mind Edgar Allan Poe--which hints as to why a book like this can be fun) published this third edition in 2009 with Ballantine. The book covers highlights in twelve subject areas that we either forgot or slept through in school: American Studies, Art History, Economic, Film, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Science and World History. Browsing the book, one notes witty writing in short articles. Even the Lexicon presents itself to be a readable 13th chapter. 10,000 years in only 700 pages. I expect plenty of springboards for future blogs to be found within!

Adler, Mortimer J. “ How to Think About God: A Guide for the 20th Century Pagan .” New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980. [why read old books? Because they are there] The famed author of " How to Read A Book " helps us think about God. Adler’s central proposition is there exists an interest in the question of God’s existence and some are willing to consider the question; however, the author admits, “the God that is the object of pagan philosophical thought is not the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, or of Moses, Jesus and Mohammed.” In other words, the pagan decides who God is. Is this possible? Adler divides his book into six major sections populated with two to three chapters per section. The first section serves as an extended prologue where the author explains himself to his intended audience across two chapters. The second section discusses errors to be avoided. Section three (the longest section) sets the stage for the discussion of “God”, followed by the section examin...

I recently read a short article written by Sarah Sumner, PhD, professor of Theology and ministry at Haggard School of Theology at Asuza Pacific University. The article begins: “The word theology literally means “the study of God.” But if you think about it, no one can study God per se. We can study God’s words. We can study God’s actions. But we can’t study God himself [sic]. All we can study is God’s revelation of himself. So a better definition of theology would be ‘the study of the revelation of God.’” She goes on to say that God is personally known despite our inability to study Him: we pray and hear, we praise, interact with His Spirit, are even comforted by Him--”we would never know him if he did not reveal himself to us.” Initially, Sumner correctly defines the word theology in its literal sense; however, she suggests further thought on the matter, concluding that God alone cannot be studied. We can only study the evidence He gives of Himself through general (or natural) revel...

Reason is able to confirm the existence of God by consideration of the birds of the air and lilies of the field (as it were); however, reason alone fails to comprehend the person and things of God Himself. We see evidence that He Is, but we cannot know Him by mere reason alone in the same way that a building gives evidence to a builder, but gives the admirer no personal knowledge of the builder. We can’t prove the existence of God. We can only point to the evidence of The Creator (more in this in a moment). Yet, God desires to reason (not dialogue nor debate, but to settle on His terms) with man who is in rebellion against Him (Isaiah 1:10-20). This is doing theology: practicing true science (applying unbiased knowledge), and pure philosophy (transforming the mind mind, using discretion, enlarging the world beyond personal interest) to fulfill God’s purpose for us and bring Him glory that is all His. When the follower of Christ and seeker of God rub shoulders with the world, we fi...

Is videotaping the police a crime? Seems that most missed the part about the driver committing traffic violations before being held accountable . Science now affirms what the Bible already teaches: the chicken came first ! Professor Howard Marshall's book, " A Pocket Guide to New Testament Theology "is available for download at BiblicalTraining.org Photoshop Time Travel. This makes one think twice about where we live and where we go. "Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov took some old photographs from World War II and combined them with new perspective-matching photos . The result are a series of time portals that help us contextualize the war into our current reality." (ht: Harlan Cone)

“ Far from enjoining men to listen to such tales are we, who avoid the practice of soothing our crying children, as the saying is, by telling them fabulous stories, being afraid of fostering in their minds the impiety professed by those who, though wise in their own conceit, have no more knowledge of the truth than do infants. For why (in the name of truth!) do you make those who believe you subject to ruin and corruption, dire and irretrievable? Why, I beseech you, fill up life with idolatrous images, by feigning the winds, or the air, or fire, or earth, or stones, or stocks, or steel, or this universe, to be gods; and, prating loftily of the heavenly bodies in this much vaunted science of astrology, not astronomy, to those men who have truly wandered, talk of the wandering stars as gods ?” (Clement of Alexandria, “Exhortation to the Heathen”) I quote Clement once more because our thoughts are centered on the matter he here presents: people are soothed with fabulous stories that are n...

