Paul in Ephesians 6 addresses children directly (!) and aims to persuade them to obey their parents for two reasons:
[Read more…] about Paul Uses Bible Verses And Common Notions to Instruct Children
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Paul in Ephesians 6 addresses children directly (!) and aims to persuade them to obey their parents for two reasons:
[Read more…] about Paul Uses Bible Verses And Common Notions to Instruct Children
Emmanuel Macron recently cosplayed as Volodymyr Zelensky. The normally well-coiffed president of France let his facial hair grow out and wore a military hoodie like his Ukrainian counterpart. The whole event was a photo-op, a sort of cosplay (costume play) because Macron wants to be viewed like the courageous Zelensky.
We can at least understand the performative act here. Maybe it was even well-intentioned. After all, Macron may have desired to mimic Zelensky in a show of support, but it missed the mark.
Political leaders are not alone in their pursuit of performative cosplay. Sigma males, Christian masculinity gurus, and more besides present themselves as being at the top of the male hierarchy and invite others to grow under them.
I suppose I would not call this cosplay. LARPing is the right term. LARPing or live-action role-playing refers to the act of dressing up like a character, usually to play a game (see here). As the name indicates, these characters play roles in the game. [Read more…] about LARPing Manliness: Or What Is true Courage?
Herman Bavinck once wrote, “There is so much narrow-mindedness, so much pettiness among us, and the worst thing is that this is regarded as piety.” Bavinck was referring to two Christian groups the separatist churches of the Grievers and Seceders. Both groups left the state church, but they could not get along.
Why? Not because of matters of orthodox doctrine. Both had it. But because of pettiness and narrow-mindedness. It is the old problem of Donatism, of a drive for purity that that cuts itself off from other people. We often feel holier than the body of Christ.
But Jesus accepts us just as we are by faith. And so the body of Christ should welcome one another just as Christ welcomed us (Rom 15:7). To do anything less is to miss the mark of Christ’s love and formation of his body, the church.
One reason why we often become petty and narrow-minded as Bavinck says is because we do not understand how God’s Spirit gifts the created world and people in it, even of unbelievers or believers whom we disagree with. We think we are at the centre of it all. We are not because any truth or goodness that we find in this world has its origin in God. [Read more…] about One Reason Why Pettiness Is Regarded as Piety
Christ reigns over all governments.
Christ is not waiting for politicians to submit.
Christ is not waiting for our Prime Minister to adopt biblical law so that he can be Lord of Canada.
Christ reigns. He is Lord. [Read more…] about Christ Reigns over All Governments Now
Byung-Chul Han, in his recent work, Undinge, speaks about how children get stuffies as a sort of transitional object—it helps them feel safe until they are ready for the real world. They talk to the stuffy, play with it, hug it. It’s soft and they feel its softness.
Lloyd P. Gerson ties platonism to five negations and one affirmation. Platonism denies nominalism, materialism, mechanism, skepticism, and relativism (18-19). Positively, it affirms the first principle of all, the Good or the One (19–20). It affirms the reality of intellectual objects like truth, justice, and God. Platonism then, for Gerson, zeroes in on the affirmation that the world goes beyond nature, and that there is stable truth that grounds our life. [Read more…] about Platonism and Naturalism by Lloyd P. Gerson (a review)