Stump Speeches

Running the Race (and watching it)

2011-09-15T19:24:00.000-04:00

We like running in our family. I've been a runner of some sort since junior high, and have made it a significant part of my lifestyle for the last several years. My wife started running as an adult, and now has three half-marathons to her credit (and closing in on number four). Our oldest son has been a cross country runner since sixth grade and is now in his senior season. This Saturday is the famous (infamous to some) New Prairie invitational, which is the largest high school sporting event in the state. It's a lot of fun to run and a lot of fun to watch.

One of the things about running is that it gives you time to sort out your thoughts. One day this last week while running, my wife was thinking about this sport--the people who run and the people who support them. When she got back, she put words to page in a particularly eloquent apologia for runners and running fans. I quote it here in its entirety.

"I’m a fan of runners. Runners are a different breed. They rise in the early morning to put in mile after mile of training. Telling their bodies it’s normal to do this, get used to it. Get stronger. And when race day comes, again they are rising early. Warming up those muscles, reminding them, this is what you were made for, this is what you’ve trained for. You’ve done this before. Remember the miles you’ve put in. Remember those hours upon hours of lonely runs through neighborhoods which were still asleep. Their day hasn’t begun yet. You refuse to stay in bed.

During a race, some fans line the course. Maybe a favorite runner is seen once, or twice on the course if you’re lucky and don’t mind doing a little running yourself to get a brief peek as the pack rolls by. Football or basketball crowds can number into the hundreds or even thousands. There aren’t nearly that many here. But there are a few parents, friends, and families who’ve seen the day to day challenge of being a runner. They’ve witnessed at least a part of what it means for a runner to discipline her mind and body in order to subject it to things way beyond what’s comfortable or easy. They understand that a runner has chosen to do something hard.

And certainly not for the glory that awaits them at the end of it. No roar of a large crowd likely awaits them at the end of a race. No being hoisted onto anyone’s shoulders. No basking in the ongoing recognition by those around them of their sweet success. And for most runners, no award awaits them for taking a first or second place. They were never close to the front. They don’t run for that. They run because somehow it has become part of them.

So, what does await them then? Simply, the satisfaction that comes from pushing yourself toward a difficult goal and eventually reaching it. To run. Yes, in virtual anonymity, but to run and to finish with your head held high.

Do we as a culture really understand what it means to support this kind of athleticism?

We’re a culture that loves “winners”. We love celebrating the victories that are so straightforward in various team sports. The team with the most points at the end wins. Congratulations to them! But let’s not forget these other athletes that don’t have the benefit of the hundreds or thousands of cheering voices when they compete. They don’t have the benefit of daily recognition and encouragement during training that often comes for those athletes participating in certain higher profile sports. And no, they often don’t get to experience what it feels like to place first or second or even third in a race. But I have to tip my hat to these athletes. Whether it’s my son or daughter or yours, I applaud them. And I’m there at races yelling my head off for their success. To be honest, I’m often there with tears in my eyes as I contemplate their commitment and the sacrifices it took to get them to this point.

I applaud the high school runner and the retiree runner who lives in my neighborhood. I applaud the “jogging-stroller” runner who carves out time to run while raising a little one. I applaud the middle-aged runner who needs a fresh start, a new goal, and is out there pounding the pavement. These people have chosen over and over again amidst the myriad of choices we must make each day to accomplish something difficult. Very difficult. To run. And in the end, we should all be proud. Runners are a different breed, and so are the fans that support them. We cheer where there’s no scoreboard or bright lights. Are you one of us?"

September 11 Reflections

2011-09-11T20:43:00.000-04:00

I preached the morning services at church today. The topic was the importance of theology and introduction of the new statement of faith adopted by the denomination. But since it was September 11th, I couldn't help talk about that too. The following is that section of the sermon.

I’m not unaware of the date today. I suspect that for most of our generation, September the eleventh will remain etched into our memories for all our lives. Today, ten years later seems especially poignant, and deserves some comment from the pulpit, even if it is from a substitute preacher. This picture was taken in July of 2001. You can faintly see the twin towers in the background as we waited on the Jersey shore to take a ferry to Manhattan. We had taken a trip to New York to meet some friends, and did the touristy things like going out to the Statue of Liberty, going up in the Empire State Building, and watching a baseball game at Yankee Stadium—even though for me, a huge Boston Red Sox fan, that was walking into enemy territory. I wore my Red Sox hat that day to the stadium, and the infamous and boisterous fans in the right field bleacher seats let me hear about it, as they collectively pointed at me and chanted things that shouldn’t be repeated in church. There was a moment there when I feared for our lives.

It was just two months later when some 2000 New Yorkers lost their lives in the terrorist attacks. That morning I was back in Mishawaka, walking to the departmental office at Bethel to make some copies for my class when a secretary asked if I’d heard that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center. I immediately thought there was something suspicious about it and started monitoring the news. I was watching the coverage live when the first tower collapsed. It was such a surreal experience. So unexpected, and so difficult to fathom the implications. So much uncertainty that day as the other planes hit the Pentagon and went down in Pennsylvania. That evening the neighbors on our street spontaneously appeared out on the sidewalks, and we talked with each other in tones that betrayed our fragility and insecurity. I thought it prudent to go out and fill up the gas tank, for who knew what might happen, and I waited in a long line at the station to pay the exorbitant price that had been hiked up to $1.75 per gallon.

We were told that September 11 changed everything, that things would never be the same. And of course that is true in some respects, especially for families and friends of victims. And yes, gas prices have gone up, and getting through airport security has become unpleasant. But the neighbors have gone back inside. The goodwill toward each other that swells up in times of crisis has abated. I’m afraid that human nature has remained the same.

There is more rhetoric today from politicians who play on our fears by pledging to do more than the last guy did to protect us from our evil enemies, as though we could stop evil by enacting the right policies or by brute force. Not allowing people to bring a full tube of toothpaste on an airplane might stop one kind of evil, but there are a thousand others we can’t even imagine until they occur. Sending our predator drones in by remote control to blow up houses might eliminate a few bad guys, but it usually incites even more hatred against us by the survivors. It was Jesus who said, “If you live by the sword, you’re going to die by the sword.” I think I’m inclined to trust him on this one.

Does this seem pessimistic? I’m really an optimistic guy. It’s just that my optimism, my hope is in a different kingdom, one that is not of this world.

Now don’t get me wrong: we have to be smart, we need to protect ourselves. We lock our doors at night. But let’s be realistic: we live in a fallen world. The United States military is not going to usher in some era of lasting peace and happiness in our world. Have we Christians bought into this myth? Perhaps this is what has changed most of all since 9/11: we felt pretty secure and lived in this land of freedom and relative peace. But the attacks suggested to us that we too are vulnerable. But rather than accepting that as a fact of life, we’ve held on to the notion that we are somehow a favored nation. The United States has had about 60 years now of being the top dog on the world stage. The indications are that we won’t occupy that position for more than another generation. Read your history books: nations come and nations go. I’m glad to live in a nation with the freedoms we have, but this isn’t the Kingdom I’m longing for. Pastor Craig likes to quote Bob Dylan, but I’m from a different generation, so I’ll quote one of my favorite bands, Switchfoot: “I pledge allegiance to a country without borders and without politicians.” I will seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. To do otherwise is the very definition of idolatry, putting other gods before the one true God. And I will rest secure in the belief that nothing can deport us from that Kingdom or separate us from the love of God, neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers. No matter what happens -- natural disasters, government shutdowns, and even terrorist attacks -- we are safe, we are free, we are loved by the God of the universe.

Oh sure, some of us go through tough times—loss of jobs, loss of property and health, even premature loss of life. We’re not exempt from that in our fallen world. But we believe in a God who has broken into our world in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Through his life, death, and resurrection the Kingdom of God has come to earth. And all those who will follow him are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in the Kingdom here and now.

Is that the God we believe in? That was some pretty dense theology packed into a paragraph or two, theology that helps us makes sense of and respond to the situations we find ourselves in. And here is the connection back to our main topic for the morning. What we believe about God has consequences.

Sporting Woes

2011-09-03T21:40:00.000-04:00

We're fairly big sports fans in our house. There are three teams (I mean beyond the local sort that my kids play on or those are housed at my institution) that I "follow": The Boston Red Sox; Notre Dame football; and the US Soccer team.

The Red Sox lost a series to the Yankees this week and got shut out by the Rangers last night, but they are undoubtedly headed to the playoffs. So we'll see how that goes.

