Category Archives: Culture commentary

Voltaire’s Poem on the Destruction of Lisbon in 1755

Posted on March 5, 2014 by PaulVK

The text is in public domain. POEM ON THE LISBON DISASTER; Or an Examination of the Axiom, “All is Well”

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Embracing Jesus-Fiction: Why Fiction Fuels Faith in a Skeptical Age

Posted on February 28, 2014 by PaulVK

Road to Cana I’m reading/listening to Anne Rice’s Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana (not finished yet) and am quite moved by it. I usually chafe at Jesus movies and Bible fiction. I am deeply conditioned by my obsessive Protestant … Continue reading →

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The problem I have with most Jesus movies

Posted on February 19, 2014 by PaulVK

I find most of these movies (and a good many sermons) tend to reduce the difficulties of Jesus, he’s too likable. We too easily are attracted to him for being a cool, nice guy and we too easily hate his … Continue reading →

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Atheistism as the next stage in human evolution

Posted on February 12, 2014 by PaulVK

Assume Darwin’s Mechanism for Humanity Thought experiment. Let’s accept the assumption that humanity’s capacity for knowledge and thought is the product not of a truth knowing bias but of a survival bias. (This is at the heart of Alvin Plantinga’s critique … Continue reading →

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How Ham Hurts

Posted on February 6, 2014 by PaulVK

Stumbling Around The Great Debate is over now  and as almost anyone could have predicted what the spectacle has produced is hardening in an already polarized field. Let me say a few things that will probably surprise people who know me … Continue reading →

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Beginning to Suspect the Bubble

Posted on February 1, 2014 by PaulVK

Zeitgeist Zeitgeist is a handy word. It means the spirit of the age, the communal water of assumption we take in and can’t help but assimilate and/or push back from. Two of the more interesting pieces this week were a … Continue reading →

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Is Secularism just another version of “white people don’t think they have a culture?”

Posted on January 27, 2014 by PaulVK

Is there a truly “natural” human being? Ryan Bell wrote another blog post today. I’m enjoying his blog even though what I’m about to say is a sort of complaint. Maybe it’s my sick sense of enjoyment. He uses “stepping … Continue reading →

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Ryan Bell’s Quest for the Natural Elephant

Posted on January 17, 2014 by PaulVK

Ryan Bell certainly started out his year without God with a media splash. The first entries in his blog were mostly noting the splash. Now it seems he’s settling into the project a bit more and beginning to process. Getting … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture commentary, How to become a Christian | Tagged | 2 Comments

Phil Vischer Podcast on Duck Dynasty and the Pope

Posted on December 27, 2013 by PaulVK

At minute 44 Skye reads from James Carroll’s piece  and adds his own comments: Rather than saying like is predecessors ‘here’s what we’re for, here’s what we’re against…’ his posture is one of ‘come and see, come and engage God and … Continue reading →

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Phil Robertson and flattened narratives

Posted on December 22, 2013 by PaulVK

Both sides want to flatten the narrative on the Phil Robertson story. The trouble is we know too much about him and he keeps popping 3d on us. One side says “Phil is a bigot who said hurtful things.” Phil … Continue reading →

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