Out of the Cave We Go

Emissaries of the Infinite,
Ambassadors of the Absolute,
know something of the divine "madness."
Thy are hopeless and hopeful contrarians, curmudgeons.
Against the world, for the world,
under God, under the sun, in the Son,
Cross stuck to all they do.
Resurrection ahead.
Hope is not dead,
but only in anguish.

Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Fall, 2008, TM 500

Professor of Philosophy, Denver Seminary

THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE INTELLECT:

OR OUTTHINKING THE WORLD FOR CHRIST

The spirit-empowered intellect is a wonder to behold.

I.                   SPIRITUALITY TODAY

A.    Postmodern spirituality: sacred subjectivity devoid of truth (John 10:10)

1.      Relativistic: truth decay

2.      Subjective: selfish

3.      Pragmatic: not principled

4.      Hedonistic: no cross of suffering for God and his Kingdom and his people

5.      Eclectic: not unified

B.     Biblical spirituality: being transformed through the Holy Spirit to love God and serve your neighbor in God’s power (Zech. 4:6: John 13-15)

1.      Justification: positional restoration through the Cross of Christ (Romans 5:1-8; 1 Corinthians 5:17)

2.      Sanctification: existential Christ-likeness through the Cross of Christ (Luke 9:23-36; Phil. 2:11-12)

3.      Glorification: consummation of Christ-likeness and restoration of the divine image in humans (Romans 8)

II.                THE CHALLENGE OF CRITICAL THINKING

A.    Creation Mandate requires critical thinking (Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8)

B.     Christ’s Great Commission requires critical thinking (Matthew 28:18-20)

C.     Christ’s Great Commandment requires critical thinking (Matthew 22:37-39)

D.    Culture development and Christian proclamation require critical thinking for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17)

II.        CRITICAL THINKING AND HOLY SCRIPTURE

A.    Critical thinking: the practice of carefully evaluating ideas in a way that highly values rationality as a tool for finding, defending, and applying truth in every area of life.

B. Critical thinking in Scripture (see Isa. 1:18; 1 Peter 3:15-16)

1.      Jesus’ use of careful argumentation in theological and ethical disputes   

      (Matthew 22:23-33); see D. Groothuis, On Jesus (Wadsworth, 2003)

2.   God was “well pleased” with Jesus in all things (Matthew 3:17)

III.       THE PRACTICE OF CRITICAL THINKING FOR CHRISTIANS

 A. Intellectual virtues: Loving God with all your mind (Matthew 22:37-39)

         

                 1. Reason as a divine gift. Be thankful for it (James 1:18)

                 2. Fruit of the Holy Spirit: Intellectual patience required for godliness

                     (Galatians 5:22)

                 3. Put truth first in everything (Matthew 6:33; John 14:1-6)

 B. Intellectual vices to avoid

             

             1. Sloth: intellectual impatience, unwillingness to work, think, grow,                

     struggle (“the fool” as described in Proverbs)

 2. Dangers of television: wasting time, dumbing down, image over reality,      

     intellectual impatience, and so on. See Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death.

 

IV.       GODLY HABITS OF THE MIND

A. Do not fear hard intellectual questions; ask them; pursue good answers

                 (Matthew 7:7-12). Nietzsche quote: have the courage to challenge your own

                 convictions.

B. Have solid and sufficient reasons for your deepest beliefs (apologetics): 1 Peter

     3:15-16; Jude 3.

            C.  Be transformed through the renewing your mind to know God’s      

                  will (Romans 12:1-2)

D.  Take time for silence and solitude before God. Think well for God and

      for others. Time “in the woodshed” (jazz phrase for practicing)

E.     The Cross of Christ and intellectual sanctification

1.      Deny all that keeps you from submitting your intellect to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit

2.      Repent of intellectual sloth and distractions  (Matthew 4:17)

SUGGESTED READING FOR TRANSFORMING THE MIND

1.      Harry Frankfurt, On Bullshit. 2005. A serious treatment of why so much discourse today is lacking in logic and truth.

2.      Douglas Groothuis, Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism. InterVarsity Press, 2000.

3.      Douglas Groothuis, On Jesus. Wadsworth, 2003. Looks at Jesus as a philosopher and critical thinker with a well-developed and pertinent worldview.