I stayed up until 1am last night (this morning) to watch the US national team lose to Costa Rica. Our new coach is supposed to be inspiring confidence and bringing us to a new era. And for much of the first half we looked really good. But you win by scoring goals, not by looking good. I went to brush my teeth at one point in the second half, and when I came back Costa Rica had scored.

And then today, Notre Dame was about as disastrous as possible. Coach Kelly is going to be saying Hail Mary's all week to atone for the language he used screaming at his team for everything that went wrong. There is some potential there, but very little execution.

Sad.

Should Christians Study Philosophy?

2011-08-26T16:51:00.000-04:00

With the start of school, my blogging has moved to the back burner (again). To try to keep something going, I'm pasting a piece that I've written and started my philosophy courses with for several years.

It never fails. I just start to feel like I’ll be able to connect with some new acquaintances on a level deeper than the weather and they have to go and ask what I do for a living. “I’m a professor”, I answer—knowing that if there were any favorable impression created by this newly discovered fact, it will more than likely be shattered by the next one: “Oh really. What do you teach?” Trying not to betray any of the trepidation I feel, I answer as though it is perfectly normal and everyone has a close relative that teaches… philosophy.

Now occasionally (by far the minority) people will respond favorably—those who have a good idea of what the study of philosophy is and why some might choose to spend their lives pursuing it. These people show a genuine enthusiasm for what I do. Their reactions put me at ease and we’re able to keep talking without my feeling like some kind of freak of nature that doesn’t fit into the “normal” world.

More typically, though, the next sentences of the conversation go something like, “Oh… wow… that must be really…uh… interesting. Meaning of life and all that, huh? [nervous chuckle] Um…well…it was nice meeting you.” All the while their eyes are scanning for the quickest escape route, and I’m mentally writing off another potential like-minded friend.

Philosophers having a bad rap is nothing new. Several centuries before Christ, Plato wrote about his mentor Socrates. Plato’s most famous book, The Republic, has Socrates notoriously arguing that philosophers should be kings of the ideal city. His audience thought this suggestion to be absurd, for the philosophers they knew were all either vicious, horrible people who took advantage of others, or they were strange, head-in-the-clouds people who were useless to society. These prejudices remain today in basically the same forms in many sectors of society: philosophy is widely thought to be either a dangerous thing to study that will mess up your mind, or it is a pointless exercise with no relevance to real life. I’d like to try to counteract these impressions and argue that it is worthwhile for everyone to spend some time studying philosophy.

The first accusation that needs addressing is that philosophy is dangerous and that it will mess up your mind. Good-intending (but misled) Christians sometimes quote the Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:8, claiming that philosophy is based on human principles and will lead you away from God. And while this is a poor interpretation of the verse (Paul had no qualms using philosophy in his speech on Mars Hill recorded in Acts 17), there are certainly some examples of this sort of thing happening. Nietzsche, Rand, Foucault, and their ilk continue to seduce the eager minds of many with distorted reasoning and half-truths that have dire implications. But the analogy might be made that automobiles are powerful, dangerous things too, and when they are misused the results can be catastrophic. The potential for misuse does not persuade us to give up cars though; rather it should make us want everyone to be trained properly in their use. The same is true of philosophy. Ideas are powerful things, and when they are misused or accepted uncritically, there is the potential for danger. This is all the more reason to be trained in philosophy or to “practice” using it sometimes so that we do use it properly when in counts. Francis Bacon said several centuries ago, “A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.”

Some might still object along the same lines by pushing the automobile analogy further: Accidents happen even among those who have been trained to drive and who are not consciously flouting any of the safe-driving skills they’ve learned. So also there are “accidents” in philosophy, those who are sincerely pursuing truth, but become atheists. So these objectors might ask, “Shouldn’t the possibility of such a thing happening keep us from studying philosophy?” This kind of question should not be taken lightly, but I might first answer, “Does it keep us from driving cars?” No. But even beyond this, there is a distinct disanalogy between driving accidents and philosophical “accidents”. The latter do not just suddenly and irrevocably occur. You can see them coming. There are clearly marked warning signs on the way to abandoning faith. It is only when these are ignored that one drives unaware into danger. It should be part of a philosophical training course to learn to recognize such signs.

Yes, there is power in philosophy. But it is a power that we should learn to use for the benefit of the Kingdom. It has always been the strategy of the enemy to pervert what God has intended for good. If we give up philosophy merely because some use it for bad, then all there will be is bad philosophy.

The second accusation to be countered is that philosophy is a pointless, academic exercise with little or no relevance for the real world. I think this is probably the more common misperception—and certainly the more dangerous, because unlike the first it doesn’t acknowledge the power that ideas have. On this view, philosophers are seen as people who can’t get their noses out of books, who are unskilled at managing practical affairs, and who have no effect on real life. The usual defense by the pro-philosophy folks is to further highlight the premise of the first accusation, that ideas are powerful, that they have consequences not only on the large scale that grabs attention, but on a personal level too. If we don’t chose to reflect on the values we unconsciously imbibe from our culture, we’ll be swept along in its value system.

I think this is an important and correct response to the objection against the irrelevance of philosophy, but it is still very much at the theoretical level. To give the kind of response that would satisfy the objector, something even more practical must be presented. I believe this practical defense is to be found in the meaning of the word philosophy itself. ‘Philosophy’ comes from the two Greek words “phileo” which means love (of the brotherly sort, like Philadelphia) and “sophia” which means wisdom. Philosophy is the love of wisdom; philosophers are lovers of wisdom. OK, so what is wisdom and why do philosophers love it?

Wisdom is not the same thing as intelligence or knowledge. One need not be wise in order to win on Jeopardy or Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Wisdom is better described as a kind of general capacity for making good decisions in a variety of circumstances. If I have knowledge, I am in possession of a lot of facts; if I have wisdom, I know what to do with those facts in order to have a good life.

If there were formulas or rules that worked unfailingly for all of life’s situations, then perhaps wisdom wouldn’t be required; all we would need is knowledge of the set of rules that is to be followed and the ability to follow them. But more often the changing circumstances we find ourselves in show that the general rules that have been laid down fail to account for the nuances of particular situations. My wife and I have found this to be true in the raising of our three boys. The same parenting techniques and rules we used for the first child did not work the same for the second and third kids. While it is easier to follow blindly the laws of the latest how-to manual, using wisdom mandates that we look at situations individually and make good decisions. Of course for practicality’s sake there must be some general principles that guide us in making decisions, but it is a human tendency to turn principles into laws, the following of which becomes more important than the principles behind those laws.

We in the church are just as guilty (and perhaps more) of desiring rules and formulas that are supposed to infallibly guide us into a holy life: don’t go to rated-R movies, don’t listen to secular music, don’t drink or smoke, etc. Or even on the positive side: have your quiet time every day for at least 30 minutes, pay a tithe of 10% to your church, witness to your neighbor about your faith. The problem with such formulas is not that they are bad principles, but rather that they engender a kind of holiness that is attained by checking off a list each night to see what I have and have not done. The Pharisees discovered that it is a lot easier to run through a checklist than to really be holy. Jesus said he came not to abolish all those rules but to fulfill them. Following rules is not bad in itself, it is just bad when it becomes our desire to follow rules rather than to become what the rules intended for us to become. Even the new “rules” that Jesus brought in the Sermon on the Mount are not meant to be formulas that are blindly followed. Rather, they are principles that are carefully designed to teach the essence of what it means to be a follower of Christ: loving God and loving neighbor (including enemies). If these are not to be taken as new legalistic codes, then we must exercise wisdom in knowing when and how to apply these general principles. This is the business of everyday life, living out the gospel in my own community.

So if the study of philosophy is the love of wisdom, then it seems immensely practical to my everyday life. It can help to provide tools for thinking through a situation that is slightly different from the one for which I have a general principle; it teaches me to be thoughtful and to reflect on my beliefs and my actions; philosophy charges me to seek out the good life. Now of course philosophy is not the only source of wisdom. In fact it is not the first source of wisdom that should be pursued. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10). Any lover of wisdom should start there. It is those who don’t whom Paul is criticizing in Col. 2:8. But beyond that, there must be room in the practice of Christianity to exercise our minds, to bring our worldview to bear on philosophical issues, to examine the formulas by which we have been living.

