Reflections on Christianity's greatest scandal, our lack of unity
I'm a Christian, but...
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Nice takeoff on the rather vapid "I'm a Christian, but..." theme that is running around on the Interwebs these days. Hat tip to Lutheran Satire for skewering this silliness right where it deserves.
By Charles Marsh The problem is that science, well suited to look at repeatable events, is at a loss about singular ones. Some people suppose that science trumps religion, that a modern understanding of the world through science renders religious understandings obsolete. Some others suppose that religious understanding can be used to refute science. Both views are wrong. Science is rooted in philosophical naturalism. That is the stance that says we will explain what we see without reference to supernatural agencies. Science describes what happens without recourse to explanations involving angels, demons, gods, fairy godmothers, humors, vapors or ghosts. Acting on this basis, science has done a great deal of good. It has gotten rid of superstitions about what causes disease, where insects come from and a good many other misunderstandings. Notice that science is morally neutral. The same disciplines that give us vaccines and disease prevention can as...
By Charles Marsh Recent conversations online and off have shown me something very curious. Some of what I believe to be Christian verity some other Christians take to be mere fantasy. They are cessationists and I am not . According to them, the things that I believe about tongues and prophecy and words of wisdom and of knowledge are sheer moonshine. So while in some churches I am thought orthodox enough, in others I am regarded as delusional or something rather like it. There are other matters in which, in like manner, some Christians view certain beliefs of other Christians as no better than free imagination, runaway fantasy or perhaps something worse: damaging falsehoods not harmless nuttiness. I admit to being somewhat dismayed by other Christians' newspaper novenas and Facebook prayer schemes. I do not think that is how prayer works. Their idea seems to be that if you repeat such and such a prayer x times, or republish it or "like" it or retweet it, then you w...
The Emperor of Japan invited the best swordsmen in the land to an audience in his palace in Edo. As it was summer there were flies buzzing around. A swordsman pulled his sword from its scabbard and, with a shout, cut a fly out of the air, neatly cutting it in half. Not to be outdone, another swordsman pulled out his sword and cut a fly into two pieces before it fell. A third swordsman drew his sword and cut, but the fly flew on its way and did not fall. The Emperor glared at the third swordsman. "Majesty," said the third samurai, full of bravado, "That fly will never reproduce!" I put this forward as a cautionary tale for all to ponder. If your efforts do not have evident results, you need not explain. We have enough pretense going on already in the fly-ridden palace that is Christendom today.
Comments
Post a Comment