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June 02, 2008
Books : Books 2008/06/02
Current count of books pending to be read: 110
Read one, purchased none.
Books finished this week:
The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mindby Marvin Minsky
This is essentially an updated version of professor Minsky’s theory of intelligence (human or artificial) which he originally elaborated in “Society of Mind”. It is still a complex theory, using many different kinds of elements playing against each other, and one which I would not consider “elegant”; although Minsky addresses this point directly in the book, claiming that while it may be possible at some point to simplify the theory (presumably be merging certain concepts), he believe it is premature to try to do so since the multiplicity of idea provides freedom in their application. I’m still not sure. What I will say is that the version of the theory here is certainly clearer and more comprehensive than the earlier version in “Society of Mind”
Computer Games Played: LotRO
DVDs Watched: none
Next Book: New Theories of Everything
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 04, 2008
Movies : 2008 Blockbusters So Far
I've been doing a lot of heavy faith posts lately, and already have a couple more in mind; but I thought it was time to take a break and comment on some of my other interests – in this case cinema. Specifically, my reactions to the three big blockbuster movies that have been released in the last couple months.
Iron Man
Ah, that's what a comic superhero movie should be like. Not sure it is better than the second Spiderman movie (which had been at the top of that category in my opinion); but it is certainly in that league. The movie's success is almost entirely a result of Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow's performances who managed to bring some life to otherwise standard material.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
All in all, a fairly good adaptation of the book. The problem is that I never thought that the book was all that strong. I didn't think it worked as pure adventure, nor as allegory; and this is reflected in the film. A pleasant way to spend a couple hours; but certainly not high on my list of favorite movies.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Other than the age of the characters, this film seems like it was made only a couple of years after the last film (instead of nineteen). Same formulas, same techniques, same "feel". That's both a compliment and a criticism. While it was a very entertaining film (the original Raiders' remains one of my all time favorites), I couldn't help feeling that it should have somehow been "more" given another 20 years of film technology and experience from Lucas and Spielberg.
Speed Racer
Well, I didn't actually see this flick. I found the trailers to be rather overwhelming visually and had doubts about sitting through a whole movie done in that style. When the poor reviewers started to come in, I decided to punt.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
June 06, 2008
TV : 2008 TV Up-Fronts
Last month the various US television networks announced their schedules for the Fall (or in the case of NBC, the schedule for the whole year as they announced they are abandoning the idea of a "Fall season" in favor of starting new series throughout the year). So this is my annual post on what looks promising on TV for the coming year.
Dollhouse
By far, the TV show which has grabbed my attention (and has gotten good initial feedback from critics) is "Dollhouse". This is largely because it marks the return of Joss Whedon (Buffy', Angel, Firefly) to network television; but also because the series has potential to be something great (which, given Joss, may be a redundant statement). The concept is that an illegal secret lab has perfected the technique of erasing people minds and re-programming them with new knowledge, skills, personalities, memories, etc. They have a small collection of individuals (known in the show as "actives") who the lab claims have volunteered to have their identities/personalities/memories erased so that the lab can re-program them and send them on missions for the lab's clients. So one day an active might be programmed as the ultimate assassin, while on another they may be programmed to provide "entertainment". In between assignments they are programmed with a simple child-like personalities and kept in a comfortable dormitory that the lab refers to as the "dollhouse" (hence the name of the show).
Joss has always liked to explore morale ambiguities; but this certainly pushes that limit even farther. After all, when you strip away the technology, this is essentially a show about human slavery and there is no pretense that the actives are used for noble purposes. Yet the people who have seen the pilot all agree that while they find what the lab does to be reprehensible, Joss managed to make the lab employees themselves sympathetic – you can understand why they do what they do. What's more, it is clear that Joss plans to use the series to explore the nature of identity – what makes a person unique? What makes them valuable? – as well as the various roles we all play as we go thought our lives. So as with all of Joss' shows, there will be a lot of entertaining action with a deep intellectual subtext for those who are willing and able to explore it.
Other than Dollhouse, I've seen no must-see shows; but there are a few that might turn out worthwhile.
Fringe
Lost will be finishing up next year so J. J. Abrams (Felicity, Alias, Lost) needs a new project. What we get seems to be a cross between Alias and X-Files. Strange things are happening in the world, and a (female) FBI agent (who is not liked by the Bureau) is given the weakest lead to follow up on – a mad scientist (and I mean that literally – she has to get him out of an asylum) who may have an explanation. As a result she stumbles onto a world-wide conspiracy involving "fringe" science (telepathy, etc.). The series is about the agent, the mad scientist, and the scientist's son (who is the only person who can reliably make sense of his father's ravings) pursuing the conspiracy. To me it sounds a lot like X-Files; but those who have seen the pilot say it feels more like Alias. Hmmm. Not sure I am up for yet another J. J. Abrams goose chase. I punted on Alias after a couple of years and barely hung on with Lost (although that may be an indication he is getting better).