Now, I am not suggesting that all Christians need to go to graduate school and get Ph.D.’s in philosophy. I hope some do, for the church needs all the help it can get in thinking carefully and wisely about the big questions in life. But beyond the professionals in the discipline, all Christians should study at least a little philosophy in order to understand and evaluate the ideas we are bombarded with all the time, and to aid in their pursuit of the very practical virtue of wisdom. If you do, there will probably be people who think you are wasting your time doing this. And there will be others who think you are playing with fire. And you too might have to get used to people looking at you like you have two heads when they learn you are a lover of wisdom.

Cross Words

2011-08-15T11:35:00.000-04:00

I like an ambiguous title that is full of connotations. What are we talking about here? An argument with a family member that turned ugly? No. A meditation on the crucifixion? Not quite. Actually I'm referring to one of my summer pastimes this year. Sometime in June a representative of our local newspaper called and said, "I see that you only receive home delivery of the paper on the weekends."

"That is correct" I responded. During the week, the paper drops off a bunch of copies of the Tribune at my institution under the terms of some deal they reached about receiving complementary tickets to events (or something like that... I'm sure the real motivation was to increase the circulation numbers they report to potential advertisers). And I also got some cheap deal from the Chicago Tribune to receive home delivery on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. So I never felt the need to get the South Bend paper delivered during the week.

"Well," continued the telephone lady, "we're offering a special deal now where you can receive delivery every day for the same price you're paying now."

"Let me get this straight" I said. "I don't pay anything more, and you have someone drive here an additional five days per week?"

"That's right."

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. In the fall when it's time to renew, you can decide if you want to continue receiving daily delivery for a small additional charge, or go back to just weekend delivery." Well, that's a small catch, but I decided to go for it. The result has been a new addiction that has developed: doing the daily crossword puzzle.

I had done this occasionally before, but I never really finished them. And the answers to Saturday's puzzle don't appear until the Monday paper, so I wasn't able to check my answers. I've never been pleased that I'm not very good at crosswords. I make my living with words, and I'd like to think that I have a fair amount of the sort of general knowledge (i.e., trivia) that crosswords demand. But I've always been better at number or logic puzzles. What I've found, though, is that with constant practice I've gotten better (go figure). You learn to recognize the patterns of letters that is most likely to work with other words. And there are some strange words you learn that get used over and over again because they help to make things fit (example: 5 letter word for Rodeo Noose... you'd think 'lasso' but it usually ends up being 'riata'). There is a routine (or better, rut) that I've gotten into with going through the puzzle during breakfast and filling in everything that comes to me relatively quickly. Then it sits on the counter all day, and when I pass by it, I'll glance again and sometimes the neurons have rearranged things sufficiently in my brain that an answer comes. That is a very curious process to me, why sometimes the answer comes and sometimes stays buried. My good wife has tolerated the new counter decor, and even contributes to the process of filling things in from time to time. Most days, by evening's end, the crossword is filled in. I've gotten a sense of satisfaction from seeing all the words fit together.

Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder said that theology is "working with words in the light of faith." Crosswords are definitely a trivial pursuit, and one I'm sure that will go the way of the dodo once my fall schedule starts up again. But perhaps working with words even in a trivial way is like doing calisthenics for those of us who try to fit them together in more meaningful ways. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Help and Complicity

2011-08-12T21:17:00.000-04:00

For the second Friday in a row, I purchased matinee tickets at the local cineplex and saw a movie on the big screen. This time it was a daytime date with my wife to see The Help, a film adaptation of a novel she had just finished reading. I haven't read the book, but I trust my wife's assessment that it was one of the better film adaptations. The theater was surprisingly full for an afternoon showing of a movie without comic book heroes in it. The under 50 set was vastly outnumbered by the over 50s, and carriers of the y-chromosome totaled only in the single digits. Perhaps this latter demographic is explained by the previews, which make it seem like a chick flick. And while there are no male characters of any substance, it definitely was not a chick flick. It was a story of humanity in all our glory, shame, strength, and weakness. If Viola Davis doesn't get nominated for an Academy Award, then there is something seriously wrong with the system.

The story is set in Mississippi in the 60s when all the white people had black maids to cook, clean, and raise their children. It was so uncomfortable for me to watch this kind of society being displayed. My first reaction was to be thankful that I live in the north in this decade, and so am not guilty of such blatant racism. But then, I suspect the guilt goes deeper and is more complicated than that. Last month it was announced that the median white household in American is worth twenty times more than the median black household (it was only seven times more in 1995). Am I personally to blame for this? I hope not. Am I complicit? That's tougher to answer.

There were two African-American women sitting next to me at the theater, and I kept wondering what I could say to them after the movie that wouldn't sound condescending or patronizing or otherwise white. I wasn't coming up with much, but then was let off the hook since they got up and left very quickly at the end. I suppose it is progress that we were sitting next to each other in the same theater, but I can't help wondering what their take would have been on all the white people in the theater reacting so positively to this Hollywoodization of the civil rights movement. Has there been progress from their perspective? What are the blind spots that we majority culture people have?

When we lived in Sierra Leone for a year, we shared an African maid with another teacher. She walked up the hill to our compound six days per week to do all our cleaning and cooked lunch for us. She got paid about $8 per month, plus a bag of rice. It was the mission's policy not to pay the hired help more than those who worked in governmental jobs (like teachers), otherwise there was no incentive for them to pursue an education. Instead they'd attach themselves to the white foreigners to cook or clean or be a night watchman. We with our meager missionary salaries were kings and queens living in a land of poverty and despair. I couldn't stand that part of our year there. Based on that experience, I don't think it works for missionaries to come into a foreign land and maintain a radically different standard of living while ostensibly calling the natives to adopt our religion. (Of course if I had paid better attention to Things Fall Apart in my high school literature class, I would have known as much already. More recently, The Poisonwood Bible and The Purple Hibiscus should be required reading for all missionaries to Africa.)

Now I live on a nice comfortable street, where probably all of us are above the median household worth. There is even an African American family who lives on my street. We're not segregated any more are we? My kids go to the big suburban school where most of the kids are white, but it's not like they have separate water fountains. And certainly minorities aren't prohibited from attending there, right? All they'd have to do is be able to afford property in neighborhoods like mine... which I guess according to the median household worth numbers isn't going to be any time soon. Help!

36 Arguments for the Existence of God

2011-08-08T15:46:00.000-04:00

I got a Kindle for Christmas from my mother-in-law, and have used it with some regularity. I've found that I'm not prepared to make the switch to that format for books that I'm studying--though I tried one, finding the highlighting and annotating ridiculously cumbersome. But I've gotten the hang of reading novels on it fairly well.

I just finished today Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's novel, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God. It's the story of a psychology professor who became an international sensation with his new-atheist-like book, Varieties of Religious Illusion. But contrary to the real life new atheists, this guy is dubbed the atheist with a soul because while not believing, he is not dismissive of religion. We don't get much of the content of his book, but evidently what makes him famous is the appendix to the book in which he lists 36 arguments and the problems with them all. This appendix is reproduced in the novel, but unfortunately that doesn't display so well on the Kindle--at least it doesn't in the horizontal orientation that I like to read in... perhaps I should check the normal layout... nope, not much better.

There is a debate as part of the story at Harvard with a slick Christian, but most of the religious content centers around the conservative Hasidic community out of which the main character's family came. Goldstein's own religious background is as an orthodox Jew, but now she's married to Steven Pinker, who if not one of the four horsemen of new atheism, he can certainly run with them. She herself is a philosophy professor (and has written another book I've read, Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel). So this is pretty sophisticated stuff. And stylistically, it is interesting: it does not follow a linear development, but keeps jumping back and forth in a way that gives you hints of what has happened and will happen.

It's worth a summer read. It's probably not going to change anyone's mind on the existence of God, nor is it particularly illuminating on the role that arguments play in religious belief (though it does make some hints toward that). I like a story with some substance to it. If you know of others, send them my way.

Planet of the Apes

2011-08-05T20:09:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite movies of all time (let's say top 20 at least) is the original Planet of the Apes. It gave an interesting (if mostly one-sided) treatment of science and religion at a time when not many were talking about those two together. And the macro-plot was so fascinating. So when I heard that a prequel was coming out, I put opening day on the calendar. And this afternoon, I took my boys to go see it.

