[This lecture will not be put on line because of technical problems. If you want the outline, ask me at DougGroothuis@gmail.com.]
My lecture at Wellspring Anglican Church is now available on line. Two parts of the talk featured DVD clips, so some of the arguments will be missing. Nevertheless, there is about 50 minutes of lecture material. I'm not sure if the question/answer time was recorded. If you'd like an lecture outline, let me know.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Last Epistemology Lecture: 16 Ideas
I hope this is not my last bleat on epistemology, but, inspired by the book, The Last Lecture (which I have not read), here are some noetic imperative:
1. Fear of the Lord is the beginning (and end) of knowledge.
2. Christianity is a knowledge claim and a knowledge tradition.
3. We may learn of epistemological virtue from the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. See my book, On Jesus.
4. Knowledge is justified, true belief, not communal consensus, not what our best theories tell us (they may be wrong), not our sacred narrative because it gives us meaning.
5. Hold yourself intellectually accountable for your beliefs. That is, your beliefs are not like the color of your eyes. They need to be justified.
6. Hold others intellectually accountable for their beliefs. They may have a political right to believe P, but that in no way means that P is true or rational. You have the right to hold to the doctrines of the First Church of the Transgalactic Taco Shell, but that fact fails to justify these doctrines intellectually. In fact, you have the right to be wrong. And I have the right to tell you that you are wrong, and vice versa.
7. One's theory of truth is a metaphysical claim; how we know the truth is an epistemological claim.
8. Hard empiricism (Hume) leads to hard skepticism.
9. Hard skeptics should be more skeptical about their skepticism (Pascal).
10. All epistemology is personal and social. We come to know as unique beings amidst a constellation of social factors. This in no way leads to relativism. We come to know mathematical and logical truths as unique individuals amidst social factors, but this does not relativize math or logic.
11. On may know P is true without complete certainty that P is true.
12. Certainty in matters of religious beliefs is not necessary arrogance. Jesus claimed that his followers had certainty about this identity (John 17).
13. Some beliefs are foundational and not derived from other beliefs, such as:
A. A=A
B. A does not equal non-A
C. Either A or non-A
D. Modus ponens
E. Modus tolens
F. Reductio ad absurdum.
14. Logical fallacies are common and should be unmasked by learning what they are and identifying them in fallacious arguments. See A. Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments.
15. Logical coherence is a necessary, but not sufficient, test for truth.
16. Prayer is a vital part of virtuous knowing.
1. Fear of the Lord is the beginning (and end) of knowledge.
2. Christianity is a knowledge claim and a knowledge tradition.
3. We may learn of epistemological virtue from the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. See my book, On Jesus.
4. Knowledge is justified, true belief, not communal consensus, not what our best theories tell us (they may be wrong), not our sacred narrative because it gives us meaning.
5. Hold yourself intellectually accountable for your beliefs. That is, your beliefs are not like the color of your eyes. They need to be justified.
6. Hold others intellectually accountable for their beliefs. They may have a political right to believe P, but that in no way means that P is true or rational. You have the right to hold to the doctrines of the First Church of the Transgalactic Taco Shell, but that fact fails to justify these doctrines intellectually. In fact, you have the right to be wrong. And I have the right to tell you that you are wrong, and vice versa.
7. One's theory of truth is a metaphysical claim; how we know the truth is an epistemological claim.
8. Hard empiricism (Hume) leads to hard skepticism.
9. Hard skeptics should be more skeptical about their skepticism (Pascal).
10. All epistemology is personal and social. We come to know as unique beings amidst a constellation of social factors. This in no way leads to relativism. We come to know mathematical and logical truths as unique individuals amidst social factors, but this does not relativize math or logic.
11. On may know P is true without complete certainty that P is true.
12. Certainty in matters of religious beliefs is not necessary arrogance. Jesus claimed that his followers had certainty about this identity (John 17).
13. Some beliefs are foundational and not derived from other beliefs, such as:
A. A=A
B. A does not equal non-A
C. Either A or non-A
D. Modus ponens
E. Modus tolens
F. Reductio ad absurdum.
14. Logical fallacies are common and should be unmasked by learning what they are and identifying them in fallacious arguments. See A. Weston, A Rulebook for Arguments.
15. Logical coherence is a necessary, but not sufficient, test for truth.
16. Prayer is a vital part of virtuous knowing.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Other Ways to Refuse the Postmodern World
1. Attend local live concerts.
2. Go to a local museum.
3. Treat your checker at the supermarket like a real human being.
4. Don't worry about fashion in clothes.
5. Drive your car into the ground before getting another one.
6. Give a significant amount of your money to Kingdom causes.
7. Read books that are over your head.
8. Listen to music you don't understand until you do.
9. Memorize parts of the Bible.
10. Read about Christians from other counties, such as Brother Yun from China.
11. Object when your church wants to spend thousands on a food court (or the equivalent), but won't use that money for missions.
