A Personal Introduction
A main reason for my writing here is to bring together, in a coherent whole, what I’ve learned from life, from study, and, I hope, from God’s whisperings. It is thus a recordation of my life up till now, up till mid-life -- part intellectual scrapbook and travelogue, part statement of a creed. It is my way of taking stock, to assess where I’ve come from, what I’ve learned, how I’ve grown, how I’ve failed, what things are next. There is instrumental value in such an undertaking: it will yield practical benefits and results. There is also intrinsic value in it: it is worthwhile in and of itself.
I write also as worship. I write to testify to God’s grace to me. I have no idea why God has been so good to me, but He has. I grew up in a family and a community in which the truth and grace of the Gospel were present. I’m married to a dear woman who, to have put up with me for almost two decades, has had to exemplify both great love for me and deep trust in God. I have three terrific kids who are a joy and who will be, I’m confident, my greatest legacy. I’ve had the chance to read and study, to drink from the springs of knowledge, to learn from brilliant minds, both those living and the long dead. Moreover, at a number of key junctions, my life could have gone off the rails or could have been shunted into personal and intellectual dead ends. But God stepped in; He intervened. And so I must testify:
I write also as worship. I write to testify to God’s grace to me. I have no idea why God has been so good to me, but He has. I grew up in a family and a community in which the truth and grace of the Gospel were present. I’m married to a dear woman who, to have put up with me for almost two decades, has had to exemplify both great love for me and deep trust in God. I have three terrific kids who are a joy and who will be, I’m confident, my greatest legacy. I’ve had the chance to read and study, to drink from the springs of knowledge, to learn from brilliant minds, both those living and the long dead. Moreover, at a number of key junctions, my life could have gone off the rails or could have been shunted into personal and intellectual dead ends. But God stepped in; He intervened. And so I must testify:
I love you, Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears....
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me...
You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.
You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way....
The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!....
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations... (1)
The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.
The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears....
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me...
You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.
You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way....
The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!....
I will praise you, Lord, among the nations... (1)
So, I testify because God’s grace to me is a fact that I ought to declare. I testify also to remind my cold, ungrateful heart of what He has done for me:
O to grace how great a debtor, Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above. (2)
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above. (2)
Two sets of reasons thus far: toward God and toward me. Fair enough, you may say: “Talk to yourself and talk to God, but leave me out of it!” That’s my natural thought also -- stay well and truly to myself, keep my fingers on the remote control and off the keyboard. Why in heaven’s name should I believe that I have an insight, a perspective, a bit of knowledge that is worth the telling? That is so helpful or profound that others should hear? Am I deluded? Am I arrogant? I can only say: “I don’t believe so.” You, dear reader, will have to decide for yourself. All I know is that I am compelled to write and that much of that writing is directed toward others. I want to: suggest, challenge, shed light on, inform, propose, provoke, reason with, and otherwise intellectually engage you and others.
This compulsion comes partly from a vague feeling of guilt -- what evangelical Christians would call “being convicted” -- that I am a coward or am dishonest or, at the very least, am insufficiently forthcoming when it comes to stating what I believe, what I stand for. Jesus said:
This compulsion comes partly from a vague feeling of guilt -- what evangelical Christians would call “being convicted” -- that I am a coward or am dishonest or, at the very least, am insufficiently forthcoming when it comes to stating what I believe, what I stand for. Jesus said:
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?
it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (3)
it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (3)
I do a pretty good job at keeping my light under a bushel. I say little to my colleagues, friends, fellow church members, or extended family about my views on politics, religion, or other topics you shouldn’t discuss over Thanksgiving dinner. It used to be that I really was a coward; that was why I didn’t talk. That’s not the reason now. There are other reasons: I really, truly hate to cause offense; I find it immensely difficult to separate the logical clash of arguments from the emotional crash of persons. I find more satisfaction in reconciling opposing perspectives than in driving wedges between them. Due to various habits of thought as well as my mental history, I find it a challenge to reason or think on the fly. I need to put things down on paper, or at least to have an extended conversation with my interlocutor. Because I am a philosopher and an engineer, I feel that I must present all the various reasons for and against, all the relevant aspects of a given idea or view. Because I am concerned to be objective, to be dispassionate and neutral, it is a challenge for me to “plant my flag” on a given topic. Such an aversion to soundbites and elevator speeches leads, I fear, to my coming across as a conversational wallflower.
