Contradictions are odd. They hardly ever happen in life, because what most of us call contradictions are not really pure contradictions. If I say: “I am English,” and you say, “You are an American” many people might think this is contradiction, but it is not. I can be both English (in heritage) and American (by nationality) at the same time! Clarification harmonizes what appeared to be a disagreement. A true contradiction would be for me to say: “I am English”... Read more
Each of our children had the day they realized I almost did not marry their mother. Of course, it is was far more likely their mother would not have married me, but given the story of my life, they did not first think of it that way. “Dad! If you had . . . ” she said, “then I would not . . . ” and then silence would fall. What if things were not the way they are? Such counter-factual... Read more
At the start of the summer, I got a thoughtful email from a non-Christian named M*. He gave me fifty-five questions and I told him I would respond (briefly) to as many as I could over the summer. M* rightly wishes me to say what I don’t like about my religious beliefs. A person with the capacity to think should know the strengths and weaknesses of any view they have adopted. It would be odd indeed if a complicated explanation of reality like... Read more
My faithful dialog partner M* has asked me fifty-five questions. I have decided to answer as many as I can this summer. He* started with a very good question: 1. What do you think is the strongest evidence against Christianity? Only an idiot, a fool, or a huckster never has doubts. In fact, doubts are a good thing; one should never believe an idea without considering the strength of the evidence. The single best evidence against Christianity is the continued existence of alternative religions. Thoughtful Judaism and Islam... Read more
Family is and always has been a central part of my life. When George Bailey saw a sign that said: “Ask Dad, he knows.” I understood. I still ask Dad, because he knows. There is not a single class where Mom’s loving determination to know does not motivate my life. Daniel, my brother was, is, and always will be, my best man. My extended family has taught me wisdom and have been role models in my life . . . my grandparents were... Read more
Let me tell you some good news. Isn’t it time for some? If you have been in the job twenty-five years and are beloved, you often get gifts. Today we celebrated twenty-five years since our own Bishop Basil was elevated. He was in Houston to celebrate a wedding and the wonderful folk at Saint George wanted to honor this great pastor. He asked that his gift go to the students of our school and so, as a result, a student of... Read more
I could not stop listening. The instrument, the program said, was a Stradivarius from 1699 and the music was Prokofiev, the man who saw the nineteenth century commit suicide and watched the twentieth century commit genocide. I was there in the twenty-first century listening to the sublime Houston Symphony work with an animated Gil Shaham, a man who plays violin and looks like he plays the fiddle. The man enjoys his work and makes you enjoy it too. All the effort that was... Read more
M is a interlocutor* who found me from Almighty Google and sent me fifty-five good questions. As the summer is here, I have decided to answer all of them I can . . . while holding myself to a few hundred words! Today M outdid himself: Jim Jones got hundreds of people to drink poison Kool-Aid, even though he did not perform any miracles. Jesus’ disciples supposedly abandoned him before he was put to death, even though they had witnessed... Read more
Every summer I try to do a series based on what I am reading or questions I have received over the school year. A thoughtful maybe-deist, maybe-agnostic that I call M* decided to ask me a few questions . . . and a few turned out to be fifty-five. Some of them were interesting enough to me that I have decided to take a shot at answering them briefly. Most could demand a book, but these are answers kept to around... Read more
If God is spirit, then how does Jesus sit at God's "right hand." God doesn't have a hand or a right side! Read more
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