Crusoe
A TV series based on the 18th century novel "Robinson Crusoe", only with the title shipwrecked character being more like MacGyver and a less racist depiction of Friday. So Lost without all of the weird stuff (and intelligent behavior)?
Kings
While Hollywood is well known to mine every old source for ideas (and rarely comes up with new ones), this I think is a first: a modern retelling of the story of King Saul and David from the Bible. David is the young wiz-kid whose victory against overwhelming odds put him into the spotlight (and wins him the favor of Saul's son and daughter); but Saul fears that David has become too popular and is a threat. OK, a good start for something; but can they keep it going?
My Own Worst Enemy
A rather extreme case of split personality: a man is both a mild mannered efficiency expert and an international super-spy; but he doesn't know it – at least not until the series starts and his lives start to cross over. I suspect this is meant as a response to last year's Chuck. It could be good; but I view it as a long shot.
The Philanthropist
Playboy billionaire has a live-changing experience that makes him want to use his money for good – not by giving it to others but actually going out himself and helping people. The network's notes refer to him as a "vigilante philanthropist". Could be interesting if they can avoid being too preachy.
Life on Mars
An American remake of an excellent BBC production. A modern cop gets into a car accident and wakes up in the 1970s and is somehow accepted as a transfer into the police precinct. Has he really traveled back in time? Or are these hallucinations while he lies in a coma in a hospital? The BBC version managed to maintain that ambiguity for two seasons and in the process explore just how much things have changed in 35 years, with the main character trying to use modern police techniques back before they were invented. The BBC show was great; but the track record of moving UK shows to the US isn't good.
Eleventh Hour
Another BBC import – this time about a government scientist who is assigned to help protect the public from abuses of science. Each episode some corporation is found to be doing something dangerous and our hero stops them.
The Mentalist
A professional (fake) "mentalist" who was successful because of his powers of observation decides to go straight and use his skills as a private investigator. Sounds like Psych done as a drama instead of a comedy.
Merlin
The story of Merlin and Arthur and young men. Been done before; but it is a rich field to play in. Odds are against it; but I am willing to give it a try.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 09, 2008
Books : Books 2008/06/09
Current count of books pending to be read: 108
Read three, purchased none, borrowed one
Had to think about how to record this week since one of the books I read was not in my “to be read list” (it was lent to me by someone who wanted my opinion on it).
Books finished this week:
New Theories of Everythingby John D. Barrow
What a pleasant surprise. I no longer remember buying this book or what drew my attention to it; but what I was expecting when I picked it up this week was yet another physics book on current grand unified theories. While the book does provide a summary of those ideas, it is really a book of philosophy that is as likely to quote Augustine and Nietzsche as Newton and Einstein. It poses questions like what is the relationship between the “Laws of Nature” and “The Universe”? (Are they the same? Is the universe a subset of the laws? Or the other way around?) Or what does the way we study physics tell us about who we are, and what does who we are tell us about the universe we live in? Do we see the universe the way it is only because if it was different, we wouldn’t be here to see it?
The Late Great U.S.A.: The Coming Merger With Mexico and Canadaby Jerome R. Corsi
The author proposes that there is a vast conspiracy to undermine the sovereignty of the United States in favor of a “North American Union” in the pattern of the European Union. I agree that there certainly are individuals working towards such a goal (his evidence of that as well as some independent research on the web support it). However, having established such a conspiracy it is easy to associate things with it that may well be unrelated and motivated by other interests. As a result, there are places in the book that I think the author applies a form of guilt by association, and I remain unconvinced that the conspiracy is quite as vast as he proposes. What engaged me the most (largely because I was already concerned about it) were his descriptions at the start and end of the book of the true economic situation in the US and its likely consequences. Metaphorically, the United States has all of its credit cards maxed, has taken out a second mortgage on its house, and is completely dependent on the good will of its creditors. In light of that, a move to unify with Canada and Mexico is the least of the challenges to our sovereignty.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BFI TV Classics)by Anne Billson
This is the British Film Institute’s book on Buffy, and is quite well written, intermixing summaries of all seven season with analysis of the themes and characters. The author is a fan of the show; but not so much of a fanatic as to hold back necessary criticism (she ravages season 4). A well done introduction to the show.
