Feb
28
Intelligent Artistic Design
February 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Whether or not the universe has an intelligent designer, the concept of “intelligent design” that is often bandied about by cosmopundits is completely useless as a scientific notion, since it is both untestable and incompatible with the sort of materialism required in contemporary science. Don’t get me wrong: I believe that the universe does, indeed, [...]
Feb
25
The Ascent of Love
February 25, 2007 | 2 Comments
When I was in the 7th grade I had an overpowering crush on a girl in the 6th grade by the name of Cynthia Shook, whose beauty, to my 13-year-old brain, excelled that of any other entity in the ordo creationis. The crush was a rather consuming one: whenever I saw her in the halls [...]
Feb
25
New Ecclesiastical History Blog
February 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Mr_jargon, who recently has commented on some posts at this blog, has started a new blog himself whose focus will be ecclesiastical history. It is called Neochalcedonian and, if it is possible to tell such things from comments left at other blogs (such as this one), I suspect that it will both interesting and learned. [...]
Feb
23
New Edition of Nestle-Aland Scheduled
February 23, 2007 | 3 Comments
Here’s some exciting news for you bibliophiles and textual critics out there: the 28th edition of Nestle-Aland is scheduled for publication later this year or early next. Nestle-Aland is the standard, scholarly edition of the Greek New Testament.
I don’t know that the 28th edition will represent a significant change over the 27th in terms [...]
Feb
19
Some Virtues of the East
February 19, 2007 | 1 Comment
In my dealings with Orthodox writers, bloggers, apologists, and clergy I have formed a very personal opinion about Eastern Christianity in general that will perhaps come as a surprise to some, but not to all: I wish that Western Christianity could be more like it. Because this is a very personal, intuitive attitude, it is [...]
Feb
19
Augustine and Maximos on Free Choice
February 19, 2007 | 8 Comments
As I mentioned in my post on the metaphysics of Saint Maximos the Confessor, Joseph Farrell does an admirable job of putting his explanation of the theological themes involved into their historical context. This feature of his analysis is strikingly evident in his assessment of the problem of free choice in the two Saints. After [...]
Feb
19
Insight Scoop
February 19, 2007 | 1 Comment
I’ve just come across a smart blog at Ignatius Press called Insight Scoop, apparently written, for the most part, by Carl Olson. Yesterday it featured a post about a possible re-union between some Anglicans and Rome. Mr. Olson is surely right when he speculates that the possibility of re-unification is perhaps being overstated in the [...]
Feb
18
Joseph Farrell on the Metaphysics of Saint Maximos
February 18, 2007 | 8 Comments
In an excellent little book published by St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press (Free Choice in St. Maximus the Confessor, South Canan, Pennsylvania, 1989), Joseph Farrell advances a novel and intriguing interpretation of the metaphysics of St. Maximos the Confessor. Whereas the dominant paradigm tends to interpret his metaphysics as more closely aligned with those of St. [...]
Feb
17
On Growing Up Intellectually
February 17, 2007 | 7 Comments
Something that Mike Liccione posted recently at Sacramentum Vitae caught my attention and has been percolating in my mind ever since. In discussing the recent debate between Andrew Sullivan and Sam Harris over the existence of God and the usefulness of religion (is anyone else reminded of the Monty Python routine where the existence of [...]
Feb
17
Another Aristotelian Distinction Lost
February 17, 2007 | 7 Comments
One has to admire the proponents of I-957 in Seattle, which ties the legitimacy of marriage to actual procreation, if for no other reason than their willingness to use conceptual entailment as a consideration in the formation of policy, in spite of the fact that their attempt is a rather lame one intended not to [...]