I'll confess that I was a bit nervous about it. The sequels to the original became more than a little goofy, as only the 70s could be goofy, and the remake by Tim Burton was visually nice but the story line was emasculated. But I figured that if nothing else, it would be good for a few laughs. We didn't laugh much. This movie was frightening--frighteningly awesome, as my kids would say.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is easily my favorite movie of the year--though admittedly, that isn't saying much. But even if I had gone to see a bunch, I'm pretty sure this would still be my favorite. Don't worry about spoiler alerts, because you know what's going to happen: the apes win. And even just a little way into the movie, you know how they are going to win: there is a virus developed that causes brains to build a bunch of new synaptic connections and increase intelligence, but humans can't ward off the nastier element of the virus that kills them, while apes are immune to that part. So essentially what we have is an event like the meteor crash that wiped out the dominant species (dinosaurs) and allowed the mammals to flourish. But I don't suppose the dinosaurs sat around and reflected on the demise of their dominance or made movies about it. And I guess that is what was so frightening and fantastic about the movie. We were forced to so reflect.

The computer animation was stunning. In the slower scenes, the emotion with which the primate faces is infused is incredible. I thought some of the action scenes made the apes look too much like Spiderman, but I suppose we have to let Hollywood be Hollywood. And it did a fantastic job of setting up the original--especially the subtle mention of a manned space mission that appeared to be lost. The development of language was in there too in a climactic scene (though I understood that to be a physical--not mental--impossibility for apes). The film didn't pick up the religious themes of its predecessor/sequel, but certainly the animal ethicists will be happy. How should we be treating these creatures who can obviously think and feel at significant levels? They aren't so different from us, right?

Well, actually the real apes are significantly different from us. Yes, they have the rudiments of intelligence, emotion, social structure, and even language. But the complexities of these in us are such to put us on a completely different plane. Some will want to emphasize that it is the imago dei that makes us so different. But I'd suggest (without being too dogmatic about it) that that is getting the cause and effect switched around. Instead of the image of God that was somehow stamped onto us at some point and that making us different, I'd suggest that we as human beings were very different in kind and it is that that allowed us to enter into conscious relationship with God. In that relationship, then, God allowed that we would be his image here on earth (rather than letting wood and stone idols be the image, like the gods of other Ancient Near Eastern religions apparently did). Being God's image has nothing to do with what we look like, but rather we are the bearers of his character. And I'd suggest that the character of God would be nice to the apes!

Where can we talk about this stuff??

2011-08-03T14:47:00.000-04:00

The last three days I've been teaching some sessions out at Prairie Camp, south of Elkhart. The topic was supposed to be apologetics, and in a sense that is some of what I did. But I suspect that it is not entirely what they had expected. Because it is usually my approach to challenge and provoke my audience rather confirm what they already believe. So after an introductory session on Monday (co-taught with my friend Chad), on Tuesday the topic was truth. And although I upheld the necessity for defending a notion of truth as a description of the way things are independently of what any of us think, I also claimed that it gets more complicated. For instance we do make truth ourselves in the form of social realities -- say the rules of soccer -- and that there are some blurry lines between social realities and this supposed independently existing reality. I tried to explain all this in smaller words using lots of examples, and for the most part the crowd was with me. Then today I ventured into the dangerous swampland of science and religion as different sorts of explanations. I assumed that most of them had been exposed to this only at the sound byte level, and I realized that I couldn't get pushing too hard or I'd lose them. So we talked about interpretation of the Bible and gave lots of examples where scientific theories don't conflict with theological explanation, and I made an impassioned plea for us to take science seriously and not to indoctrinate our children that science is evil. Everyone was a little bit more cautious today, but again ultimately seemed to track with me.

After the session there was a parade of people coming to talk one-on-one. The first lady said her grandson was starting to read Buddhist literature and wondered what I would say to him. The next person wondered if I thought the Camping guy who predicted the end of the world was a false prophet. A couple of others came and made speeches to me about their pet theories of the hidden meanings of the Bible. But there were also a couple of more meaningful conversations I had with people. One woman told me about her son who graduated from my institution, but has gotten fed up with the institutionalized church because it is mostly about country club politics. He's really interested in these deeper questions, but literally has no one to talk to about them. It seems that most of our churches do not encourage questions and instead hand out pat answers to questions that aren't really being asked by thoughtful people.

Ouch. Where can we talk about things that we wonder about? Doubts that creep in? Frustrations we have? In my humble opinion, the church needs to cultivate such spaces. For many people, if we just keep these bottled up inside, they will one day spill out in fully formed abandonment of faith.

What I've been Reading

2011-07-30T17:36:00.001-04:00

A few months ago I met the editor of Books & Culture (one of my favorite periodicals) at a meeting. I told him that I've been a subscriber since the inception of the publication, and I'd love to write something for it sometime. I had actually submitted a query two times before without much success, I told him. Perhaps that got him to have some pity on a (very) minor scholar like myself, and he said he'd send me something sometime. Well that time came a few weeks ago in the form of a book on astrobiology: First Life, by David Deamer. Understanding that I might not get another chance, I accepted the assignment to write a 1500 word review essay. I turned it in this morning. So hopefully it will be accepted and published in an upcoming issue.

"What do I know about astrobiology?" you may ask. The answer is: a lot more now than I did before. Astrobiology pursues the twin goals of seeking life elsewhere in the universe, and trying to understand how life might have formed on our own planet. I didn't actually engage the science of the book very much, because I'm certainly no expert on that. Instead, I addressed the issue of how answering this question relates to the theological explanation of the origin of life of the planet, namely, God the Creator. So the article was mostly some reflection on the relationship between scientific and theological explanations. The short of it is: I don't think it poses a threat to our theology to also pursue scientific explanations. Of course there can be points of tension between scientific and theological explanations, but as long as we're not dealing with scientists who are faithful followers of the quasi-religion of scientism, then there is plenty of space for us religious types to pursue theology as well.

New Book Alert

2011-07-27T10:13:00.000-04:00

When we were in northern Michigan for the Ron and Nancy Stump 50 year party, I sauntered into the Horizon Books one morning in lovely downtown Petoskey. I had a rather strict time limit in the store, so I headed straight for the signs pointing the way to the bargain section down in the basement. I'll often take a chance on some bargain books, knowing that I'll never read all of them that I buy, but quite often one will surprise me and contribute mightily to my ongoing education. The bargain pickings were rather slim in that Petoskey basement, but for the prices I couldn't pass up a few interesting titles from the religion/philosophy section:

Larry Witham, The Measure of God: History's Greatest Minds Wrestle with Reconciling Science and Religion. This is essentially a history of the Gifford Lectures (see short comments about that here). This probably has the most promise among the new books for being read in its entirety.

Same guy, The Proof of God: The Debate that Shaped Modern Belief. Turns out that this is a sort of history of the Ontological Argument. My Aunt Pat should be interested.

Gustav Niebuhr, Beyond Tolerance. The grandson of the famous theologian H. Richard Nihbuhr (of Christ and Culture fame) writes about interfaith understanding in America.

Jerry Walls, Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy. A friend of mine who wrote this book, then Hell, and soon to be released: Purgatory.

Sian Griffiths, Predictions: 30 Great Minds on the Future. Short essays on what they think will happen in the future, we'll all be driving flying cars, etc.

My Tribute to 50 Years of Marriage

2011-07-19T22:51:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. My siblings and their families, and my parents siblings and spouses got together at a restaurant in Elkhart for nice dinner. Mom and dad didn't want a big open house or a bunch of hoopla, but we had a very nice time. We kids presented them with a couple of scrapbooks, and they asked me to give a little speech (since that is the sort of thing I do). Here it is:

So the girls asked Ron and me to be the ones to stand up and say things today. I guess it is the least we could do since they did about everything else for this event. I suppose it is a blessing to have some girls who take responsibility in that respect. I’m not sure if Cindy or I will have much of a 50^th anniversary celebration unless we have some daughters-in-law who will step up. Ron got the beginning of this event and had to sing; I’m supposed to give a cute and touching speech of some sort here at the end. Mom and dad, I’m sure your siblings here have a different perspective on your 50 years of marriage, and each of us kids, no doubt, would say something different about you. But they asked the philosopher to talk, so that’s what you’ll get. I hope I’m speaking for all of us.

I’ll tell you right up front that I doubt I’ll get through this little speech without getting a little weepy. I’m not sure from which of you I inherited this trait, but whenever I talk in front of a group of people about something that means a lot to me, these wells of emotion rise up in what is otherwise a fairly stoic and even melancholy personality (I think we know which one of you that came from). So if it makes any of you uncomfortable to see a middle-aged bald man cry, feel free to look away.