12. Do not interrupt others when they are speaking.
13. Turn off as many TVs as possible.
14. Don't say, "I'll pray for you" unless you will.
15. Listen to what people from other countries have to say about America and about their own countries.
16. Care more about your soul than your lawn.
17. Speak in complete sentences.
2. Go to a local museum.
3. Treat your checker at the supermarket like a real human being.
4. Don't worry about fashion in clothes.
5. Drive your car into the ground before getting another one.
6. Give a significant amount of your money to Kingdom causes.
7. Read books that are over your head.
8. Listen to music you don't understand until you do.
9. Memorize parts of the Bible.
10. Read about Christians from other counties, such as Brother Yun from China.
11. Object when your church wants to spend thousands on a food court (or the equivalent), but won't use that money for missions.
12. Do not interrupt others when they are speaking.
13. Turn off as many TVs as possible.
14. Don't say, "I'll pray for you" unless you will.
15. Listen to what people from other countries have to say about America and about their own countries.
16. Care more about your soul than your lawn.
17. Speak in complete sentences.
Biblical Words; Unbiblical Candidate
"And it came to pass..." read by its author--a parody of Obama's messianic pretensions.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Ways in Which You Refuse the Postmodern World
"Hipness is, ahh, what it is...,
But sometimes hipness is...what it ain't."
--Tower of Power, "What is Hip?"
This old lyric doesn't violate the law on noncontradition (also, ironically, known as the law of contradiction), but it does point out that we sometimes need to refuse trends, buck the system, and thumb our noses at the contemporary world--all good things for curmudgeons.
So, dear readers, in what ways do you refuse the postmodern world, go against the flow, fail to keep in step with the rest? Let me warm things up:
1. Refuse to have a remote car door un-locker. (I don't even know what they are called.)
2. Continue to buy and play record albums.
3. Continue to read entire books and talk about them and make students read them.
4. Continue to read the Bible in book form.
5. Don't even consider shaving your head or having short hair.
6. Inveigh against subwoofers, flat screen TVs (all TVs), etc.
7. Listen to dead jazz musicians.
You get the idea. Now it's your turn.
But sometimes hipness is...what it ain't."
--Tower of Power, "What is Hip?"
This old lyric doesn't violate the law on noncontradition (also, ironically, known as the law of contradiction), but it does point out that we sometimes need to refuse trends, buck the system, and thumb our noses at the contemporary world--all good things for curmudgeons.
So, dear readers, in what ways do you refuse the postmodern world, go against the flow, fail to keep in step with the rest? Let me warm things up:
1. Refuse to have a remote car door un-locker. (I don't even know what they are called.)
2. Continue to buy and play record albums.
3. Continue to read entire books and talk about them and make students read them.
4. Continue to read the Bible in book form.
5. Don't even consider shaving your head or having short hair.
6. Inveigh against subwoofers, flat screen TVs (all TVs), etc.
7. Listen to dead jazz musicians.
You get the idea. Now it's your turn.
Googled (2.0)
No books or bookstores,
just Google.
No libraries or librarians,
just Google.
No articles to clip and file,
just Google.
No academic search engines,
just Google.
No conversations,
just Google.
It ranks, rates,
never hesitates:
Google.
It tells what is real,
tells us how to feel:
Google.
I googled Google,
and got Google.
I googled myself
and found myself
Googled.
just Google.
No libraries or librarians,
just Google.
No articles to clip and file,
just Google.
No academic search engines,
just Google.
No conversations,
just Google.
It ranks, rates,
never hesitates:
Google.
It tells what is real,
tells us how to feel:
Google.
I googled Google,
and got Google.
I googled myself
and found myself
Googled.
R U Reading or Skimming?
The New York Times has started a series on the future of reading in light of new media technologies.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Extra, Extra! Email change
I am trying to leave AOL behind forever. So, please email me at DougGroothuis(at)gmail(dot)com. I will suffer no withdrawl pain from not knowing what ridiculous those celebrities are doing with themselves, God help them.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A few thoughts on ignorance and exploration in teaching
One may teach in a way that hides one's ignorance and showcases one's knowledge. Or the teacher may be honest about he knows and does not know, freely admitting ignorance when the situation suggests it. By admitting ignorance, one can explore new ideas along with the students.
