"A Rocha: "Why Should Christians Care for Creation?" (10:05min)"

A Rocha: "Why Should Christians Care for Creation?" (10:05min)

10 min 5 sec -
Description: A Rocha is an international Christian nature conservation NGO working to show God's love for all creation. This video features theologians (John Stott, Alister McGrath, James Jones) and scientists (Ghillean Prance, Simon Stuart) who talk about the biblical basis for creation care.

If you're having trouble watching the video, try copying the following URL into your browser:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2887099263216835896&q=McGrath+Dawkins&pr=goog-sl

Reformational philosophy by Blosser

Catholic philospher Philip Blosser has a brief overview of reformational philosophy. He writes:

Any intellectual wading more than ankle-deep into the work of these Reformational Philosophers soon realizes that he would be a fool to ignore the wealth of theoretical insights yielded by them over the last century. Dooyeweerd is probably among the two or three greatest Christian philosophers of the twentieth century from any tradition, period. I say this as a Catholic with more than a passing acquaintance with the work of Etienne Gilson, Jacques Maritain, Gabriel Marcel, John Courtney Murray, Bernard Longergan, and Alasdair MacIntyre, not to mention Karol Wojtyla. This is a philosophical tradition, in my opinion, with which every serious thinker ought to be acquainted and conversant.

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Pop philosophy podcasts

Gregory Baus, in the comments to my previous post, points out that Open Court have a series of podcasts of chapters from the Pop Goes Philosophy series, a series similar to the Blackwell 24 and philosophy book I mentioned.

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24 and philosophy

It had to happen a book on 24 and Philosophy. Availbale in October from Blackwells.

24 and Philosophy is a book you just can't do without. It's all here, folks: the reason Presidents trust him; how Jack cuts through the lies and ambiguities; why he puts his life on the line for others; and how he knows which knee cap to blow out to get that all-important next lead. With the help of twenty "24 crazed" philosophers, you'll figure out what makes this guy tick, and much much more.

* A witty, but philosophical exploration of the popular television series 24, now in its sixth season
* Addresses pressing ethical issues relating to torture, terrorism and warfare
* Raises fascinating questions about knowledge, loyalty, and suspicion
* Explores in-depth the character and behaviour of Jack Bauer
* Written by philosophers who are all serious fans of the show

[HT Between two worlds]

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Inner compass

Inner Compass is a programme produced at Calvin College that explores how we make decisions about ethical, religious and social justice issues.

Recent episodes (each one is about 75 Mb) include:

• Quentin Schultze on High-Tech Church [HT Macht]
• Miroslav Volf on Giving Forgiveness
• Judge Michael McConnell on Separation of Church and State
• Lauren Winner on Christian Dating
• Tom Wright on Enjoying the Bible

Other episodes are available to listen using Real Audio:

• #516 The Meaning of Easter
• #423 Stem Cells: What's Coming
• #414 All Tech'd Out: No Computers in Class
• #406 Family-Based Youth Ministry
• #401 Learning Disabled or Lazy?
• #222 Internet Pornography
• #218 Chrisitan Counseling: Two Views
• #118 Trying Juveniles as Adults
• #101 Baptism When: Infancy or Later?

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Gene Haas on 'Creational ethics is public ethics'

The Journal for Christian Theological Research has just published an article by Gene Haas on 'Creational ethics is public ethics':

This paper presents the framework and key doctrines relevant to public moral engagement as found in the Reformed or neo-Calvinist tradition shaped by Abraham Kuyper and his disciples. My thesis is that Christian ethics is public ethics because it is creational ethics. Christian ethics has a place in the public arena because it is the articulation of the creational moral order that constitutes and guides all human beings. Neo-Calvinism considers the creation order as foundational. The fall of creation and its redemption must be understood in relation to this foundational doctrine. But the creational order also shapes the nature of Christian involvement in the public domain. The final section highlights some implications of this for involvement in public life.

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Steenfest

Bill Gram-Reefer has set up a new website steenfest.org to continue the Pete Steen Festchrift Project.;

The aim is to "To nurture ongoing community building, we hope this site can also be a resource for news about allied efforts at large including but not limited to:

news and events from friends and allied organizations

book announcements

articles and reviews

"can you help me find" requests (books, people, jobs, etc.)

job openings

conference papers

celebrations and anniversaries

topical discussions on issues of the day (be nice)

comments and suggestions on the project

share photos of Pete or current family and friends."

There are also loads of pictures of Pete Steen on Flickr.

And don't forget that Pete's book on Dooyeweerd is being uploaded on the Steen Pages at All of life redeemed.

Bruce Wearne's Skillen Bibliography

Bruce Wearne's annotated Skillen bibliography gets a mention here:

Subbuteo bowls

A great new sport from VROG

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Odds and sods

Ben House outlines his Christian Student Conference lectures; his topic is Calvinist worldview thinkers in the wilderness years.

Paul Robinson - pint in hand - explains 'what is philosophy anyway?'.

WikiMindmap:

Biography of Herman Bavinck

A biography of Herman Bavinck is available at Reformation 21 part I and part II, the author is Ron Gleason.

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Tom Wright at WYSOCS

The two talks by Tom Wright given at the WYSOCS 21st birthday event are now available on the Reformational UK site.

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Odds and sods

Adrian Warnock has now switched to: http://adrianwarnock.com/.
He also has a great 37-question quiz on the atonement.

Chris Tilling of Chrisendom is looking at universalism.

Jonathan Kvanig has posted some articles of his on 'Destiny and purpose' here.  Including an essay on 'Universalism and the problem of hell'. [HT prosblogion]

Guy Davies, the exiled preacher, has been conducting a number of interviews with Christian bloggers, including Cynthia Nielsen

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The religious dimension of technology

This is a piece I wrote in 1993 for the journal RE Today (Summer 1993).

More Clouser on AoLR

I've recently added links to the responses to Roy Clouser's paper “Prospects for Theistic Science” that appeared in the ASA's journal Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith and have also posted Roy's "Replies to the Comments of Le Morvan, Halvorson, and Ratzsch on ‘Prospects for Theistic Science’” and his responses to the letters his article provoked “Author’s Reply to Two Letters Regarding ‘Prospects for Theistic Science’”.

