: daily office observations: feasts and followers The first sequence of feasts in Leviticus 23 — Passover/Unleavened Bread (vv. 4–8), Firstfruits …
: friction and discovery [Discovering] things is much more gratifying if there has been some difficulty in the search for …
: the Gospel’s whole way of life A great little aside in St. Basil’s On the Holy Spirit (15.35, p. 68 in PP42): The Lord, therefore, …
: Justin Smith-Ruiu: “[My] concern is not that we’re overestimating what machines might soon be …
: synchronic limits / diachronic promise [N]arrative-critical insights are achieved precisely by setting aside the conventional diachronic …
: hermeneutics, by Origen [The] aim of that divine power, which bestowed upon us the sacred Scriptures, is that we should not …
: the threefold Gospel The Gospel always says: Yes, then No, and then Yes again — and Amen.
: devotion “The graven images of their gods shall you burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the …
: hear now the parable... This morning in our Daily Office readings my wife and I reached Luke 8, which contains St. …
: Autodidacticism is in the air.
: the Plato project Reflections on Plato’s dialogues — or, if I break it out as a separate post, links to …
: pivoting to Plato With the beginning of this year, I have determined to patch some of the (very large) holes in my …
: Justin on Scripture If [you have quoted this passage] because you imagined that you could throw doubt on the [preceding] …
: from first principles My reading project on the concept of tradition commences in earnest with Origen’s De …
: the inexhaustible wealth of the real A rich, and pointed, passage by Sertillanges on the intellectual’s need to be solitary but not …
: liturgia in via Subject for further reflection: Christ’s encounter with His two disciples on the road to …
: a modest proposal If a government or major corporation wants to get serious about mitigating or reversing …
: leprosy and hermeneutics Questions the “historical method” might ask about the “laws of leprosy” in Leviticus 13–14: What was …
: Imperial conquest — or “national” unification by force, which is hardly so different — requires …
: success and insight Any institution, movement, or ideology that appeals to the priors of wealthy, successful, and …
: building well A good and tough word from A. G. Sertillanges: Those who aim at what is beyond their powers, and …
: We should probably be skeptical of efforts to formulate the correct theological method in the …
: exodus and eucharist I’m sure everyone else has already noticed this, but in Exodus 29:38ff the twice-daily (morning …
: Barth on Schleiermacher A catena of quotations from Karl Barth, Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century: If we ask …
: two sayings of the Lord “‘Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to …
: [The] course of History is predictable in the degree to which all men love themselves, and …
: Barth on Hegel In turning away from Hegel the [nineteenth century] acknowledged that, having reached the summit of …
: notes toward a Till We Have Faces / Piranesi essay: a running compilation Till We Have Faces is set in a pagan, pre-Christian world: the world of a “barbarian” …
: history and/of tradition [Both] sides in the Reformation and post-Reformation controversies seemed to conceive of tradition …
: heresy and figurality Athanasius’s debate with the Arians was a lectionary-based discussion, if not explicitly, a …
: “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they were in his eyes but a few days because of his …
: enoch and enosh Though it now seems like a fairly obvious point, probably already made somewhere by St. Augustine or …
: the eternal recurrence Evangelical theology is trapped in a perpetual struggle between its two uneasily coexisting …
: music as pure relationship Here I would like to advance the admittedly speculative hypothesis that the peculiar quality of …
: the resonance/alienation dialectic [Our] work is not done simply by distinguishing between good resonance and bad alienation. Rather, …
: the dialectic of absolutism Eighteenth-century man was the man who could no longer remain ignorant of the significance of the …
: the postmortem Might take this down later… ——— It gives me no pleasure to have (exclusively in private) …
: not peace, but a sword A catena of quotations from Schweitzer’s elegant concluding chapter — whatever one makes of …
: The dispute arises in part because there are really two types of continents: Those recognized by …
: on voting and the resurrection A strong co-sign to this from Matt Martens, on “The Problem of Voting for Candidates who …
: self-determination: from voluntary to required [While] the Enlightenment — heterogeneous, contradictory, and complex as its ideas may have been — …
: the historical Jesus and the Germanic spirit A truly stunning passage — nay, demolition job — on the whole historical-critical project from …
: an exercise in Trinitarian thinking In John 12:41, the narrator of the Fourth Gospel remarks, “Isaiah said these things because he …
: isms and itys Relativ-ism, plural-ism, modern-ism, secular-ism — these are agendas, characteristic to the ethos of …
: The logic of Genesis 1:26 affirms (at least!) three statements about the imago Dei: The imago is …
: doubtful doubt Polanyi has the rationalists’ number, a decade before Foucault et al: I do not suggest, of course, …
: the lives we actually have Freddie deBoer: Ultimately, I do want to tell people to please try and chill out, yes. No, I don’t …
: the fiduciary programme I’m continuing to be amazed by the depth and prescience of Polanyi’s Personal Knowledge. …
: The key question for critics of “theological interpretation of Scripture”: Does …
: the syntax of god in godself I’m quite enjoying the early pages of (the first volume of) Tom Greggs’ Dogmatic Ecclesiology. But …
: the “dynamo-objective coupling” A great analysis by Polanyi of the cultural structure that maintains (or at least maintained) …
: … I suggest that an ecclesiology of brokenness is the only “right” ecclesiology …
