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G. K. Chesterton – from ‘Heretics’
“Truths turn into dogmas the instant that they are disputed. Thus every man who utters a doubt defines a religion. And the scepticism of our time does not really destroy the beliefs, rather it creates them; gives them their limits and their plain and defiant shape. We who are Liberals once held Liberalism lightly as Continue reading
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The Swans – a poem
Here’s a poem I wrote at a particularly dark time in my life. It’s about hopes and dreams failing. I’m a pretty terrible poet, but it is what it is. Dying swans lay strewn across the shore Their battered wings, a portent of powerless beauty Long necks bow in bloodied resignation No more will they Continue reading
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in totidem verbis – considering a problematic hermeneutic (part 5)
In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John records his observations and experiences during a series of visions. Here’s part of one: After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you Continue reading
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in totidem verbis – considering a problematic hermeneutic (part 4)
I continue in this series, thinking about how we should read and interpret the Bible. The principles that undergird the interpretation of the Bible are called “hermeneutics”. There are many hermeneutical principles that people use when interpreting the Christian scriptures, but most of these are not clearly stated, examined, or applied consistently. The criterion I Continue reading
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Uncreation – a poem
Hi. Here is a little poem I wrote that summarizes Genesis chapters 1-3. Eternal decree Darkness, deep Spirit’s sweep Chaos flees Galaxies cleave Land, sea Firmament be Creatures breath Image bearer Man, wife Tree, life Serpent slither Tasty thought Pleasant fruit Power pursuit Death caught Too late Sweaty brow Hardship now Seed await Continue reading
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in totidem verbis – considering a problematic hermeneutic (part 3)
This is my third post thinking about a hermeneutical principle I have called in totidem verbis. That’s a Latin phrase which means “in just so many words”. It’s where a person reading the Bible relies on the explicit words and ideas presented in the text to determine what the Bible is trying to say. I Continue reading
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OZYMANDIAS
“I met a traveller from an antique land who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read which yet survive, stamped on Continue reading
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The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some Continue reading
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A poem I wrote about September 11.
Very early, on a sunny September morning in 2001, I was working for Coca-Cola as a sales representative. I remember hearing on the radio about some terrorist attacks in America– especially on the World Trade Center. I recall pulling into a McDonalds for some breakfast and on the TV screens inside there was footage of Continue reading
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Did the universe come from nothing?
One of the more popular atheistic, scientistic, myths is that the universe came from nothing. Sensing the powerful tug of logic that suggests the universe had a cause beyond itself, it has been the mission of some to leverage findings from quantum field theory to remove the possibility of a transcendent cause to everything. In 2012, Lawrence Continue reading
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