Category: Theory
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Why should Christians read philosophy?
Yesterday, I launched an online seminar in which we will read a bunch of philosophy of religion, as well as the more philosophical and apologetic parts of theology. When I told my wife that there were a lot more people willing to share the news than actually sign up (although we did gain 25 members…
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A Historical Bibliography of Philosophy of Religion (according to LLMs, edited by humans)
This was generated by LLMs with a few additions and corrections by me (and you, I hope). I looked it over and corrected anything I thought wrong and improved anything needing improvement; but I cannot vouch that it is absolutely right. Philosophers and theologians! Please look over the figures you know about. Please post corrections…
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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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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…
