Month: January 2017
-
Points of Reference
My grandparents were refugees. From China, technically, because they had left Russia in 1929. They lived in Harbin for two years or so, before they managed to be part of a small group that received a waiver from the US government to enter the country from China. They needed a waiver because of the Chinese […]
-
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
A longer sermon, developed on the base of an earlier one on Joshua 5:13-15, that actually needed to be delivered on this particular Sunday. The Hebrew Scripture for today is Joshua 5:13-16. It’s an unusual text for a Sunday morning. For one thing, it’s unusual to hear anything from Joshua in church, especially if the […]
-
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
What does it mean, precisely, to be “spiritual but not religious”? Presumably, generally, something relating to the social reality, or maybe more properly the institutional reality, of something that can be called “religion.” But I have been consistently confused about the “spiritual” part of this phrase. What does that word mean? It probably hinges on […]
-
Epistemological Question
Wanted: help with contemporary epistemology! I think that the popular “correspondence” theory of truth has been more or less abandoned in thoughtful circles these days, replaced by things like “coherence” theories, assessed by criteria like “comprehensiveness.” I think I understand that, although I’m no expert. I think I partially understand the notion of “warranted true […]
-
Parable and Literal
I realized recently that I have never heard anyone insist on the “literal truth” of a parable. I have never heard anyone, or heard of anyone, who insists that the prodigal son was a single, physical individual. I don’t think anyone has tried to find archaeological evidence of the inn to which the Good Samaritan […]
-
Christian Doctrine (3)
Chapter 3 of Christian Doctrine focuses on the doctrine of “general revelation” – the idea that God is or can be known “by the light of nature and the works of creation” (Westminster Confession, 1.1). Guthrie presents the following summary arguments – things people have offered/frequently offer in favor of the doctrine of general revelation: […]
-
Baptism of the Christ
The one-year lectionary this morning includes Genesis 18:16-19:38 – the pick-up to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the story proper, and the aftermath. It’s a dreadful story – that’s well-known. But this morning I noticed how much hesitation there is in the story, at least the way it’s told. God hesitates to tell Abraham […]
-
Personal Knowledge
This seems so basic that it’s one of those things “everybody knows” – and yet, sometimes I’m taken by surprise by things “everybody knows.” When we know someone, or are getting to know someone, presumably there are things we can know about the person that stay the same, because the person stays the same over […]
Matters of Interpretation 