With regards to the "stay human movement" (great idea!), as much as I appreciate it being a user friendly entry point to birdwatching (and learning bird song), I refrain from using the 'Merlin App' when I am out and about. I would rather cultivate and nurture those skills of identification than have an app do the hard work for me.
Re: Staying Human, I always tell people that the only ones who really remember how to live these days are rednecks and jocks.
Also: Go to concerts! I can't believe how many people I meet in college who have never been to a concert. Stop listening to whatever the algorithm tells you to, and start exploring small-time, working class musicians. Not only us their music better but you can actually afford to go to their concerts. For example I spent $30 on Joyce Manor tickets and $20 on Wednesday tickets, and those bands are hardly unknown.
Really love your analysis on Lewis and church of England. As a french evangelical i feel i've been grown up as amputated in my humanity because of fundamentalism and it's basic anthropological vision. Reading Lewis make me feel that clearly (his autobiography and his Space Trilogy) and lead me begin to think about a more complex anthropology (i'm sociologist specialized in social work so by this way I got a really complex view on whar it is to be human, but not in a Christian view).
And to encourage you Alastair, when I listent to you teaching, I see you as a kind of Lewis in this ability to offer wide and deep views, with this mix of orthodoxy, singularity in its expression and poetry. Sometimes theology is like being in a uplifter, with you it:s more wide open space. A great thanks.
Love the reference to the Arts and Craft movement, Ruskin, and Morris. Great stuff. I just wrote a piece contrasting the Pre-Raphaelites and Dadaism which might interest you.
Also, double thumbs-up for the "stay human movement'!
I will stay tuned for news of further London meet-ups!
Now, without wishing to seek controversy for its own sake I must say I was intrigued by this: "There was one system, which was generally corrupt in various regards, and it was necessary to remain in contact with it and to seek to reform it. There were occasions when righteous persons were expelled from the system, but they could not simply turn their back on it. Even the most critical of prophets, for example, rail at Israel: they do not turn away and start an alternate “reformed Israel” that was separate from the temple and main body of the people. If the temple was corrupt, it was the only temple, and its corruption continued to be our problem. It was not a problem borne by some other group."
This is precisely what a Catholic would say of the Reformation. I am an adult convert to Catholicism and the self-understanding of the RC Church as the new Israel is central to why I converted. Once the break with Israel has been made it's hard not to feel that the various "reformed Israels" are all more or less contingent and arbitrary, and that one would be opting out of God's plan by joining them.
I'm sure this issue cannot have escaped the notice of the Reformers, but I can't really understand how one can be a Protestant while holding to the idea that there is in fact a visible new Israel which we should at least try to be part of while not blinding ourselves to its faults.
This is an important question. There was only one Israel, but that Israel was also divided by the Lord on account of the sins of Solomon and his son. The northern kingdom remained part of God's people, even when alienated from the south. Both kingdoms needed to recognize themselves as estranged family, seek reform, and providential reunion in the truth. Neither party was whole without the other. Neither was straightforwardly 'Israel' in a way that allowed it to dismiss the other party.
The Reformers generally still recognized that the Church was to be found in Roman Catholicism. They held that Roman Catholic baptism was valid baptism. The initial goal definitely wasn't division from Rome and, even after the breach, several sought it to be mended through internal renewal and reformation of Rome, breaking differences down to a less threatening size through truthful and irenic theological debate, moderation of radical and sectarian tendencies, etc.
Things such as the Regensburg Colloquy ultimately failed, but even though reunion in truth was impossible, Protestants certainly aren't committed to *radical and absolute* opposition to Rome and refusal to acknowledge brothers and sisters who are on the other side of the Tiber. I strongly believe in the continued importance of the Protestant tradition and critique of the Roman Catholic Church, but my opposition to various points of Roman Catholic doctrine must not prevent me from recognition of the divide as a breach between members of one family, who all have a responsibility of love and faithfulness to see it repaired in the truth.
Jack appeals to all sorts, even non-Christians, probably because when a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
It will be interesting to see how we take AI for granted in 100 years. These things always elevate human productivity while simultaneously scaring us. The famous illustration of buggy whip makers being put out of business comes to mind. And since AI automates what were usually thought of as tasks of the intellect, of course it scares the writing/thinking class more than any other.
Here's a thought.... since, as with all technology, the least effective is always left in the dust, perhaps only the most well crafted AI, made by the most humane and brightest folk, will prevail in the end. One can hope.
Fore & aft sails, then steam then diesel prevailed in sailing, but I still love working on traditional rig square-riggers. A machine can whip the bitter end of a line, but the sensation of pushing a palm & needle and the smell of a bit of tarred twine is hard to beat.
If it weren't for the efficiency of diesel, we probably wouldn't have built up the spare cash to be able to afford to preserve iron barques from 1877 and re-learn how to maintain and sail them. Perhaps the increase in productivity will be what allows more and more classes of people to enjoy old timey hobbies.
With regards to the "stay human movement" (great idea!), as much as I appreciate it being a user friendly entry point to birdwatching (and learning bird song), I refrain from using the 'Merlin App' when I am out and about. I would rather cultivate and nurture those skills of identification than have an app do the hard work for me.
