Three Good Reasons to Resist Making Relativism Our Latest Bogeyman
Merold Westphal on hermeneutics and relativism: We are easily frightened by the specter of "anything goes," and there is no shortage of those willing to play on this fear in order to imply their own absoluteness. But there are three good reasons to resist this fear: 1) First, from the relativity of our interpretations to the historical, cultural, and linguistic perspectives out of which they arise (as can be seen easily enough by looking at church history), it simply does not follow that...
This is What We Pay Andrée Seu For
Excellent, from Andrée Seu Peterson: Sometimes I wonder if the inventors of the other LGBT brand are a tad embarrassed. They keep having to add new letters to their acronym, and the more they tack on the weaker their case looks. In simpler days when it was merely an “L” and a “G,” their position seemed stronger because all they had to persuade us of was that some people are born with a hard-wired romantic orientation to the same sex. We were given assurances that if we granted “L” and “G” they...
Most Popular Bible Verses by Country
YouVersion tells us that these are the most popular Bible verses by country: I feel guilty for complaining about people's choice of Bible verses... But not so guilty that I'll stop yet. You may guess, as I did, what people are looking to these verses to do. Listen to them—without context: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11) “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable,...
A Little Internet Wisdom
So true, from a CT movie reviewer: The trick to writing on the Internet and getting heard is making a very loud, very extreme argument. The Internet does not reward nuanced takes or people who wait a week and a half to think something through, and the Internet especially does not reward people who say, You know? I'm not sure I've figured out what I think on this yet. And this is wise: At several of the most formative moments in my life, I encountered three philosophers whom I greatly admire....
If You Can’t Say Anything Nice About Contemporary English, Don’t Say Anything At All
When it comes to our common tongue, says Ammon Shea, “there are two things that have remained constant. The English language continues to change and a large number of people wish that it would not” (Bad English: A History of Linguistic Aggravation, x). You know those people. I used to be one. They’re full of complaints about how (other) people are ruining the language, and full of nostalgia for the golden era in which people used to speak and write English correctly—1950, say, or even 1600....