Computer Games Played: LotRO
DVDs Watched: none
Next Book: Constants of Nature
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Life : Blogging, increased
Two real posts each week is turning out to be too few, so I am increasing my schedule. Starting next week, I will be doing three “real” posts each week – on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. My weekly book post will be done over the weekend whenever I finish the last book of the week. BTW – how interested are people in my book posts? Regardless of the feedback I get, I will continue to do them until the end of November (so I will have done it for a full year), but I’d like to know if there is value in my continuing them after that.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
June 11, 2008
Thoughts : Political Philosophical Musings, Property Rights
This post has no answers, just questions I am asking myself in my quest for a consistent political philosophy. Where I'd like to end up is with a small set of clear principles from which my political philosophy is derived; but the complexity of the real world has thwarted all such efforts.
Take this hallmark of Libertarian philosophy – an individual should be able to do whatever they'd like with their own private property as long as it doesn't prevent someone else from doing what they'd like with their property. Sounds obvious; but the details are devilish.
Now consider this scenario – an individual buys a tract of forested land. They then want to cut down all of the trees and burn them to heat their house. Sounds fair. However, having done so, they not only reduce the ability of the planet to absorb carbon dioxide; but they have also release addition C02 into the atmosphere. There are good arguments to say that this has a definite effect on everyone else on the planet and carried to an extreme, will certainly affect other people's abilities to do what they want with their private property. Many people are concerned with the inhabitants of the Amazon rainforest doing this very thing. The issue is that none of us are as isolated from each other as we would like to think we are. Even mundane actions can have consequences on those around us.
But what's the alternative? Government intervention in every action we take to ensure that we are not interfering with each other? That doesn’t sounds like a practical solution either.
Now take this one step further. I believe most political philosophers do not adequately take into account the time dimension in their consideration. Is it good enough to say our actions must not ill effect those around us today, or should we take into account the impact our actions will make on those who come after us? Is it acceptable to allow someone to use their private property in a way that does not impede those alive today; but has consequences beyond their lifetime? I may own something today; but assuming that I will eventually die, that property will eventually be someone else's. Should my impact on their ability to use "their property" (which is mine now) be taken into account? Do I have the right to destroy something and thereby deny my successors the right to use it?
An interesting variation on this theme is the allocation of finite resources. Free markets are excellent means for determining the value of something, as long as everyone with an interest in the commodity have the ability to bid on them. But that is often not the case with expendable resources since those who might use those resources in the future have no natural voice in today's market.
Consider fossil fuels – the market may in fact correctly determine their value to those who want to use them today. But what would the value of a barrel of oil be to someone alive a thousand years from now when, one might assume, all fossil fuels have been used up? If the laws of supply and demand apply, does the true value of any finite consumable resource tend towards infinity when considered over a long enough period of time? Of course, in the future we may well have perfected synthetic or renewable alternatives to fossil fuels, and their value may instead approach zero. So how do you take this into account?
A thought experiment I often consider when pondering these things is how to manage a generation space ship (one that travels between the stars at slower than the speed of light and therefore takes generations to get anywhere). The ship is sent out with a finite supply of everything. They may be able to replenish some supplies (minerals for instance) when they reach their destination; but until then, they have a finite quality of everything. How then do you set up an economy that takes into account the entire voyage? What form of government would be effective on such a voyage? And as the assumed size of the spaceship grows, is that scenario really any different from what we face on earth today?
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 13, 2008
Thoughts : Political Philosophical Musings, Informed Consent
As with my previous post, this is a collection of questions, not answers.
One consistent feature that has been a part of all my attempts at political philosophy has been some variation on the principle of "informed consent". I believe in any successful society, people need to be able to make their decisions based on accurate information. In commerce, the market is not really free if decisions are being made based on misinformation. The question then becomes, what role does government play in ensuring the accurate distribution of information?
The simplest answer is "none" – that the market will naturally exclude individuals who develop a reputation for deceitfulness. The problem is that many other individuals will be hurt before such a reputation is established. So I have always believed that at a minimum the government should have the right and responsibility to prosecute and punish those who are guilty of misrepresenting facts in the marketplace. Where things get interesting is evaluating if that is enough.
To answer that, one must first consider what other levels of involvement are possible. If we start with the principle of Honesty - "everything you say must be true", then the next step might be "and you must say everything you know" – i.e. the principle of "Full Disclosure". Should the government have the right and responsibility to prosecute and punish individual who stay silent on disadvantageous facts that they known? The next step after Full Disclosure might be Due Diligence – if you are required to expose all of the facts you have, how much effort are you required to invest in determining those facts for yourself? Can you simply not determine if something is safe and therefore be allowed to say nothing about its safety?
