The Redemptive Angle

The movie was great! I was happy to see that at th...

2010-06-02T13:34:44.820-06:00

The movie was great!
I was happy to see that at the end the Bible is placed alongside the Towrah and Quran.
I wouldn't like to go into comparing which of the books is the greatest.I think such attitude is a little childish.
Its time we learn to look at what all of us have in common rather than talking about differences.
Its kind on the part of the director of the movie to have shown a symbolic acceptance and importance of the other religions of the Hebraic race.
Thank you,
Anwar Bashir.

Nice but i agree, it should have been about the Qu...

2010-05-21T17:16:38.187-06:00

Nice but i agree, it should have been about the Quran, which is memorized by heart by muslims all over the world and is the last of the books from the One God; while the other books have changed in scripture over time, the Quran hasnt changed.

This movie is about the Bible not the Quran. Yet ...

2010-05-21T09:21:56.747-06:00

This movie is about the Bible not the Quran. Yet your comments belie that you feel quite intimidated by the Quran as you have to compare the two and even go as far as to say the bible was bigger in size at the end and in the center of the shelf. That really is petty. Did you know that Muslims wholeheartedly believe in Jesus and a central tenant of Islam is that God sent scriptures to Moses, David, Abraham and Jesus? Muslims believe in the All-Compasionate God who sent his message to all the great prophets, including the Bible to Jesus ("Injeel" in Arabic). Islam is very inclusive to the truth of God. Islam invites you to open your mind and heart to the truth of God rather than worship just the culture you grew up around.

I think that is always why I have been looking for...

2010-04-13T09:55:08.488-06:00

I think that is always why I have been looking forward to the day I will actually be "home". Moving so much will do that to you. Great post David, I think that desire for a real home is a strong apologetic, especially to the more transient culture we live in.

mighty nice post - good length too

2010-04-12T13:24:30.400-06:00

mighty nice post - good length too

Ashley, Good thoughts- but I think you may have mi...

2010-04-12T10:24:57.783-06:00

Ashley,
Good thoughts- but I think you may have missed the very core of my argument. My justification for the uniqueness of each human being is Gen. 1- all humans made in the image of God- so you are correct there.

But when you ask, "How do we determine whose health is more important?..." you assume a certain proposition. Who is the "we" we are talking about? My simple argument was that if the "we" is the government, we don't have more care, we have less, because the govt. is essentially an entity that deals with limited costs. Historically speaking, it almost always happens that when a govt. gets involved with healthcare costs it must decide who gets what kind of healthcare. So by "we", I think it's a very dangerous position to live in if the govt. decides who gets what kind of care.

If the "we" is American citizens or Christians in particular, we absolutely have a responsibility to the "least of these" among us- the poor, the elderly, and especially the unborn. Under the newly passed healthcare bill, the latter two get the shaft, which illustrates my point (and by which, writing this post and supporting certain non-profit ministries, I am standing up for the least of these more than democrats are by simply passing a bill). Besides, private Christian non-profits have always done a better job at healthcare than has the government.

My main argument in my post was to demonstrate that government supported and guaranteed healthcare for all is actually a contradiction in terms. It can't deliver on the promise in actuality. And in theory, it's very dangerous- downright Orwellian.

Amen. I think the longing for the eternal can be a...

2010-04-09T12:08:03.387-06:00

Amen. I think the longing for the eternal can be a strong apologetic argument for the existence of God - speaking from an evolutionary standpoint, dissatisfaction with this world is a maladaptive trait. Above and beyond that, though, you speak a truth that is a balm to my soul today...

David, I loved this post! Thank you for sharing y...

2010-04-09T09:21:57.999-06:00

David,

I loved this post! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Laurie

Hey Dave, I was wondering if you could expound on...

2010-04-08T19:01:13.986-06:00

Hey Dave,

I was wondering if you could expound on this thought, "On the other hand, if one's fundamental commitment was that every human individual was special in his or her own right and worth keeping alive, then the role of government would be vastly different."

Maybe I missed the undertones, but I couldn't detect your support from scripture (it could've been implicit, I may have just missed it)? As God's people should we not have a different view of how a nation should be governed because we see humanity as the apex of God's creation (over birds of the air or fish of the sea)? We are made in his image after all...

How do we determine whose health is more important...by the amount of money they earn? By the education they were afforded or not afforded? By race or gender? All life should be preserved. God has no delight in the death of anyone (Ezek 18:32).

I would just like to hear more of your thoughts. I don't think that earthly governments can 'fix' our world. God is our governor through his word. However, I do think that God reveals himself to be concerned with people's health regardless of socio-economic distinctions that divide nations and stratify people. Therefore, healthcare for all people would be a way that life could be preserved.

