For several years, I have been intending to write more in my blog or start a video series. I never get around to starting in earnest because (a) I am frequently perfectionistic, and I want the result to be perfect, and (b) I am too busy.
I am always going to be “too busy,” but I can do something about the perfectionism. Rather than attempting to write long essays (which I do occasionally, when I make time), I will simply share, in relatively short items, whatever I have been thinking about lately.
1. I am working on a book. Regular readers of this blog might remember that I posted, and then took down, a very long essay articulating a re-thinking of arguments for the existence of God. Well, four years later, I am now some 540 pages into the third draft of a book titled God Exists: A Philosophical Case for the Christian God. I work on this 30+ minutes for at least five days a week; this is a discipline that I have, to my own surprise, been able to maintain for about two years now. I have thought about sharing chapters or parts of chapters here. We’ll see. The basic premise of the book is to show how (my versions of) some traditional arguments for the existence of God come together in a “cumulative case,” with ultimate summative argument taking the premises of the various sub-arguments as the data of an argument to the best explanation. So, to be clear, I have not changed my view that, individually, the arguments for the existence of God simply do not establish the existence of the Christian God (or even a generic theistic God). But when taken together as parts of a unified case, the individual arguments make up essential pieces of an overall and mutually-supporting case that, when taken all together, makes it more rational to accept the existence of the God of the Bible than otherwise.
2. There are a lot of people confidently proclaiming their conspiracy guesses on social media. If there is one reason I stopped posting so much on Twitter in recent years, apart from my growing disgust at the hypocrisy of our Great Savior Musk, it is that so much of the discussion I am shown there rests on various conflicting conspiracy theories.
Now, anybody who has followed me on Twitter knows I am willing to share lots of such theories, when entertaining or when some interesting evidence comes to light. I endorse certain aspects of common theories. For instance, fractional reserve banking in the hands of central banks and especially the Fed has unjustly allowed the super-wealthy to literally rob entire economies through inflation and debt payments. Or to take another instance, Jeffrey Epstein’s clients were guilty of serious crimes involving child rape, but have been shockingly protected by the court system, showing the deep moral (seriously felonious) corruption of the many prominent leaders, the court system, and the FBI, just for starters. But there are many also-ran theories, less important than these, and some (many?) are mere distractions, it seems to me. A lot might be (or contain) legitimate information, but a lot cannot be confirmed without a great deal of serious, responsible investigative journalism. That goes a step beyond merely having some supposed “receipts” and gotcha quotes or pictures.
3. The KSF is soon to launch Project Gutenberg thumb drives as thank-you gifts. I’ve distributed the first thirteen. These are 128GB flash drives with 69,020 Project Gutenberg books (the entire collection as of last December) and software, written by yours truly with the help of ChatGPT-4, that allows the user to search titles, browse Library of Congress categories, open books, save them to a bookshelf, add bookmarks, highlights, and write notes that can be saved and shared to other users of the software. Gift will be given with a donation of at least $50. I hope you’ll support the KSF and get one for yourself and all the readers, students, and scholars in your life.
4. I still don’t go to church. I am now a Christian. At least, I believe (suffice to say) the doctrines of “mere Christianity,” as C.S. Lewis put it. I have been working on a blog post explaining my change of mind for quite a while now; I’ll finish reasonably soon, I guess. Yet, although I tried going to church several times, I never managed to muster the will to adopt a “church home,” and I also didn’t want to be one of these “church shoppers,” which understandably bother pastors.
What is keeping me away? There are at least four problems, which I will mention without explaining much. First, I don’t want to be flaky. I don’t want to decide on one creed and then switch to another. It seems important that I decide on doctrinal points before I join. And I take a long time to make up my mind about serious issues.
Second, I remain a very inquisitive person; I know from long experience that most religious types (including most pastors) tend to read questions as attacks or challenges. For me, they are essential ways I engage with scripture. I take great joy in the fact that scripture stands up to and repays the sharpest questions I throw at it. But others interpret this as skepticism and/or arrogance. I’m not sure what to do about this. Also, my approach to the Bible is relatively scholarly, and I know more about the Bible and theology than some pastors. This again will come across to many as arrogant (again: experience speaking here). I have no desire to ruffle feathers.
Third, I don’t know quite how to put this, but…I can’t say I like most church services I’ve seen. Several issues here. (a) Even if I limit myself to a church with traditional hymns and more cerebral sorts, the actual content delivered seems to be very “basic.” (b) I know that it’s not about me and that it’s about worshiping God, but at least in Protestant services I seem to be asked to choose between enthusiastic praise (good!) with no small amount of irrational dissociation and social performance thereof (not good), on the one hand, and lectures and/or liturgy that are very respectful and serious (good!) but also seem to be going through the motions (not good), on the other hand.
Fourth, at half of the churches I’ve been to or investigated, I would be one of the youngest people in the pews (I just turned 56). Anyway. For what it’s worth, I’m leaning toward the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod or the Anglican Church of North America. (I’ve considered many others. Even Independent Baptist churches.)
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