When I think about these questions, I often consider examples from two domains: pharmaceuticals and consumer products. Drug companies today are required to go through extensive trials to determine if their products are "both safe and effective". Furthermore they are required to provide to the consumer extensive details on possible side effects of taking the drug. What would society be like if this was not the case? What if the rule was Full Disclosure; but not Due Diligence? What if companies could market drugs without extensive testing as long as they were up-front about how much testing was done and what the outcomes were? I could imagine some kind of standard label (like a nutrition label) that explained how many people were tested, over what period of time were they observed, and what the outcomes were, with separate statistics for testing on adults, children, and pregnant women.
Now clearly this would require a great deal more effort on the parts of doctors and patients to inform themselves. Personally, I would be hesitant to take a drug that had only been tested on ten people last week, and nine of them actually lived! On the other hand, useful drugs might well be available sooner in such an environment and at a lower cost. Is the public interest better served by something like this, or our current model? I don't know; but the non-obviousness makes it an interesting question.
I will however say that taking this to the next step – Honesty but no Full Disclosure sounds like bad public policy. If a drug company that knows of a bad side effect is allowed to not disclose it, I can see no public benefit to that. So in my own political musings I find myself thinking that the role of government lies someplace between ensuring Full Disclosure and Due Diligence from participants in the marketplace.
Another factor in this is the availability of independent watchdogs. I have long been a member of Consumer's Union (the publishers of Consumer Reports). While the criteria they use to judge products is not always the criteria I would use, I have always respected how vigorously they maintain their independence and objectivity. Likewise Underwriters Laboratories has played a useful role in the marketplace. Given the value provided by such independent non-governmental institutions, can the role of the government be reduced? Which is more useful to the public – having the government ensure that some product is safe or having one or more independent parties that the consumer could go to in order to determine the safety of products? In the later case, the consumer has a choice in which they trust and how much effort (and perhaps money) they put into finding out.
That is both an advantage and disadvantage - an advantage because the quality of testing may well be superior because if such organizations loose consumer confidence they have nothing, so they are likely to try hard to maintain that confidence; a disadvantage because not all consumers will avail themselves of such resources. So what importance is there in protecting people who do not value protecting themselves? This becomes more complex if the independent watchdog requires payment to access their results. So the question remains – if you assume the existence of such independent testing organizations, does that effect what should be expected of the government?
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 15, 2008
Books : Books 2008/06/16
Current count of books pending to be read: 106
Read two, purchased none
Books finished this week:
The Constants of Nature: From Alpha to Omega--the Numbers That Encode the Deepest Secrets of the Universeby John D. Barrow
Another excellent book by Barrow who wrote last week’s “New Theories of Everything”. Once again, it is as much a books of philosophy as one of physics, although less explicitly so than “New Theories. . .” The topic of this book is the constants of nature – the speed of light, the gravitational constant, Planck’s constant, etc. The book surveys both historical and current thinking about why these factors have the particular values they do (and in fact if they are actually constant). Well written and interesting.
The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Outby Dan Stone and David Gregory
An excellent book that will end up on my ready-access bookshelf so I can easily lend it out. Far too many Christians find themselves struggling with the impossible task of “being a good Christian” when in fact God had never intended us to be Good Christians! This issue is not that we are not to be good; but that it is not supposed to be us that does it. Only Jesus can successfully be a good Christian. As Paul writes in Galatians 2:20 “nevertheless I live, yet not I; but Christ lives in me”. This is the deep truth of the gospel, and this book is one of the clearly and most complete presentation of that truth I have found.
Computer Games Played: LotRO
DVDs Watched: none
Next Book: TBD
Posted by Steven at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 16, 2008
Faith : Signs, Wonders and the Imitation Thereof
Something interesting is happening in Lakeland Florida. It doesn't seem to have made it into the national news media yet; but I suspect that is just a matter of time. There are a series of meetings where miracles are being reported – people healed, even raised from the dead - all under the leadership of a Canadian preacher named Todd Bentley.
The Christian blogosphere is full of posts with various people taking sides on whether this is a move of God or the work of a charlatan. I haven't been to these meetings and while videos are available on the web, they aren't enough for me to form a conclusive option. They do however provide enough information for me to be skeptical. I may post on those reasons at some point in the future; but today I want to talk about something that is not the reason I am skeptical – the claim of supernatural, miraculous events.