: Saving for myself for later: Dorothy Sayers' hilarious essay The Greatest Single Defect of My Own …
: what hath modernity wrought? Despite the many errors and evils wrought by modern-ism in theology, I suspect that modern-ity† has …
: the dialectic of acceptance Three incredibly important paragraphs from Polanyi: Every acceptance of authority is qualified by …
: waves, and which ones to ride There is currently a discussion going on about the supposed contrast, and transition, between the …
: “This was one of the central problems confronting all the foreign policy executives [in 1914] (and …
: notes on Tolkien Two notes, with no pretense to originality, from my most recent reread of The Lord of the Rings …
: Thesis: The appearance of effortless inhumanity is practically always dependent on the sacrifice or …
: ‘Other evils there are that may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it …
: roots are for growing ‘Dear me! We Tooks and Brandybucks, we can’t live long on the heights.’ …
: “Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves.” — Gandalf the White …
: epistemic gatekeeping and empirical evidence We should also remember that the rules of induction have lent their support throughout the ages to …
: power in both worlds “The Elves may fear the Dark Lord, and they may fly before him, but never again will they listen to …
: mcGilchrist in one sentence “[Dynamic] relationships are not only more important than the entities related, but… ontologically …
: evidence and science It is the normal practice of scientists to ignore evidence which appears incompatible with the …
: five questions for possessions Before making a purchase, my wife and I make a habit of asking these five questions. Is it… …
: on counter-Enlightenments This column / book review by N. S. Lyons is worthwhile — as much for its ultimate affirmation that …
: philosophical development An oddity of philosophical / theological history: the great minds, whom we now remember, often …
: truth // faithfulness to reality [Despite] our always contributing to the reality we experience, there is something apart from …
: New Testament Theology is... This essay was originally written for Professor Kavin Rowe’s Spring 2023 seminar on New …
: Trinity II.5 We may… assert that the ontological judgments of the early ecumenical creeds were the only …
: James C. Scott’s four rules of thumb that “could make development planning less prone to disaster:” …
: practical knowledge and “scientific” ignorance Why, then, the unscientific scorn for practical knowledge? There are at least three reasons for it, …
: There could be a worse hermeneutical lens (read: many, many worse lenses) for New Testament theology …
: power, literal and figurative [Lenin] was famous for claiming that “Communism is Soviet Power plus the Electrification of …
: thin plans and thick cultures Like planned cities, planned languages are indeed possible. Esperanto is one example; technical and …
: Trinity II I personally believe that [the doctrine of the Trinity] has constantly stimulated the course of …
: Trinity I The doctrine of the Trinity is the theological/philosophical apparatus necessary to talk sensibly …
: We have together produced a type of university in which teaching and enquiry in the humanities (and …
: nationalism and imperialism The testimony of history suggests that the phenomena of “nation” and …
: self-forgetting and rediscovering Technology is the human’s achievement, not his failing even though the use he chooses to make …
: sketchy outline for an eschatologically-oriented theological anthropology (that goes hard on the importance of the body) Part I: Jesus the Human Jesus of Nazareth raised bodily from the dead [resurrection accounts, …
: impersonal knowledge Why you should not use ChatGPT, large language models, or other “artificial …
: does certainty exist? Addendum: true personal certainty is much rarer than one thinks. Strictly speaking I am, I think, …
: Important to explore, in all fields of life and thought: the practical difference between confidence …
: philosophy as seeing In a technological age, philosophy, too, tends to conceive of itself as a technē. To some writers, …
: class and clarity David Brooks: “Without even thinking about it, we in the creative class consolidate our class …
: hermeneutical rules, according to Jesus To the disciples: “Unless you change and become like a little child, you will never enter the …
: how to have a Bible study Read a whole book (or, if impractical, a large, cohesive section) of the Bible aloud in a group. …
: aligned with the past William Baird’s three-volume History of New Testament Research is enormously helpful as a …
: the literal and the Word Brevard Childs: The church’s continual struggle in understanding the literal sense of the …
: on slavery texts in the New Testament Five points, both historical and theological, to render credible the preaching of New Testament …
: We come, then, to a first paradox of modernity… that its own drive has often been toward forms of …
: divine identity Brevard Childs: The early church’s theological reflection on the God of Israel did not turn …
: against citation Of course, I’m not actually against citation, in the sense of needing to show your work and …
: There are meetings that should be emails, and emails that should be meetings; discernment (φρονήσις) …
: martial bliss I find the frequently-seen typo of “martial” for “marital” very funny on its own. (If — per Michael …
: humor, fear, and trembling Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling is a great and important philosophical work, of course; but nobody …
: particularity and Spirit Brevard Childs: [The] history of interpretation serves as a major check against all forms of …
: what I’m doing here I am testing out utilizing Micro.blog as a kind of reading journal: a low friction platform for the …
: reading McGilchrist: Luther/Heidegger A less critical remark about the Reformation section of The Master and His Emissary. One intriguing …
: reading McGilchrist: Reformation Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary is a refreshingly ambitious, generally …