Absolute Proof of Markan Priority (from E. Laerton)

Here you have it. A combination of Enlightenment and Post-Modern teaching tools give us the final indubitable answer. Between these two, which one does Mr. Potato Head fit under?

Do Chocolate, Wine, and Tea Help Our Brains?

Unless they've Blinded Me With Science, they sure do according to this article. And, this includes prevention of dementia-producing things like Alzheimers.

But they left out coffee.

The Kids are Alright

Terry Mattingly's latest column continues reporting on youth. Last week concerned their ethics. This week their view of religion. He reports on a survey that summarizes their view as "Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism" which is reflected in the maxim "don't be a jerk" and the way that God is off on the sidelines at a distance except when you need something from him. Youth have this silly notion that in this life we should be happy and its good to feel good.

So far so good I say. Don't be a jerk is a good start.

Well, they are young and I'm happy to cut'em some slack. The interpreters of the survey felt they should be more conversant with terms like trinity, eucharist, sanctification, holiness, sin, etc. But it should be pointed out that trinity is not in the Bible, not the NIV anyway. Eucharist is a greek word and therefore not in the NIV though it is in the Greek text (Our church practices it every Sunday though we have never called it that). Santification is not even in the NIV, though other forms of the word are. My point is that it is easy for us older folks to criticize youth not only because they are immature and have improvements to make, they are a work in progress after all, but because they are not carbon copies of us older geezers, they aren't understanding of things we have invested so much of ourselves into and don't have the precise same concerns as we do.

I'm more of an optimist when it comes to the young. And fortunately I recently came across a book review in the Nov 15 issue of the Economist that shows I'm not alone. The book is Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World by D. Tapscott. The title of the review is The Kids are Alright. I'll quote from the article:

“As the first global generation ever, the Net Geners are smarter, quicker and more tolerant of diversity than their predecessors,” Mr Tapscott argues. “These empowered young people are beginning to transform every institution of modern life.” They care strongly about justice, and are actively trying to improve society...

Mr Tapscott identifies eight norms that define Net Geners, which he believes everyone should take on board to avoid being swept away by the sort of generational tsunami that helped Barack Obama beat John McCain. Net Geners value freedom and choice in everything they do. They love to customise and personalise. They scrutinise everything. They demand integrity and openness, including when deciding what to buy and where to work. They want entertainment and play in their work and education, as well as their social life. They love to collaborate. They expect everything to happen fast. And they expect constant innovation."

Jim West and Public School Bible Classes

Its hard to keep up with Jim West's 20 posts per day or thereabouts. I liked this quote from the recent On Bible Courses in Public Schools. He notes there is good and bad about the low enrollment of public school Bible course. Bad because the subject matter is important and should be known. One good thing is that assistant coaches or other equally less qualified people will not be teaching them.

Because learning theological literature outside a theological environment is like eating cotton candy at the bottom of the deep blue sea.

Response to Jason

Jason Middlekauf continues his thoughts on the Afterlife on his blog. I responded there and on his Facebook.

Kirk pointed me to the following from a widely read local blog by an Orthodox priest in the area called "Is Hell Real".

http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/is-hell-real/

Here is something I wrote about the matter earlier which includes a reference to Joseph Campbell and the Zoroastrian description of Hell.

Sobering Numbers About Teen Behaviour

Terry Mattingly's latest article is Sobering numbers about teen behaviour. Surprise, Surprise. It is a time honored tradition of the older generation finding faults with the younger. That's not new but the details are. He reports on a survey of ethical practices by today's teens and of course it turns up things of concern: lying to parents, cheating on tests, internet-aided plagiarism. And it mentions that they may be nurtured in this by parental examples of parents lying about a child's age in order to save money, giving a false excuse to allow a child to skip school, etc. Such actions are worthy of critique.

Do most of these individuals perceive their decisions as totally subjective and selfish, as one authority opined? Do they feel that they are answerable only to themselves? Or, have they not properly reflected on their actions. My take is that our contemporary world presents us with new situations that demand moral judgement and we haven't yet successfully, in community, worked out and communicated to each other a consensus ethical solution to some of these. And of course we should. I think our society has progressed ethically in many ways from the past, not always in a straight line of steady improvement but with some zigzagging. But how?

The following, in italics, taken from an article on Postmodernity from Len Hjalmarson's Next Reformation site, has provided me continual fascination for the past several years and point to the means for communicating more effectively with the younger generations and progressing ethically in this dawning postmodern age.

The contact between Christianity and Postmodern sensibilities are:

recognition of the essentially spiritual nature of life

openness and desire for community

rejection of authority in position and acceptance of authority in relationship

emphasis on participation over spectator mentality

leadership by wisdom and example not knowledge or position

emphasis on practical answers, “walk” over “talk”

emphasis on journey and process over goal

desire for experience over knowledge, the “subjective” and mystical dimension

spontaneous order over rational structure, webs of connection and meaning

recognition of truth in paradox, images and story

Ethical decisions can be informed by recognition of the relational aspect of reality and how we are connected to each other. And such will help assure that the ethical mistakes as cited above will be overcome.

The Absence of Truth leads to Violence

Below is lifted from Colossians Remixed. It begins with the authors' translation of Hosea 4:1-3

There is no truth or steadfast love,
and no knowledge of God in the land

Swearing, lying, and murder,
and stealing and adultery break out
bloodshed follows bloodshed

Therefore the land mourns,
and all who live in it languish

together with the wild animals
and the birds of the air,
even the fish of the sea are perishing
- - - - - - -

Because truth is deeply relational, when there is no truth or intimate knowledge in the land, all human relationships are broken. Everything from our social and personal to our ecological relationships takes on the pall of death when there is no truth.
...

There is something ironic about Hosea's comment when read in light of the postmodern suspicion that large-scale truth claims invariably serve to legitimate violence. In contrast, Hosea insists that it is the absence of truth that gives rise to ever-escalating bloodshed.

Grand Theft Auto, Twitter and Beowulf . . .

From Grand Theft Auto, Twitter and Beowulf all demonstrate that stories will never die

Myths, it has been said, are "good to think with". Storytelling is a way of trying out situations imaginatively, of preserving knowledge and social value, of attesting to a commonality of experience. Stories are central to how we think about the world: from the individual to the wide sweep of history. The ability to put yourself in another's shoes is the foundation-stone of all morality.

The Afterlife

Jason Middlekauff produced an excellent essay of his thoughts about heaven and an afterlife: Theological Musing: Ambivalence About an Afterlife .