I do believe that God is supernaturally active today. He heals people. He does other signs and wonders. There is no doubt in my mind that God is at work today because I have been witness to His hand on a few occasions.
However, having said that, I also believe that the vast majority of supernatural events attributed to God are neither supernatural nor divine in origin. It is easy to establish an environment where people are expecting certain outcomes and their minds get into a mode where they ignore contradictory evidence. All stage magic is built on this phenomenon. What's more, it doesn't even need to involve deliberate deception. A culture can create an environment where the leader is as open to self deception as the audience.
Unfortunately, church cultures often fall into this category. Because many churches equate "faith" with "blind acceptance" and "questioning" with "disbelief", they often create environments where people will tend to see what they want to see, or are expected to see. In some cases there is even an element of "The Emperor's New Clothes" in this – if everyone else around you is "feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit", then you don't want to be the only person who isn't being "moved by God". So, often subconsciously, you find some small hint that God might be doing something and magnify it in your mind to the point that you can say "me too". The question however is – how many other people in the room are doing the same thing?
HOWEVER.
None of this means that the genuine article – real moves of God, real miracles – do not exist. Only that they are hard to find because of all of the people who allow themselves to be convinced that God is working when He isn't. Finding the real thing amid all of the noise can be quite a challenge; but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. I am working on some posts on "the real thing" that I hope to put up at some point in the future, although my next few posts will be on yet another facet of this.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
June 18, 2008
Faith : Three Tests of a Ministry, Part 1
As I mentioned in my last post, there are a series of meetings in Lakeland Florida that many Christians are getting animated over. Some are excited because they believe a powerful move of God is underway. Others are agitated because they believe that many people are being deceived by a charlatan and a heretic.
This is a first of a series of posts on things I have learned to look at when people start talking about some new ministry or "move of God". In the end, I trust the Holy Spirit to let me know what He is doing and what is simply being done in His name. These tests are just signals to remind me that I should be cautious and seek God when presented with something new. I will also note that these tests are not only useful when encountering someone else's ministry – they are also useful when taking a look at our own service to God.
Test One – to whose glory?
Real moves of God will be done to God's glory, not man's. When people who have been involved in some movement spend more time talking about the minister than they do about God, that quickly raises a caution flag for me. As I have said many times on this blog, trusting God and God alone is central to what it means to be a Christian. Real Christianity therefore turns people's eyes towards God. Ministries that draw attention to their leader, preacher, minister, whatever are inherently at odds with God's purposes.
A quick test when people claim miracles have been done is simply listening to whom they attribute those miracles. Do they say "Pastor Bob healed someone" or do they say "Pastor Bob prayed and God healed someone." When I hear the former, I start asking God "Is this really you?"
To be fair, human nature will always tend to attribute phenomena to what is visible (the minister) as opposed to what is invisible (God). So many people will tend to talk about what the preacher did even when God really is working. That's why it is critical for anyone in ministry to make an effort to direct people's eyes away from themselves and towards God. If your service to God is in a form that will naturally draw attention to yourself, it is important that you deliberately do things to counteract that and get people away from focusing on you and instead get them to focus on God.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 20, 2008
Faith : Three Tests of a Ministry, Part 2
This is the second in my series of posts on things that should signal that you should pray if some ministry really is God working and not just some man.
Test Two – is the ministry being motivated by love?
God's primary motivation is love. In fact, John writes that God IS love. So it naturally follows that any real "move of God" will be an expression of love. The problem is that "love" is one of those words whose meaning has been blurred by over-use. Even abusive parents often believe that what they are doing is for the child's good and is therefore an expression of love. So I will step back and comment on how real love will manifest itself.
I claim that real love will be an expression of respect for another individual. Love views others as being of equal worth, dignity, and inherent value. People are precious to God and He views all people as equally precious – "saint" and "sinner" alike. God is no respecter of persons. A real move of God will express these values. A real move of God will express God's love.
Alternatively, if a ministry treats some group of people as inferior, that's a good signal that something other than God may be at work. Whether it is 19th century European missionaries who viewed themselves as superior to the "savages" they went to teach, or modern preachers who view themselves as superior to certain kinds of "sinners", a sense of superiority does not mix well with true love.
Nor will God's love hold individuals up for ridicule or embarrassment. In several places the Bible teaches that issues with individuals should be dealt with privately if at all possible. Castigating people publicly is not an expression of love (which is one reason I am hesitant to render a public verdict on any particular ministry). God even loves the bigot, the prideful, the heretic and the charlatan.