4.      Douglas Groothuis, The Soul in Cyberspace. Wipf and Stock, 1999. Addresses how cyberspace affects our view of truth, community, religion, etc.

5.      Douglas Groothuis, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis web page: www.DougGroothuis.com. Much material on apologetics, ethics, philosophy, evangelical egalitarianism, and culture.

6.      Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Women Caught in he Conflict: The Culture War Between Traditionalism and Feminism (Wipf and Stock, 1997). Award-winning book that examines the logic of the gender debate.

7.      Os Guinness, Fit Bodies, Fat Minds. Baker Books, 1994. Addresses the problem of anti-intellectualism and what to do about it.

8.      J.P. Moreland, Love Your God With All Your Mind, NavPress, 1997. Cogent apologetic for an active and world-changing Christian mind by a leading Christian philosopher.

9.      Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth (Crossway, 2004). Contemporary classic on thinking biblically according to a Christian worldview across the whole of life.

10.  Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death. Penguin, 1985. Best assessment of the nature and power of television to dumb-down public discourse. Truly a “must-read” book.

11.  Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality. Tyndale. The secret of Schaeffer’s great ministry: trust Christ moment by moment; do not rely on the flesh. God’s work in God’s way is paramount.

12.  Brother Yun, The Heavenly Man. Monarch Books, 2003. A man totally sold out for God sees God work in every situation. His spirit-led zeal should be applied to the life of study and critical thinking, although this was not his main calling (unlike Schaeffer, for example).

Lavatory Ambush

While at the Denver Art Museum, I duck into a restroom. It is dark. The light turns on. It was not on. I did not turn it on.

I walked past an automated towel dispenser. I did not then want a towel. It spewed one out anyway.

I find that said light has a timer. It went off in the middle of a bathroom activity. It would not go back on, despite my waving and talking (not voice activated).

The activity was finished (or terminated) in the dark. Then the light went back on. I commented on the rudeness of these robots to myself and walked out. They did not hear.

This is another reason to hate some technologies: unneeded, unhelpful, and maddening. And who or what can stop them? How far will they go?

Obama: Near Genius

Many conservatives and some liberals take Obama to be inept or incompetent, since the economy is still so bad, the debt so high, and so on. This is wrong.

He is very adept and competent at furthering his political ideology: diminishing America in order to take its wealth elsewhere to level the global playing field. This was the worldview of his father and it fits all that he does.

1. Bans drilling and fracking in US, but backs drilling in the Third World: Level the playing field.
2. Fail to support Iranian uprising, but help Egyptian uprising: support anti-American forces in order to level the playing field.
3. Give in more and more to the UN and do not speak out against sharia law. Why? To diminish American power and let the "oppressed" gain a foothold worldwide.
4. Side with Israel's enemies and not Israel. (He has not even visited Israel.) Why? See (3).

No, he is no slacker (despite all the golf games). He is a near-genius at fooling and manipulating an ignorant and complacent citizenry.

Change that, for God's sake.

Philodoxer

Philodoxer: Lover of mere opinion, not knowledge.

TRUTH BRINGS CONFRONTATION: "If you believe these things are true, then truth brings confrontation and it must be with love. And the Separatist forgot the love part and it wiped us out. We've paid a price for 30 years for that. But while if you leave out the love you lose, and you are not what you should be in the world, on the other hand if you forget that truth brings confrontation it is equally destructive. So I think this is the real problem." ~ Francis Schaeffer, Commonlife Magazine interview, 1981 ~ Interviewed by David Leigh

Guest Post: Sarah Geis on "2016: Obama's America"

"Obama's America": A Condensed, Grossly Inadequate Review of Dinesh D'Souza's Documentary

It is rare that any film, even a documentary, occupies itself with presenting an extended argument. However, Dinesh D'Souza concentrates on this task in "2016: Obama's America." As a seasoned debater, D'Souza is able to smartly and carefully lay out the case against Barack Obama's second term. This movie does not waste time on mere conjecture, and uses Obama's past in conjunction with his own words and actions in order to paint a more complete picture of a man who prefers-- for good reason-- to remain an enigma. Briefly, the documentary argues that his core convictions-- those of anti-colonialism-- are fundamentally opposed to a flourishing, free, America. The evidence of this socialist spinoff is everywhere: high taxes, decreased military funding, antagonism of the wealthy, unconditional favor shown to troublesome regimes at America's expense, and so on. There is much at risk; if this well-researched documentary is correct, America is in grave danger. Please watch it, then consider and test what is presented. If you find that D'Souza is correct, then vote accordingly. Given what we know of history, the American experiment is not likely a repeatable one, so let us endeavor to preserve it as long as possible. As Ben Franklin warned, we are a republic, if we can keep it. 

