Author: Larry Sanger

  • Reading 1: Plato’s Timaeus

    Plato, Timaeus 17a–48b (up to the end of the creation of man and the parts of the soul and sense organs; the introduction of “necessity” is a good place to stop) Due: Friday, March 6, 2026 Topic: cosmology Obtain: buy ($5 Kindle edition is worth it just for the notes by Andrew Gregory; Oxford World’s Classics edition, trans.…

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  • Should we affirm sola fide?

    Note: This essay on the nature of faith and salvation was originally posted as part of a much longer series. Because it was buried in that series, like a chapter of a book, it did not get as much attention as I would wish. So I am now re-posting it, and will continue posting other answers to…

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  • A note on NPOV, ledes, and the erasure of dissent

    The following comment originally appeared on a Wikipedia talk page. Posted on X: please retweet. I looked again at Wikipedia’s Gaza genocide article and, as I said last year, I don’t believe it follows Wikipedia’s standards for NPOV. Here are some reasons for my position: The first full statement in the article that admits that…

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  • Plan for a Public Notebook

    Some background My strange career began with academia and a little college teaching, and then a series of knowledge and education startups and consulting stints. I have rarely been short of interesting opportunities, from which I have been able to choose what I think is most worthwhile. The most worthwhile, on my view, were not…

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  • Is the Filioque legitimate, or a corruption?

    Note: This essay was originally posted as part of a much longer series. I think that because it was buried in that series, like a chapter of a book, it did not get much attention. So I am now re-posting it, and will later repost other answers to questions in the “The Denominational Distinctives” individually,…

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  • The Meaning and Main Texts of Christmas

    As many people now seem to claim Christmas as a kind of “spiritual but not religious” holiday—most not believing that Jesus is God—the actual significance of the Advent and Incarnation has become opaque. It is now a teachable moment for most. Christmas means that God, the one and only creator of the universe who first…

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  • Grokipedia: a first look

    To begin with my credentials for those who arrive here not knowing who I am: I’ve started, or helped start, five encyclopedias and meta-encyclopedia projects, including Wikipedia. So I know a thing or two about launching digital encyclopedia projects. 1. How we got here But, being a former academic, I also know writing good encyclopedia…

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  • On Wikipedia, the God of the Bible Is the Head of a Pantheon

    My God is called, in the Bible, Yahweh. That is, Yahweh is a speculative transliteration of the Hebrew name we know only by the vowel-less “tetragrammaton,” YHWH, or יְהוָה, which in generations past was rendered instead Jehovah. In your Bible, the name is translated, rather than transliterated, with the stylized the LORD. This is the…

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  • How to Choose a Church: Quick Notes

    In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, many people have declared that they will attend Church for the first time in a long time, or ever. This is excellent and I hope they follow through. But their next natural question is one that I wrestled with for literally five years before I made…

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  • Which projects would best serve the Kingdom?

    I am not going to give an in-depth discussion of this question myself. I will, however, give you a bunch of notes. Mostly, the reason I am posting is to get your feedback on the question in the title. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that…

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