I am also quite skeptical of the efficacy of argumentation (even though I’m publishing this website). Someone has said that: "85% of people don't think; 10% think they think, but merely rearrange their prejudices; and 5% think." (4) This may sound cynical. Perhaps the percentages are too skeptical. Perhaps. But I think there’s more than a grain of truth here. We often blithely go through life, failing to think about what we’re doing, why we’ve adopted certain priorities, whether we’re even on the right track. When we do make an attempt to think critically, it ends up being more about justifying what we already believe and have chosen. There’s a story about a man who placed a very long ladder against a very tall wall. After much huffing and puffing he finally reached the top -- only to find out he had placed his ladder against the wrong wall. I fear that that may be true for many of us (as well as for the institutions with which we’re aligned). It’s quite possible that we will reach the end of our life, walk (hopefully) through heaven’s gates, merely to learn that we had our assumptions, our beliefs, and our priorities quite wrong. There are very few certainties in life. One thing that is certain, though, is that working hard to to think well significantly improves your odds of getting your beliefs and choices right.
So this website is my attempt to put my light on a candlestick, my cards on the table, my beliefs in plain sight. “Fine,” you may say. “Any attempt at intellectual forthrightness is welcome and good. Still, though, why should I bother to read it? My Bible and Sports Illustrated and Kiplinger’s are sitting on the nightstand. Surely each has a greater claim on my time than this convoluted little website.” A fair question. Here are some reasons: The history of my intellectual life is, I think, interesting and instructive: I know what it is to struggle with mental illness. I’ve been involved in more than one religious group that was labeled a “cult” (a word too easily thrown around). I began my adult life as a Christian who was “fundamentalist” (another overused word) who now seeks to be “merely” Christian. (5) I once strongly identified with the political Right but now align with The Radical Center. I’ve worked in the nitty-gritty world of commerce, construction, and manufacturing while also sojourning in the liberal arts side of the Academy. I’ve manufactured paper towels and also written a dissertation on an important late-medieval / early-modern Catholic philosopher. I’ve worked with laborers from Honduras and engaged with world class philosophers. My education has involved courses in “heat transfer” and “engineering economics,” as well as ones in “systematic theology” and “Plato’s Theory of Forms.” My intellectual framework has been shaped by interesting locales and cultures: the Deep South, Southern California, Northwest England, the Mid-Atlantic.
Another reason to slog through this website is that, despite its flaws, it is at least an attempt, made in good faith, to think about important issues in a way that is sober, civil, and accessible. People often rail against the irrationality of our age. I’m not sure that our age is any more irrational than any other. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of intellectual laziness and craziness out there; any attempt to address these ought to be welcome. It’s also common to bemoan the polarization of modern society -- particularly in politics. I’ve even heard the claim, recently, that American society is currently more divided than at any time since the Civil War -- a claim which seems to me rash. (6) What is indisputable, though, is that a combination of entrepreneurial zeal and technological nous have brought about a situation in which differences among people -- no matter how slight -- are magnified instantaneously and out of all proportion or substance. When I was growing up, we got the news from The Albany Herald and from Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. Nowadays, we have twenty-four hour, wall-to-wall coverage. Much of what goes for “news” is just people spouting off their opinions, rather like watching a shaken Coke spew when opened. (7)
And who (among us lesser mortals, anyway) could have, less than two decades ago, foreseen the rise of the internet, social media, and smartphones? Communities and subcultures that were formerly “way over there” are now just a click away. When you have, say, GQ interviewing a duck-call-making denizen of Louisiana, who also happens to be a deeply conservative Christian, worlds are bound to collide. This in turn feeds what’s been called “the great American outrage machine”: People start yelling and recriminating and hurling abuse. One group is clearly composed of God-and-America-hating elitists, deadset on the downfall of Western civilization; the other is obviously a bunch of ignorant, gay-hating, misogynists. It’s all rather like road rage: dehumanizing and dangerous. (8) So, yes, there is more than enough polarization to go round, polarization that is self-reinforcing, circular, and vicious. This website is in part an attempt to inject some sobriety, some seriousness, some civility into this mixed-up mess.
There are other reasons to turn off Dancing with the Stars or Monday Night Football or re-runs of Seinfeld to read this website: You might find it humorous. You might find it instructive. You might gather intellectual ammunition to use against someone with views like mine. You might enjoy the spectacle of someone making a fool of himself in a very public way. So, I hope you’ll read it.