Very well put. I've found that most of the pro...

2010-04-08T10:57:19.365-06:00

Very well put. I've found that most of the pro-healthcare arguments are emotion based, rather than reason. Many accept what "feels" right before they analyze the overall implications.

Thanks Kathy, Very kind words you spoke. I'm ...

2010-04-06T13:30:07.647-06:00

Thanks Kathy,

Very kind words you spoke. I'm not always so clear-minded or well-written. In fact, I'm usually not!

Thanks again.

unbelievable post. You managed to be factual in yo...

2010-04-05T17:00:23.319-06:00

unbelievable post. You managed to be factual in your analysis without betraying your beliefs as a religious person. I really liked it and I think you should submit it to a press outlet. Thank you for that fair and completely (historically) accurate comparison of capitalism vs socialism and the treatment of it's people.

I love you, man. This is a great post.

2010-04-02T21:53:17.842-06:00

I love you, man. This is a great post.

David, wow! This was amazing to read! I am up here...

2010-03-17T21:12:41.068-06:00

David, wow! This was amazing to read! I am up here in Pigeon Forge with the girls, and I read it to your momma. She cried!

I think your final statement summed that whole thi...

2010-02-28T19:05:23.522-07:00

I think your final statement summed that whole thing up very, very well.

Anonymous, "All religion, indeed all of huma...

2010-02-17T08:42:54.093-07:00

Anonymous,

"All religion, indeed all of human culture, is an attempt to come to terms with death."

Quite a broad-brushing statement, isn't it?

Care to actually prove it? I'm sure you'd just direct me to the book, though.

Even though I'm a Christian, I'm sure a thorough atheist would even take issue with this dubious claim that all human culture attempts to come to terms with death. You are glossing over some of the best arguments in history for the existence of God and for the non-existence of God, neither of which deal with your claim at all.

People, in those instances, are or were on a search for truth.

Kudos to people, atheists or Christians, who actually believe something and search for truth so strongly that they don't rely on pithy and cliche lack-of-arguments such as yours.

Anonymous, You probably feel really good and smug...

2010-02-17T08:36:36.584-07:00

Anonymous,

You probably feel really good and smug about using the word "provincial."

But one wonders whether your art is even comprehensible. These sites you post are pantheistic in tone and content. Basically, the worldview you are promoting demonstrates that all is divine and needs to transcend into the impersonal oneness of the impersonal and unified divine.

If that is true, how could anything be provincial? Isn't everything supposed to point to the impersonal unified divine in everything? Atman is Brahman and Brahman is Atman, no?

I like to believe in true things. I don't much care whether you think something is provincial or limited to time and space. I care if something is true.

There are standards in beauty. Indeed, some of the things you posted were beautiful in their own respects, but only as they hint at or point to a divine Creator, distinct and different and transcendent of His own creation.

Anonymous, The Church universal (I'm not sure...

2010-02-17T08:29:37.575-07:00

Anonymous,

The Church universal (I'm not sure whether you mean the Catholic church but I'll use it in a more worldwide sense) is definitely guilty of atrocities. Part of the depravity of humanity is the very reason why Christianity's truth-claims make sense. That depravity does indeed extend to the Church.

But I hope you realize you didn't actually make any arguments in your comment.

The sky is pink.

Just because I said it doesn't make it true. And just because you post pictures doesn't make them compelling.

Atheism and it's secular counterparts in the 20th century were guilty of far greater human tragedies than the Christian church ever purported in 2000 years. Please see: communist Russia, communist China, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Idi Amin, naturlistic/social Darwinism in Nazi Germany, and many other examples.

And post your name next time. That's just plain gutless.

Please check out this most extraordinary book--the...

2010-02-16T19:21:11.459-07:00

Please check out this most extraordinary book--the most extraordinary book ever written.

www.adidam.org/teaching/aletheon

Plus this beautiful prose re the all important topic of death.

All religion, indeed all of human culture, is an attempt to come to terms with death.

www.easydeathbook.com/purpose.asp

Plus the authors relation to both modernism and postmodernism

www.adidaupclose.org/FAQs/postmodernism2.html

One wonders which century you are living in when y...

2010-02-16T19:07:13.079-07:00

One wonders which century you are living in when you post such provincial opinions on Beauty?

Especially as all of the Sacred Art of the entire Great Tradition of humankind is now freely available on the internet.

Please find a completely different Understanding of Beauty, and of God AS The Beautiful,via these related references.

www.aboutadidam.org/readings/art_is_love/index.html

www.aboutadidam.org/readings/transcending_the_camera/index.html

http://global.adidam.org/books/transcendental-realism.html

www.daplastique.com

www.adidamla.org/newsletters/toc-aprilmay2006.html

Plus a related site on the non-humans.

www.fearnomorezoo.org

But the church and its agents also gave us the his...

