Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
From Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, 3 q.46 a. 3: Among means to an end, the more suitable is that whereby the various concurring means employed are themselves helpful to such end. But in this that man was delivered by Christ's Passion, many other things besides deliverance from sin came together for man's salvation. In the …
Continue reading "Why Christ's Passion was the Best Way: A Good Friday Reflection"
(KO 091113) 1973? The best way to describe this album's style is "eclectic." But that's not in a contemporary sense--even for the time it came out--but in a traditional sense. "The Companions of Paul" (the group's name in English) draw from a variety of folk styles, including French folk music (an ancestor of zydeco), bluegrass …
Continue reading "Les compagnons de Paul: Jésus va revenir est-tu prêt?"
(That's a barbecue grill under the casket spray.)
When I was growing up, one of my father's favourite expressions to get my brother and I to not stray from the path he set before us was to demand that we "get with the program". The flip side to that was that, if we did get with the program, life would be good. That …
Continue reading "Getting With the Program: The Lesson of the Brandon Eich Fiasco"
(Jef 335.111) 1974? A very nice French Christian folk album. To my mind it isn't quite up to this (from the same label, though), but it isn't bad either. Les Chalands Vivre Ave Toi Comme une Terre Desséchée Amitié Langueur La Feuille Morte Oh! Oh! Seigneur Ce N’est Pas Étrange Quand J’ai vu les Mains …
In early February we were regaled by a debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham over "creationism vs. evolutionism" which attracted more attention than it deserved. I'm tempted to move on about this except for this fawning piece in the New Republic (lefties can certainly be sycophants when the situation calls for it, something Barack …
Continue reading "My Thoughts on Bill Nye, the (so-called) "Science Guy""
Century 35625 (1963?) One of the frustrating things about our culture is that everyone "markets" what they do as brand new. That includes Christian music. Music leaders, composers, and publishers would like to think that the move away from "traditional" Christian hymnody (and they usually fail to define "traditional") is all recent and the music …
(Note: the Markov chain example starts about halfway through the post). One of the issues that the Roman Catholic Church wrestles with on an ongoing basis concerns the status of those politicians which a) profess and call themselves Roman Catholics yet b) show that they do not ascribe to the teaching of the Church in …
In response to my post Think Before You Convert, George comes back with some tough observations, which I reproduce below, with my comments interspersed: I’m a catholic and this church feels so empty that I cannot recommend anyone to convert into the RCC. I am one of those “too enthusiastic” types, reading the Bible, volunteering …
Continue reading "Unloading on Roman Catholicism: A View From the Pew"
Agapè AG-2001 (1972) The styles of the "Jesus Music" era varied from group to group, reflecting the popular music of the era. The concept was that the music "become all things to all men, so as at all costs to save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22 TCNT) The old rockers celebrated then (and still do now) …
Continue reading "Agapè – Le Troisième Seuil (The Third Level)"