I should say something about my “target audiences:” Again, I write primarily to myself. As to others, I hope that the kinds of people I spend my days working with -- tradesmen and architects, doctors and engineers, scientists and general contractors -- will find it interesting. I hope that the academics I’ve sojourned with might find within it bridges to those outside the academy. I pray that the skeptic, the one who has no truck with “God and stuff like that,” or that the person who is offended by or, even perhaps, personally wounded by the pernicious effects of “religiousity,” might find within it a little light and some comfort.
The audience, though, that keeps coming to the front of my brain is that comprised of the dear and good people with whom I grew up, with whom I have attended church and seminary, with whom, until relatively recently, I’ve shared the same views on politics, religion, and much of life generally. Sociologists and pollsters would classify us as conservative evangelical Christians. (9) We believe in the Bible, that it’s God’s “inerrant Word;” in the need for personal salvation through Christ’s redeeming work on the Cross; in the importance of personal holiness; in the Ten Commandments; and in the Two Commandments:
I am also quite skeptical of the efficacy of argumentation (even though I’m publishing this website). Someone has said that: "85% of people don't think; 10% think they think, but merely rearrange their prejudices; and 5% think." (4) This may sound cynical. Perhaps the percentages are too skeptical. Perhaps. But I think there’s more than a grain of truth here. We often blithely go through life, failing to think about what we’re doing, why we’ve adopted certain priorities, whether we’re even on the right track. When we do make an attempt to think critically, it ends up being more about justifying what we already believe and have chosen. There’s a story about a man who placed a very long ladder against a very tall wall. After much huffing and puffing he finally reached the top -- only to find out he had placed his ladder against the wrong wall. I fear that that may be true for many of us (as well as for the institutions with which we’re aligned). It’s quite possible that we will reach the end of our life, walk (hopefully) through heaven’s gates, merely to learn that we had our assumptions, our beliefs, and our priorities quite wrong. There are very few certainties in life. One thing that is certain, though, is that working hard to to think well significantly improves your odds of getting your beliefs and choices right.
So this website is my attempt to put my light on a candlestick, my cards on the table, my beliefs in plain sight. “Fine,” you may say. “Any attempt at intellectual forthrightness is welcome and good. Still, though, why should I bother to read it? My Bible and Sports Illustrated and Kiplinger’s are sitting on the nightstand. Surely each has a greater claim on my time than this convoluted little website.” A fair question. Here are some reasons: The history of my intellectual life is, I think, interesting and instructive: I know what it is to struggle with mental illness. I’ve been involved in more than one religious group that was labeled a “cult” (a word too easily thrown around). I began my adult life as a Christian who was “fundamentalist” (another overused word) who now seeks to be “merely” Christian. (5) I once strongly identified with the political Right but now align with The Radical Center. I’ve worked in the nitty-gritty world of commerce, construction, and manufacturing while also sojourning in the liberal arts side of the Academy. I’ve manufactured paper towels and also written a dissertation on an important late-medieval / early-modern Catholic philosopher. I’ve worked with laborers from Honduras and engaged with world class philosophers. My education has involved courses in “heat transfer” and “engineering economics,” as well as ones in “systematic theology” and “Plato’s Theory of Forms.” My intellectual framework has been shaped by interesting locales and cultures: the Deep South, Southern California, Northwest England, the Mid-Atlantic.
Another reason to slog through this website is that, despite its flaws, it is at least an attempt, made in good faith, to think about important issues in a way that is sober, civil, and accessible. People often rail against the irrationality of our age. I’m not sure that our age is any more irrational than any other. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of intellectual laziness and craziness out there; any attempt to address these ought to be welcome. It’s also common to bemoan the polarization of modern society -- particularly in politics. I’ve even heard the claim, recently, that American society is currently more divided than at any time since the Civil War -- a claim which seems to me rash. (6) What is indisputable, though, is that a combination of entrepreneurial zeal and technological nous have brought about a situation in which differences among people -- no matter how slight -- are magnified instantaneously and out of all proportion or substance. When I was growing up, we got the news from The Albany Herald and from Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News. Nowadays, we have twenty-four hour, wall-to-wall coverage. Much of what goes for “news” is just people spouting off their opinions, rather like watching a shaken Coke spew when opened. (7)
And who (among us lesser mortals, anyway) could have, less than two decades ago, foreseen the rise of the internet, social media, and smartphones? Communities and subcultures that were formerly “way over there” are now just a click away. When you have, say, GQ interviewing a duck-call-making denizen of Louisiana, who also happens to be a deeply conservative Christian, worlds are bound to collide. This in turn feeds what’s been called “the great American outrage machine”: People start yelling and recriminating and hurling abuse. One group is clearly composed of God-and-America-hating elitists, deadset on the downfall of Western civilization; the other is obviously a bunch of ignorant, gay-hating, misogynists. It’s all rather like road rage: dehumanizing and dangerous. (8) So, yes, there is more than enough polarization to go round, polarization that is self-reinforcing, circular, and vicious. This website is in part an attempt to inject some sobriety, some seriousness, some civility into this mixed-up mess.