Test Three – is the ministry working out of faith in God?
I have said many times in this blog: trusting God is central to Christianity. I have also noted how easy it is to slip into trusting things other than God - ourselves, pastors, programs, techniques. Too many ministries have become focused on "reaching people" instead of on what God wants to do. They then slip into the trap of using techniques developed by secular marketing and advertising to accomplish those ends. They put on a "good show" with engaging music, multi-media presentations, and visitor friendly messages.
The problem is that this often "works" – drawing in multitudes to create "mega churches". They succeed in "reaching people"; but have those people been reached for God or for Madison Avenue? After months in such a church, are people any closer to God? Or have they simply been entertained? My observation is that it often depends on where the leadership's trust is. If the leadership is trusting the techniques to bring people in, then that is all they get – people who come for the techniques. If the leadership is however trusting God to draw people in and they are simply being obedient in creating the environment God has led them to create, then they will get people who are there for God.
The same can be said of "healing crusades" and "miracle ministries". Many people go to such meetings either because they are in need of God's supernatural work or because they want to see "the show". Would people still go to them if no one got healed? If not, then there is always a temptation to begin to trust in (apparent) miracles to get people to show up and not in God to draw people to Himself. If your trust is in a steady stream of "miracles" to draw people, your trust isn't in God; and that can quickly lead to various kinds of error. Like celebrity who is "famous for being famous" it becomes necessary to keep doing more and more extreme things to maintain the spotlight. When I start to hear about bizarre phenomena at these kinds of meetings, I start to wonder if this is really God doing something or if it is showmanship to keep the crowds coming.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 22, 2008
Books : Books 2008/06/23
Current count of books pending to be read: 106
Read three, punted one, purchased four
It was bound to happen eventually – I started reading a book and decided to punt on it. In this case I don’t feel bad at all since Anne tells me it was a book I got as a gift, so it wasn’t one I had purchased for myself (although I do occasionally punt on those).
I’ll also not it has been a hot week here, which means I spent less time on my BTU generating computer and therefore more time reading.
Books finished this week:
The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever ForgottenPaul McKechnie
A collection of archaic English words. While some entries were mildly interesting, after a few pages it all blurred together. This is the book I punted on.
The First Christian Centuries: Perspectives on the Early Churchby Paul McKechnie
An excellent survey of church history up through the year 313. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get a perspective on the early years of the church. What I particularly liked about this book is that it did not focus only on the “mainstream” church; but gave fair coverage to the various splinter groups that arose in that time. Yet at the same time he maintains a high level of scholarship – disregarding “evidence” that was clearly produced well after the fact. The key is that he is as critical of mainstream church writers (pointing out clear errors in the accounts of some early church histories) as he is of modern pseudo-gnostics. The result is probably as clear of a picture of the early church as we are likely to get.
Searching for God Knows Whatby Donald Miller
I talk in this blog about how “Christianity is not about religion but instead is about relationship”. This book (by the author of the previously praised “Blue Like Jazz”) is the first book that I have seen that really captures what I mean by that. The book is all about how the doctrine, rule, list oriented descriptions of Christianity fail because you can’t capture a relationship into a formula. He also has one of the best descriptions of what it means to live in a fallen world and why we need God. There’s just so many things in the book that he does well that I can’t put them all in this short review. READ THIS BOOK.
Uncovering Alias: An Unofficial Guide to the Showby Nikki Stafford and Robyn Burnett
A survey of the first three seasons of the TV show Alias (I gave up watching in the middle of the third season). This is not an academic book that does any analysis on the show, simply a description of the crew, actors, characters and episodes.
Computer Games Played: Spore Creature creator
DVDs Watched: TekWar series d1, d2
Next Book: TBD
Posted by Steven at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 23, 2008
Books , Faith : In Praise of Donald Miller
There are a lot of one-hit wonders in every field of endeavor. People who have one bright idea but never manage to repeat their success. Donald Miller is most definitely not one of those. I have now read two books by him ("Blue Like Jazz" and now "Searching for God Knows What") and both were brilliant expressions Christianity. Not only does his description of Christianity match what I have learned over the last 38 years, but he is also an excellent writer that communicates those ideas with beauty, clarity and humor.
There are many things I like about how he writes: the lack of pretense (he talks about epiphanies he had about God while drinking beer and watching basketball on TV), the honesty (he describes in embarrassing detail his failures and misunderstandings along his journey to know God), the beauty (some passages compare well with Steinbeck's novels). He doesn't talk about doctrines, lists, rules, programs. He simply talks about getting to know God, and that is what Christianity is all about. The author is also clearly well read, mentioning books on physics, evolutionary biology, philosophy, and poetry along the way. Too many Christian authors keep their head buried in the Christian book store, and have no idea what it happening in the rest of the world.
