But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time

OK, so let’s get to the nitty gritty of these various posts. After Kuhn showed how even science was somewhat dependent on one’s worldview and showed how major advances did not tend to happen until somebody looked at the data with a different worldview, other philosophers began to look again at the whole issue of language and meaning. As a background, Freud and Jung had already done their... [Read more]

And you can fool some of the people all of the time

Yesterday I had mentioned that another philosophy came up that caused an explosion within USA culture. Remember that I mentioned a philosopher named Kuhn? His book was published in the 1960′s, in the midst of the cultural explosions that did not begin in the 1960′s as most people think, but began in the 1950′s (well, just slightly before) when the civil rights movement exploded.... [Read more]

You can fool all of the people some of the time

I mentioned yesterday that a philosopher named Kuhn came up with the terminology “paradigm shift.” And, I mentioned that what he conclusively showed was how even scientists are influenced by some of their preconceptions. Let me put it another way. If any of you have read the original Sherlock Holmes novels–not the movies, please, the novels–you know that he was an obssessive... [Read more]

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God forgive him, but not me, because I could not beware

For who deceives me once, God forgive him; if twice, God forgive him; but if thrice, God forgive him, but not me, because I could not beware. — 1611 Tarlton’s Jests [English "modernized" to make it readable] Yesterday I pointed out that several events had led to the loss of the concept of truth in our society, among them were philosophical ideas, the realization that some viewpoints had... [Read more]

Fool me twice . . . rethink your approach to truth

Yesterday I quoted from a book by a priest whom I know. In it he said: Let me submit to you, therefore, that the great spiritual battle of our time is not a struggle between believers and atheists. Rather, it is a struggle between pride and humility. We expect and even demand humility in almost all other areas of life–what really matters is what is objectively true, not what any of us might happen... [Read more]

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Missions and Phronema

What does the Greek term “phronema” mean? According to the Wikipedia, “Phronema is a transliteration of [a] Greek word, . . . which has the meanings of ‘mind’, ‘spirit’, ‘thought’, ‘purpose’, ‘will’, and can have either a positive meaning (‘high spirit’, ‘resolution’, ‘pride’) or a bad... [Read more]

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Missions and difficult transitions

One of the most difficult transitions for a mission to a new area to make is the transition from being a church that looks like a transplant to being a church that culturally fits into the country into which it was planted. What do I mean? Well, you can see the struggle in Scripture and you can even see the struggle in Orthodox history. The issue has spilled reams of paper and gallons of ink, not only... [Read more]

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Osama bin Laden dead and gone

“I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” — Mark Twain Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they... [Read more]

Pride, Pharisees, and Prostitutes

The other day, I wrote a post about our attitude needing to be that we are the worst of all sinners. Let me follow up on that by commenting on what appears to many to be an oddity in the New Testament. Many have noticed that over and over again, it is the “good” people who do not respond to Our Lord Jesus Christ, while it is those whom society considers “unclean” that consistently... [Read more]

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Dem bones, dem bones, dem holy relics bones

OK, It is time for Father Orthoduck to answer the questions from the day before yesterday. Tomorrow, he will make a point with the final answer. What is an ossuary? “An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. . . . A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed... [Read more]