42 years ago today, the two of you sat waiting, on the eve of what I’m sure was the happiest day of your lives. I can’t comment with much authority on those first 8 years of your marriage, and even the next few after that are a little fuzzy. But from all I can tell, you’ve had a remarkable 50 years together. You’re not perfect, and in the interest of fairness and balance, I toyed with the idea of taking some time here to let people air their grievances against you. But I suppose this isn’t the time for that. And with all seriousness, that would be a very short list compared to the blessings that you have been to all of us.

One of the things I’ve observed about your marriage, your life together, is that you have this gift that you tend to make the people around you better—not necessarily better than they are, but you have had a way of bringing out the best in them. That may be the students you’ve taught in your classrooms, or staff you’ve worked with; people in your Sunday School class over the years and decades; your small group, your neighbors, and friends. I don’t know how to describe this other than to say, things tend to go better when you’re around. You’ve touched hundreds of people. And since you wouldn’t let us throw you a big party and bring all those people to tell you so in person, we’ve compiled a scrap book with many of their messages and memories. [Marci present scrap book #1.]

Secondly, without getting into the technical and salacious details, we five kids are most literally the fruit of your marriage and love for each other. About any guy and girl can create a new life in a moment of passion, but we found ourselves coming to be in the midst of a family with two parents who loved and respected each other. Again, you weren’t perfect, but one of the most valuable gifts you could give us was your love for each other, and a stable and godly marriage. I know that I took that environment for granted for many years of my life, and was shocked to learn that not all families worked that way. I hope we might have learned something from you in that regard, and that our kids might feel without a doubt that their parents love each deeply.

I think we’ve learned by now that pouring yourselves into your children is not always a reflexive relationship. I think it is fair to say that the parents give more than they receive. This is obviously the case on the financial side of things when your kids are still young. But even as adults, you’ve been generous with finances to us beyond what we will ever pay back. I remember one time during my graduate school years in Boston, talking to you on the phone about various woes, and then saying, “And to top it all off, our transmission went out this week.” Dad, you said, “Don’t worry about that. Any problem that can be fixed with money isn’t that big of a problem.” Of course that’s true if you have money, and you knew we didn’t have any at the time, so you paid to get the transmission fixed. I’m sure each of us has similar stories of how you’ve been generous without enabling unwise behavior, and without making us feel that we were your indentured servants. I doubt that we’ll ever pay you back, but I hope to be able to do the same for my kids.

And then of course we kids have been the beneficiaries of your spiritual commitment. Whether it was consistent times of family devotions, regular church attendance and a commitment to serve there, or even the music ministry of the Stump Family Singers, you inculcated habits in us that tend to become a way of life. Mom, I remember one vacation Bible school in St. Louis when I was pretty young, and you encouraged me to memorize a bunch of Bible verses. That became a habit that I’ve turned to over and over throughout my life. And for all of us, you maintained the kind of spiritual environment in which it was the natural thing for us to embrace the faith that was obviously so important to you.

Again, we can’t pay you back for that. We can only attempt to pass on your legacy by being the kind of parents to our children that you’ve been to us. We hope that is reward enough, to see that your fruit has produced fruit of its own now, that bears some resemblance to you. As a constant visual reminder of all this fruit, Cheri has put together another scrap book of all of us. We hope you can see in these pictures tangible evidence of your faithfulness to each other, to us, and to God.

Cornerstone

2011-06-27T20:01:00.000-04:00

It's Cornerstone week. We'll be loading up the van Wednesday morning and heading out on our annual pilgrimage to Bushnell, IL for the edgiest of the Christian Music Festivals.

If my count is correct, this is my 12th festival (the first three when it was still in Grayslake, IL). And this is the second year in a row that I'm one of the speakers for the seminars. Believe it or not, some of the metal heads who show up for the bands like Blindside and Flatfoot 56 actually come to hour long seminars too. I'm doing three sessions on Science and Religion, and three sessions on Philosophy.

Cornerstone is putting on a retro night this year, with reunions by Petra, Daniel Amos, Stonehill, and Keaggy. I think the first cassette I ever bought with my own money when I was a kid was Petra's "Beat the System". And if Stonehill is still singing "Turning Thirty", he'll have to do it twice to get in all the years.

Of course I'm also looking forward to some of the younger folks, like P.O.D. and Paper Route. Good times are sure to be had by all.

Hope to see you there!

Wedding Day

2011-06-04T12:58:00.001-04:00

The Stump clan (plus a nephew) are in the van, trekking to Nashville for my niece's wedding tonight. Marriage is what brings us together today. As these two become one we celebrate love and all that is good in this broken world. May God richly bless Lauren and Aaron.

Sent from my LG phone

New Book Alert

2011-06-02T22:31:00.000-04:00

I received a few new additions to the Stump Library this week. The first was given to me at church last Sunday. The pastor asked me to teach on Sunday nights a couple of weeks this fall about the first article of the new Evangelical Free statement of faith. As context for the changes that have been at the denominational level in the last couple of years, he gave me Evangelical Convictions: A Theological Exposition of the Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Free Church of America. It's always nice to be given a book!

I really enjoy getting new books, but I also value my library. I don't feel like I have to go out and buy every book that I think I might ever look at. So for instance in last week's "Books I've been Reading This Week" post (here), one of those I was skimming through from the library was Jaroslav Pelikan's Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism (sounds like the week for long subtitles). This is Pelikan's Gifford lectures, and I think I've decided that I'd like to start intentionally collecting Gifford books. So, trolling the used book sites, I found a nice copy for the right price.

Then, very reasonably, I picked up a used copy of Etienne Gilson's Reason and Revelation in the Middle Ages (no subtitle).

Welcome new members of the family!

Adam and Eve

2011-06-01T23:21:00.000-04:00

I let my subscription to Christianity Today run out several months ago. I wasn't happy that they seemed to interpret traditional orthodox Christianity as falling within very narrow parameters. But it appears they've done something interesting this month.

I'd like to see what they said about Adam and Eve in the cover story. Anyone read it and have reactions? A thoughtful piece about it is here.

This is a topic from which we cannot run and hide. And we can't answer the question merely by repeating the formulations of previous generations of orthodox Christians. Maybe they were right, but like every generation, we've got work out the data of revelation in our context.

The evidence for early hominids is overwhelming now. How do we fit this into our theology? Of course it comes down to our biblical hermeneutic. Do we think the Bible is a big book of propositions dropped from the sky? Or is it the faithful (and authoritative) witness of communities with whom God interacted in a special way? (I forget the name of the informal fallacy I just committed by making one of the options sound ridiculous.) What difference does that make for interpreting it? A pretty big one, I think.

Why I Write - Part I

2011-05-31T15:43:00.000-04:00

When a (very) minor scholar like myself has his work noticed by other (usually minor) scholars, it is something of a rush. When I published my first real scholarly article (the Stump Speeches in the Bethel Beacon probably don't qualify) -- "History of Science Through Koyre's Lenses" in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science -- there was a guy from Japan who wrote to me because he had seen a reference to the article and wanted a copy of it. Of course I obliged and sent off a copy of the page proofs to him with a note of thanks for being interested in my work. When I went home that night I'm sure I said to my wife something like, "How cool is it that there is a dude in Japan who wants to read my article?! Japan! I'm having an international influence!!"

Truth be told, the overwhelming majority of the "scholarly work" that is published has little to no effect on the scholarly world. So if our motivation for being scholars is to change the world, then in all probability we are going to be disappointed. Recognition and changing the world are (very) occasional fringe benefits, but that's not why I write.

I write because I want to learn.

There are lots of academic institutions that prize very highly having a well-published faculty. That helps in attracting grant money, donors, and other well-published faculty. But mine is not one of those institutions. We say that we want faculty to be involved in scholarly work, but we define that so broadly that it is hard not to be involved in something that falls under that category. I'm not trying to change our policy, but just to suggest that we're kidding ourselves if we think that we're really learning new stuff or even keeping up in our fields if we're not writing about it. The process of writing forces us to think very carefully about a topic, to organize it in our heads, to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of positions, etc. Yes, we can do that to some extent without putting words to page, but there is a critical degree threshold that is crossed somewhere in the writing process, especially when you know others are going to read it--even more if there is a peer review process involved.