http://2016themovie.com/

I just printed out my ticket to "2016: Obama's America." I will see it with two of my friends/students. I hope it busts the box offices everywhere and helps defeat the anti-American and shameless con man we now have as President.

Paul Ryan VP

We’re going to embrace peace through strength. We’re going to have a budget that respects the mission that we’ve given our military, so we have a world class Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. http://mi.tt/R4xIwg

‎"There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the “wisdom” of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique." - C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man

If anyone in Facebook land has a blog, I'd be happy to do a guest post taken from Christian Apologetics. Let me know.

Sowell: Apply to Obama

"There have been many wise warnings that freedom is seldom lost all at once. It is usually eroded away, bit by bit, until it is all gone. You may not notice a gradual erosion while it is going on, but you may eventually be shocked to discover one day that it is all gone, that we have been reduced from citizens to subjects, and the Constitution has become just a meaningless bunch of paper." - Thomas Sowell

Bob Dylan, 1979

"When You Gonna Wake Up ?"

God don't make promises that He don't keep
You got some big dreams baby, but in order to dream you gotta still be asleep.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up strengthen the things that remain ?

Counterfeited philosophies have polluted all of your thoughts
Karl Marx has got ya by the throat, Henry Kissinger's got you tied up in knots.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up strengthen the things that remain ?

You got innocent men in jail, your insane asylums are filled
You got unrighteous doctors dealing drugs that'll never cure your ills.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up strengthen the things that remain ?

You got men who can't hold their peace and woman who can't control their tongues
The rich seduce the poor and the old are seduced by the young.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up strengthen the things that remain ?

Adulterers in churches and pornography in the schools
You got gangsters in power and lawbreakers making rules.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up strengthen the things that remain ?

Spiritual advisors and gurus to guide your every move
Instant inner peace and every step you take has got to be approved.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up strengthen the things that remain ?

Do you ever wonder just what God requires ?
You think He's just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain ?

You can't take it with you and you know that it's too worthless to be sold
They tell you, 'Time is money' as if your life was worth its weight in gold.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain ?

There's a man up on a cross and He's been crucified for you
Believe in His power that's about all you got to do.

When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up 
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain ?

‎"...they were told to believe, but were not given any intellectual answers to the questions they were asking. Their parents and pastors patted the youngsters on the head and said, “Don’t ask questions, dear, just believe.” It was more spiritual to believe without asking questions than it was to ask questions."

"There was a tendency to act as if the only thing that mattered was to see that a man’s soul is saved so that it can go to Heaven. The person disappears. Only the soul is valuable, and its value is in Heaven and has very little to do with anything in the present life — the body, the intellect, or the culture. For a long time there was little interest in the orthodox churches and groups concerning the Lordship of Christ in regard to intellectual things or culture."

~ Francis Schaeffer, The New Super-Spirituality

Humanness in Question

"In the flood of the loss of humanness in our age-including the flow from abortion-on-demand to infanticide and on to euthanasia-the only thing that can stem this tide is the certainty of the absolute uniqueness and value of people. And the only thing which gives us this is the knowledge that people are made in the image of God. We have no other final protection. And the only way we know that people are made in the image of God is through the Bible and the Incarnation of Christ, which we know from the Bible." ~ Whatever Happened to the Human Race, Francis Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop.

Obama's America: Decline on Purpose

I am avidly reading this book. I may stay up all night reading it, since the author reads Obama right. He wants to preside over America's decline, to compensation for it supposed previous imperialism whereby it enriched itself by exploiting the third world. This claim is patently false, but it fires Obama's evil engines. The author already cogently made the point in The Roots of Obama's Rage, but now DD has more evidence, more arguments. I beg you to read this book. Nothing less than the fate of America is at stake. That is no overstatement.

