Some quotations and brief glosses on Augustine’s views on the use of persecution and torture in order to save souls. “No salvation outside the church.” (418 CE) “[M]any must first be recalled to their Lord by the stripes of temporal scourging, like evil slaves, and in some degree like good-for-nothing fugitives.” Augustine had defended toleration […]
St. Augustine on “Righteous Persecution” Read More »
The opening of my first column in the Theist vs. Atheist series debate at EveryJoe: “My answer is: Absolutely, yes, religion is worth arguing about. “We have all heard that in polite company we should not discuss sex, politics, business, or religion. Those topics are too troublesome, so we should stick to safer topics. “Of course such topics are inappropriate
Is Religion Worth Arguing About? [new Theist vs. Atheist series column] Read More »
The series of back-and-forth articles debating key issues in religion will begin tomorrow, Thursday, June 11. Our online host is EveryJoe.com, and my civil and friendly debate partner is John C. Wright, who has written widely on religion and related matters. My first article in the “Theist vs Atheist: What Should You Believe?” series will
Update on new debate series on Religion, True or False? Read More »
To reason is to integrate perceptual evidence into concepts, propositions, and theories. By contrast, what is faith? Below are seven definitions of faith. The definitions are in my words, but they are taken from my readings of seven philosophers of religion: William James, Søren Kierkegaard, C. S. Lewis, George H. Smith, Basil Mitchell, R. M.
What Is Faith? Seven definitions Read More »
An example of using social fear to intimidate students who might ask the “wrong questions.” From a review of Rebecca Goldstein’s Betraying Spinoza: Goldstein tells of “the particularly Jewish way in which Spinoza entered her life. It initially happened, she tells us, in a yeshiva high school for girls. Her favorite teacher, Mrs. Schoenfeld, told
Spinoza as cautionary tale about asking the wrong questions Read More »
I will be participating in an online debate about religion, hosted by publisher Alexander Macris and editor Kori Ellis at EveryJoe.com. My civil and friendly debate partner will be John C. Wright, who has written widely on religion and related matters. A series of back-and-forth articles on key issues to begin on Friday, June 5,
New debate series on Religion, True or False? Read More »
Larry Hickman is a leading authority on the philosophy of John Dewey. Professor Hickman is a professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University, has written and edited multiple books on Dewey, and is the director for the Dewey Center at SIUC. At Rockford University, he is giving a campus-wide talk entitled “Teaching About Religion in
Professor Larry Hickman to speak at Rockford University Read More »
Should Christians be socialists? Some data points: * Pope Francis delivered a strongly leftist apostolic exhortation, condemning free markets and endorsing some sort of paternalistic egalitarianism.[1] * C. S. Lewis argued in Mere Christianity that “a Christian society would be what we now call Leftist” — its economics would be socialist, no luxuries would be
Pope Francis, C. S. Lewis, and Christian economics Read More »