Neil Postman on cyberspace, 1995

[HT Doug Groothuis]

Thou Shalt Always Kill

Strong language warning - but very funny!

Robert Knudsen's Dooyeweerd course outline

Here is the course outline of the '4751 The Philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd' taught by Robert Knudsen at Westminster Theological seminary during 1974-75.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HERMAN DOOYEWEERD
Course Outline

I. Introduction

II. Background Study

A. Kantianism
1. Immanuel Kant
2. The Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism
3. The Baden School of Neo-Kantianism

B. Phenomenology

III. Dooyeweerd's Critique of Kantianism and Phenomenology

A. Kantianism
1. Lack of a Cosmological Foundation
2. Failure to Solve the Problem of Synthesis
3. The Kantian 'Ideas' Do not Transcend the Cosmic Diversity of Meaning
4. Kantian Epistemology Dominated by the Motive of Nature and Freedom

B. Neo-Kantianism
1. Consistent Application of the Dogma of the Atuonomy of Theoretical Thought
2. The Distinction of Norm and Fact
3. The Distinction of Form and Content

C.Phenomenology
1. The Crisis of Foundations
2. The Self-Sufficient of Theoretical Thought
3. The Primary Field of Consciousness
4. The Transition to Irrational Phenomenology

IV.The Transcendental Problems of Philosophy: A Critique of Theoretical Thought

A. The Problem of Antithesis
1. Pre-Theoretical and Theoretical Thought
2. The Problem of Time
3. The Structure of the Antithetical (Gegenstand) Relation

B. The Problem of Synthesis
C. The Problem of the Self
D. Self-Knowledge and Knowledge of God in the Grip of the Religious Ground Motives


V. Some Major Critics of Dooyeweerd

A. William Young
B. Vincent Brummer
C. Hendrik Stoker
D. C. Van Til

VI. Concluding Reflection: The Religious Source and Intent of Christian Transcendental Philosophy

Duncan Roper pages on AoLR

There have been numerous additions to the Duncan Roper pages - thanks to the scanning of Daniel Mulholland:

• 'The reformational contribution to aesthetic theory'. Issues Number 7, November 1992.
• 'The gospel, art and aesthetic theory'. Issues Number 6, November 1990.
• 'A Mustard Seed in New Zealand Education' (APCS, June 1987) [pdf]
• 'Do Computers Think?' Issues Number 3, April 1986.
• 'On the Distinction Between Science and Common Sense' (March, 1985) [pdf]
• 'Wanted: A new song unto the Lord' (FCS, 1975; 1981) [pdf]
• 'A Christian Look at Educating Art & Aesthetics' (Sept 1978) [pdf]
• 'A Christian Philosophy of Culture' (April 1978) [pdf]
• 'Whom Shall We Serve: Clamour in the Midst of Silence' (FCS) [pdf]
• 'Paradise Lost - The Threat to Constitutional Democracy in NZ' [pdf]
• 'The Spirits That Motivate The World - Homosexuality' [pdf]
• 'Humanity as a community called to love and serve: considerations of the christian political task'. Insight Volume 1, Number 1.

Of particular interest are Duncan's development of aesthetic theory.

Odds and sods

Macht has an excellent book proposal

The evangelical ecologist links to an mp3 of Jay Richards talking about ’ a proper Christian approach to the environment’

The Outrageous Idea of Academic Faithfulnesss: A Guide for Students is new book co-written by Derek Melleby [HT Friend of Kuyper]

jonny baker is interviewed by Alan Roxburgh

Gregory Baus interviews John Muether

Word processors reviewed

Zaine Riding of the Great software list has reviewed word processing packages. [ht lifehack] He concludes:


For myself, here are my own personal choices within each category and the briefest reasons why.


Major Word Processor

StarOffice/OpenOffice, because of its universal file format in ODF, it's roadmap, and the fact that it is Open source.

Runner-up: Microsoft Word 2007, because it's essentially a desktop publishing app now.


Second-tier Word Processor

TextMaker for its polish, accurate .doc conversion, and multi-platform support.

Runner-up: 602Text, for its stability.


Online Word Processor

Zoho Writer, because of its strong HTML formatting and feature set unique to any word processor online or desktop, and its ODF support.

Runner-up: Google Docs, because it's fast, easy, and never loses a document nor lets you make a mistake.

Reformational papers

Here's the list of the reformational papers that were in the boxes I recently received. (It's cut and paste from a spreadsheet, hence the poor spacing). If anyone would like to see a copy of a paper let me know and I'll see what I can do - on the understanding it is for personal study purposes only. Some of them, eg nos 32 and 91, are far too large to copy and some of them are in foolscap and can't be copied easily. I'm hoping I can get copyright permission to post some of them on AoLR.


