Marx ( German Ideology , 1845-46) objected to historians of the past for what they left out of history. The first presumption of historical study, he suggested, is “human existence,” which means that “men must be in a position to live in order to be able to ‘make history.’” Seems pretty obvious, but he goes on to point out that “life involves before everything else eating and drinking, a habitation, clothing and many other things. The first historical act is,... Read more
The latter part of chapter 2 is chiastically arranged: A. Children, antichrists coming, they went out, 2:18-19 B. You have an anointing, knowledge, 2:20 C. I have written, truth/lie, 2:21 D. Antichrist is liar, denies Son and Father, 2:22 E. Deny Son, deny Father, 2:23 D’. Abide in what you have, abide in Father and Son, 2:24-25 C’. I have written, those who deceive, 2:26 B’. You have an anointing, knowledge, 2:27 A’. Little children, Christ coming, remain, 2:28-29 Read more
What theologians was Feuerbach reading? If God is to be transcendent, he said, “the human, considered as such, is depreciated . . . . To enrich God, man must become poor; that God may be all in all, man must be nothing.” He certainly wasn’t reading Paul, or if he was, he precisely inverted the gospel, the good news of a God who became poor that we might be rich. Read more
What theologians was Feuerbach reading? If God is to be transcendent, he said, “the human, considered as such, is depreciated . . . . To enrich God, man must become poor; that God may be all in all, man must be nothing.” He certainly wasn’t reading Paul, or if he was, he precisely inverted the gospel, the good news of a God who became poor that we might be rich. Read more
Steven Pinker (TNR, October 9) has a field day demolishing George Lakoff’s recent Whose Freedom? Lakoff attacks conservatives’ use of freedom to justify their political agenda and argues that liberals can regain political power by reframing political debate using new metaphors. Along the way, Pinker also scores some points against Lakoff’s more technical work in linguistics. He points out, for instance, that Lakoff to the contrary “the ubiquity of metaphor in language does not imply that all thinking is concrete.”... Read more
After noting the political import of the Pope’s recent speech (eg, its implicit warning against including Turks in the European Union – in which context the citation of Manuel II Paleologus, who spent his life fighting Turks, was particularly apt), David Nirenberg (TNR, October 9) concludes that Benedict XIV’s speech on faith and reason “disturbing, not only for Muslims but for adherents of other religions as well.” Nirenberg rightly notes that Benedict found not only Islam but Judaism and even... Read more
John Frame distinguishes between facts as states of affairs and facts as statements concerning those states of affairs: “It would not be true to say that facts in the sense of states of affairs are identical with our interpretations of them, but facts in the sense of statements of fact are interpretations. To make a statement of fact is to offer an interpretation of reality. There is no significant difference between a statement of fact and an interpretation of reality.”... Read more
With lots of help from Gary Burge’s NIV Application Commentary . . . . INTRODUCTION The world around us seems to solid and permanent. We can hardly imagine what life would be like without well-stocked grocery shelves, autumn elections, air travel, electricity, running water, and all the amenities of modern civilization. John reminds us that worlds come and go; what remains is “the one who does the will of God” (1 John 2:17). THE TEXT “I write to you, little... Read more
1 John 2:5: Whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. As we saw in the sermon, John emphasizes the necessity of obedience in the Christian life. If we say we know God, but don’t obey Him, we are lying. Obedience is the pathway toward assurance... Read more
We Americans like to pretend we are self-made men and women. We don’t need nobody’s help, don’t tread on me, we’ll go it alone if only they’ll leave us alone. My life, my body, my person are mine and mine alone. We think that we can make our way through life as independent contractors. As a result, we Americans are particularly apt to the delusion that our relationships have no effect on the way our lives go. John makes it... Read more
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