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]

partner

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]

Phronema and American Orthodoxy

Yesterday I mentioned that there are two great streams of Orthodoxy currently, the Russian and the Byzantine. But, even those streams of Orthodoxy have some variation in different countries. Thus, Romanian Orthodoxy has a different but very similar phronema to Russian Orthodoxy. And, potentially, in the future there could be additional great streams that make up Orthodoxy. For instance, should the... [Read more]

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]

Wisconsin and Catholic Social doctrine

I received a highly thoughtful reply to my post on the withheld wages of workers from Fr. Gregory Jensen, who has his own blog, called Koinonia. And, though he was objecting to some points I made and asking probing questions about others, it was a pleasure to read him because he had gone to the trouble of doing some of his own research. I will not quote his entire post, so please do go back to the... [Read more]

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The Census and right wing(nuts)

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R) of North Carolina is one of the more conservative members of Congress. He has even proposed replacing the image of U.S. Grant on the $50 bill with the image of Ronald Reagan. But, Rep. McHenry is in favor of the Census and is encouraging people to fully respond to the Census and/or to Census takers who show up at your door. In part he says: What worries me is blatant misinformation... [Read more]

handbook

A real life example of our current healthcare system and our “Christian” response

In the discussion of healthcare changes, one of the most often made arguments is that somehow God “hates” forced charity–despite the fact that the Old Testament Law specified quite a few taxes and Jesus said that we need to pay Caesar’s taxes without complaint–and that the Church is the one who ought to handle works of mercy. Well, let me give you a real-life example... [Read more]

Tony Campolo, Glenn Beck, and heresy

Over the last couple of days Father Orthoduck and I have been discussing short-term missions, theology, and social justice.  Let me now return to short-term missions with a quote from the article by Tony Campolo that was cited earlier. In this quote, Tony Campolo provides the link between Glenn Beck’s disdain for government and private donations to organizations that serve the poor. And, if... [Read more]

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Short-term missions, social support, and Tony Campolo

I am a supporter of short-term missions. However, my blog post of the day before yesterday did not make that clear. I have seen at least two people called to long-term missions because they served on a short-term mission team. My problem is not with short-term missions per se. My problem is with under-trained teams who come over and cause multiple problems to the missionaries in residence and who expect... [Read more]