Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
Continuing in Bossuet's Elevations on the Mysteries, 1,4: Hear, Israel: the Lord your God is one God, because he is who is, he who is indivisible. Â All which is not perfect, degenerates from perfection. Â Thus the Lord your God being the perfect one is alone and there is no other God but him. Â All that …
Continue reading "God, His Unity and Perfection: The Unity of God"
Matt Kennedy at Stand Firm finds Archbishop John Sentamu's response about the propriety of women bishops disconcerting: His appeal is to the supreme authority of scripture. How does the Archbishop of York answer? Setamu calmly continued with the service, stating that the appointment of a female bishop was now “part of the law of the …
Continue reading "Women Bishops in the Church of England: The Chickens Are In the Roost"
Continuing on in Bossuet's Elevations on the Mysteries, in this case 1,3 (the previous one is here): I AM WHO AM. HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you. It is so that God defined himself. It is to say that God is he in which non-being has no place, who thus is always, and …
Continue reading "God, His Unity and Perfection: More on the Being of God and His Eternal Beatitude"
Oh, the web we weave when we get charged up for a cause before we think things through: Until recently, same-sex couples could not legally marry. Now, some are finding they must wed if they want to keep their partner's job-based health insurance and other benefits. With same-sex marriage now legal in 35 states and …
Continue reading "Then, We Couldn't Get Married. Now, We're Forced To."
This is from Bossuet's Elevations on the Mysteries, 1,2. The previous elevation is here. It is said: the perfect is not, it is only an idea of our spirit which goes rising from the imperfect which one sees with one's eyes to a perfection which only has reality in thought. This is the reasoning which …
Continue reading "God, His Unity and Perfection: The Perfection and Eternity of God"
I'll bet that the Obama White House wishes that about this: In March 2012, on the floor of the United States Senate, Mike Lee (R-UT) predicted that if Obama was reelected gas would cost $5.45 per gallon by the start 2015. Lee said that gas prices would rise 5 cents for every month Obama was …
Continue reading "Sometimes We Wish Our Opponent's Predictions Came True"
I am starting another series from Jaques-Bénigne Bossuet's Elevations on the Mysteries, starting with the first one. This would be 1,1. From all eternity, God is: God is perfect: God is happy: God is one. The impious asks: why is God? I answer him: why shouldn't he be? Is it because he is perfect and …
Continue reading "God, His Unity and Perfection: The Being of God"
My church's news site recently noted a gathering down in Jamaica which was a consultation on believers' baptism. There were a couple of ministers from my church there, along with representatives of the World Council of Churches. I'm always nervous when our ministers get involved with WCC people and events. They are like young Siegfried, …
Continue reading "Why I Support the Idea of Believers' Baptism"
It's not easy to keep up with life and the world's events at the same time, especially if your job isn't--or jobs aren't--to keep up with all of it. Nevertheless I'd like to put down some random thoughts on the subject. Most of it has appeared before in one form or another on this blog, …
Continue reading "Some Random Thoughts on the Charlie Hebdo Attack and Islam"
Who would have thunk it? "However, there are new discussions that stained glass is seen more favorably by younger generations." DeGroot cited recent research conducted by the Barna Group, which found that Millennials preferred more traditional looking sanctuaries instead of so-called trendy buildings. Stained glass windows are one of the fonder memories of the church …
Positive Infinity 