Author Date Title Type Publisher
1 Antonides, Harry 1972 The Yugoslav experiment in worker' self-government mimeo
2 Antonides, Harry 1973 Worker's control Book review The Guide
3 Antonides, Harry 1974 A new manifesto? (Canada) Ltd Book review The Guide
4 Antonides, Harry 1974 The dilemma of Canadian socialism Book review The Guide
5 Antonides, Harry 1974 The precious homestaed Book review The Guide
6 Antonides, Harry nd Some thoughts on Christian social action; The basis of secular trade unions; The freedom to work booklet (no publisher details)
7 Boer, John H nd Biblical quotations on justice, stewardship and economics mimeo AACS
8 Boonstra, R, Vander Nat, P, Kraay, JN 1967 The Christian view of society mimeo
9 Borger, Byron nd Book review mimeo
10 Borger, Byron nd faith, word and life view, and philosophy photocopy of article
11 Botha, M E nd, after 1976 Objectivity under attack mimeo
12 Broodt, Peter J 1976 The limits of ownership pamphlet (photocopy)
13 Brouwer, John 1978 The year of jubilee mimeo ICS
14 Brouwers, A nd, after 1966 Pragmatism and language mimeo
15 Carson, David M 1974 The Dutch experience - what is Christian politics part 3 article (photocopy) The Christian Patriot
16 Carvill, R L Profile of Tom Skinner photocopy of article Vanguard
17 CFF 1978 Big clout for a little guy leaflet The Rural Voice
18 Chapaincy Study team 1980 Toward a normative role fo the prison chaplain mimeo
19 Christian Democratisch Appel Election profile 1977-1981: Not by bread alone mimeo
20 CLAC 1974 Submission to the Royal Commisions inquiry on certain sectors of the Building Industry commissioner his honor Harry wasberg mimeo
21 Clouser, Roy nd Dooyeweerd's metathetical critique ad itss application to Descartes and Heisenberg mimeo AACS
22 Cramp, A 1974 Danger (and opportunity): men at work photocopy of article The Guide
23 de Gaay Fortman, W F nd Aims and Purposes of Christian Trade-Unions mimeo
24 De Graaf, A 1974 Christian education: learning to see photocopy of article Vanguard
25 De Graaf, A nd By what standard? photocopy of article
26 De Jong, Judith 1976 History of psychology: a critique mimeo
27 DeGraaf, A (ed) 1970 Curriculum Development workshop socila studies outline mimeo ICS
28 Dengerink, Jan D 1963 The state and christian education in the Netherlands photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
29 Dengerink, Jan D 1965 The necessity of Christian universities mimeo AACS
30 Dengerink, Jan D 1981 Philosophy and sociology: response to D F M Strauss mimeo
31 Dengerink, Jan D 1981 The Christian and modern democracy photocopy of book chapter Where are We Now? UPA
32 Dooyeweerd, H 1970 Reconstruction and reformation mimeo
33 Dooyeweerd, H nd Sociology of law and its philosophical foundations mimeo
34 Dooyeweerd, H nd The contest about the concept of sovreignty in modern jurisprudence and political science mimeo
35 Dooyeweerd, H nd The theory of man: 32 propositions on anthropology mimeo
36 Downie, Rex nd First ammendment and Christian education mimeo
37 du Preez, Jannie 1974 The Holy Spirit in the book of Revelation photocopy of article RES Theological Bulletin
38 ECSA nd Born again to justice: replacing violence with love photocopy of mimeo
39 Eells, Robert J 1973 What is Christian politics? photocopy of article The Christian Patriot
40 Eves, Barbara A 1982 Community and aging mimeo ICS
41 Fackerell, Edward D 1979 Teaching science in christian perspective booklet PUCHE
42 Fackerell, Edward D nd, after 1969 A sketch of problems in relativistic gravitation theory mimeo
43 Forbes, Richard (aka Albert Gedraitis?) 1968 Humanism and human rights photocopy of booklet
44 Gedraitis, Albert 1970 The task of the Christian economist mimeo
45 Gedraitis, Albert Shall we join the revolution mimeo
46 Getkate, H and Jansen, J 1967 The covenant of the 20th century or 'let my people go' mimeo
47 Goudzwaard, Bob 1970 Incomes and their distribution: study outline mimeo Patrimonium
48 Goudzwaard, Bob 1971 Income differentials adrift mimeo
49 Goudzwaard, Bob 1975 Socioeconomic life - a way of confession photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
50 Goudzwaard, Bob 1980 Toward reformation in economics mimeo ICS
51 Goudzwaard, Bob 1980 Types of government economic policy mimeo ICS
52 Goudzwaard, Bob and van Baars, John Norms for international economics mimeo
53 Grant, George Faith and the multiversity mimeo
54 Greene, Bonnie 1970 Who is the one? photocopy of article Vanguard
55 Greene, Bonnie 1971 The inequality of mercy in America photocopy of article Vanguard
56 Griffioen, Sander 1972 Origins and growth of revolutionary tought: outline of lectures mimeo ICS
57 Griffioen, Sander 1977 The cry for more and more mimeo ICS
58 Griffioen, Sander 1978 The economy is our christian business offprint Calvinist-contact
59 Griffioen, Sander 1981 Facing the New Corporatism booklet CLAC
60 Griffioen, Sander and Stubbs, Peter 1978 Dependency and Marxist theory mimeo
61 Groenewold, H J 1978 Multiculturalism: Can Trudeau's liberalism tolerate it? photocopy of book Paideia Press
62 Haan, B J 1972 Politics and the kingdom mimeo NAfCPA
63 Haan, B J nd Christian action and the church mimeo NACPA
64 Hagan, Lowell A 1974 J K Galbraith Economics and the Public Purposer photocopy of article Vanguard
65 Hardy, Lee 1979 Seminar: Phenomenological value theory (Hartmann's ethics) mimeo
66 Hark, Hendrik 1982 The articulation of belief mimeo ICS
67 Hart, Hendrik 1962 Dewey's logic photocopy of article ?
68 Hart, Hendrik 1977 The impasse of rationality today: a precis mimeo ICS
69 Hart, Hendrik 1980 Criticl reflections of Wolterstorff's reason within the bounds of religion mimeo ICS
70 Hart, Hendrik 1980 The re-cognition of science and knowledge mimeo ICS
71 Hart, Hendrik 1963-64 Anthropology: some questions and remarks mimeo Christian vanguard
72 Hart, Hendrik nd Problem of time: an essay mimeo ICS
73 Hart, Hendrik Scientific method mimeo
74 Hart, Hendrik Transcendental method: logic or nature of a fact mimeo
75 Hart, Hendrik and Olthuis, John 1979 Theses on science and revelation mimeo ICS
76 Hendriksen, Daniel P 1969 From paradigm to practice in linguistics mimeo
77 Hexham, Irving R 1974 Calvinism and cculture: a historicl perspective Offprint Crux
78 Hexham, Irving R 1979 Calvinism & culture: a historical perspective offprint Crux
79 Heyns, Johan A 1977 The biblical view of righteousness photocopy of article RES Theological Bulletin
80 Hills, G A 1974 A philosophical approach to landscape planning photocopy of article Landscape Planning
81 Hoitenga, Dewey J nd Christianity and the professions mimeo AACS
82 Holland, Daniel Woodrow Jr nd A political bibliography mimeo
83 Hoogendoorn, Case 1978 The legal enforcement of morals mimeo APJ Conf
84 Hughes, Philip E nd Pico Della Mirandola 1463-1494 photocopy of article
85 Hulst, J B 1972 Tomorrow's task mimeo NACPA
86 Hyser, Joel 1974 Philosophy of science interim seminar mimeo
87 Jones, David C 1978 Who are the poor? photocopy RES Theological Bulletin
88 Jones, Peter R 1973 The apsotel paul: a second moses to the new covenant community mimeo
89 Kennalt, Thomas nd Explorations: Out of concern for the church photocopy of article Vanguard?