There are other reasons to turn off Dancing with the Stars or Monday Night Football or re-runs of Seinfeld to read this website: You might find it humorous. You might find it instructive. You might gather intellectual ammunition to use against someone with views like mine. You might enjoy the spectacle of someone making a fool of himself in a very public way. So, I hope you’ll read it.
I should say something about my “target audiences:” Again, I write primarily to myself. As to others, I hope that the kinds of people I spend my days working with -- tradesmen and architects, doctors and engineers, scientists and general contractors -- will find it interesting. I hope that the academics I’ve sojourned with might find within it bridges to those outside the academy. I pray that the skeptic, the one who has no truck with “God and stuff like that,” or that the person who is offended by or, even perhaps, personally wounded by the pernicious effects of “religiousity,” might find within it a little light and some comfort.
The audience, though, that keeps coming to the front of my brain is that comprised of the dear and good people with whom I grew up, with whom I have attended church and seminary, with whom, until relatively recently, I’ve shared the same views on politics, religion, and much of life generally. Sociologists and pollsters would classify us as conservative evangelical Christians. (9) We believe in the Bible, that it’s God’s “inerrant Word;” in the need for personal salvation through Christ’s redeeming work on the Cross; in the importance of personal holiness; in the Ten Commandments; and in the Two Commandments:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (10)
This is the first and greatest commandment.
And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (10)
In politics, we tend overwhelmingly to be “Red Staters,” conservatives who, though the heirs of intellectuals like Edmund Burke (11), and William F. Buckley, Jr. (12), are more visceral than intellectual, more reacting than conserving per se. We go in for a rich brew of patriotism (often with a Southern-fried flavor); “Judeo-Christian principles;” confidence that “the American way” is self-evidently the best way; a “keep-your-hands-off” response to governmental intrusion in some areas (our kids and our guns); and a ready willingness to intrude in other areas (reproductive rights and gay marriage) where we feel that important moral issues are at stake.
In economics, we loathe taxes and handouts to the undeserving, while giving generously to our churches and to those in need. We’re sure that unfettered capitalism is self-evidently the best economic system, while decrying hedge fund managers and others that we consider “crony capitalists.” With respect to the culture at large, we tend to be deeply suspicious -- to the point of assuming conspiracy -- of the “liberal, mainstream media,” though we’re happy to consume much of what it produces for our entertainment. We are dismissive of science when it comes to claims about the past (human origins) and the future (climate change), though we readily embrace its practical fruits in the forms of medicine and smartphones.
Now, from as far back as I can remember I’ve been engaged in the project of “making things fit.” That is to say, I’ve sought to develop a picture of the world -- a sort of best explanation or overall understanding -- that integrates, that takes into account and makes coherent and consistent, everything I’ve observed, witnessed, or otherwise learned from a range of sources: my birth family, my religious upbringing, my early social sphere, my later social sphere, my reading, my studies, my work experiences, my marriage, my experiences as a parent, personal introspection and reflection, observation of the world around me, and so on. Everyone does this to some degree -- some only implicitly, others explicitly.
For me, most of these sources were (and are) strongly influenced by conservative evangelical Christianity, as characterized above. Like the perfume that Mary poured on Jesus’ feet which we’re told filled the house he was visiting with its fragrance (13), my life has been blessed and enriched by the gracious and good parts of this particular stream of Christianity. Many find conservative evangelical Christianity off-putting or offensive -- often for understandable reasons. But I am in profound debt to it. Though, like most things touched by humans, it has no doubt left some scars; though my understanding of what I thought it required of me brought more than a little pain and confusion -- I am nevertheless in its debt. As a result, I can’t write one of “those” books -- the kind of confession to or exposé of religious error or abuse -- common these days, simply because I’ve not personally been the victim of (significant) error or (even minor) abuse. Most likely this is because my excellent parents shielded me from the bad stuff and pointed me to the good.