Obama's America: Unmaking the American Dream

www.amazon.com

America as we know it—wealthy, powerful, assertive—is not what Obama wants. He wants a smaller America, a poorer America, an America unable to exert its will, an America 

A Short Programmatic Argument for Biblical Inerrancy

 1. Meaning of the term inerrant: The sixty-six books of the Protestant canon are divinely-inspired, and therefore inerrant (since God cannot lie) in the original writings (autographs). This process of inspiration is confluent: God used the writers to communicate exactly what God wanted, yet did so without overriding their personalities. For a detailed analysis, see Carl Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, volumes 2-4 especially.

2.       There are cogent arguments from nature and humanity that an personal-infinite God exists.

3.       If (2), then this God could inspire writings to say what he wants them to say. See Part II of Groothuis, Christian Apologetics and Francis Schaeffer, “Is Propositional Revelation Nonsense?” in He is There and He is Not Silent.

4.       The text of the New Testament has been reliably transmitted to us today (textual criticism). See chapter 19 of Christian Apologetics.

5.       The New Testament passes the tests of reliable history. See chapter 19 of Christian Apologetics.

6.       The New Testament presents Jesus as God-incarnate, given Jesus’ claims, credentials, and achievements

7.       Jesus endorsed the divine authority of the Old Testament, directly and indirectly. See chapter 20 of Christian Apologetics.

8.       Therefore, the Old Testament is divinely inspired/inerrant. See chapter 20 of Christian Apologetics.

9.       Jesus authorized the Apostles to preserve his teachings. See chapter 20 of Christian Apologetics.

10.   Therefore the New Testament, which is apostolically authorized directly or indirectly, is divinely-inspired/inerrant. See chapter 20 of Christian Apologetics.

11.   Therefore, the sixty-six books of the Bible are divinely-inspired/inerrant. See chapter 20 of Christian Apologetics.

12.   Bonus, while textual transmission has not been inerrant, it has been very reliable. Thus, we can say that the best translations today are infallible; that is, they will not mislead us on anything to which they speak.

13.   I wrote this from memory, but every Christian should have some understanding of the epistemological basis of their worldview! No “leap of faith” is needed.

Francis Schaeffer on God and Politics: Please Read this Book!

 urge everyone to read Francis Schaeffer's 1981 book, A Christian Manifesto. It is more important now than in 1981, since we have moved so far toward authoritarianism under the Obama regime. If you read and comprehend this modern classic, you will vote for Mitt Romney, and you will support his campaign with money and prayer and service.

Right to Life

Reason #21 to Defeat Barack Obama:  A Lifetime When a decision is made whether or not to abort a child, it isn’t just a decision that’s made and quickly over with.  The decision has consequences for years and decades to come. Barack Obama’s policies completely ignore this. When a child is aborted, a mother and family are left with nothing.  Or more accurately, with less than nothing. That’s because abortion is so against our very nature, against our nurturing instincts, that pain, sometimes inconsolable pain, often results. When a child is born, on the other hand, a world opens up. It’s a miracle, really, that the child born  into the world will so enjoy laughter and love and  friends and learning and growing and becoming;  she will sing and play and stomp and pout; learn  about the wonder of this world and lend her hand  in so many ways to making it a better place, for those she loves and those she touches with her life. She will be blessed with the miracle of thousands and thousands of joyful and amazing everyday  experiences whose sheer wonder can’t possibly be  adequately expressed, so I simply call it . . . A Lifetime. One of the things we want in our leaders is that they have imagination, most importantly, moral imagination.   When Barack Obama talks coldly about “choice,” how  does he miss the rest of this picture that, to the rest of  us, is so awe-inspiring? If he has any imagination, any moral imagination, how does he miss that what he looks at as an issue of  “choice” is really the sweeping away – violently – of  A Lifetime and all its joys and challenges, its learning and loving.  It is the taking from that child of every great  thing this earth has to offer.  Forever. Does he not hear the cries of the children who die in the painful late abortions his policies allow?  Is he  completely callous to the loss of wonderment and beauty in this world that every little child who dies in an abortion is robbed of? Does he not have the imagination to be able to see this?  Mitt Romney does. Mitt Romney had the imagination to see that even tiny multi-cell unborn humans were on a path to experience  all these joys of Life, a path that is their right as  members of the human family, and that no one has a right to end. Mitt Romney came to understand that the great adventure story that is A Lifetime starts when we are first created.   Barack Obama has never shown he understands that – or even that he cares.  He has supported the expansion of abortion, not its reduction.  He’s supported abortion in the  U.S. and overseas, early in pregnancy  and late, with and  without your tax dollars. Like you, I want an America where men and women of imagination and compassion formulate our policies,  where our laws reflect our values, where a baby has a chance to live. For the millions of Americans who feel as we do, we created the National Right to Life Victory Fund.   The Victory Fund can accept donations from any American citizen or corporation that shares the goal of electing pro-life leaders like Mitt Romney so we can save innocent  unborn children from abortion.  We’re an independent expenditure political action committee, which means we can also accept gifts in unlimited amounts.  If you know someone  who would be willing to help us elect a pro-life president  and a pro-life Senate and House this year, please forward  this and encourage them to  contribute to our cause. And please support us generously with your own contribution. Every person,  born and unborn, deserves the Lifetime that was  bequeathed to them.  Please help us defend that miracle for  everyone! Sincerely, Carol Tobias, President National Right to Life