What’s more, as I mentioned above, it is very clear that the Christianity he had learned is the same as the Christianity I have come to know, which is quite different from the Christianity that is practiced in most churches in America. It is a Christianity of relationships and not rules. It is a Christianity of compassion and not politics. It is a Christianity of honesty and humility and not self centered pride. It is, I believe, the Christianity of Jesus.
Most of all, his books are perfect examples of the kinds of conversations I long to engage in when I get together with other Christians. Not talking about doctrines, sins, etc; but simply talking about what we have experienced along The Way.
I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that Christians, non-Christians, and those who are not sure what camp they belong in read his books.
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June 25, 2008
Faith , Life : Wordle me
I've always loved word-clouds (tag-clouds, whatever) – the diagrams that some web sites use that display the common tags/words used on the site where the more common the word is, the larger it appears in the diagram. By providing a quick visual gestalt, they sometimes can provide real insight in what going on beyond what the author is trying to say.
I used wordle.net to produce a couple of these diagrams for the larger subsets of this blog. Wordle provide some nice options for how to format the diagram (although I am not thrilled with the choices of color palettes).
Here's what you get when you feed all of my "faith" posts into Wordle. Click though to get a full sized version (so you can read some of the smaller words).
I'm reasonably pleased with that – a big GOD in the middle with people being second, followed by words like church, Christian, relationship. The only odd thing is how small Jesus comes out. For a Christian I actually don't seem to talk about Jesus by name much. Hmmm.
Here's all of my "Life" posts. Again, click through to get the full-sized version.
Time, People, and Blog seem to be the big words. I also note that time related words like week, day, year also come in strong, which I guess makes sense since I am often talking about what happened last month, next year, etc. The word "interesting" also comes out strong. Interesting.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
June 27, 2008
Faith : What’s happening with me spiritually
So the Tuesday Bible study which I had been leading went on hiatus a month ago as part of the church’s sabbatical. This is significant for me because that study was both my primary ministry, and it was also my primary community for talking about what’s happing in my life spiritually. Lacking those two elements in my life has forced me into even more prayer about what I should be doing until the church comes out of sabbatical.
Four weeks ago, Anne and I stayed home from church (well, from our temporary host church). I used to that time to pray and read my Bible and found the experience quite refreshing. We are doing the same thing again last Sunday, and may continue to do it on a once a month basis for the rest of the year. Two specific things came have come out of that time of being focused alone with God.
First, I sensed that God wanted me to keep studying the Bible as if I was preparing to teach a study. So I have started to do my own study in 1st Timothy. I have no sense that I will ever teach the material I am preparing (when we restart the study we are likely to do Colossians); but I do believe God wanted me to continue to prepare as if I was. Timothy is an interesting choice (it is what God led me to) because it is a book I am unlikely to have chosen for a group study. It is a personal letter from one preacher to another, and as such there is a lot in there that is specific to people who serve the church in certain ways. Not that there isn’t value in the book for all Christians; but its main focus is on advice to those in church leadership. Certainly a good book for me to be reading.
Second, I sensed God wanted me to pay more attention to what I do on Sundays. Not in a religious or legalistic sense of “keeping the Sabbath”; but I believe that He wants me to be more aware of how I spend my time in general and is starting with my Sundays. So I have been especially prayerful on Sundays, allowing God to guide me away from some activities and towards others. What I have ended up doing is not necessarily more “spiritual” (so far God hasn’t objected to my watching TV shows I have recorded for myself), nor do I think the things God has steered me away from are somehow “bad” (some of the things I felt God wanted me to stay away from in the first weeks He has not had a problem with in later ones). The point is not for me to develop lists of things I can and cannot do on Sundays; but rather focus more on following God’s lead on a continuous basis in how I invest my time.
Finally, I have decided that in the absence of my regular community to talk about what God is doing in my life I will start to share more of that in this blog (hence this post). I believe it is a critical part of being the church to talk about both the hills and valleys of our walk along The Way, and will be doing more of that on the web for those fellow travelers who are reading this blog.