When we as teachers give writing assignments, they are not so much to check if learning has taken place as they are opportunities for learning to take place. We don't think that our students will really learn the material to the degree we want without synthesizing the information in a writing assignment. Do we think we're any different? There have been many times that I've read widely and thought about a topic to the point that I thought I had something to say. But then I tried to write about it only to find that I didn't understand it well enough yet to be able to explain it clearly. Then laboring through some writing helped me to really learn and understand it. That's why doctoral programs make you write a dissertation. That's why academic institutions (should) expect their faculty to write. That's (at least one of) the reason(s) I write.

Even writing this far-from-polished blog entry on writing has given me some more ideas about why I write. So I've added "Part I" to the title. Perhaps this will become a series of entries that try to sort this out.

Meandering Thoughts on Memorial Day

2011-05-30T16:18:00.000-04:00

My feelings are always torn on Memorial Day. I don't want to disrespect at all the honor and sacrifice of our military personnel. I'm sure that many of them have performed admirably in service to a cause. It's just the cause that sometimes causes me to feel unpatriotic.

The military has marketed itself very well. We've largely bought into the idea that it is all about honor and sacrifice for the good. Read some of the first-hand accounts of the enlisted men in Afghanistan and you get a different picture. You might try Kent Russell's "Ryan Went to Afghanistan" to begin with.

Of course there is the familiar rhetoric of protecting our freedoms. Who doesn't want to be free?? And freedom has a cost. We celebrate today one kind of cost. Men and women have given their lives in the course of protecting our freedoms.

But there is another kind of cost. The fundamentalist Muslim world sees our freedom mainly as licence to pour filth into our lives: Watch our television commercials for a weekend, and what is the vision of the good life that we're peddling? Out of control beer, sex, and violent video games. Baywatch was the most popular TV show in the world last decade. MTV was the most popular television network in the world last decade. That's the price of freedom too. We have to put up with such trash because we don't anyone telling us what we can and can't do.

When does the church flourish? Not when Christianity has become trivialized because it is so easy. Do I want some persecution? No, of course I don't. I want easy. Would some persecution be good for me? Probably. In a sense, that is what the spiritual disciplines do for us: we willingly subject ourselves to more difficult circumstances because they produce in the kind of fruit that doesn't grow during easy times.

"I pledge allegiance to a country without borders, without politicians."

I'm sure glad I live in a country where I can write such stuff and not worry about the government showing up at my door to haul me in...

Books I've been Reading this Week

2011-05-29T18:58:00.000-04:00

Continuing the natural theology research, I've been skipping around in quite a few academic books I got from the library. One of these I read this week was Stanley Jaki's Lord Gifford and his Lectures. It wasn't for studying, but just for fun to see something of the background of the prestigious Gifford Lectures. It's now on my bucket list to go and attend them in Scotland someday.

Finished (re)reading McCall Smith's The Sunday Philosophy Club. For every one of the books in this series, I get about 2/3 of the way through reading occasionally, and then I can't put it down until I'm done. He's not Tolstoy, but I really enjoy the stories and quasi-philosophical reflection.

Another reread this week was Hearing God by Dallas Willard. More on this in later posts.

Finally, Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku. That's one of the new books I talked about here. I've gotten through about 100 pages of it so far. It's a lay-friendly tour of 20th century cosmology so far. "Lay friendly" in these books usually means an absence of mathematics. Unfortunately trying to explain the latest theories in cosmology without mathematics is like trying to describe what a sunset looks like to a blind man.

Financing Megachurches

2011-05-27T20:42:00.000-04:00

The news came out today that Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral ministry is so far in debt that they are selling the campus to an investment group. That group will then lease the main buildings back to them for 15 years under the terms of their bankruptcy settlement.

I don't think that I'm inherently anti-megachurch. We attended Willow Creek for awhile back in the 90s and have very good friends who are part of the local megachurch. I don't dispute that such ministries have done a lot of good in the world. I wonder, though, what the future is for these massive campuses? Will it be like going to Europe and seeing the huge cathedrals that sit empty except for the tour groups? I doubt if the government will subsidize them as historical monuments here like they do there.

I hope everyone admits that there is at least an uneasy relationship between capitalism and the church. It may be the best option we have, but I'm still uneasy about it. I'll leave it at that for today.

New Book Alert

2011-05-26T20:44:00.000-04:00

It's always fun to get new books in the mail. It wasn't that long ago that such a thing was a very rare occurrence. When we lived in Boston during graduate school years, I used to make a fairly regular trip the used bookshops in Cambridge. At the time, it had the highest concentration of bookshops of anywhere in the world. I wonder how many of those are still open?

It was also during graduate school that I first remember hearing about Amazon.com. Someone was handing out bookmarks in the library with advertisements for this new website. I still remember a long river on the bookmark resembling the Amazon, and the catch phrase about the new Amazon.com as the world's largest book retailer. I thought, "That is a really, really tenuous connection. Surely they could have come up with a better name. This one will never work." So how much money have you contributed to the good folks at Amazon since then?

My latest purchases were two book on the multiverse--the latest conjecture of cosmologists that is a result of string theory and the inflationary universe. Several papers in my Blackwell Companion discuss it, and I've been very interested. So the latest edition to the Stump library are Michio Kaku's Parallel Worlds and Brian Greene's The Hidden Reality. Kaku is the Japanese-American who is on just about every science show these days, and Greene is the new wunderkind of string theory from Columbia U. Greene actually believes that there are an infinite number of worlds out there, and every variation of things that could possibly happen here are actually happening in one of them. That means that there is really another planet out there where a middle-aged, balding philosophy professor writes a blog named Stump Speeches, but his has millions of followers. I'm anxious to dive into his book--I suppose the me in another world has already finished it. I'm sure I'll discuss it here in the future.

The (not so) Big Business of Academic Publishing

2011-05-25T16:58:00.000-04:00

I stopped by the office today and in my mailbox was my royalties check for the 2010 sales of Christian Thought: A Historical Introduction (Routledge, 2010). Some of you may not be too aware of how all this works, and perhaps you've had a vague notion that we who publish on academic presses secretly have second homes in Tuscany and Swiss bank accounts. So I'm allowing the internet tendency of disclosing personal information to have partial sway over my being, and I'll give some of the juicy details of this business.

When my co-author and I signed the contract, we each got a low-to-mid three figure advance on the royalties. That means that they gave us money up front, but it was to be deducted from our later earnings. Then upon submission of the completed manuscript, we each got another low-to-mid three figure advance on royalties. When the book was published, we each received one hardback copy and ten paperback copies of the book, plus the offer to buy as many copies as we want at 30% off the list price. Then, for as long as the book is in print we get 10% (5% each) of the money Routledge receives for paperbacks that are sold (and 7.5% of the money Routledge receives for hardbacks).

The book came out in July of 2010. And evidently it did better than was expected, because it sold out of the first printing sometime in January. The first printing was 1200 copies, so we're not exactly talking about a NYT best-seller. Its primary market is as a textbook, and there were a few schools that adopted it for the spring semester. At one point during the holidays, it made it up to #34 on Amazon's top 100 books on religion (which was something like #24,000 for its overall best sellers). The price then was down to about $24 (which is cheaper than I can buy them from the publisher), but currently it's at about $38 on the site. I could make you a deal on a signed copy if you're interested!

Anyway, my portion of the royalties (after deducting the two advances) for 2010 was in the mid three figures. When you add all of those payments together, I'm up to the very low four figures (not counting decimal points!) in money earned on this project. I estimate that I have significantly more than1000 hours invested in working on this book, so we're talking less than $1/hour. Such is the reality of academic publishing. In a future post I'll explain what drives us to do such things.

Lying Deja Vu

2011-05-24T16:28:00.000-04:00

I was taking a break from writing this afternoon and sat out on the deck reading some more of The Sunday Philosophy Club. I came to the passage in which the main character Isabel reflects a bit on lying (she is the editor of an ethics journal, so she tends to do that sort of thing). I thought to myself, "I should paste this passage into the blog and write about it." So I opened up the blog and had a sense that I had done this before. I went down to the cloud of labels at the bottom of the page, and sure enough there was one on lying. Clicking on it took me here, where back in June of 2007 I had pasted in the exact same passage. I didn't say much about it though. I will now, just enough to provoke and aggravate:

One of my favorite discussions in Intro to Philosophy classes is on lying. Plato seems to defend in The Republic that it is necessary and OK for governments (or ruling authorities in general) to lie to its citizens for their own good. Students don't usually like that. For most students the issue of lying seems so clear-cut, black and white. Then once we bring up examples like lying to the Nazis about hiding Anne Frank in your attic or lying to the customs agent about smuggling Bibles into China, it gets a little more complicated. Add to that a definition of lying that includes non-verbal deception, and we have to start considering cases like leaving a light on when you're not home to deceive would-be burglars, or as one of my friends has done for the same purpose, putting a "Beware of the Dog" sign in the yard even though he has no dog. Maybe even slowing down when we see a policeman counts as lying, because we're trying to make it appear that we were driving more slowly than we really were.

