Contemplative Thoughts + Passing Musings
I had the opportunity to get away from Denver for a few days and travel. Part of my journey was some quiet time of reading and reflection along the Pacific Ocean in Southern California. I was able to unplug a bit, which was needed. There seems to be so much yelling amongst communities nowadays, and …
Continue reading “What’s Wrong with the Way We Communicate?”
Earlier this afternoon, Christianity Today editor Mark Galli published a short article entitled “2 Billion Christians Believe in Traditional Marriage.” As the overzealous title suggests, Galli’s central premise is that orthodox Christians only endorse a view of marriage that is defined between a man and a woman. Galli attempts to downplay Tony Campolo’s recent call …
There’s a scene in The Avengers where Captain America is about to jump out of a jet to intervene in a conflict between Iron Man and Thor. Prior to his jump, the Black Widow cautions against this intervention, because Iron Man and Thor are essentially gods. Captain America shrugs this off, “There’s only one God, ma’am, …
Continue reading ““There’s Only One God … And He Doesn’t Dress Like that.””
The biblical concept, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” has embedded within it a presupposition. Normally when preached, this statement is outwardly focused. You (subject) shall love your neighbor (object). Good. Now what? Stop. By whatever means you think you are loving your neighbor, cease temporarily. The hidden presupposition in the phrase is in …
The titular line is no mere simple statement. It suggests the essence of reality. People use this phrase flippantly, yet it constitutes the most meaningful relationship in existence. I have been reading through Sylvia Walsh’s book, Kierkegaard: Thinking Christianly in an Existential Mode. She examines Kierkegaard’s enamor with the subjective interaction with God and theology …
In the preface to The Single Individual, Soren Kierkegaard utters a statement not only relevant to his immediate circumstances, but one that transcends the immediacy of 1800s Denmark: “In these times politics is everything.” Denmark was in a transition from absolute monarchy to parliamentary monarchy – a radical change of political system. Kierkegaard was not …
Trans – Prefix, denotes moving beyond a certain state or object. Identity – The fact of Being; the substance of what something is. As an existential philosopher I am immediately concerned with the development of the Self. The Self, following Kierkegaard, is a created Being, one which Becomes and fulfills its existential desires. Yet the …
People are quick to ask for forgiveness of a wrong that they have done (or perhaps, have not done). There is, of course, nothing wrong with such a thing. From a Christian standpoint, the concept of forgiveness is intrinsic to not only commands given to individuals, but also to the very method of salvation that …
Many attack Kierkegaard for saying that the incarnation is a contradiction and that Kierkegaard embraces paradox by faith alone. I wish here to argue that these things are wildly misunderstood and Kierkegaard’s view of the incarnation is neither heretical nor absurd, but rather a stance that ought to be taken seriously. In Philosophical Fragments, Kierkegaard …
Continue reading “Kierkegaard and the Contradictory Incarnation”
Many know that Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my personal heroes and one to whom I seek guidance from in issues of ethics. Bonhoeffer is one of the reasons I adhere to the pacifist movement. Many have wondered how Bonhoeffer was able to reconcile his position on nonviolence to his choice to involve himself in …
Continue reading “Bonhoeffer, Pacifism, and Suspending the Ethical”
Former Aspiring Philosopher 