Third Party Foolishness

To all you third party purists on election 2012. Consider:

1. We have no time to waste. Another four years of Obama would be a tipping point toward statism, loss of religious freedom, and an imperial presidency.
2. Romney is not your first choice, but he is far closer to the conservative ideal than Obama, who is he quintessence of leftism, statism, and the destruction of our founding ideals.
3. Paul Ryan is the real deal philosophically: a strong, smart, and principled conservative who knows history, economics, and the ways of DC. This man could be President eight years from now.
4. Consider whether your refusal to vote for a substandard candidate may be more an indication of self-righteousness than prudential wisdom.
5. Third party candidates have only led to the defeat of better candidates. COnsider Ross Perot in 1992, who stole the election from Bush.
6. Religious martyrdom is sometimes called for; political martyrdom is pointless and pathetic.
7. Vote, pray for, contribute to: Romney/Ryan, 2012. Everything is at stake: the fate of the American Republic, the last best hope for the world, politically speaking.

Apologetics and Ethics

Please look at our new Apologetics and Ethics MA at Denver Seminary.

The Self Itself, not by Itself

The self cannot explain itself to itself by itself.

Soren Kierkegaard knew this: The Sickness Unto Death.
G. K. Chesterton knew this: Orthodoxy.

More importantly, they knew this--and anyone who knows this knows this--because Jesus Christ, the Logos Incarnate, knew it and taught it (Gospels).

Mind your metaphors;
Attend to your analogies;
Articulate your arguments;
Treasure truth.

Missing the Point: Become an Expert

Please read Sarah Geis's insightful and humorous piece on missing the point, from her blog.

Missing the Point

Another lesson in missing the point:

Accuse someone of arguing "from fear" without saying what that fear is or why it is unreasonable. After all, in a fallen world, we rationally fear many things: sickness, bad weather, Obama.

For Romney (again)

One should be idealistic at the primary level. I supported Bachmann; then Santorum; then I was down to this:

Mitt Romney, Mormon, not very conservative or

The End of America.

This choice is simple and consequential. Obama said he would “fundamentally change America.” Anyone half-awake would have seen that as treasonous, since the ideals of the American founding (inscribed and enshrined in the Declaration and Constitution) are the backbone of ordered liberty under Law.

Obama does not believe in this. He is a progressive. anti-colonialist. He wants to cut America back to atone for its previous evils. The founding documents are fodder for social experimentation with Barack Obama as the Innovator and Conditioner (to pull terms from Lewis’s The Abolition of Man). This one man has already done much harm at multiple levels–to the economy, the military, and, yes, to morality (his support of same-sex marriage; and his edict that we all pay for abortions).

Anyone who loves America and wants us to have a fighting chance to recover from four years of political apocalypse will vote for the man who at least believes in basic American ideals, a man with a proven track record in business, who knows how to fix things, and who has some financial and military sense.