I laughed pretty hard at The Invention of Lying. It is pretty irreverent and even sacrilegious, but it does a good job of showing how lying is embedded into the fabric of society. Are all of these bad? Certainly not all of them are "bearing false witness" in the legal sense intended by the ninth commandment. Should we always tell the truth when someone asks how we are doing? What about at birthdays and Christmas? What if there is a greater evil that would occur if we didn't lie? If I told you I had an easy answer to all of these questions, I'd be lying. And I wouldn't do that.

Running the Race

2011-05-23T10:39:00.000-04:00

Last night was the Living Waters 5k at Oxbow County Park. One of Casey's friends from school was in charge of it, raising money for drinking water in Africa. The whole Stump crew decided to go over to Elkhart last evening for the event. It is also the cross country course where our high school team runs a couple of meets per year, so I thought it would be fun to see the course from the runner's perspective. (And it is the same park where I ran high school cross country sectionals and regionals many moons ago, but the course has changed.)

Trevor and I did some warm up jogging along one of the parts of the course, and after doing so I was nervous that my projected finishing time of sub 22 minutes was a bit optimistic. The course is much more winding with small rolling hills than is apparent from the spectator's perspective. And running in long grass is not as easy as running on asphalt. Then, almost right at the opening gun, the weather turned bad. Very dark clouds, high winds, spitting rain. The weather sirens went during the whole race. Well, all that to say that I didn't get the time I was hoping for. The clock read 22:54 when I crossed the finish. Disappointment and resolutions to do better next time are part and parcel of running. Still, the event was fun and a job well done by its organizers.

Over the past several years, running has been a significant spiritual discipline for me. You can see my shameless self-promotion on the sidebar under "Sound Body" where the running workouts from my Running Ahead accountdump into this page. It has become a part of my life. I'm convinced that the discipline of consistently running translates into improved discipline in other areas of life. Was Paul just giving a culturally relevant metaphor in 1 Cor 9:24-27? I think it was that, but it is hard to dispute positive effects of physical exercise. "I beat my body and make it my slave" is given a Platonic or gnostic interpretation by some. But it could just as easily be translated, "I discipline my body so it serves me."

We are physical creatures. Philosophers and theologians debate what the "me" is in this conglomeration of blood and guts and bones and neurons. Whatever it is, in my case it is served well by running.

Books I've been Reading this Week

2011-05-22T15:16:00.000-04:00

I've been working on a paper I'm calling "Natural Theology after Modernism" this week that will go into the Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity, which I'm editing with Alan Padgett (more on that later). Almost all of the 55 contributors have submitted their papers, so the editors figured they better get theirs done (I had such good intentions of finishing earlier). Anyway, in writing it the paper, I've been reading the sections on natural theology in these books:

Michael Buckley, SJ, At the Origins of Modern Atheism. This is one of my all time favorite books.

Brian Hebblethwaite, Philosophical Theology and Christian Doctrine

John Clayton, Religions, Reasons and Gods

James Sennett and Douglas Groothuis (eds), In Defense of Natural Theology.

Then for fun, I've been reading a couple of novels. Wendell Berry's Memory of Old Jack is for Robby Prenkert's summer reading group. First meeting is tonight, and unfortunately I'm going to miss it because I'm participating in the Living Waters 5k at Oxbow County Park in Elkhart.

And then one evening I started rereading Alexander McCall Smith's first Dalhousie novel, The Sunday Philosophy Club. Every time I read one of those books it makes me think, "Why don't I write one of these?" Perhaps one day...

Our Last Day on Earth

2011-05-20T10:40:00.000-04:00

I guess this is it. Our last day on earth. According to the careful calculations (and dubious assumptions) of Harold Camping, the rapture of the Christian faithful will definitely occur tomorrow. I'm trying to decide whether to pay the mortgage and send back the Netflix video. I saw in the newspaper this morning that there is an atheist group is offering to take care of our pets for us once we've gone. Give them the money now, and if the rapture occurs within the next ten years, they'll look after Fido and Boots (or Sophie and Mrs. G, in my case). I thought that was a generous offer on their part. A quick google search turned up this website on the issue. At only $10, it might be worth the risk

I was in college when there was a 10-day window during which the rapture was predicted to occur. There was a little booklet called "88 Reasons why Christ will Return in 1988" (I still have it somewhere on the bookshelf). True story: I was living on the third floor of Oakwood Hall, and one afternoon during this 10 day window could not find another person on the floor. With some concern I ran down to the second floor and saw a couple of guys, but they gave me little comfort because I had reason to believe they might have been left behind anyway. Now in full-fledged panic mode, I started looking for the holy rollers. Finally finding a few, I decided then and there to put childish ways behind me. (I'll just leave the meaning of that ambiguous.)

Jerry Walls

For a saner take on the silliness, Christian philosopher Jerry Walls was on NPR's Talk of the Nation on Wednesday talking about it: http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=136432488&m=136432483. It's worth listening to.

On a related issue, I've been wondering some about the connection between corpses and resurrection bodies. It always seems to come down to skeletons. But why do our bones get some sort of privileged position among body parts? Sure they seem to last the longest after the mortician/taxidermist has his way with our dead bodies. And there is Ezekiel's fantastic story about the dry bones getting reanimated. But even then, most of the Christians who have died over the last two thousand years don't even have their bones together any more.

Blogging Eternal Security

2011-05-19T16:28:00.001-04:00

It has been almost two years since I was a blogger. Sometime after I stopped, I saw Derry Prenkert and he informed me that he is a blogging Calvinist: If you're really a blogger, you'll persevere to the end; if you fall away, you were never really a blogger to begin with.

Well, we'll see how that theology plays out. I'm considering getting back into. I'm sure my faithful followers (both of them) have moved on to other things. The thing that I got tired of was going through the whole day filtering all my experience through the grid of "how could I turn this into a blog post?" I don't want to do that again, but may use this from time to time to chronicle some part of my thoughts.

Stump Speeches has a new awesome, inc. template. I'm going to put some updated pics on the sidebar. And I'll try to see what other improvements for blogging have happened in the last two years. I'd be happy to take suggestions.

Life Books

2008-05-26T20:22:00.007-04:00

At the beginning of 2008, one of my objectives for the year (which doesn't sound as risky as "resolutions") was to identify some life books. The impetus for this came from reading The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership a couple of years ago. It was written by Steven Sample, the President of USC. One of the chapters was called, "You are what you read..." He argued that rather than reading all the latest, fadish books (like his), those who aspire to become better acquainted with humanity ought to read old books, and to master a few of them. So, I'm aiming to put together a list of less than ten of my "Life Books"--books that I will read over and over.

After about five months of this, I'm thinking that the objective might need to be modified slightly (which is always easier than breaking a resolution!). There is certainly something universal about the human condition, and the greatest of literature (fiction and non-fiction) captures this. But there is also something about our particular contexts--our situatedness, to anticipate a future posting--that I don't want to conceal or obliterate. To that end, I may need two lists. And right now I think I'm separating those lists rather arbitrarily, by the year 1900: those written before, and those written after. (And for the post-1900, I've only considered fiction so far.) Aside from dates, I'm trying to have some reasonable cultural distribution too, but ultimately I'm relying more significantly on the criterion Robby Prenkert gave me for such purposes: does the book enchant?

Here are the working lists so far:

Pre-1900:

The Holy Bible
The Iliad, Homer
The Republic, Plato
Confessions, Augustine
Don Quixote, Cervantes
King Lear, Shakespeare
Meditations, Descartes
Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, Kant
The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoyevski
The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne

Post-1900 Fiction:

The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald
Lord of the Rings, Tolkein
Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis
Things Fall Apart, Achebe
The Chosen, Potok
Silence, Endo
100 Years of Solitude, Marquez
Name of the Rose, Eco
Beloved, Morrison
A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini

Objectives may be revised at any time without further notice.

Masterson and God

2008-05-20T22:05:00.005-04:00

Justin Masterson got his second start for the Red Sox tonight (see blog on first start here), and tonight the bullpen did its job and he comes away with his first big league win. He went six and a third innings, giving up only one earned run (and that one came after he left the game). The Red Sox only scored two, but it was enough as Papelbon came on for the save.

