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Monday, December 31, 2007
New Year's Eve
There will be the
usual crowd tonight in Times Square to watch the famous ball drop, but Georgia and I will celebrate the year's end more quietly
at church before returning home to toast the New Year's midnight entrance.
Generally speaking,
2007 was a good year for us, for which we thank God. Georgia's health improved. I saw my book published.
My grandson Scott visited us during spring break. I continued my extensive email correspondence with friends around
the world. Shared Georgia's frustration at the inexplicable delays to her anticipated retirement. We have to trust
the Lord for this. Both of us look forward to 2008. As we turn this annual corner I am reading Jurgen Moltmann's
book on eschatology, The Coming of God. But a good part of today will be spent sorting through my file cabinet,
disposing of unwanted files and preparing new file folders.
10:35 am est
Friday, December 28, 2007
Open Theism vs. the Settled View
The project I mentioned
in yesterday's blog was completed. I read through the entire 20-part (book length) manuscript of the debate between
Dr. Sam Lamerson, left, of Knox Seminary, and Bob Enyart, a popular Denver talk show host who also happens to be a pastor.
They debated the dynamics of God. Is God unchangeable, as the traditional Christian doctrine, has it? Is the future
both foreseen and predetermined by God? Or is God open to the future, ready to change his mind and adjust to the
free decisions of human beings? Lamerson holds the first view, Enyart to the second.
From my point of
view, the debate was informative, but also disappointing. I had read a fair amount on the subject previously, but even
so picked up helpful nuances. However, I conclude that debates are not the best forum for seeking the Truth, as both
men claimed to be doing. For the most part, they talked past one another, each one vainly endeavoring to the get is
opponent to interact more vigorously with the opposing view. Lamerson was the more courteous of the two and I wished
him well. But Enyart, though rather bullying, made, for me, a broader and more convincing argument for
open theism. Even so, by the time the debate was over, and each side had claimed "victory," the victory seemed
rather hollow.
6:09 pm est
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Solstice
The shortest day
of the year -- for those of us in the northern hemisphere -- has come and gone. And I'm a happy man. I get through
the winter months okay, but I am always looking forward to May and the onset of summer.
I have a rather
heavy project ahead of me. A friend pointed me to an online debate between Bob Enyart and Sam Lamerson, an Open Theist
and a Settled Viewist respectively. I downloaded and printed the 20-part debate. It's book length, a long book,
in fact, and a very dense one, given the debate format with its arguments and counter-arguments. But it's an important
contemporary debate because it concerns the very nature of God. Is God static or dynamic? Can God change his mind
-- or is everything permanently determined in advance? These and many other fascinating questions emerge from the debate,
and I am looking forward to drawing my own conclusions.
12:37 pm est
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Christmas Reading
I received some
good books for Christmas, including one on the Buddha (by Deepak Chopra) from my younger brother, David, a long-time devotee
of Eastern philosophy. Another welcome book is Jurgen Moltmann's The Coming of God, a book on Christian eschatology.
My favorite author
in the area of science and religion, continues to be Dr. John Polkinghorne (left) who has just written his autobiography,
entitled From Physicist to Priest. In his middle years Polkinghorne was a highly respected quantum physicist
and president of Queen's College at Cambridge University. But for the past couple of decades he has been an Anglican
priest and prolific writer of book reconciling the scientific quest with the Gospel.
The German Catholic
Hans Kung, not always appreciated by his own Church, has also come out with a new book on science and religion, The Beginning
of All Things. Like me (or me, like Kung) Kung tends to believe most theological problems can be solved by interpreting
evolution as the way God created the universe. Another good book, though one that challenges certain evolutionary presuppositions,
is John Lennox's God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Lennox is an Oxford University mathematician and
answers his own question with a resounding "No!" But like the American mathematician William Dembski, he leans in the
direction of Intelligent Design.
11:30 am est
Monday, December 24, 2007
A Good News Story
The Keystone Club
-- formerly the Five Percent Club -- consists of a number of Minneapolis-St. Paul corporations that have committed themselves
to setting aside a portion of their pre-tax earnings for philanthopy. Joe Nocera, a business reporter, notes that at
the present time it has 214 members -- 134 of them donate at the 5% level; the remainder at the 2% level. Some of these
are major companies: 3M, General Mills, Target. Last year Target donated $160 million. Former Labor Secretary
Robert Reich says that Minneapolis "is an unusual city in regards to corporate giving." This is something of an understatement.