Unless something like this ignorance-awareness-honesty happens in the classroom, one's teaching will not allow the teacher himself to learn from his own ignorance and from the responses of his students. Exploration means meeting the unknown with what one knows (or thinks one knows). One of the most thrilling things I experience in the classroom is when new ideas emerge in my mind in real time through the act of teaching. It must be akin to the joy a great jazz improviser (such as Sonny Rollins) feels when he finds open sky and ascends accordingly.
The kind of ignorance I am considering is not that of being ill-prepared for class; rather, it pertains to how a well-educated and well-prepared pedagogue comports himself in light of what he does not know. That sort of ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide.
Unless something like this ignorance-awareness-honesty happens in the classroom, one's teaching will not allow the teacher himself to learn from his own ignorance and from the responses of his students. Exploration means meeting the unknown with what one knows (or thinks one knows). One of the most thrilling things I experience in the classroom is when new ideas emerge in my mind in real time through the act of teaching. It must be akin to the joy a great jazz improviser (such as Sonny Rollins) feels when he finds open sky and ascends accordingly.
The kind of ignorance I am considering is not that of being ill-prepared for class; rather, it pertains to how a well-educated and well-prepared pedagogue comports himself in light of what he does not know. That sort of ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The Great Google Dumb Down
Nicholas Carr has written a solid piece of cultural criticism concerning media technology: "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" He appeals to insights from Plato, McLuhan, Mumford, and others. This is the basic school of technological criticism that I subscribe to, except that he seems to have a materialist account of knowing with no overt concern for the soul qua immaterial essence of the person. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this article; it chimes in with much found on this blog regarding the limits and dangers of the Internet, especially concerning the decline in reading. On that also read the recent book (yes, an entire book), The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Given, Taken
Books unread
Prayers unsaid
Life unlived.
Gifts ungiven
Horses unridden
Poems unwritten.
Ideas gainsaid
Manuscripts unedited
Letters left for dead
Brilliance discredited.
Letters unsent
Speeches not delivered
Hearts unbent.
Thanksgiving not offered
Truth not proffered.
Beauty unkissed
Ugliness unhissed.
Too much
of
too little
for
too long
for
too many.
The Given
must be taken,
with appreciation,
then strongly shaken
until the music
comes bursting out.
Prayers unsaid
Life unlived.
Gifts ungiven
Horses unridden
Poems unwritten.
Ideas gainsaid
Manuscripts unedited
Letters left for dead
Brilliance discredited.
Letters unsent
Speeches not delivered
Hearts unbent.
Thanksgiving not offered
Truth not proffered.
Beauty unkissed
Ugliness unhissed.
Too much
of
too little
for
too long
for
too many.
The Given
must be taken,
with appreciation,
then strongly shaken
until the music
comes bursting out.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Obama Caricature in The New Yorker
Pat Buchanan nails the real issue in the caricature of the Obamas that ran in The New Yorker. Note his telling comment, "Obama is our first affirmative action candidate." That means: he is not qualified; he is not criticized (by the mainstream press). He gets a pass by virtue of pigment. This is not the vision of Martin Luther King, who wanted his children (and, by extension, Obama) to be judged "by the content of their character," not the color of their skin.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Requiem for a Steam Bath (Warning: Autobiographical Snippet)
There is something about a steam bath--the surging sounds of the rushing steam, the invading, hot moisture, the freedom to perspire without worry. In fact, the point is to perspire. It seems to clear the mind as it overwhelms the body. My first steam baths were with my Father at the YMCA in Anchorage, Alaska, in the mid 1960s.
I like them hot, as hot as they can get--so hot that others sometime leave before I do. Upon occasion, I also enjoy talking to those who remain in the sweaty inferno. I have spoken apologetically and evangelistically to men in the steam bath at Goodson Recreation Center over the years. I have prayed in there, thought about writing projects, imagined kingdom endeavors. I never took the cell phone in.
Now it has become automated. You used to spray water on an opening to generate the steam. But tonight, the hose was gone. It must have broken, I thought. After taking a longer than usual hot tub bath (for obvious reasons), I told someone at the desk that the steam bath was broken. No, it wasn't broken, it was repaired! The old system, you see, taxed the steamer. They went through two in five years. The new system never goes above a certain temperature (too low, of course) and goes on automatically! Well, I was soaking in the hot tub for a long time and it never went on. Supposedly, it comes on when it gets cool enough. Opening the door helps, he said. I'm sure.
A small, infrequent pleasure is gone, thanks to automation and efficiency. What next will get worse?
I like them hot, as hot as they can get--so hot that others sometime leave before I do. Upon occasion, I also enjoy talking to those who remain in the sweaty inferno. I have spoken apologetically and evangelistically to men in the steam bath at Goodson Recreation Center over the years. I have prayed in there, thought about writing projects, imagined kingdom endeavors. I never took the cell phone in.