However, it came to be that, around my mid-thirties I noticed a shift, subtle at first, in the texture, color, and even composition of my overall picture of the world. What I took to be the best global explanation of the observations I had made and of the things I had learned began to change. It took on a more intellectually rigorous and nuanced, as well as a more emotionally compelling and satisfying, quality. Like a snowpack that gradually, imperceptibly builds up over months and years, the weight of all this finally came rolling down. I began to explicitly adopt and defend positions that, only a few years earlier, I had roundly condemned. Later, I will go into more detail about how all of this happened. In many ways, though, it was simply the eventual outworking of principles taught and modeled by my parents and the religious community in which I grew up: to love Truth, to seek it passionately, to follow it where it leads; to expand my sources of knowledge as widely as possible; and to heed the words of Wisdom, that I seek Her:
In economics, we loathe taxes and handouts to the undeserving, while giving generously to our churches and to those in need. We’re sure that unfettered capitalism is self-evidently the best economic system, while decrying hedge fund managers and others that we consider “crony capitalists.” With respect to the culture at large, we tend to be deeply suspicious -- to the point of assuming conspiracy -- of the “liberal, mainstream media,” though we’re happy to consume much of what it produces for our entertainment. We are dismissive of science when it comes to claims about the past (human origins) and the future (climate change), though we readily embrace its practical fruits in the forms of medicine and smartphones.
Now, from as far back as I can remember I’ve been engaged in the project of “making things fit.” That is to say, I’ve sought to develop a picture of the world -- a sort of best explanation or overall understanding -- that integrates, that takes into account and makes coherent and consistent, everything I’ve observed, witnessed, or otherwise learned from a range of sources: my birth family, my religious upbringing, my early social sphere, my later social sphere, my reading, my studies, my work experiences, my marriage, my experiences as a parent, personal introspection and reflection, observation of the world around me, and so on. Everyone does this to some degree -- some only implicitly, others explicitly.
For me, most of these sources were (and are) strongly influenced by conservative evangelical Christianity, as characterized above. Like the perfume that Mary poured on Jesus’ feet which we’re told filled the house he was visiting with its fragrance (13), my life has been blessed and enriched by the gracious and good parts of this particular stream of Christianity. Many find conservative evangelical Christianity off-putting or offensive -- often for understandable reasons. But I am in profound debt to it. Though, like most things touched by humans, it has no doubt left some scars; though my understanding of what I thought it required of me brought more than a little pain and confusion -- I am nevertheless in its debt. As a result, I can’t write one of “those” books -- the kind of confession to or exposé of religious error or abuse -- common these days, simply because I’ve not personally been the victim of (significant) error or (even minor) abuse. Most likely this is because my excellent parents shielded me from the bad stuff and pointed me to the good.
However, it came to be that, around my mid-thirties I noticed a shift, subtle at first, in the texture, color, and even composition of my overall picture of the world. What I took to be the best global explanation of the observations I had made and of the things I had learned began to change. It took on a more intellectually rigorous and nuanced, as well as a more emotionally compelling and satisfying, quality. Like a snowpack that gradually, imperceptibly builds up over months and years, the weight of all this finally came rolling down. I began to explicitly adopt and defend positions that, only a few years earlier, I had roundly condemned. Later, I will go into more detail about how all of this happened. In many ways, though, it was simply the eventual outworking of principles taught and modeled by my parents and the religious community in which I grew up: to love Truth, to seek it passionately, to follow it where it leads; to expand my sources of knowledge as widely as possible; and to heed the words of Wisdom, that I seek Her:
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
for length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you.
Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute, in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil...
How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.
For her profit is better than the profit of silver, and her gain better than fine gold.
She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast... (14)
And:
Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live; acquire wisdom!
Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; love her, and she will watch over you.
The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding.
Prize her, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a garland of grace; she will present you with a crown of beauty... (15)
for length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you.
Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute, in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil...
How blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding.
For her profit is better than the profit of silver, and her gain better than fine gold.
She is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who hold her fast... (14)
And:
Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments and live; acquire wisdom!
Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will guard you; love her, and she will watch over you.
The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding.
Prize her, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a garland of grace; she will present you with a crown of beauty... (15)
So conservative evangelical Christianity is where I come from and is, largely, where I still am. As it has comprised the milieu, the setting, the ecosystem in which I’ve done most of my thinking about the world, it is natural, then, that much of what I write here is in response to and dialogue with that particular worldview. Unfortunately, much of this dialogue will be in the form of critique. Awhile back I was talking with a friend about why I had voted a certain way -- a way much different than how a conservative evangelical Christian normally would. After explaining why I had voted as I did, my friend characterized my vote as a “protest vote.” By this I think he meant that my choice was due primarily to my frustration with and reaction to the “standard” party, rather than due to positive reasons for my choice. This angered me: It was untrue; his saying so was unfair.