Very few cities -- if any -- can match it. Some suggest that the area's corporate generosity grew out of its Scandinavian
culture with its deep Lutheran roots. "It comes from the concept of tithing, which is something he totally believe in,"
says Peter Hutchinson. The "he" he refers to is Kenneth N. Dayton, heir to the Dayton-Hudson mercantile empire now known
as Target (or Tar-zhay, as some would have it). Today, when a new corporate executive comes to town, the five-percenters
sit him/her down and explain how things are done charitably in the Twin Cities. I would hope that many other cities
would follow the example Minneapolis and St. Paul set. Here in northern New Jersey, I know of only one major corporation
that is doing so: the Atlantic Stewardship Bank, which was founded by members of the Christian Reformed Church.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Politics
I've been too busy
this week to write my blog. But now that the weekend has come and the politicians are giving us a brief Christmas break
from presidential campaigning, I thought I might jot down some of my reactions to the present goings-on.
Generally speaking,
in general elections I vote for the party, not the person, since I believe that (except in national crises where exceptionally
strong executive leadership is needed) legislation shapes the nation over the long term. But this is the primary season,
and both parties have put forward a wide array of interesting candidates.
I don't pay much
attention to one-issue candidates: Paul of Texas (Iraq); Tancredo of Colorado (immigration); Gravel of Alaska: (everybody's
wrong except me). I try to evaluate three things: administrative skill, for the U.S. bureaucracy is the world's most
complex; domestic policy; and international policy. Where experience is lacking in any of these, I am interested in
broad vision.
Governors and big-business
leaders are long on administrative skills and domestic policy, short on international expertise. Massachusetts'
Mitt Romney, New Mexico's Bill Richardson, Arkansas' Mike Huckabee all have been successful governors; Dennis Kucinich and
Rudy Guiliani have run big cities, Cleveland and New York, respectively. Of these, Richardson also has unusual interntional
experience.
Senators usually have
the edge when it comes to international expertise. Illinois' Barack Obama, Arizona's John McCain, Delaware's Joe Biden,
New York's Hillary Clinton, Tennessee's Fred Thompson, North Carolina's John Edwards, and Connecticut's Chris Dodd are internationally
acute, although Obama, Edwards and Thompson are by far the weakest of this group when it comes to international expertise.
Either Biden or Richardson would likely make a good Secretary of State, while I could see McCain or Dodd as good secretaries
of defense.
Since I am a Great
Plains populist in the tradition of William Jennings Bryan, I tend to agree with the Republicans Mike Huckabee and Mitt
Romney, and the Democrats John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich, when it comes to domestic economic policy and would
probably give the edge to Romney since he, although a Republican, actually instituted a serious health care reform as
Massachusetts governor.
I am disinclined
toward Guiliani and McCain because of their unwavering support for the Iraq war, which I just as unwaveringly have opposed.
I am disinclined toward Edwards, in spite of his strong populist policy, because I believe that after eight years of increasingly
partisan politics under George Bush, it is time for a respite from partisanship, and I doubt that Edwards would bring that
respite.
Obama, on the other
hand, would very likely bring some relief from partisan politics. He's very short on experience, but so was John F.
Kennedy. And I'm at an age that I remember quite clearly the sense of "freshness" and "renewal" that Kennedy brought
to the American scene. The downside was that Kennedy's inexperience in foreign affairs gave us the Bay of Pigs debacle.
I suspect Obama might make similar mistakes. My wife, Georgia, will doubtless vote for Obama, but I am not yet prepared
to do so. Obama appears to me as Adlai Stevenson redux -- a visionary, but indecisive, always seeing both sides of the
coin. Can he execute?
Religion will play
no part in my final evaluations. I respect the religious edge that candidates such as Romney and Huckabee bring to the
campaign. But looking back historically, I cannot see that being an evangelical, or Mormon, or Catholic, or Indifferent,
has impacted policy making in any serious way. Jimmy Carter and George Bush are both avowed evangelicals. Yet
Carter's presidency is not now judged a great success; and Bush's presidency is, in my opinion, utterly disastrous.
