Another one from Rollins on the idea of belief as subjective “participation”. The question of “Does God exist?” is frequently debated in philosophical form, abstract and impersonal, on how it is more/less logical to posit God as the source of existence. For Christianity, though, this ultimately misses the mark. “However, from a  Christological perspective, the question itself, which everyone seems to take for granted, now comes to signify something else entirely. Instead of the words, Do you believe in God? meaning… Read more

A powerful sentiment from Frederick Douglass on “exposing slavery”, even the more salient coming from an autobiographical vantage point. I feel at liberty to speak on this subject. I have on my back the marks of the lash; I have four sisters and one brother now under the galling chain. I feel it my duty to cry aloud and spare not. I am not averse to having the good opinion of my fellow-creatures. I am not averse to being kindly regarded… Read more

Andrew Newberg, Eugene D’Aquili, and Vince Rause’s book Why God Won’t Go Away is outstanding. Their research on the neuroscience of spirituality is fascinating. As the title of the book suggests, the neurological manifest of spiritual and mystical experiences are undeniable. Whether or not there is an actual ontological source, we all subjectively/epistemologically have these transcendent experiences at the level of the brain. Imaging studies of the brain during these experiences (prayer, mediation, etc.) – the actual physiological manifest is aptly… Read more

In his book Our Mathematical Universe, cosmologist Max Tegmark puts forward both a big question and provocative solution. First, the big question: “But why has our physical world revealed such extreme mathematical regularity that astronomy superhero Galileo Galilei proclaimed nature to be ‘a book written in the language of mathematics,’ and Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner stressed the ‘unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the physical sciences’ as a mystery demanding an explanation?” [1] Time and time again, mathematicians, philosophers, and scientists… Read more