I fear that what I write here may likewise be perceived in similar fashion: “You are just reacting to things you dislike. You are merely negative. You see things that you disagree with -- because of all your ‘book learning’ no doubt -- and feel the need to criticize.” I would instead characterize the situation as that of two friends who, over time, have grown apart. If one friend comes to the other and begins, in earnest love, to point out things that concern him -- a change in his friend’s character, a discontinuity with past greatness, a lack of authenticity -- it is to be hoped that the latter will at least be receptive of the former. That he will assume his intentions are good. That he will hear him out. That he will engage his arguments rather than merely dismiss them. After all, the two have a friendship; they have a history together. And these are things not to be thrown aside lightly. (Clearly, this exchange must go two ways.)
“Fine,” my Christian friends may say. “Don’t beat around the bush. What are your criticisms? What specifically do you want to take issue with? What are the bees in your bonnet? Don’t be shy!” Though this is admirably direct and to the point, my responding in kind might unnecessarily start a quarrel, like what can sometimes happen between some spouses:
“Honey, can we talk about the grass in the back yard?”
“Why, what’s wrong with it?”
“It’s too high; I’m afraid the dog may get lost in it.”
“So what are you saying? I’m lazy?”
“No, I just think the grass is too high and that it needs to be cut. As you’re the only one strong enough to push a
lawnmower through grass that high, it will have to be you.”
“I’m not lazy! I work hard all week! Why are you saying I’m lazy?”
“I’m not saying that! You’re not hearing me.... because you don’t really listen to me....”
“So I’m a terrible listener, too? I’m not a terrible listener! On my performance reviews at work I am consistently
graded ‘a good communicator.’”
“I didn’t mean to say you were a terrible listener (though, come to think of it....) It’s just that you could do a better job
communicating to me.”
“What!!!???”
And so on. As in a marriage, for effective dialogue to occur, it’s important that there be a relationship of trust, that the stage be properly set, that context be respected, and that the conversation not start off on the wrong foot because of an initial misunderstanding. All of which is to say that it will take some time before I can fully communicate my criticisms of conservative evangelical Christianity. My sincere hope is that, by that point, my justification for these will be sufficiently clear such that, though someone may still not agree, he or she will at least understand why I’ve come to hold them and can see them as having some merit. Crucially, I hope to create space for more tolerance of diverse points of view, for more doubt of self-assured verities, and for a more moderate tone to our discourse.
But this website is about much more than criticisms within the family. It is primarily a manifestation of and a tool for my ongoing project of trying to make things fit.
I fear that what I write here may likewise be perceived in similar fashion: “You are just reacting to things you dislike. You are merely negative. You see things that you disagree with -- because of all your ‘book learning’ no doubt -- and feel the need to criticize.” I would instead characterize the situation as that of two friends who, over time, have grown apart. If one friend comes to the other and begins, in earnest love, to point out things that concern him -- a change in his friend’s character, a discontinuity with past greatness, a lack of authenticity -- it is to be hoped that the latter will at least be receptive of the former. That he will assume his intentions are good. That he will hear him out. That he will engage his arguments rather than merely dismiss them. After all, the two have a friendship; they have a history together. And these are things not to be thrown aside lightly. (Clearly, this exchange must go two ways.)
“Fine,” my Christian friends may say. “Don’t beat around the bush. What are your criticisms? What specifically do you want to take issue with? What are the bees in your bonnet? Don’t be shy!” Though this is admirably direct and to the point, my responding in kind might unnecessarily start a quarrel, like what can sometimes happen between some spouses:
“Honey, can we talk about the grass in the back yard?”
“Why, what’s wrong with it?”
“It’s too high; I’m afraid the dog may get lost in it.”
“So what are you saying? I’m lazy?”
“No, I just think the grass is too high and that it needs to be cut. As you’re the only one strong enough to push a
lawnmower through grass that high, it will have to be you.”
“I’m not lazy! I work hard all week! Why are you saying I’m lazy?”
“I’m not saying that! You’re not hearing me.... because you don’t really listen to me....”
“So I’m a terrible listener, too? I’m not a terrible listener! On my performance reviews at work I am consistently
graded ‘a good communicator.’”
“I didn’t mean to say you were a terrible listener (though, come to think of it....) It’s just that you could do a better job
communicating to me.”
“What!!!???”