I haven't discussed
Hillary. Her claims to experience are sound. Like her husband, she is a centrist, which is probably best for the
country over the long haul. She will move in a leftward direction on certain socio-economics policies (notably health
care, education, immigration, global warming) which I approve of. She is strong on national security, but that is
of lesser importance to me because I don't believe we are under real threats from "axis of evil" nations such as Iran and
North Korea. Nor do I believe in the so-called "war on terror." Terroism is best handled in accentuated but
routine police procedure.
What I don't like
about Hillary is that she does not represent real change. She strikes me as the consumate Washington "insider," and
that turns me off. I remain undecided. For me it comes down to a choice between Hillary's experience, combined
with "more of the same," or Barack's vision, combined with well, who knows? He's never been a true executive.
But neither has Hillary.
8:42 am est
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Bali Summit
The Bali summit
meeting on global warming, which 48 hours ago appeared to be headed for failure, gained new life when the United States, which
up to that point had been the chief obstacle to progress, abandoned its arrogant recalcitrance and agreed to
join the global consensus, that is, to work cooperatively for a new treaty two years from now. For seven long years
the U.S. has told the world what we wanted and basically ignored what other nations were working for. It is a welcome
development to see the U.S. give way to consensus. This rare step of humility bodes well for our planet.
12:13 am est
Friday, December 14, 2007
Death Penalty
My adopted state
is about the eliminate capital punishment, substituting "life without parole" in its place. New Jersey governor John
Corzine promised to sign the bill when it reaches his desk early next week. When Corzine signs the bill, New Jersey
will become the first U. S. state in the modern era of capital punishment to repeal the death penalty. Currently there
are eight men on death row in the State prison. Their sentences may not be formally revised, but in effect they will
now serve life without parole.
For reasons that
confound me, many Christians approve of the death penalty. In my opinion, their view is based on a defective understanding
of the purpose of punishment. There are essentially only three rationales for punishment. It may be for
the purpose of retribution, deterrance, or correction. Retribution ("he/she did something horribly wrong; he/she deserves
to die") is at root another term for vengences and satisfies a lot of people, not least the victims of the crime.
Similarly, the concept of deterrance ("let's punish him so severely that others may not be tempted to commit such an
offense") satisfies many public officials who are concerned with public safety as a whole rather than the impact of a single
victim. But neither of these reflects the biblical purpose of punishment, which always has the possible repentance and
rehabilitation of the wrongdoer in mind. In Scripture, punishment, even at its most severe, is always a penultimate,
not an ultimate, gesture, and always aims at correction, restitution and redemption.. So New Jersey is getting
it right, thank God.
10:00 am est
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Best Books of 2007
The New York Times,
Christianity Today, and a host of other publications have come out with their list of "the 10 best books of 2007." I
don't have a liist of what I consider the 10 best books, but here is a list of eleven very good books I've read
over the past six months that I both enjoyed and learned from. You will note that I didn't read much fiction this past
year. That's probably because I was writing What About the Cross? and gravitated toward books I thought
might help me clarify my thinking on the subject.
Mollie's Job: A Story of Life and Work
on the Global Assembly Line, by William M. Adler.
How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture,
Then and Now, by James L. Kugel. (I wrote about this book a few blogs back.)
Science and Providence: God's Interaction with
the World, by John C. Polkinghorne.
The Non-Violent Atonement, by J. Denny
Weaver.
The Mission of God, by Christopher J.
H. Wright. (The best book on Christian mission that I've read in several years.)
Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism,
by Jacques Dupuis, S.J. (A leading Catholic theologian; he died recently.)
The Inescapable Love of God, by Thomas
Talbott. (An excellent presentation of evangelical universalism.)
The Language of the Land: Living Among the
Hadzabe in Africa, by James Stephenson.
Why Would Anyone Believe in God? by Justin
L. Barrett. (A cognitive psychology classic.)
The Book of Pastoral Rule, by St. Gregory
the Great, translated by George E. Demacopoulos.