90 Kline, Meredith G 1978 Comments on an old-new error photocopy of article WTJ
91 Knudsen, Robert D 1963 Symbol and Myth in Contemporary Theology book - mimeo
92 Knudsen, Robert D 1971 Philosophia Reformanda: Reflections on the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd mimeo WTS
93 Knudsen, Robert D 1972 VIII Sociology - syllabus mimeo WTS
94 Knudsen, Robert D 1974 The philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd- syllabus mimeo WTS
95 Knudsen, Robert D 1977 The encounter of Christianity with secular science - syllabus mimeo WTS
96 Knudsen, Robert D nd Abstract: Dooyeweerd's doctrine of science mimeo
97 Kraay, John 1966 revelation and existentialism mimeo
98 Kuyper, Abraham (Transl de Vries, J H) 1963 Science impaired by sin mimeo
99 Linda Leenders 1977 Max Scheler's view of man as unique mimeo ICS
100 Lyon, David 1977 Reciprocity and responsibility in sociology mimeo ICS
101 Lyon, David 1978 Secularization: processes and interpretation mimeo ICS
102 Manley, Elizabeth 1973 Review of Gardner Abortion photocopy of article Vanguard
103 Marcel, P Ch 1966 The Holy Spirit: witness to the Father photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
104 Marshall, Paul 1978 A consideration of the utility and limits of mathematical techniques in political analysis mimeo ICS
105 Marshall, Paul 1980 The basis of human rights in Canada photocopy of article The Guide
106 Marshall, Paul nd, after 1970 Individualism and the Puritans mimeo
107 Marshall, Paul Some recent conceptions of operationalism and operationalizing photocopy of article Phil Ref
108 Marshall, Paul et al. 1980 Te realtion of paradigm and worldview, and the implications of paradigms for the social sciences and professions mimeo ICS
109 McCarthy, Rockne 1971 The foolishness(?) of a Christian political movement: does it make sense? mimeo NACPA
110 McCarthy, Rockne 1979 The controversy over public funding for schools 1978 photocopy of article The Banner
111 McCarthy, Rockne The conflict of spirits in America mimeo
112 Miller, Vincent P, Jr 1971 The use of accessibility concepts as controls in geographic research Offprint Pennsylvania Academy of Science
113 Miller, Vincent P, Jr 1975 Trade-offs between man and nature Offprint
114 Miller, Vincent P, Jr 1977 Development and the environment an unscientific addendum mimeo
115 Miller, Vincent P, Jr On science and competence in the Christian world view mimeo
116 Miller, Vincent P, Jr Thomas Kuhn, sme of his contemporaries, and the interdisciplinary studies photocopy of article
117 Nijkamp, Peter 1976 Towards a society withput a perspective? mimeo ICS
118 Notohamidjojo, O The necessity and mission of Christian universities in modernising Asia photocopy of article
119 Nykamp, Peter 1977 Socio-ethicl aspects of labour mimeo ICS
120 Olthuis, James 1971 America walking the way of the WASP photocopy of article Vanguard
121 Olthuis, James 1972 The word of God and hermeneutics mimeo ICS
122 Olthuis, James 1973 The word of God and biblical authority mimeo ICS
123 Olthuis, James 1974 Towards reconstruction in ethics: a proposal mimeo RES Theological Bulletin
124 Olthuis, James 1975 Interpreting the unique focus of the scriptures mimeo
125 Olthuis, James 1975 The word of God and creation mimeo ICS
126 Olthuis, James nd Ambiguity is the key photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
127 Olthuis, James nd Must the church become secular? mimeo
128 Olthuis, James nd The word of God and science mimeo ICS
129 Olthuis, James nd Values and valuation mimeo ICS
130 Olthuis, James nd Visions of life and ways of life: the nature of religion mimeo ICS
131 Olthuis, James and Zylstra, Bernard 1969 Schools in the christian community mimeo
132 Olthuis, John A 1972 Ireland's agony photocopy vanguard
133 Olthuis, John A 1974 Can less be more? photocopy CJL Foundation Newsletter
134 Olthuis, John A 1975 We use too much enegy photocopy of article CJL Foundation Newsletter
135 Olthuis, John A nd A place to stand photocopy of booklet
136 Preideger, Steve nd Truth and knowledge in G C Berkouwer mimeo ICS
137 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1964 Freedom and justice for all photocopy of booklet CJL Foundation
138 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1965 Motives of christian higher education mimeo
139 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1966 The reformed ecumencal synod photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
140 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1968 The many faces of proclamation photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
141 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1968 Unity worthy of the gospel photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
142 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1970 Foundations and change photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
143 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1970 The crisis in American politics mimeo NACPA
144 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1970 World relief in the mission of the church photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
145 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1972 Rethinking missions - in kingdom perspective photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
146 Schrotenboer, Paul G 1972 The marks of the institutional church photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
147 Schultz, Forrest W 1979 Abstracts of the research papers of FW Schultze mimeo
148 Schuurman, Egbert 1978 The scientialisation of modern culture photocopy of article Phil Ref
149 Schuurman, Egbert nd Technology in Christian perspective photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
150 Sinnema, Donald 1972 Anaximandros mimeo
151 Sinnema, Donald 1973 The toledoth of the sons of Noah: Gn 10:1-11:9 mimeo ICS
152 Sinnema, Donald 1975 The uniqueness of the certitudinal discourse mimeo ICS
153 Sinnema, Donald 1976 Luther and Calvin on Chrstianity and politics mimeo ICS
154 Sinnema, Donald 1978 An exposition of Rom 9:1-29 mimeo ICS
155 Sinnema, Donald Kingdom of the sky offprint Vanguard
156 Skillen, James W 1973 The kingdom of God and earthly politics photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
157 Skillen, James W 1975 International justice is it possible? photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
158 Skillen, James W nd Constantine and the American bicentennial mimeo
159 Spykman, Gordon J 1972 The institutional church in history photocopy of article Int Reformed Bulletin
160 Stafleu, M D 1968 Individuality in Physics mimeo
161 Stafleu, M D 1979 The isolation of a field of science photocopy of article Phil Ref
162 Stafleu, M D nd The mathematical and the technical opening up of a field of science photocopy of article Phil Ref?
163 Stafleu, M D nd Theories as logically qualified artefacts (1) photocopy of article Phil Ref?
164 Stafleu, M D nd Metric and measurement in physics photocopy of article Phil Ref?
165 Stafleu, M D nd Analysis of time in modern physics mimeo
166 Stafleu, MD 1966 Quantum physics and the philosophy of the cosmonomic idea