Posted by Steven at 05:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
June 29, 2008
Books : Books 2008/06/30
Current count of books pending to be read: 103
Read three, purchased none
Books finished this week:
How to Choose a Translation for All Its Worth: A Guide to Understanding and Using Bible Versionsby Gordon D. Fee and Mark L. Strauss
Another excellent book from the author of “How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth” which I have recommended previously on this blog. This book is focused entirely on the challenges of translating scriptures into English and how various translations have approached that process. The authors do not recommend any specific translation as “best”; but rather try to provide information to allow the readers to make a better choice for themselves. Well worth it for any Christian, not just in terms of helping to pick translations to read; but to also understand the limitations of any translation they choose.
Prayer and Temperament: Different Prayer Forms for Different Personality Typesby Chester P. Michael and Marie C. Norrisey
An odd book, and not one I really recommend. The book takes a look at various traditional Christian prayer and meditation techniques and examines them in terms of Meyers-Briggs personality types (MBTI), suggesting who is likely to get the most out of them. According to the book I, as an INTJ, would get the most out of the style of prayer developed by the Dominican Friars, particularly Tomas Aquinas. The problem I have with the book is the whole idea that prayer is based on a methodology at all and not simply talking to God. The authors provide a very Roman/Catholic perspective on relating to God which, while interesting, I did not find very helpful.
Where Does the Money Go?: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisisby Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson
I have said before in the blog, my number one political issue is the national debt and deficit. This book is an excellent layman’s guide to what the problem is, why it matters, why fixing it will be hard, and what is likely to happen if we don’t do something about it soon. Obviously I am already a convert to the author’s cause, although the book provided many details that even I was unaware of. If you have any doubt about the important of this issue that gets very little air-time either from the campaigns or from the new media, read this book.
Computer Games Played: Spore Creature Creator
DVDs Watched: TekWar series d3
Next Book: Little Brother
Posted by Steven at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Life : Wordle, Reprise
A "bonus post" this week - I found a way to get the text for my whole blog, including even people's comments and my replies, and ran it thourgh wordle.net .
Even when considering all of my posts, God and People still loom large, although Anne has dropped off the radar (she has her own blogs - I let her speak for herself).
Posted by Steven at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
June 30, 2008
Faith : Of Points and Lines
I remember when I was a kid and did connect-a-dot drawings. For anyone unfamiliar with them, you are presented with an incomplete picture that contains a bunch of dots that are sequentially numbered from 1 up to the number of dots. If you connect all of the dots in order, you complete the drawing and see it what is. I admit that since these are often done for very young children, what the drawing would be was often evident without any of the connections; but I have seen a few over the years where the user's contribution was in fact necessary to understand the drawing.
One of the paradoxes of these later diagrams is that you need to draw the lines to see what the picture is; but you don't know how best to draw the lines without knowing what you are drawing. If you simply connect the dots with perfectly straight lines, you end up with a rather angular diagram that looks like a cubist painting and not something real. If you know what the picture is in advance you can connect the dots with smooth, curved lines and end up with something that looks nice.
Why all this musing on a child's art form? Because I think there are lessons there for Christianity.
Many churches present Christianity as a set of formulas. Believe this, do this, don't do that. The things they teach are absolutely true – there are things we are expected to believe, to do, to avoid. But those things are not Christianity. They are like the dots in a connect-a-dot drawing. The original drawing that contains only the dots and numbers is not a picture of a fish, or a tree, or whatever. Only when you make the connections does it become that. In the same way, these Christian formulas are not Christianity. Only when you add the connections – the organic, dynamic relationships with God and each other - does it become that.
This is not to minimize the important of correct doctrines to Christianity. Just as the lines on a connect-a-dot picture must go through the numbered dots (in the correct order, even). In the same way, a real Christian experience will include certain correct doctrines. My point is that those doctrines by themselves are not Christianity – there is much more to being a Christian that a list of things to do and believe; and just like a connect-a-dot picture, we each need to add our individual contributions to complete the picture.
Some people have approached this by doing the equivalent of drawing straight lines between the dots. They are so afraid of getting it wrong that they rigidly constrain their faith to what they are absolutely certain of based on correct doctrine. Unfortunately, their decision to not take chances itself ruins the drawing. To live a life of faith is to take risks, knowing that sometimes you will fail. Real Christianity means looking at the dots (the doctrines) and understanding what the “big picture” is and then using your life to draw a smooth, organic series of connections that creates a beautiful drawing.
As I said above the “connections” we make as Christians to complete the picture are the relationships we have with God and with each other. I firmly believe that “Christianity is made manifest in relationships”. People should be able to look at how Christians interact with each other and with people outside the faith and see the image of God reflected in our connections. They will not see God in what we believe or what formulas we follow; but in our interactions with each other.
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