Thoughts about how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term
A doctrine, when coming under fire, should be defendable by argument; if it is not, it is either a properly basic belief and thus rather a given of experience than a doctrine, or probably false.
But even the best of doctrines are a tough act to follow if the whole weight of a rival worldview presses against them. They are then like soldiers fighting bravely for a good cause, but fighting a losing battle.
Read More
Faced with corrosive doctrines inside of churches founded by him, the apostle Paul conspicuously often argues that those false teachings are ‘not sound’ or ‘contrary to sound doctrine’[1]. ‘
Sound’ can also be translated ‘healthy’, and indeed the underyling Greek word is hygiaino, where we get our ‘hygiene’.
Read More
At first, a clarification. I do not use the term ‘good literature’ as a synonym for ‘captivating’, ‘stylistically elaborate’, or ‘well-structured’ writings, although all of these attributes may contribute to a piece of literature being good.
Thus, a book may be very thrilling and yet fail to be good literature in my sense.
Read More
C.S. Lewis’s distinction between the ways of knowing “looking at” and “looking along”, which in German roughly correspond to “wissen” and “kennen” respectively (or in French “savoir” and “connaître”), is a very helpful one.
I would like to apply it here to an issue that is particularly close to my heart.
Read More
Suppose you want to change a character trait of yours, one that mainly consists in emotional mismanagement.
Take irascibility as an example. Your aim is to become more considerate, more serene, and less irritable.
Read More
The main question I want to ask about this film is “How could the Padres’ apostasy been made less probable?”
My theses are: (1) They should not have come as Padres (2) they should have dropped Catholic relics (3) they should have undergone a more thorough philosophical training with special emphasis on Japan’s Buddhism to meet the intellectual challenges (4) they should have dropped all notions of ‘wedding’ Japan to the Church, but rather seek to bring individuals to Christ.
Read More
In his short essay “Meditation in a Toolshed” C.S. Lewis makes an extremely helpful distinction between the two fundamental ways of knowing.
He calls them looking along and looking at.
Read More