All tagged Plato
To save the planet we all need to embrace green and renewable energies, right? Well, perhaps, sort of. This episode works through the dominant renewable energies noting their pluses and minuses. I also explore questions like, can we mine enough global lithium to eliminate all fossil fuel powered cars? Are electrical vehicles as clean and efficient as we are led to believe? The show opens with a reflection on the beauty of vocation in a God-created world. Come laugh and think with me!
In this conversation with Political Science professor Darren Guerra I ask, were the Founders Christian? Or better, how were they? What were they doing with their faith that is so lacking in the contemporary Church? What is presentism and how does it shape people's assessment of history? What were the Founders' core commitments about being human? What did they borrow from Greek philosophy to build society? Why do core principles matter so much? And, why oh why did they value the Old Testament so much?
The Patristic world was both less opposed and less cut off from the supernatural world. MA student Michael Bozmarov shares with me the insights he learned writing a sizable paper on Ambrose of Milan's reflections. How are angels greater than us? In what ways are we greater than them? Why does God use angels? What can we learn from philosophy about angels? Come think with us about angels during Advent season!
Spirituality means a kazillion diverse things today. But in the bible there are specific ways of framing what spirituality means. Variously the doctrines of creation, eschatology, and incarnation reveal what spirituality looks like through godly lenses. It's time for believers to process more biblically and less Gnostically on this important topic.
What's the difference between a cult and a sect? Why do Mormons have more faith than I do? What about their faith is spurious, from a historical perspective? What is Platonic about their eschatology? What does Mormon faith do to the preeminence of Christ? And, why am I personally conflicted about the Church of Latter Day Saints?
What was the world like when the apostle Paul was writing? Was he naive about the sexuality at work then? Was he able or not to make distinctions between behaviors and orientations? This episode will examine a trove of historical data to clarify what the ancients did and did not know or understand about human sexuality. I will also explain why this information matters for contemporary Christianity and Christian ethics.
Christians run reason through a sieve of faith, but that in no way cancels out reason. Faith welcomes reason! Even more, faith makes room for doubt! It is true, yes, that God is far greater than reason, but he comes to us in ways that reason welcomes and embraces. In this episode I tell the stories about the first college class I ever taught and about sharing my faith with my mom. I also explore a recent neuroscientist's book on Near Death Experiences.