Now it has become automated. You used to spray water on an opening to generate the steam. But tonight, the hose was gone. It must have broken, I thought. After taking a longer than usual hot tub bath (for obvious reasons), I told someone at the desk that the steam bath was broken. No, it wasn't broken, it was repaired! The old system, you see, taxed the steamer. They went through two in five years. The new system never goes above a certain temperature (too low, of course) and goes on automatically! Well, I was soaking in the hot tub for a long time and it never went on. Supposedly, it comes on when it gets cool enough. Opening the door helps, he said. I'm sure.
A small, infrequent pleasure is gone, thanks to automation and efficiency. What next will get worse?
China: Look Beyond the Screen
Please read Charles Colson's commentary on the cruel realities of China that should not be forgotten during the Olympics. I, for one, will watch none of it because (1) I don't watch television (2) China, another "evil empire," should not be flattered by having these games. There are many brave underground Christians in China (read The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun), but the government is oppressive, anti-Christian, and mercenary. Of course, no one in the White House is saying this, sadly.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Event for The Personhood Amendment
[I received this from Colorado for Equal Rights.]
Please join us for a Personhood Day on Saturday, July 19th!
When: 7:00-9:30pm
Where: Calvary South Denver, 9052 Ken Caryl Ave. Littleton, CO 80128
This event is being put on by Open Arms Ministry and is designed foryou to bring your family, friends, and neighbors who haven't heard about personhood yet. We need your help to make people aware of Amendment 48 and the value of voting "YES" in November for personhood. Together, we can recognize the preciousness of every child's life.
State Rep. Kent Lambert, ARTL President Brian Rohrbough, Colorado Christian Coalition Executive Director Mark Hotaling, and Personhood Amendment Sponsor Kristi Burton will be among the speakers.
You will also hear from women who are sharing their personal testimonies about the value of every human life, no matter the circumstances. Refreshments will follow.Please come to pick up your bumper sticker and t-shirt!! Plenty of these materials will be available along with volunteer and church packets. Let's spread personhood across the state of Colorado...starting now!!
Colorado For Equal Rights,
PO Box 298,
Peyton, CO 80831, USA
Please join us for a Personhood Day on Saturday, July 19th!
When: 7:00-9:30pm
Where: Calvary South Denver, 9052 Ken Caryl Ave. Littleton, CO 80128
This event is being put on by Open Arms Ministry and is designed foryou to bring your family, friends, and neighbors who haven't heard about personhood yet. We need your help to make people aware of Amendment 48 and the value of voting "YES" in November for personhood. Together, we can recognize the preciousness of every child's life.
State Rep. Kent Lambert, ARTL President Brian Rohrbough, Colorado Christian Coalition Executive Director Mark Hotaling, and Personhood Amendment Sponsor Kristi Burton will be among the speakers.
You will also hear from women who are sharing their personal testimonies about the value of every human life, no matter the circumstances. Refreshments will follow.Please come to pick up your bumper sticker and t-shirt!! Plenty of these materials will be available along with volunteer and church packets. Let's spread personhood across the state of Colorado...starting now!!
Colorado For Equal Rights,
PO Box 298,
Peyton, CO 80831, USA
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Doug Groothuis to Lecture on Science and Christianity in Englewood This Friday
I will be giving a free, public lecture called "Are Christianity and Science Incompatible?" at Wellspring Anglican Church on July 18 at 7:00 PM. Childcare is provided.
This lecture will address controversial questions regarding the nature of science and its relationship to Christian truth claims about the cosmos. It will also feature a short video clip explaining the detection of intelligent design in nature. There will be a question/answer time following the lecture. An extensive outline will be provided along with free articles by me. Everyone is welcome.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Happy Birthday to The Constructive Curmudgeon
This blog was started almost exactly three years ago. We now have almost 900 posts, consisting of essays, book reviews, movie reviews, epigrams, epithets, aphorisms, anathemas, personal reflections, Scripture verses, quotations, parodies, poems, announcements, links, and more. Thanks to (most) who have contributed to The Constructive Curmudgeon (soon to become a major motion picture).
I solicit any reflections on these three years of blog-being. Why don't some of you lurkers come out of the digital woodwork and make a comment?
I solicit any reflections on these three years of blog-being. Why don't some of you lurkers come out of the digital woodwork and make a comment?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Odd Fellows
A Comedian's Guide to Theology by Thor Ramsey. Does anyone know anything about this book? He lists me as an influence, along with Brian McLaren, Donald Miller, and Shane Claiborne. Uh oh!
Three Questions
Why do so few of so many become Christians today in America? Why do so many of the so few do so little once they have become Christians? What can we do about it?
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