Jason Baxter makes a powerful case for Lewis's "Medieval Mind" being central to his work:
https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/becoming-boethius-the-medieval-mind-of-c-s-lewis/
https://www.ivpress.com/the-medieval-mind-of-c-s-lewis
Re: Staying Human, I always tell people that the only ones who really remember how to live these days are rednecks and jocks.
Also: Go to concerts! I can't believe how many people I meet in college who have never been to a concert. Stop listening to whatever the algorithm tells you to, and start exploring small-time, working class musicians. Not only us their music better but you can actually afford to go to their concerts. For example I spent $30 on Joyce Manor tickets and $20 on Wednesday tickets, and those bands are hardly unknown.
I am currently reading "A Quiet Mind To Suffer With" so I'm eager to listen to the conversation y'all had with him!
Would love to hear your thoughts, if and when you do!
Really love your analysis on Lewis and church of England. As a french evangelical i feel i've been grown up as amputated in my humanity because of fundamentalism and it's basic anthropological vision. Reading Lewis make me feel that clearly (his autobiography and his Space Trilogy) and lead me begin to think about a more complex anthropology (i'm sociologist specialized in social work so by this way I got a really complex view on whar it is to be human, but not in a Christian view).
And to encourage you Alastair, when I listent to you teaching, I see you as a kind of Lewis in this ability to offer wide and deep views, with this mix of orthodoxy, singularity in its expression and poetry. Sometimes theology is like being in a uplifter, with you it:s more wide open space. A great thanks.
Thank you, Sebastien!
Love the reference to the Arts and Craft movement, Ruskin, and Morris. Great stuff. I just wrote a piece contrasting the Pre-Raphaelites and Dadaism which might interest you.
Also, double thumbs-up for the "stay human movement'!
I will stay tuned for news of further London meet-ups!
Now, without wishing to seek controversy for its own sake I must say I was intrigued by this: "There was one system, which was generally corrupt in various regards, and it was necessary to remain in contact with it and to seek to reform it. There were occasions when righteous persons were expelled from the system, but they could not simply turn their back on it. Even the most critical of prophets, for example, rail at Israel: they do not turn away and start an alternate “reformed Israel” that was separate from the temple and main body of the people. If the temple was corrupt, it was the only temple, and its corruption continued to be our problem. It was not a problem borne by some other group."
This is precisely what a Catholic would say of the Reformation. I am an adult convert to Catholicism and the self-understanding of the RC Church as the new Israel is central to why I converted. Once the break with Israel has been made it's hard not to feel that the various "reformed Israels" are all more or less contingent and arbitrary, and that one would be opting out of God's plan by joining them.
I'm sure this issue cannot have escaped the notice of the Reformers, but I can't really understand how one can be a Protestant while holding to the idea that there is in fact a visible new Israel which we should at least try to be part of while not blinding ourselves to its faults.
Thanks for the comment, Riddley.
This is an important question. There was only one Israel, but that Israel was also divided by the Lord on account of the sins of Solomon and his son. The northern kingdom remained part of God's people, even when alienated from the south. Both kingdoms needed to recognize themselves as estranged family, seek reform, and providential reunion in the truth. Neither party was whole without the other. Neither was straightforwardly 'Israel' in a way that allowed it to dismiss the other party.
The Reformers generally still recognized that the Church was to be found in Roman Catholicism. They held that Roman Catholic baptism was valid baptism. The initial goal definitely wasn't division from Rome and, even after the breach, several sought it to be mended through internal renewal and reformation of Rome, breaking differences down to a less threatening size through truthful and irenic theological debate, moderation of radical and sectarian tendencies, etc.
Things such as the Regensburg Colloquy ultimately failed, but even though reunion in truth was impossible, Protestants certainly aren't committed to *radical and absolute* opposition to Rome and refusal to acknowledge brothers and sisters who are on the other side of the Tiber. I strongly believe in the continued importance of the Protestant tradition and critique of the Roman Catholic Church, but my opposition to various points of Roman Catholic doctrine must not prevent me from recognition of the divide as a breach between members of one family, who all have a responsibility of love and faithfulness to see it repaired in the truth.
Jack appeals to all sorts, even non-Christians, probably because when a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
It will be interesting to see how we take AI for granted in 100 years. These things always elevate human productivity while simultaneously scaring us. The famous illustration of buggy whip makers being put out of business comes to mind. And since AI automates what were usually thought of as tasks of the intellect, of course it scares the writing/thinking class more than any other.
Here's a thought.... since, as with all technology, the least effective is always left in the dust, perhaps only the most well crafted AI, made by the most humane and brightest folk, will prevail in the end. One can hope.
Fore & aft sails, then steam then diesel prevailed in sailing, but I still love working on traditional rig square-riggers. A machine can whip the bitter end of a line, but the sensation of pushing a palm & needle and the smell of a bit of tarred twine is hard to beat.
If it weren't for the efficiency of diesel, we probably wouldn't have built up the spare cash to be able to afford to preserve iron barques from 1877 and re-learn how to maintain and sail them. Perhaps the increase in productivity will be what allows more and more classes of people to enjoy old timey hobbies.