Archive for June, 2008

The Tie that Binds Evolutionary Theory and Biblical Christianity

Monday, June 30th, 2008

John Hawks is an evolutionary thinker who seems to think clear and to speak honestly. I’d recommend his weblog, John Hawks Weblog for anyone wanting an intelligent take on evolutionary biology from the viewpoint of an anthropologist who has done highly regarded work on the genetics aspects of his field. In a recent entry about [...]

A Truer and More Honest Natural Law

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

There’s a short but interesting summary of a survey about the effects of knowledge on the opinions that men and women hold about the moral legitimacy of some controversial medical/scientific procedures such as the use of various sorts of stem-cells. See Scientific Information Largely Ignored When Forming Opinions About Stem Cell Research. In a nutshell, [...]

Wisdom from Another Viewpoint

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

John Michael Greer blogs as the Archdruid, The Archdruid Report. I find it interesting that his worldview is radically different from my Thomistic existentialist worldview, but my views align with his on a number of issues rather than aligning with those of the Catholic mainstream. I would argue this happens for a simple reason: like [...]

A Universe is More than it Contains

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

In order to move on in my work, I’m studying advanced physics and mathematics, concentrating for now on general relativity — broadly speaking since I have to take various diversions to refresh my old knowledge or to acquire new knowledge in basic physics and matrix algebra and differential geometry and so forth. One of the [...]

A Christian in the Universe of Einstein: What’s Really at Issue?

Monday, June 16th, 2008

Modern human beings, and especially Christians, might misunderstand the work I’m doing. Some might think I’m some sort of champion of modern empirical knowledge for its own sake, a fan of physics and history perhaps. In fact, what’s at issue is respect for God’s Creation and, hence, for the Creator Himself. You respect Creation by [...]

The Only Sane Christian in the Modern World

Friday, June 13th, 2008

Like most Christians, I believe that — if Christ choses me — I’ll be raised from the dead into a world that might be called ‘Heaven’ where I’ll live with Jesus Christ for time without end. I’ll take this as a typical schizophrenic Christian belief. See A Thomistic Take on Madness and Modernism for a [...]

One for the Empiricist Views of Mathematics

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

See Astronomy study proves mathematics theorem for a case where astrophysical research helped to prove an extension to one of the most important theorems in mathematics ( The Fundamental Theorem of Algegra). The title of the article is slightly askew because the work by an astrophysicist provided the missing half to a proof, where the [...]

Engaging the Thought of Pope Benedict XVI: Broadening the Horizons of Reason

Monday, June 9th, 2008

I’ve included the entirety of an article from the Vatican Information Service. Pope Benedict XVI has spoken publicly about an important issue he addressed in some of his earlier books: Christian philosophy must respond to modernity and theology must also respond, though he apparently believes — plausibly enough — that theology will respond first to [...]

Reality is Still Knocking: Human Uniqueness

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

This article, Six ‘uniquely’ human traits now found in animals, will be worrisome to those who think to secure the moral worth of the human being by appealing to some claim to uniqueness of the human race amongst biological species. Some of us aren’t bothered much at all by such articles because we see human [...]

Engaging the Thought of Pope Benedict: Celebrating Beauty

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

Here is the beginning of a Vatican Information Service news-item: ROMANUS THE MELODIST: FAITH CREATES BEAUTY VATICAN CITY, 21 MAY 2008 (VIS) – During this morning’s general audience, Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to Romanus the Melodist, a Syrian “theologian, poet, composer and permanent deacon who resided in a monastery on the outskirts of Constantinople [...]