John Frame on Dooyeweerd and the word of God

John Frame has been involved in debates with reformationals over the nature of the word of God. The Frame-Poythress site has now uploaded a number of articles by Frame critiquing the Dooyeweerdian position here. Including an article from Vanguard in which James Olthuis responded, unfortunately, Olthuis's response is not available on the site.

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Odds and sods

Tom Wright video and mp3 on the resurrection. [ht NT Gateway weblog

On-line database [ht lifehacker]

14 resources that are not wikipedia

Cool brainstoming apps

Warburton on Spinonza's ethics (mp3). Other mp3 from Warburton's book are available here.

Here's my recent GCSE Maths blog - started for my GCSE maths group. It includes some YouTube clips I made specifically for maths revision - you can tell it's me by the hairy arms.

Pete Steen pages - update

The first two chapters from Pete Steen's The Structure of Herman Dooyeweerd's Thought have now been added to the Steen pages of All of life redeemed.

A new reformational blog/ website

Reformational UK is the idea of Rudi 'Intermezzo' Hayward. It was mooted at last year's first UK Reformational get together in Leeds. It's a blog/ website that attempts to link UK reformationals. Check it out.

Paul Otto's The Dutch-Munsee Encounter in America

'Part-time' reformational blogger and full-time historian, Paul Otto, has a new book: The Dutch-Munsee Encounter in America.

Seventeenth-century North America witnessed the encounter of numerous European nations and Native American groups. In the Hudson Valley, where the Dutch established New Netherland, Dutch and Munsee Indians met and interacted in myriad ways. Employing a frontier framework, this volume considers how Dutch-Munsee relations developed over the life of the colony. At each stage of European colonization—first contact, trade, and settlement—the Munsees faced the increasing imposition of Dutch societal structures and sovereignty over them. In response, the Munsees variously chose accomodation, resistance, or acculturation. The volume concludes with a suggestive afterword in which the author applies his frontier framework to Dutch-indigenous relations in the Cape Colony of southern Africa.

Jim Skillen annotated bibliography

Bruce Wearne has completed Public Justice for All, an annotated bibliography of the works of Jim Skillen it is 142 pages and covers 338 articles, papers and books by Skillen. It is available in pdf here. It celebrates 40 years of publishing by Skillen.

Albert Weideman pages on AoLR

Albert Weideman, professor and Director of the Unit for Academic Literacy of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, now has his own pages on All of life redeemed. I have put up 12 of his papers:

• 1979b Theses on P.A. Verburg's linguistic theory. Anakainosis 2 (1): 8-9.
• 1985 The role of the psychology of language in applied linguistics. Acta academica Series B 20 (101-107).
• 1991 Faith and objectivity in linguistic science. Language matters (UK) 1: 10-11.
• 1999 Five generations of applied linguistics: some framework issues. Acta academica 31 (1): 77-98.
• 2001 The old and the new: reconsidering eclecticism in language teaching. Per linguam 17 (1): 1-13.
• 2003a Towards accountability: a point of orientation for post-modern applied linguistics in the third millennium. Literator. 24(1): 1-20.
• 2003d Assessing and developing academic literacy. Per linguam 19 (1 & 2): 55-65.
• 2006a Transparency and accountability in applied linguistics. Southern African linguistics and applied language studies 24(1): 71-86.
• 2006b Assessing academic literacy in a task-based approach. Language matters 37(1): 81-101.
• 2006c A systematically significant episode in applied linguistics. In L.O.K Lategan & J.H. Smit (guest editors) (2006) Time and context relevant philosophy. Special edition 1 of the Journal for Christian scholarship 42 (November; pp. 231-244).
• 2007a Overlapping and divergent agendas: Writing and applied linguistics research. Forthcoming in C. van der Walt (ed.) Living through languages: An African tribute to Rene Dirven . Stellenbosch: African Sun Media. Pp. 147-163. ISBN: 1-919980-31-8.
• 2007b The redefinition of applied linguistics: modernist and postmodernist views. Forthcoming in Southern African linguistics and applied language studies 25(4).

philosophy bites

Philosophy bites is a new philosophy blog by Nigel Warburton and David Edmonds.  Can and should philosphers contribute to public life? is the issue explored by Mary Warnock in an interview with Warburton and Simon Blackburn examines Plato's cave.  Coming soon is an interview with Stephen Law on the problem of evil.

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Odds and sods

Reformed News is a new news blog with news, opinions, cartoons and forums [HT David Field]



The best online apps for taking notes [lifehacker]

Upload Picasa pics to Flicker [lifehacker]

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Odds and sods

20 free apps to increase productivity [lifehack]

Nigel Warburton's mp3 on Descartes' Meditations

Would Jesus vote green? by Byron Smith [HT Ben Myers]



A glossary of blogging terms:

• A-E
• F-J
• K-O
• P-T
• U-Z

Music

• The N Ensemble Liquid composition 3 mp3
  
  
• Regina Spektor

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Chaos remains gig

Chaos Remains, my son's band, played a gig recently. I videoed their final song and have posted it on YouTube. Here it is:

Reformational papers

Thanks to the generosity of Kenn Hermann and Bruce Wearne I'm now the recipient of a few hundred reformational papers. Over the next few weeks I'll get a list up of them and if anyone is interested I can see about sending copies of them out.

