“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Such was Tertullian of Carthage’s claim in the early 3rd century AD. Though his quote is perhaps the most famous of its kind, the African apologist was not alone in his conviction about martyrdom. The anonymous author of The Epistle to Diognetus, a letter likely composed between 150-250 AD challenges the…
Two weeks ago, Janai and I finished reading H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. Published in 1897, the book is considered one of the earliest works of the science fiction genre. As the title suggests, the story’s central figure is a mysterious man who has discovered a chemical formula that makes him invisible. Early portions of the narrative describe the curious musings…
In a blog post on August 1st, I looked at resistance to wearing face masks as indicative of deeper commitments about the nature of freedom and how Jesus’ actions in Matthew’s Gospel can provide guidance for this subject. In a subsequent article, I attempted to show disagreement is often connected to differences in how a person gathers and arranges knowledge, structures their…
In a previous post (August 1st) on resistance to wearing masks I was asked about going a little deeper on what I believe divides people on this particular issue and others similar to it. In this post I try to look at how disagreement is often connected to differences in how a person gathers and arranges knowledge, structures their thought, and communicates…
Rhett and Link, After listening to #earbiscuits over the course of a week, I appreciate your honesty and candidness about the journey to where you’re at today. My family is most familiar with the Bentley Brothers routine in Sing through the Bible. Whatever you may think of the Bible now, my three kids (ages 5, 3 and 20 months) love to sing…
As the violence descended Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday August 12th led by 1,000 demonstrators who marched in protest of the removal of a Confederate memorial, and one counter-protestor was killed, the question millions were asking: Who is the Alt-right and from where did they come? The movement is young, and not monolithic, but it does claim to be “conservative” in some loose…
To die on one’s own terms is nothing new. Three centuries before Christ, a school of philosophy was birthed in Greece known as Stoicism. Founded by a man named Zeno, Stoicism taught, among other things, that a person ought to conform his or her life to the laws of nature. Reason was understood as a universal guide, control of the passions was…