We are voting for Commander-in-Chief, not Pastor-in-Chief. Yes, Romney belongs to what is, theologically, a cult. But Obama is no Christian. He is either an ultra-liberal, apostate liberationist theologian or a closet Muslim. He shows far more sympathy and respect to Islam than to Christianity. Neither one are religious models, but Romney is clearly the best choice. Consider, the next President will:

1. Appoint Supreme Court Justices and many federal judges.
2. Be Commander-in-Chief of our military, which is shrinking under Obama.
3. Repeal or institutionalize socialized medicine. Once in place in a second Obama term, this would never be repealed. We would be trapped in a statist system of chronic scarcity, top-down control, and bureaucratic rationing.
4. Either stop the massive, unheard of and wasteful spending or get it under control.

Further, if Romney names a more conservative Vice-President (such as Rubio, please God), then that person may well become the next and far-better president.

In the name of God and all that’s good, vote for Mitt Romney.

Dear Editor (of Harper's)

I recently subscribed to your magazine, but cannot abide to pay for it and receive more issues. Please cancel my subscription. This is why.

I did not expect Harper’s to feature pornography, but that is exactly what I found in the July issue which goes into lurid depth about the narcissistic writings of an autobiographically-abscessed homosexual, who recounts his sexual misdeeds in disgusting detail, including the employment of the F-bomb. This ill-befits a magazine of your stature.

Douglas Groothuis

Dirty Tricks: the Chicago Way

MEMORANDUM

From:              Katie Biber, General Counsel

To:                  Interested Parties

Date:               8/5/2012

Re:                  Obama For America Ohio Lawsuit

To View This Memo Online, Click Here: http://mi.tt/RGYRq0

On July 17, 2012, Obama for America and the Democratic National Committee filed suit against the Attorney General and Secretary of State of Ohio.  In their lawsuit, the Obama campaign and the DNC argue it is “arbitrary” and unconstitutional to provide three extra days of early, in-person voting to military voters and their families.  At least 20 times in their legal papers, they argue that there is no good reason to give special flexibility to military voters – and that this policy adopted by the Ohio legislature is so wrong it is unconstitutional.

We disagree with the basic premise that it is “arbitrary” and unconstitutional to give three extra days of in-person early voting to military voters and their families, and believe it is a dangerous and offensive argument for President Obama and the DNC to make.  It is not only constitutional, but commendable that the Ohio legislature granted military voters and their families this accommodation.  It is despicable for the Obama campaign to challenge Ohio’s lawful decision.

But this lawsuit is not about us.  Last week, respected military groups intervened in the Obama campaign’s lawsuit.  They argue that it is absolutely constitutional to give military voters special flexibility in voting, and that it is offensive for the Commander-in-Chief’s political campaign to argue otherwise.  They correctly point out that there is good reason to grant military voters special flexibility; members of the military—including those stationed here within the United States—are subject to restrictions, uncertainties, and risks that often make it more difficult for them to vote.  We agree with these military groups.

The Obama campaign may not like the early voting policy that the Ohio legislature set.  This does not mean the policy is unconstitutional, and it certainly does not mean that a federal court should be permitted to remake it. 

###

Seven

Obama:

1. statist, against American exceptionalism (America is "just another nation, and a bad one at that),
2. progressive (the Constitution is an evolving document, subject to the whims of modern opinion; thus, there is no "law above merely human law"),
3. pro-sodomy (support same-sex marriage),
4. class-warfare monger, economic trickster (the poor are not poor because the rich are rich),
5. pro-abortion with a deadly vengeance (your tax dollars will pay for it, whatever your conscience may be),
6. against the First Amendment (since he wants to restrict "the free exercise of religion" by making religious Americans pay for abortion).
7. puts the UN above the Constitution, thus endorsing internationalism. I do not put China and Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan on the same moral level as these United States of America.

How can you vote for this traitor to American values?

On Jesus

Does Christianity have any intellectual clout?
Can we look to Jesus as a model intellectual?
Would you like to discover an aspect of Jesus often neglected?

These and other pertinent questions are answered in my book, On Jesus, published by Wadsworth (2003) as par of their Philosopher Series. To my knowledge, it is the only book of its kind by a single author. If you have any comments on this work, please post them here or on Amazon. If you have read and like the book, please make that known on Amazon. Why do I write this? See Matthew 6:33.http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Wadsworth-Philosophers-Douglas-Groothuis/dp/0534583946/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344198199&sr=8-1&keywords=on+jesus+groothius