Odds and sods

Nigel Warburton has a podcast on Machiavelli's The Prince.

Charles Cameron explains his work on G C Berkouwer

101 Keyboard cuts [lifehack]

David Field explains how to read

A worksheet on Pentecost by Dave off the Cartoon blog

101 116 essential blogging resources [ht lifehack]

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Translate this page ...

Observant readers will have noticed that I have added a 'Translate this page' icon in the side bar. I don't know how accurate the translation is being monolingual, but to add it to your own site go here for the code.

A Christian view of technology

This is an experiment to see how this works

This was originally published in Spectrum vol 23 (1991) the journal of the Association of Christian Teachers. It is now called Education and Christian Belief.

Boiling a frog

I've just started a book by Scottish author Christopher Brookmyre, Boiling a Frog. It's very good so far. He has some insightful comments (and I've only reached the end of chapter 2 so far).

Labour politicians had always been acused of abandoning their principles in pursuit of power, since long before Tony Balir appeared on the scene. It was part of the Tories' time-served pincer-movement staryegy: if you took a hard line you were a dangerous lefty out to wreck the economy; if you softened your position, you were an unprincipled chancer who'd do anything for a sniff of power. The Tories knew they'd never face the same charge becasue they didn't have any principles in the first place. How do you compromise a stance built on greed, materialism and xenophobia?

Of one of the characters, Elspeth Doyle, he has this to say:

That was why, in her 'unsexy' opinion, what went on in politicians' bedrooms (or indeed lavatory cubicles) was a matter of public interest, and their sexual conduct did have ramifications for their professional character. There was no greater test of character, in fact. If a politician lacked the self-discipline to deny himself indulgencs that breached the contract that he had agreed with the person who was supposed to be his closest companion, what did this say about his likely fidelity in other agreements, or even his self-discipline?

An excellent reason why the public/ private split is ridiculous.

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Odds and sods

Charles Cameron has an interesting post on his Theology of G C Berkouwer blog comparing Berkouwer, Kuyper, Bavinck and Hepp.

Nigel Warburton has another chapter from his book Philosophy: the Classics on mp3: Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy.

Steve Hollinghurst has an interesting piece on the gospel according to Buffy.

Where do you compose your blog? Is a question Digital Inspiration asks. The vote so far suggests that the web based sditors are favourite (60%). I often use scribefire - but it adds an advert and the spacing often messes up, so I, if I have the time, go to the blogger editor and tidy it up.

Here's a useful comparison between Wordpress and Blogger - useful if oyu are considering changing or starting a new blog.

THE KIRBY LAING INSTITUTE

FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Annual Book Colloquium

The Ways of Judgment

by Oliver O’Donovan

3^rd/4^th July 2007, Tyndale House, Cambridge

PROGRAMME

All sessions are held at Newnham College, which is adjacent to Tyndale House.

With Nigel Biggar, Jonathan Chaplin, Ben Quash and Oliver O'Donovan

chiasmus

I've just noticed that the titles of some recent posts form a chiasmus:

A Now that's what I call music ...

B Odds and sods

C More on mindmapping

B' Odds and sods

A' Now that's what i call music ...


Now what does that say? Probably, that I'm low on ideas for posts!

Jazz is alive and well...

...and living in Europe. Here's the evidence.

From Sweden
EST




From Norway

Tord Gustavsen Trio


Jan Garbarek



From UK
Polar Bear


From UK
Led Bib

From UK
Acoustic ladyland and here


From Poland
Thomas Stanko and Trio


From England, Norway and Greece
Marshall, Andersen and Tsabropoulos

Gummi's now out

Stafrænn Hákon's new CD Gummi is now out - hear some of the sounds here

And check out this:
eder live

Now that's what I call music ...

odds and sods

Nigel Warburton reads another chapter from his book Philosophy: The Classics, this time on Aristotle. It is also now available on iTunes here.

Full webpage screen capture tools at techjive.

Macht has started to blog through Dawkins' God Delusion. I and II. As always, Macht has some insightful comments.

This link is for Mark Roques!

More on mindmapping

I have found mindmapping and concept mapping to be an effective tool for education. I have mentioned a number of online webtool for mindmapping - Argey in the comments to my previous post mentions two more: bubbl.us and kayuda. What he didn't mention was 3D topiscape a 3D mindmapping tool that he has helped to develop. I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but the screenshots look really cool.

The topicscape website also has a mindmap directory, when you have a spare hour or two it;s well worth checking out (its 40 pages and contains around 600 maps)!

Here's one of my concept maps; this was drawn using the draw facility on Word some time ago.

The black joining lines and text haven't come out on the blog's black background - click on the image to see a better version.

Odds and sods

MakeUseOf.com has an excellent list of web annotation tools

Lifehack lists the 15 coolest firefox tricks ever

Lifehacker explains how to create web buttons and a list of the top 10 Mac utilities

Nigel Warburton reads his chapter on Plato's Republic from his book Philosophy: The Classics

I've mentioned mindmapping before - but here's a new twist on it at mindmeister [HT Lifehacker]

Toodledo is a web-based to do list, but it now offers a printable booklet version utilising similar technology to the excellent pocketmod. [HT lifehacker]

Now that's what I call music ....

Hope in troubled times

Hope in Troubled Times is a new book by Bob Goudzwaard, Mark Vander Vennen and David Van Heemst.

The contents list, foreword by Desmond Tutu and an excerpt are available here.

More information is on the Baker website here.

We want to have it all: financial strength, secure homes, clean air and water for our children. With the latest technological advances available, we deserve to have every dilemma resolved. Isn't that the way it's supposed to work? Hope in Troubled Times dares to say "no."

Poverty, terrorism, and overtaxed land are planetary problems that make even believers despair. But the authors point to Christ as the source of hope. Our choice is obvious. We work together, learning to live unselfishly, or we watch civilization sink further into the abyss. With a foreword by renowned human rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Hope in Troubled Times provides real-world solutions to life-threatening problems. The authors show that with God's guidance we can knock down the idols that stunt clear thinking.

