CADRE Comments

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: I am here appending in several parts some excerpts from an unpublished book of mine (not CoJ incidentally), originally composed late 99/early 2000, wherein I work out a progressive synthetic metaphysic. The topic of this Section of chapters is ethical grounding; and in the first several entries I analyzed crippling problems along the three general lines of ethical explanation, including general theism. After this though, I returned to the argument I had already been developing for several hundred (currently unpublished) pages, and used those developed positions to begin solving the philosophical dilemmas I had covered in previous entries. Along the way, I ran into a potential problem last seen back in my (unpublished) Section Three; but slotting that problem into my developing argument allowed me to discover that I should believe that a 3rd Person of God exists. Having covered some introductory inferences regarding the 3rd Person's relationship ...

It's Friday, so just for the fun of it, I thought I'd dust off an old piece written by some anonymous writer entitled "The Freethinkers' Guide to Debating Christians on the Internet". (If anyone knows who wrote the original Guide, I'd love to give them credit and kudos.) Most Christians who have ever spent time in chat rooms or on Internet discussion/bulletin boards see this as uproariously funny because of its incredible accuracy. Most freethinkers don't get it. Ah, well . . . . The Freethinker's Guide to Debating Christians on the Internet 1. Affect an amused condescending tolerance from the beginning, like you, the professor, might have time to indulge in lowering yourself to speaking with them. This sets the proper tone. 2. When you see one appear, usually they'll post a sweet intro, in which they'll use some such phrase like, "in Christ's love" or "God bless you". Take this as an immediate opportunity to post among...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: I am here appending in several parts some excerpts from an unpublished book of mine (not CoJ incidentally), originally composed late 99/early 2000, wherein I work out a progressive synthetic metaphysic. The topic of this Section of chapters is ethical grounding; and in the first several entries I analyzed crippling problems along the three general lines of ethical explanation, including general theism. After this though, I returned to the argument I had already been developing for several hundred (currently unpublished) pages, and used those developed positions to begin solving the philosophical dilemmas I had covered in previous entries. Along the way, I ran into a potential problem last seen back in my (unpublished) Section Three; but slotting that problem into my developing argument allowed me to discover that I should believe that a 3rd Person of God exists. Having covered some introductory inferences regarding the 3rd Person's relationship ...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog entry entitled Denmark: The Search for Meaning in Astrology , where I pointed out that there appeared to be a surge in interest in astrology in that nation. Given that Denmark is a very atheistic country, I speculated that the reason for the increased interest is man's need for meaning. Using Francis Schaeffer's writings as a source, I noted that people have an intuitive belief that the universe is not meaningless. Atheism, however, leads to the conclusion that the only possible meaning in the universe has to be transitive and not absolute or eternal. Since people instinctively recognize that such transitive meaning is illusory, they seek meaning elsewhere. Since they have ruled out the God of the Bible as the source of meaning, they will turn to anything -- even astrology -- regardless of how irrational because it, at least, fills that need for meaning. Now, another article has been released by the International Herald Tribune entitled Mea...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: I am here appending in several parts some excerpts from an unpublished book of mine (not CoJ incidentally), originally composed late 99/early 2000, wherein I work out a progressive synthetic metaphysic. The topic of this Section of chapters is ethical grounding; and in the first several entries I analyzed crippling problems along the three general lines of ethical explanation, including general theism. After this though, I returned to the argument I had already been developing for several hundred (currently unpublished) pages, and used those developed positions to begin solving the philosophical dilemmas I had covered in previous entries. Along the way, I ran into a potential problem last seen back in my (unpublished) Section Three; but slotting that problem into my developing argument allowed me to discover that I should believe that a 3rd Person of God exists. Having covered some introductory inferences regarding the 3rd Person's relationship ...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: I am here appending in several parts some excerpts from an unpublished book of mine (not CoJ incidentally), originally composed late 99/early 2000, wherein I work out a progressive synthetic metaphysic. The topic of this Section of chapters is ethical grounding; and in the first several entries I analyzed crippling problems along the three general lines of ethical explanation, including general theism. Recently though, I returned to the argument I had already been developing for several hundred (currently unpublished) pages, and used those developed positions to begin solving the philosophical dilemmas I had covered in previous entries. Along the way, I ran into a potential problem last seen back in my (unpublished) Section Three; but slotting that problem into my developing argument allowed me to discover that I should believe that a 3rd Person of God exists. In my most recent entry , I covered some introductory inferences regarding the 3rd Person...

Advances in New Testament studies have resulted in the widely accepted conclusion that the Gospels are a form of ancient biography, meant to convey the significance of the life of Jesus. Leading the way into the study of the genre of the Gospels were scholars like C.H. Talbert ( What Is a Gospel? ) and Richard Burridge ( What Are the Gospels? ). Genre is important because it “is widely acknowledged as one of the key conventions guiding both the composition and the interpretation of writings. Genre forms a kind of ‘contract’ or agreement, often unspoken or unwritten, or even unconscious, between the author and a reader, by which the author sets out to write according to a whole set of expectations and conventions, and we agree to read or to interpret the work using the same conventions, giving us an initial idea of what we might expect to find.” Richard Burridge, Four Gospels, One Jesus , page 5. That is the theory, anyway. Is there any reason to think that genre identification can...

I was drawn to this book because one of its endorsers compared it to F.F. Bruce's invaluable The New Testament Documents, Are they Reliable? Published decades ago and now in its sixth edition, The New Testament Documents is a masterpiece of condensing a wealth of scholarly knowledge into a readable guide for the layman. Mark Roberts' Can We Trust the Gospels is a different kind of book. Although Roberts has respectable academic credentials and writes with extensive knowledge, his approach is more pastoral. The fusion of academic knowledge and pastoral insight makes this a different kind of book than most apologetics works. It is not an extended argument for the most conservative positions possible about the Gospels. Although arguments for conservative positions are present, they are not the unique focus of the book. Can We Trust the Gospels? is really a collection of FAQs as one might find on a website (which Roberts states is intentional). It addresses the usual issues, bu...

Introductory note from Jason Pratt: I am here appending in several parts some excerpts from an unpublished book of mine (not CoJ incidentally), originally composed late 99/early 2000, wherein I work out a progressive synthetic metaphysic. The topic of this Section of chapters is ethical grounding; and in the first several entries I analyzed crippling problems along the three general lines of ethical explanation, including general theism. Recently though, I returned to the argument I had already been developing for several hundred (currently unpublished) pages, and used those developed positions to begin solving the philosophical dilemmas I had covered in previous entries. Along the way, I ran into a potential problem last seen back in my (unpublished) Section Three; but slotting that problem into my developing argument allowed me (in my most recent entry ) to discover that I should believe that a 3rd Person of God exists. This entry continues chapter 33, "a necessary truth of God...