Banished from Eden: Original Sin and Evolutionary Theory in the Drama of Salvation,
by Raymond Schwager, S.J.
9:03 pm est
Monday, December 10, 2007
Shoot
Having spent a significant
part of my life in Colorado, and having a daughter who lives in Boulder, Colorado, I was dismayed to read of the shootings
at the Youth With A Mission compound in Arvada, not far from Boulder, and the New Life Church campus in Colorado Springs,
which is also the home of The Navigators. Colorado is, except for the urban sprawl along the Front Range of the
Rocky mountains, a rural state. Gun ownership is part of Colorado's heritage, and Coloradoans are not likely to give
this up "the right to bear arms." But this too often comes with a tragic price.
10:23 am est
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Universalism
Origen (caricature)
No sooner had I
completed writing What About the Cross? than I realized I will probably have to write a sequel.
For, as many have pointed out, my writing style tends to be succinct and compressed, and there are issues raised in Part Four,
where I present my own theory of the Atonement, that left some readers wanting elaboration. One of the issues that cries
out for more discussion in depth is my conclusion that the ancient doctrine of universal reconciliation -- the notion that
the entire human race will ultimately be reconciled to God -- is true.
An early proponent
of universalism was Christianity's first systematic theologian, Origen, who believed that even Satan will finally be
reconciled to God. Origen was not alone. Many, perhaps most, of the Church Fathers of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries
after Christ embraced the doctrine. But later it fell out of favor in the West and today is generally considered a heresy
among evangelical Christians. This, I believe, is a mistake which I tried to rectify in What About the Cross?
But I did so in too compressed a fashion. So I think I will need to discuss the matter more fully during the weeks
ahead. This Blog is not the place to do this, for each blog entry appears in inverse order. Therefore I think
it best to open up a new page on my web site for this purpose. Look for Universalism in the left-side navigation panel.
And I invite your observations, questions, objections, counter-arguments and such. Just drop me a note at hmiwaldron@aol.com
3:09 am est
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Pygmies
My wife, Georgia,
is from Lynchburg, Virginia. (She is not the only notable from Lynchburg; the late preacher Jerry Falwell hails from
there as well.) A century ago a missionary named Samuel Phillips Verner brought to the United States a Congolese Pygmy
named Ota Benga, left, to be put on display like a carnival oddity at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.
Two years later he was placed with an orangutan in a primate house cage at the Bronx zoo in New York City. In 1910 he
was released and spent the last six years of his life in Lynchburg. How he was treated there I do not know. I
know he committed suicide in 1916 while still in his early thirties. He is buried in Lynchburg.
Mitch Keller reports
that a few weeks back the African Congress of the Pygmies conducted a three-day conference fdedicated to the cause of modern
pygmies was held at Sweet Briar College, just outside Lynchburg. Scientists believe that Pygmies were the original inhabitants
of central Africa's vast rain forest. No one knows how many survive today -- somewhere between 200,000 and 600,00 --
but their lives are not easy, and modern societies encroach on their territories, conducting huge logging operations in the
rain forest without regard for their impact on the pygmies. Pygmies are shunned by contemporary Bantu societies
of central Africa. They have been abandoned to their own fate. "ou have to be very, very strong to be a Pygmy
today," says Antoine Lonoa, one of the few highly educated pygmies living today. Westerners, he continues, show more
concern for Africa's endangered gorillas than for the Pygmies.
3:08 pm est
Monday, December 3, 2007
SchoolStat
Dr. Michael
Glasco, left, is Superintendent of our Paterson school system. It is a truly thankless job, for the State took over
the school system back in the early 90s because of financial mismanagement and poor academeics. Since then four superintendents
have come and gone and the system itself has shown little improvement. But perhaps things will be different now.
Reporter Winnie Hu writes that Dr. Glascoe has embraced a confrontational approach, known here as SchoolStat, that utilizes
a highly praised management program, Compstat, pioneered by the New York Police Department. Dr. Glascoe uses the program
primarily to establish accountability among assistant superintendents, department heads, and pricipals. Paterson's 27,222
student are among the poorest in the State, with 75% qualifying for free or reduced-cost lunches. They deserve much
better than they have been getting the past 15 years.
3:33 pm est
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