More on annihilation

Mark Roques made an excellent point: God is merciful and just. The traditional view emphasises the justice of God, the universalism view emphasises the mercy of God, but the annihilation view (conditional immortality) emphasises both the justice and mercy of God.

One argument that the traditionalists point to is the unquenchable or eternal fire. However, the fire may well be unquenchable, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the thing (or person) in the fire will go on burning.

Jesus refers to Gehenna (often translated as hell in the Second / New Testament) as the place where the wicked are burnt (eg Mt 5:22, 29-30; Mt 10:28; Mt 18:9; 23: 15, 33). Gehenna is derived from the Hebrew 'Valley of Hinnom', where children were sacrificed to the god Molech, this was situated outside Jerusalem. It was the city rubbish tip where the rubbish was burnt on the fires. The fires never went out, but it does not mean that the rubbish was continually burnt - the fire did its job: consumed the rubbish.

WWJD?

I must admit that I have problems with the WWJD attitude, the issue is not WWJD, but what would Jesus have me do? However, here's a WWJD that I have more time for: What Would Jesus Drive? is a discussion initiated by the Evangelical Environmental Network & Creation Care Magazine because 'transportation is a moral issue'.

odds and sods

Stuck for prayers? Chris Tilling has some popular evangelical liturgy that might inspire

Ed Babainski (a former Christian) of Debunking Christianity - a blog that attempts to do as it title suggests - has a post with C S Lewis resources, pro and con.

Also on Debunking Christianity there has been an interesting post on slavery in the USA as well as here

The metaphysical club also have a post on slavery [HT dangerous idea]

I addressed the issue of slavery in the First/ Old Testament here.

Doug Groothuis on what philosophers wish theologians ... knew about philosophers (mp3)



Send yourself a bookmarklet [lifehack]



How to open Google notebook in Firefox sidebar [Lifehacker]

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WYSOCS events

A response to global warming?

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Annihilationism

Johnny-Dee (aka John DePoe) of Fides Quarens Intellectum has recently posted a piece on annihilationism. He maintains that annihilation is a somewhat unorthodox theologica[l] position on the nature of hell; it doesn't have any positive support in Scripture.

I want to speak up for annihilationism – it can’t be lightly dismissed. It may be 'somewhat unorthodox' but it is certainly not unorthodox, many evangelical scholars hold to this position; these include: John Stott, E W Fudge, John Wenham, Michael Green and Philip Edcumbe Hughes.

A range of options
There are a number of different views that are covered by annihilationism. The first two hold to some form of conditional immortality. 1. Only those in Christ are resurrected, the rest die and that’s it; this is the view held by Jehovah’s Witnesses. 2. Both those in Christ and the rest are resurrected, the rest are judged and then annihilated – this position also allows for the possibility of punishment after judgement and before annihilation; this is in essence the view of the Seventh Day adventists. 3. All are created immortal, after the resurrection the unbelievers are punished and then annihilated.

Conditional immortality
One motivation for adopting annihilationism is that it avoids a Greek view of the immortality of the soul. The concept of conditional immortality fits perfectly with annihilationism (positions 1 and 2 above). (Though not all annihilationists (position 3) are conditionalists, eg John Stott.)

God alone is eternal (1 Tim 6:16), immortality is a gift of God through the work of Jesus (2 Tim 1:10). The scriptures never speak of the immortality of the soul. The immortality of the soul is predominately a platonic idea.

Eternal punishment not eternal punishing
As Wenham puts it: 'It is an everlasting punishment, but not an everlasting punishment’ (Goodness of God p 36). It is the fires and its effects that are eternal rather than the punishment the unbeliever receives.

Death and suffering will be no more
The idea that there will be some who have everlasting punishing stands in contradiction to the idea that death and suffering have been swallowed up (Rev 21:4). Eternal punishing means that suffering will always exist. How can all things be headed up in Christ if there are still those who are in conscious torment in God’s creation?

FT imagery of the fate of the wicked
The imagery used in the First (Old/ older) Testament suggests an extinction rather than a continued suffering. Images include:

• vessel broken to pieces
• ashes trodden underfoot
• smoke that vanishes
• chaff carried away by the wind
• tow that is buried
• thorns and stubble in the fire
• branches pruned
• wax that melts
• a dream that vanishes

A look at Jn 3: 16 shows a parallel between perish or everlasting life, it suggests those that don’t have everlasting life perish.

The debate must continue.

Gideon's back

Good news: Gideon Strauss's blog is back here with a new look.

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Odds and sods

Here's an interesting post By Mark Goodacre: Phd: UK or USA?



Johnny-Dee on annihilationism



Russ Reeves links to a new wiki: Citizendium - where the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity.



C Wess Daniles has some tips on being green



MakeUseOf.com has a list of 100 portable apps



Apollos.ws now provides free standard membership

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Christians - the reluctant greens IX

A failure to develop a truly Christian world-view

I have looked at several reassons why Christians may be reluctant greens. These include:

• a failure to grasp the full implications of the cross
• a misunderstanding of the message of the gospel of the kingdom
• the daunting size of the problems
• dualism
• associating it with the new age movement
• the idea that Jesus didn't "get involved", so neither should we
• a defective eschatology.

Another reason, is the failure to develop a Christian world-view. Whether we can articulate it or not, we all have a world-view. A world-view, very simply, is the way in which we perceive, or view, the world. It is shaped by several questions, the answers to which are always based on faith: Who am I? What is reality? Where am I going? What is wrong with the world? How can it be remedied? It operates like a pair of tinted goggles-all that we see, hear and experience is coloured by them-and it acts like a filter, preventing us from seeing anything that we don’t want to see. Two people can experience the same series of events and yet, because they adhere to different world-views, interpret them very differently.