I'll be reading this for the next little while. Click on cover for more information:

My friend over at Church of the Kharma Futures sent me this link to A Templeton Conversation: Does science make belief in God Obsolete? Here are two immediate thoughts: 1) Since "science" means "knowledge" (thus "conscience" means "with knowledge"), God would say the answer is "no." In other words, man already knows that God IS. God contributed his article in Romans 1:18-32 in one place among many. To reject Him is to take what man already knows to be true and make for himself a god of his own understanding (thus breaking the 2nd commandment). Science assumes that man have two eyes and a brain that can think. To reject God is unscientific; that is, close the eyes, stop thinking and become a moron (that's the Greek word for "fools" used in verse 22); 2) If science (impersonal) could make obsolete God (personal), what would the results be? I firmly believe that Mary Shelley answered that question 41 years before Darwin pub...

The IrishCalvinist ran this great piece yesterday. Fits in great with our thoughts on "Does it matter what I believe?": Can we become so obsessed with making our theology work or pursue the “correct” theology with such fervor that it subtly becomes the thing we worship and not the Creator behind it? This is indeed a danger. Our sinful hearts can even use good things like the study of theology as an altar for the personal worship of self. This is tragic. The pursuit of and growth in the knowledge of God is not bad, in fact it is commanded (Matt. 22.37; 2 Pet. 3.18). However, it is true that knowledge in general and theological knowledge in particular may puff up believers (1 Cor. 8.1). So there is a command to learn and a caution toward the growth of pride. Read the rest here in " Can Theology become Idolatry? ".

When I hear the question, “Does it matter what I believe?” I also hear in another question in the background, “does it matter what I don’t believe?” You’ve heard the old saying, “ignorance is bliss,” and the other saying liked unto it is, “what you don’t know can’t hurt you.” What do you think? Is this true? I wish it were true. Speaking from childhood experience, I could not begin to tell you how much it hurt when I crashed into that curb while riding my bike—I did not know I was going to crash, nor did I know how I was going to crash nor did I know how much skin would come off my arm and my leg--how I wished the axiom would have held true that day! I did not know how much I would bleed and I certainly did not know what it would feel like to walk all the way home. Believe me when I say, “what I did not know DID hurt me!” When it comes down to what we believe, will God hold us accountable for what are not motivated to learn, especially in matters concerning Him? A few nights ago I was ...

This fits in nicely with our thoughts this week on why it DOES matter what one believes:

Millard Erickson mentions three objections to the study of doctrine early in his book " Does It Matter What I Believe? " [i] First, "the study of doctrine unduly complicates the Christian faith;" second, "doctrine divides Christians;" and third, "doctrine may distract us from other aspects of the Christian life." Erickson does not hold to these objections, but we are well served to answer them, for if these objections are not answered we might as well worship dust bunnies because nobody enjoys complications, everyone is persuant of unity and the last thing we really need are distractions from those thing that make us feel good. A happy home is one where everyone is able to sit and watch the same TV channel without bickering, right? Doctrine is a strange word. I distinctly remember hearing it for the first time when I was small and how the sound of it stuck with me like grit does after falling on a hard cold tile floor. Not exactly a word ma...

Since the 12 th century the English language has enjoyed the word “wisdom” as the fruit of the root “wis,” an archaic word which means “to know.” So, in a manner of speaking, humankind has been on the seemingly never-ending, ever-winding Yellow-brick road, braving the journey with our companions in this small world for the single purpose that we may someday meet the “Wis.” Then what? Go back to Kansas? What ultimate deliverance is mankind seeking in the quest “to know?” Release from ignorance? The object of knowledge is allusive; though, when we speak of wisdom, we refer to that object that embodies the accumulation of all that is learned philosophically, scientifically and theologically. Immediately the dilemma arises in that our collective knowledge philosophically and scientifically originates out of ourselves; that is, within the framework of mankind. So what have we learned other than what someone else thinks? Is this wisdom? Solon of Athens gave us, “Know thyself.” What...