2010-02-16T18:56:55.822-07:00

But the church and its agents also gave us the history pointed to in this very stark image.

www.dartmouth.edu/~spanmod/mural/panel13.html

The conquest continues--what do you think the invasion of Iraq was about?

And all of the horrors described on this site.

www.jesusneverexisted.com/cruelty.html

Plus why not Google: The Criminal History of the Papacy (Bushby)

Great post, David. I appreciate the 20/20 humilit...

2010-02-10T16:40:56.301-07:00

Great post, David.

I appreciate the 20/20 humility in looking backward when you said you were a little right and a little wrong.

I think you're spot-on when you write:

"Moderation is not a virtue, then. It simply is a substitute for an uninformed or unprincipled electorate."

I think polemics, unencumbered by the PC "tone" police, has more vlaue than people are willing to accord.

Thanks for your input Anonymous (though I hate ano...

2010-02-10T10:32:55.991-07:00

Thanks for your input Anonymous (though I hate anonymous comments and think they are without guts). Your argument could be summarized as follows:

Only books that are memorized should be memorialized. Only the Koran is memorized. The Bible is not memorized. Therefore, the Koran should be memorialized and not the Bible. And thus the movie should have been about the Koran.

But your argument misses a pretty major point: the actual contents of each book. Who cares whether one memorizes a book or not? I've read and memorized many portions of the Bible as well as other books. If one of those books was Dr. Suess, it wouldn't make the book great, as you say.

To summarize the Muslim position, you have a prophet who entered a cave who claimed an angel spoke to him and dictated to him the words of Allah (eerily similar to Mormonism, by the way). By historical accounts, this prophet first thought it was a demon who spoke to him. He mainly wrote down peaceful stuff about people of the book- other Jews and Christians. It was nice stuff, I guess, but it was removed from historical veracity. It was a mere collection of sayings.

Then this prophet received opposition, primarily from Jews, about his religious beliefs. Then apparently Allah started to dictate to him some harsher tones. Words like jihad appear in the text. But again, these are collections of sayings and removed from historical narrative or verifiable truth.

The Bible on the other hand, is a completely different document, showing how God has actually intervened in history. It's account, particularly in the NT, can be proven true or false, and to date there is no compelling reason to think Jesus' life, his followers lives, didn't actually happen as described.

I would expect a Muslim argument to rely upon human effort: the memorization of Scripture is what makes something great.

But the contents of the Christian Bible are different: God embarks on a journey to rescue humanity from death and corruption to save them and bring them back to Himself so that they can spend eternity with Him.

It is the contents of the book that make the Bible a much greater message than the Quran.

The holy Quran was on top of all the books if you ...

2010-02-10T05:55:57.603-07:00

The holy Quran was on top of all the books if you watch its the small book on top, and on the side as well of the bible.
the movie should have been about the holy Quran its the only book that's is memorized by hart and the only book that to this day inspires man, not even the pope knows the bible, the only people i can think off who know the bible by hart are Muslims example Deedat and Zakir Naik.
but you pagans will never acknowledge that the holy Quran is The book like no other from God(swt), even the maker of this movie placed it on top

Matt, Thanks for your thoughts? Please send me a...

2010-01-31T18:13:01.071-07:00

Matt,

Thanks for your thoughts? Please send me an email giving the play-by-play of your first week. I guess you start work tomorrow.......

Fiction is harder to set good guidelines for, and my approach tends towards classic literature. I realized in college that I like Sherlock Holmes and Charles Dickens after reading a few things. Then, I decided I'd read as much of those things I could get my hands on. I then figured I probably liked 19th and early 20th century British literature, though I have never read Ulysses. I don't understand much T.S. Eliot either.

The only reason I mention that is that you're right, I don't have good guidelines for fiction. I'm not much of a "buff" but a mere enjoyer of classic literature. I have barely scratched the surface.

New standard? Perhaps go to the classic lit. section of the bookstore instead of the first couple of tables where "pop" books are. Hah!

Thank you for your compliments, by the way. I just took a personality profile test with the highest predictive rating of all current profile and aptitude tests, and the highest match of job profession in ministry was "Christian writer." I thought that was unusual.

And I do still love C.S. Lewis so much. He's so much clearer than Chesterton, though I love the G.K. in his own way. Sometimes I just go back and re-read Lewis' stuff when I am bored and it still puts me to tears the 5th and 6th time I've read certain books.

Grace and peace my friend. I know you are where you are supposed to be.