And so on. As in a marriage, for effective dialogue to occur, it’s important that there be a relationship of trust, that the stage be properly set, that context be respected, and that the conversation not start off on the wrong foot because of an initial misunderstanding. All of which is to say that it will take some time before I can fully communicate my criticisms of conservative evangelical Christianity. My sincere hope is that, by that point, my justification for these will be sufficiently clear such that, though someone may still not agree, he or she will at least understand why I’ve come to hold them and can see them as having some merit. Crucially, I hope to create space for more tolerance of diverse points of view, for more doubt of self-assured verities, and for a more moderate tone to our discourse.
But this website is about much more than criticisms within the family. It is primarily a manifestation of and a tool for my ongoing project of trying to make things fit.
Footnotes
(1) From Psalms 18 (NIV).
(2) "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Words by Robert Robinson.
(3) Matthew 5:13-16, (KJV).
(4) I’m told that the late Howard Hendricks said this or something like it.
(5) This is a reference of course to C.S. Lewis’ notion of “Mere Christianity” and his book of the same title. As to the word ‘fundamentalist’, one wag once described a fundamentalist as “that S.O.B. sitting just to the right of me.”
(6) Rick Warren said this in a television interview I once saw. Again, this seems rash: More polarized than during Reconstruction? The age of the Robber Barons? Prohibition? The late-Sixties and early-Seventies? America has always played host to wildly divergent points of view; that’s part of its greatness. Arguably, there is more homogeneity now -- in terms of approaches to economics, assumptions about family structures, sex, and race, interests in sports and entertainment -- than ever. It wasn’t all that long ago that Roman Catholics and Jews were viewed with deep suspicion by the Protestant majority. Or that divorce was considered scandalous, rather than merely unfortunate, by most evangelical churches. Or that strikes by unions were frequent and debilitating. “Pop culture” (e.g., American Idol) is “pop” because it’s popular, ubiquitous, consumed by the masses.
(7) Thus we have entire news organizations targeted toward particular political demographics. Ones that feel the need to market themselves as “fair and balanced,” a fact which, if true, shouldn’t require advertisement -- any more than a man who is actually honest needs to continually announce that fact.
(8) I once saw a great commercial that showed what it would be like if shoppers in a supermarket behaved (as they often do) while driving: People screaming at each other in the produce section, giving each other “the finger” in the bakery, racing their shopping carts, cutting each other off at the checkout line. People of course rarely do such things at their local grocery store. When you are forced to interact personally with “the other guy,” you tend to behave more civilly.
(9) Or something like that. There is such a beast as a liberal evangelical Christian though it’s not nearly as common or noisy a creature as its conservative cousin. An ambiguity arises here from the scope of the adjective ‘conservative’ (or ‘liberal’). Two evangelical Christians can be just as theologically orthodox (and in that sense conservative) while differing widely in how their beliefs should be expressed or applied in society, politics, and economics. I will have more to say about such labels as these later, as well as how the “branch” that is evangelicalism fits on the “tree” that is Christianity as a whole.
(10) Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV).
(11) Burke (1729-1797) is often considered the founder of modern political conservatism, though his views were actually more nuanced than is often realized.
(12) Buckley (1925-2008) is usually recognized as the father (both intellectually and organizationally) of the modern (post-war) American conservative movement, which in terms of direct politics began its rise with Barry Goldwater and (arguably) reached its zenith with Ronald Reagan. Many (most?) of the conservative politicians (e.g., George W. Bush), personalities (e.g., Rush Limbaugh), and movements (e.g., the Tea Party) since then are, intellectually and morally, dingy reflections of those men and their ideas. As I understand it, Buckley’s genius was to fuse American traditionalism about social mores with a free-market approach to economics with an anti-communist foreign policy. Sprinkled throughout this mix was a libertarian ethos that emphasized the individual over the group. (See his Obituary in the New York Times on February 27, 2008; Buckley’s “Mission Statement” for The National Review [the conservative magazine he founded] written on November 19, 1955 [which is here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/223549/our-mission-statement/william-f-buckley-jr], as well as the Wikipedia article under his name.)
(13) John 12:3 (NIV).
(14) From Proverbs 3 (NASB).
(15) From Proverbs 4 (NASB). I am aware that the Old Testament notion of wisdom is different than that of intellectual knowledge per se. As I understand it, such wisdom has to do with knowing and applying the Law in one’s life. Nevertheless, there is an intellectual component to this, obviously. Also, the author of Proverbs speaks of “instruction” and “understanding;” and he provides much practical direction. Indeed, much of the advice sounds like what my dad told me, and what I tell my kids, about specific issues: “Don’t be an idiot! That is a dumb idea! This is good idea! So do this!” The requirement to think is implicit in all this. Moreover, for me, growing up, Wisdom as personified in the Proverbs took on an explicitly intellectual aspect. She became to me as Socrates was to the young men of Athens.
