Playing the Links

Here are a few recent posts worth checking out:

Victor Reppert has a post entitled “Dawkins on C. S. Lewis and the trilemma.” Go to his blog here, scroll down some, and check it out. At the end he has linked to a few relevant articles.

Though a bit dated, William Lane Craig has an article on God and the Beginning of Timeon his website. Be ready, it’s a bit demanding.

Paul Copan’s review of The Impossibility of God, edited by Michael Martin and Ricki Monnier, may be read here.

Ross at Reason for the Hope Within has a brief post entitled Tolkien on Ethics. If you’re a LotR geek interested in ethics (like me), you’ll like it.

Dulles in First Things

In the current issue of First Things (Jan 2007, num. 169; 20-24), Avery Cardinal Dulles, S. J. has a short article entitled “Love, the Pope, & C. S. Lewis.” It is not my purpose to interact extensively with the piece, but I would like to share one or two of my criticisms.

Apologetics Journal

Among the many terrific Christian apologetic journals is the Areopagus Journal. It is published bi-monthly, and features articles written by such notable Christian scholars as Steve Cowan, William Lane Craig, Paul Copan, Gary Habermas, J. P. Moreland , Craig Blomberg, Doug Groothuis, Jay Wesley Richards, Ben Witherington, and others. Incidentally, a one year subscription is only $25.

Several months ago I took over as the book review editor of the journal, which has been a delight and a privilege. I am currently looking for Christians (especially professors, Bible college, seminary, or university students, pastors, etc) who are interested in contributing book reviews to the journal. Feel free to respond or ask questions in the comments. If you’re interested but don’t want your email address to remain in the comments, say so and I will write it down and delete your comment. Thanks all!

Why don’t you guys ever post non-technical stuff?

If only I had a dollar for every time… Well, the short answer is that we’re all students and/or professors at our respective graduate schools, which has the unfortunate side effects of (1) leaving us very little spare time to take on projects unrelated to school [most of what appears on the blog is condensed versions of school work] and (2) keeping us occupied mentally with said school work.

Another Lewis Tag

I intended to answer the C.S. Lewis Meme tag sooner, but with all the hustle and bustle of ending a semester I forgot until Xavier reminded me.

Lewis Book Meme

The Metaphysical Pluralist tagged me a while back on a C.S. Lewis book meme so I thought I’d give my response here:

1.  What was the first book by Lewis that you ever read?

The Screwtape Letters (a loooooonnnnnng time ago).

2.  What is your favorite book by Lewis?

Pilgrim’s Regress 

3.  How many books by Lewis have you read?

Counting the Narnia Series as ’1′, i’d say about 4. 

4.  What books are they?

The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, Pilgrim’s Regress, The Chronicles of Narnia

5.  If C.S. Lewis got in a fight with Francis Schaeffer, who would win?

Lewis.  Because unlike Schaeffer, he had Aquinas right. 

6.  What books on Lewis have you read?

None

7.  What made Lewis great?

His writing of course.

The Eternally Begotten Son

The Eternally Begotten Son
I have encountered some interesting discussion lately regarding the function of the three persons of the Trinity. One discussion specifically wondered if we can speak meaningfully of the roles of those persons in eternity past. Namely, could any one of the three have become the Son? Some have suggested the answer to this must be affirmative. The three persons, although eternally existent, were NOT eternal occupants of the roles we see revealed in scripture.

I wonder how well this fits with the Nicene Creed. The Creed states (see www.creeds.net/ancient/niceneg.htm for the full text of the creed):

Και εις ένα κύριον Ιησουν Χριστον, τον υιον του θεου τον μονογενη, τον ει του πατρος γεννηθέν τα προ πάντων των αιώνων, φως εκ φωτος, θεον αληθινον εκ θεου αληθινου, γεννηθέντα, ου ποιηθέντα, ομοουσιον τωι πατρί

in English:

[We believe] in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.

Question: Can the creed be read in such a way that the second person of the trinity was, at some point in eternity past, NOT the Son? Or does the creedal depiction of “begottenness” speak more of relationship rather than event?

New Contributor

It’s my privilege to welcome Nathan as the newest contributor to Summa Philosophiae. After completing his undergraduate studies at Louisiana State University, Nathan earned a Th. M. at Dallas Theological Seminary and a Ph. D. in systematic theology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. In addition to systematics, Nathan is more than competent in historical and philosophical theology. He’s also a MAC user, which is how he got his gig with us.

Poetry: Beauty or a Beast?

I have recently been thinking, oddly enough, about poetry. I remember a prof. from my undergrad asserting that approximately 35% of the Old Testament is poetry. So to not understand poetry is to not understand 1/3 of the OT. This comment was striking to me, perhaps due to my own lack of engagement with this particular medium of literature. I am reminded of my own sense of fear as I was assigned massive amounts of poetry in my senior AP English class for high school. Yet, as I read through many classical works of poetry, it was like I was beholding an undiscovered corner of the earth full of majesty and wonder. Since then, my appreciation of poetry has increased substantially. Gene Edward Veith has made a remarkable observation:

“Actually, poetry is probably closer to reality than other forms of literature. Nonfiction can be abstract, and fiction is wholly imaginary, but poetry tends to be written out of the intensity of lived experience. Poetic descriptions are nearly always direct and firsthand, whether the poet is writing about the grandeur of the Alps, romantic love, or ecstasy in the presence of God. The language of a poem is intense and complex because the reality that it seeks to evoke is intense and complex.”

This is extremely profound to me. I wonder if the reason many individuals do not connect with poetry is because what they read does not mirror their experience in life.
What I mean by this is that most people float through life never knowing what it means to truly live. They find solace in the material realm while ever neglecting the things that deliver true comfort and contentment…the spiritual or immaterial. Yet many Naturalists have been lovers of poetry. The answer must be that they can connect with the intensity of what they have experienced, but the ultimate experience comes when one connects with an immutable truth spelled out by poetry. That meaning, that sort of significance, can only be found in something that exists outside of their “closed system.”

Slow Posting

Obviously we haven’t done much posting lately, other than link to a few worthwhile reads. This will hopefully only last another ten days or so. With the semester winding down, we are frantically writing papers and preparing for final exams. So, keep checking the site because we’ll be back to full-time blogging soon!