Coffee Culture Kingdom

Arguing with Grandma

nobody@vox.com(Phil) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:06:26 -0700

It's hard to argue with Grandma.

Of the many "wise sayings," she often told me, one came to mind the other day as I was helping a neighbor clean: "if everyone swept in front of his own front door, the whole world would be clean."

Problem is, though, sometimes others can't sweep in front of their own front door.

So as true as my grandmother's old proverb is, its radical emphasis on the individual ignores the power of, and central significance of, the community.

In the end, neither the individual, nor the community, can exist without the other.

Philosophers have long struggled to answer, or solve, this problem of individual vs community, also known by the technical term, "the problem of the one and the many."

Some theologians have argued that this "problem" can only be solved with the historic orthodox concept of God as "three-and-one."

Sweeping, as it turns out, is a project for the Trinity.

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Russell's Gold

nobody@vox.com(Phil) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:14:27 -0800

Russell

Bertrand Russell, a famous 20th century logician and self-described rationalist, writes in his essay called "Liberal Decalogue" the following interesting observation:

...every opinion now accepted was once considered eccentric.

Further on, Russell elaborates on an aspect of eccentricity, namely, the ability and freedom to dissent; this bit is phrased as a command:

Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than passive agreement...for if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.

This reminds me of the way we find truth wherever we go, whether we're looking for it or not. Clearly, Russell's assumptions and the starting point for his purported "rationality" is different than mine. But he's captured truth here, clear, biblical truth. How is this?

I think the answer is that God has traced His grace with an indelible pen across all of creation. This autograph of God includes the thoughts of unbelievers, non-believers, and former-believers. Folk like Russell.

So, while much could be made of dissecting Russell and his arguments against Christianity, and against theism, for the moment, I'm relishing in his golden insights.

(A good summary of Russell's career as a logician and philosopher can be found here. Go here for Russell's essay, "Why I Am Not a Christian." Here, for his essay, "Am I an Atheist or an Agnostic?"

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Feasting and Death

nobody@vox.com(Phil) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:51:06 -0800

Persephone

Reading the New Yorker recently, I came across a fantastic quote:

Without a killing, there is no feast.

Doing a quick search online, I found that it is quoted nowhere else except here, by an actor and instructor of acting, on his blog. (Interesting blog, too.) I'd love to know the author of this quote, someone who is, apparently by the author of the article, a "philosopher."

But its significance to me goes beyond the field of acting or even philosophy.

Think for a moment: the Christian faith is compared to a feast. Themes of satisfaction, fullness of joy, and being filled (with the Holy Spirit, with grace, with love, etc.) abound.

What is remarkable is that this bounteous feast of grace has been prepared for us through the death (and resurrection) of Jesus. Even more remarkably, the one who prepared it, the Host, is the one whose death was required.

Reading elsewhere online, I came across this quote from Old Spurgeon, the famous 19th century Baptist pastor:

Gospel joys are elevating, they make men like angels. As in the gospel God comes down to men, so by the gospel men go up to God. I might also have shown you how absolutely peerless are the provisions of grace. There is no feast like that of the gospel, no meat like the flesh of Jesus, no drink like his blood, no joys like that which crowns the gospel feast. (Spurgeon on Isaiah 25:6)

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Suffering and Happiness

nobody@vox.com(Phil) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 12:09:22 -0700

Sam Harris's new book, Letter to a Christian Nation, is a rant against Christians, specifically, and all theists, generally. It is not deeply argued. Harris gets away with ad hominems ad nausea, and fails to demonstrate that his assumptions (as an atheist) are better than mine (as a theist).

Letter to a Christian Nation

A central theme in the book is his definition of morality as the alleviation of suffering and the promotion of happiness. Interesting definition given the fact that Harris offers no basis for the belief that suffering is bad and happiness is good.

So, while he charges God-believers with all manner of evils, including the "evil" of circular reasoning, Harris fails himself to rescue himself out of his own circularity. (Sam, let us know if you ever catch your tail.)

On the whole, it is a good book for a Christian to read as it presents at least the basic problems that unbelievers and atheists have with the Faith. It is also a good book for unbelievers to read, as it shows that ranting does little to quench the thirst in the human soul for transcendent truth. Sorry, Sam. It is the way you were made.

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Philosophical Naturalism

nobody@vox.com(Phil) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:54:00 -0800

I take a naturalist to be someone who deligihts in the flora and fauna of creation, and relishes the journey. He has scientific knowledge, but is more of an artist than a lab technician. Philsosophical naturalism, then, is not some new theory of the world, the universe, and everything, but describes a hiker's journey through the world which awaits His Redemption.

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Let's get started...

nobody@vox.com(Phil) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:42:02 -0800

What does the name mean? Coffee is an aesthetic flourish for a meal, and goes especially well with chocolate, I think. Bitter-sweet; bitter-sweet. Semi-sweet. Culture and kingdom are vectors which emerge from the banquet ended well with coffee and chocolate. Culture is the downwarrd, immanent, engaging vector. Kingdom is the upward, transcendent vector.

Take this as a brand of pastoral philosophy. By brand, I mean a promise wrapped in an experience. The promise hopefully won't disappoint like so many jelly donuts: you bite into them four times before you get the payoff. Alas and alack!

If you're looking for technical theological statements, you can find them here. You'll just have to poke around a bit. But if you're looking for fun, interesting, and thoughtful meditations on Jesus and our world, welcome to Coffee Culture Kingdom.

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