Original 1/26/14. Substantial revisions 4/4/14. Minor revisions 12/31/14.
(1) From Psalms 18 (NIV).
(2) "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” Words by Robert Robinson.
(3) Matthew 5:13-16, (KJV).
(4) I’m told that the late Howard Hendricks said this or something like it.
(5) This is a reference of course to C.S. Lewis’ notion of “Mere Christianity” and his book of the same title. As to the word ‘fundamentalist’, one wag once described a fundamentalist as “that S.O.B. sitting just to the right of me.”
(6) Rick Warren said this in a television interview I once saw. Again, this seems rash: More polarized than during Reconstruction? The age of the Robber Barons? Prohibition? The late-Sixties and early-Seventies? America has always played host to wildly divergent points of view; that’s part of its greatness. Arguably, there is more homogeneity now -- in terms of approaches to economics, assumptions about family structures, sex, and race, interests in sports and entertainment -- than ever. It wasn’t all that long ago that Roman Catholics and Jews were viewed with deep suspicion by the Protestant majority. Or that divorce was considered scandalous, rather than merely unfortunate, by most evangelical churches. Or that strikes by unions were frequent and debilitating. “Pop culture” (e.g., American Idol) is “pop” because it’s popular, ubiquitous, consumed by the masses.
(7) Thus we have entire news organizations targeted toward particular political demographics. Ones that feel the need to market themselves as “fair and balanced,” a fact which, if true, shouldn’t require advertisement -- any more than a man who is actually honest needs to continually announce that fact.
(8) I once saw a great commercial that showed what it would be like if shoppers in a supermarket behaved (as they often do) while driving: People screaming at each other in the produce section, giving each other “the finger” in the bakery, racing their shopping carts, cutting each other off at the checkout line. People of course rarely do such things at their local grocery store. When you are forced to interact personally with “the other guy,” you tend to behave more civilly.
(9) Or something like that. There is such a beast as a liberal evangelical Christian though it’s not nearly as common or noisy a creature as its conservative cousin. An ambiguity arises here from the scope of the adjective ‘conservative’ (or ‘liberal’). Two evangelical Christians can be just as theologically orthodox (and in that sense conservative) while differing widely in how their beliefs should be expressed or applied in society, politics, and economics. I will have more to say about such labels as these later, as well as how the “branch” that is evangelicalism fits on the “tree” that is Christianity as a whole.
(10) Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV).
(11) Burke (1729-1797) is often considered the founder of modern political conservatism, though his views were actually more nuanced than is often realized.
(12) Buckley (1925-2008) is usually recognized as the father (both intellectually and organizationally) of the modern (post-war) American conservative movement, which in terms of direct politics began its rise with Barry Goldwater and (arguably) reached its zenith with Ronald Reagan. Many (most?) of the conservative politicians (e.g., George W. Bush), personalities (e.g., Rush Limbaugh), and movements (e.g., the Tea Party) since then are, intellectually and morally, dingy reflections of those men and their ideas. As I understand it, Buckley’s genius was to fuse American traditionalism about social mores with a free-market approach to economics with an anti-communist foreign policy. Sprinkled throughout this mix was a libertarian ethos that emphasized the individual over the group. (See his Obituary in the New York Times on February 27, 2008; Buckley’s “Mission Statement” for The National Review [the conservative magazine he founded] written on November 19, 1955 [which is here: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/223549/our-mission-statement/william-f-buckley-jr], as well as the Wikipedia article under his name.)
(13) John 12:3 (NIV).
(14) From Proverbs 3 (NASB).
(15) From Proverbs 4 (NASB). I am aware that the Old Testament notion of wisdom is different than that of intellectual knowledge per se. As I understand it, such wisdom has to do with knowing and applying the Law in one’s life. Nevertheless, there is an intellectual component to this, obviously. Also, the author of Proverbs speaks of “instruction” and “understanding;” and he provides much practical direction. Indeed, much of the advice sounds like what my dad told me, and what I tell my kids, about specific issues: “Don’t be an idiot! That is a dumb idea! This is good idea! So do this!” The requirement to think is implicit in all this. Moreover, for me, growing up, Wisdom as personified in the Proverbs took on an explicitly intellectual aspect. She became to me as Socrates was to the young men of Athens.
Original 1/26/14. Substantial revisions 4/4/14. Minor revisions 12/31/14.