We are all born and raised into a culture and consequently we absorb and accept the world-view that has shaped that culture, unless we consciously and actively reject it. The tragedy is that the majority of Christians when they decide to follow Christ do not reject the dominant cultural world-view. Their Christianity is, as Theodore Roszak puts it, ‘privately engaging but culturally irrelevant’. A truly Christian world-view is culturally relevant, because Jesus comes as the transformer of culture, the Lord of all creation. It is the Christian’s task in imaging God to bring all of life under the lordship of Jesus.
We can start by transforming our minds (Rom 12:2). Many Christians never take Paul at face value when he declares that we need to have our minds renewed. We have the ability and the potential to think in a Christ-like manner about all the issues that face us, but because we do not actively renew our minds, we become conformed to the world, and consequently the way we see life is in many ways no different from our non-Christian neighbours.
God created us to think. This might seem a little too radical for some Christians, yet our brains are not the result of the fall - God created us with them. Our thinking and studying, however, need to be done in dependence upon the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who will guide us into truth.
Much Christian thinking is shaped more by the gods of this age than by the Bible; economic growth is seen as a means of salvation, and science and technology are looked upon as saviours from any impending environmental disaster. It is time this changed. What is needed is a biblical framework from which Christians can develop truly Christian ethics which in turn enable them to critique and transform modern perspectives on life and thus instead of being reluctant greens, Christians will embrace the stewardship of the earth as a part of their calling to image God.

Rocky's favourite questions to ask atheists

My friend Mark "Rocky" Roques has complied a list of 30 questions to ask atheists (any others?)

Rocky’s Favourite Questions to ask Atheists

1. Would you agree with Desmond Morris and Richard Dawkins who assert that sexual promiscuity is normal and natural among Alpha males?

2. Would you agree with Nietzsche that exploitation and cruelty is the fundamental fact of human existence?

3. Would you agree with Prof Eric Pianka that humans are no better than bacteria?

4. Would you agree with Susan Blackmore who argues that Darwinism leads inexorably to the conclusion that our existence is illusory?

5. Richard Dawkins has stressed that goodness and evil cannot exist in a Darwinian universe. In the light of Auschwitz would you agree with him?

6. Emotivists, like Alfred Ayer, argue that ethics boils down to human expression of feeling? If a society of committed cannibals expressed positive collective feelings about torturing and then eating people, would this be ok?

7. Suppose that the majority of people living in the U.K. voted for the death penalty for ‘gingers’. Would you go along with this?

8. Cultural relativism flows directly from Darwinian assumptions. The cultural relativist asserts that it is intolerant to judge cultures that engage in systematic cannibalism and torture. Would you agree with this position?

9. Would you agree with Bertrand Russell when he argued that cannibalism is a duty for some people?

10 Would you agree with some atheists that consensual cannibalism is perfectly valid?

11. Would you agree with evolutionary psychologists who argue that rape and infanticide are normal and natural because that’s how some humans have been hardwired by natural selection to behave?

12. Is it possible to be an ‘authentic’ cannibal?

13. Is there anything wrong with a consenting man marrying a consenting goat? Should we change the law so that humans can legally get married to animals?

(May 1998 - The Jerry Springer Show had an episode titled "I married a horse". The show was ultimately not aired by many stations on the planned date, apparently due to concerns about the acceptability of broadcasting an episode in which a man admitted to a long term emotional and sexual relationship of this kind. The man and his horse later participated in a British documentary on the subject.)

14. Is there anything wrong with an open marriage? It is very popular with Hollywood stars like Will Smith. Shouldn’t we abolish Christian marriage?

15. Is there anything wrong with polygamy? Isn’t it only natural for strong, aggressive males to enjoy the sexual delights of the well-stocked harem?

16. Is it possible to object to the Hindu practice of burying widows alive when this moral conviction has evolved very successfully in that particular culture? (Eyewitness accounts have observed children burying their own mothers in the early 19^th century)

17. Nazi scientists used to experiment on "sub-humans" like Jews and gypsies. Should we object to this in the light of the simple fact that we are no better than bacteria?

18. The full title of Darwin’s famous book is this – On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. In the light of this frank title is there anything wrong with racism?

19. Would you agree with Richard Dawkins’ assertion that moral notions of responsibility are illusory because all human behaviour is determined by the impersonal laws of physics?

20. Is it possible to believe in both rationality and a view of science that reduces everything to Physics? In other words doesn’t science worship destroy rationality?

21. In his disturbing novel The Wasp Factory Iain Banks presents us with an Anti-hero, Frank Cauldhame who delights in torture and murder of both humans and animals. The novel is written in such a way that this way of life is intimately connected to evolution by natural selection. Question – Would you agree with Banks’ gruesome worldview and if not where has he gone wrong?

22. How would you respond to Nietzsche’s challenge that if you get rid of the Christian God you must also get rid of Christian morality?

23. How would you respond to philosopher Patricia Churchland who argues that Darwinism radically destroys science’s ability to produce true statements. We believe things because they help us to survive. Natural Selection couldn’t give two figs about the truth.

24. When scientists begin breeding human-chimpanzee hybrids, do you think we should grant them the same rights as human-beings or can we simply treat them like slaves and instruments? What is the moral basis for how we relate to hybrids?

25. Are you a hard-headed atheist like Nietzsche or a mystically inclined one like Richard Dawkins? (Nietzsche says - go with the cruelty of evolution and Dawkins tells us that we have the power to rebel against our selfish genes and embrace altruism and goodness.)

26. What is the moral basis for love and tolerance? (Good question to ask when Christians are accused of being intolerant.)

27. Politicians like Tony Blair are often telling us that terrorist atrocities are ‘unacceptable’. Would you agree with him about this?

Could you explain what is meant by this term ‘unacceptable’? Who are we speaking about here? All human beings? All rational human-beings? All British people? Or just stamp collectors in Burnley?

28. In 2004 a woman in the Netherlands got married to herself! Perfectly legal in Holland. Is there anything wrong with this? If marriage is a social construct then why not? What about a marriage with three people in it? Two gay men and a lesbian. And there are growing numbers of people who would like to get married to dolphins and their pets. Isn’t it intolerant not to allow such conjugal bliss?

29. Missionaries like William Carey, James Chalmers and Amy Carmichael fought such social evils as suttee, cannibalism and religious prostitution. Were they wasting their lives? Were they being intolerant of indigenous ‘customs’?

30. Would you agree with Columbine killer Eric Harris when he wrote the following?

“just because your mummy and daddy tell you blood and violence is bad, you think it’s a f-g law of nature. Wrong, only science and math are true, everything else, and I mean every f-g thing is man made.” (From one of Eric’s notebooks)