During the game, I started wondering how much God cares about baseball. I remember since I was a kid being skeptical about praying for my team to win. But it seems to change things when we move from a generic prayer like that to a specific prayer about this individual player that we know. I find myself trying to suppress the prayer that involuntarily came to my lips with every payoff pitch, "God, let Justin strike that guy out." Because there is also someone that the batter knows who is praying for him to hit a home run on that same pitch. It seems like such prayers cancel each other out and make a mockery of God's involvement in the affairs of the world.

Yet, it doesn't seem wrong to pray, "Let him do his best." Is it problematic that "doing his best" seems to mean "pitching really well... and most likely winning"?? And every batter's mom is praying for him to do his best, which means getting a hit most of the time?! If this is what we mean, we're still stuck in a mode of thinking that our prayers are about affecting the outcome of the game. And in that theological masterpiece, Angels in the Outfield, we learned that at least championships have to be won on their own.

I'd like to think that "Let him do his best" means something closer to "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven." There is a sense that when anything is functioning as it ought to, it is reflecting the kingdom of God. I think this is true of the natural world just as much as the spiritual realm. But that doesn't mean that everything will always go the way we want it to go. Even when baseball players are functioning as they ought, they're going to win some and lose some. We can pray for peace for the player, for him to be free from distraction, to function as he is capable of; and I believe that God assists in those things. But especially in a game of baseball, there are lots of things that are left to chance. The kingdom mindset is that no matter the outcome, I know that all will be well. With that perspective, we can see how there could be things like games in heaven without both teams winning all the time!

Undoubtedly, Justin is going to pitch in some more major league games. And there are enough Christians in his life, that I'm sure there will be lots of people praying for him when he pitches. And I'll bet he'll win some of those games and lose some of them--and that won't be dependent on how fervently we're praying for him. Through it all, I'll keep praying that the kingdom of God will be evident through his pitching. (But it sure is fun when he wins!!)

Congrats, Justin.

Silence

2008-05-18T21:33:00.004-04:00

I finished rereading Shusaku Endo's Silence last night (the first time I read it was in 2005). This strikes me as a very important novel--which probably doesn't mean anything more than, "I really like it."

Probably most of us have thought about what we would go through for our faith. Would we be able to die for what we believe? Would we go through torture and be martyred? As we see in Silence, those are the easy questions...

At the next level, would we allow others to be tortured because of our own faith? And, what does it mean to apostatize? Is there a difference between some external action that has always been associated with relinquishing one's faith and the internal commitment? How do we respond to God's seeming silence and indifference?

And perhaps most profoundly, what is the cultural garb of our faith?

I know that a few of you out there have read and appreciated Silence. I'd be interested to hear your takes on it.

500

2008-05-17T20:45:00.003-04:00

I started running more regularly last June, and that's when I started keeping a running log. With today's six mile run, I went over the 500 mile mark.

It also makes two days and twenty-one hours worth of running in the past year. Physical exercise is certainly a spiritual discipline for me (part of that whole "beating my body and making it my slave" thing). I wonder, though, if I've prayed for two days and twenty-hours in the past year?

Something seems wrong to me about keeping a prayer log in terms of the number of minutes prayed per day. Lots of people keep a prayer journal, though. Is that the same sort of thing? More qualitative than quantitative, I suppose.

Can we push the comparison further? One of the big things in getting more effective in running is just logging lots of miles. It doesn't really matter how fast; your body "remembers" the miles and benefits from them when you try to run more seriously. I pray the Lord's prayer just about every day. Does that do anything analogous? Does the regular habit of praying somehow make my prayers more effective?

Library Update

2008-05-15T21:01:00.002-04:00

So I saw that Howie Mandel (sp?) commercial the other day for buy.com claiming to sell books for cheaper than Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I'm always up for a good challenge in buying books, so I put it to the test. And since my last post on this subject, I've had the good fortune of acquiring a few other books via the largess of publishers who think I might somehow become a spokesman for their products. And there were a couple of others I found in the basement of the Griffon in downtown South Bend waiting for the symphony to begin the other night. So here are the newest citizens of Stump Bibliotheque Nation:

J.M. Coetzee, Diary of a Bad Year (This is for Robby's book club. 50 pages in, I'm not enchanted yet...)
Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (This is for John's book club. 5 pages took me the same amount of time to read as the 50 in book #1. This doesn't bode well for the next 576 pages, but there is a greater enchantment factor going so far.)
Timothy Paul Jones, Christian History Made Easy (I'm a little embarrassed to list this one here, but it's got lots of great lists that are saving me lots of time.)
E.P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (one of those found at the second-hand store; allowed me to give back my borrowed copy.)
Frederick, Buechner, Secrets in the Dark (A book of sermons by one of my favorite writers. His name is pronounced BEEK ner.)
Edward Slingerland, What Science Offers the Humanities (A freebee that looks pretty interesting.)
Peter Harrison, The Fall of Man and the Foundations of Science (Here is a bigwig in the history of science and religion claiming that scientific techniques throughout the scientific revolution were developed in order to ameliorate the cognitive damage wrought by the Fall. Now that's an interesting thesis... can it really be defended?)

For those wondering about Howie's pitch... it was true. The first three books on the list were cheaper to get through buy.com than the same three from either Amazon or B&N. You have to be careful of the shipping, though. You qualify for free shipping for $25 or more of qualified purchases; only one of the books qualified, though, so I had to pay shipping. Still it was cheaper than the other two--even counting my Member's discount at B&N.

Periodically Speaking

2008-05-14T10:42:00.003-04:00

I enjoy periodicals. Rarely do I read them all the way through. But I'll usually spend five minutes flipping through one when it comes in, and mark for the later the articles I want to read more in depth (or sometimes tear them out and send them to others).

One of the perks of the VP job has been lots of periodicals that are either sent my way for free or paid for out of some mysterious account. As I transition out of the job and lose the mysterious account, I'm going to have to decide which ones I'll pony up for. Here's the current line-up that comes across my desk (in no particular order):

Christianity Today
The Christian Century
Touchstone
Books and Culture
First Things
Chronicle of Higher Education
Historically Speaking
New York Review of Books

Any feedback on which one you think should be the keepers?

Buddhism on the Brain

2008-05-13T09:46:00.003-04:00

In today's New York Times there is an editorial by David Brooks (whom I know nothing about) called, "The Neural Buddhists." It discusses the move beyond materialism among the brain theorists (what we like to call "philosophers of mind") to the acceptance of the transcendent: "The mind seems to have the ability to transcend itself and merge with a larger presence that feels more real." He calls this "Neural Buddhism."

Brooks reads this shift as part of the culture war between a Christian worldview and a scientific worldview. But this one is not so much about atheism as it is about orthodoxy. He says, "The cognitive revolution is not going to end up undermining faith in God, it's going [to] end up challenging faith in the Bible."

A couple of (undeveloped thoughts):
1. The vast majority of scientists are not going about actively attempting to undermine Christianity or religion in general. There are only a few loud-mouthed ones with big book deals that are doing that. The rest go about their business trying to advance within their guilds by discovering new things.
2. There are two extremes we would do well to avoid: a) reading the Bible as a scientific textbook; b) thinking that revelation has no import for the larger worldview in which science operates.

Symphony

2008-05-06T20:22:00.008-04:00

So the reincarnation of my blog seems to be a lot more just newsy stuff about the family than it is deep reflections on life. And by the comments and readership stats, it appears that the blogging public preferred the old format...

Nevertheless, I'm going keep the new way going for at least another entry. Our middle son, Trevor, plays on a xylophone team at his fifth grade. The coach for the team is the principal tympanist for the South Bend Symphony. Last weekend the team got to play at a fancy reception and then in the lobby prior to the symphony.

Also notable is the fact that the symphony performance was the special 75 year Gala celebration for the SBSO. And for the occasion, they brought symphonic superstar, Hillary Hahn to town. Here is a picture of her with Bethel math professor Rob Myers (and his wife Michelle)--no slouch himself at the violin.

Good times had by all.

Another running blog

2008-05-01T16:29:00.002-04:00

I ran at lunchtime today at the Bethel track. When I got back to my office afterwards, I had this email message waiting for me from a Bethel employee:

Jim,

I’d appreciate it if you’d kindly refrain from running around the track while I’m sitting in my car near the fence trying to eat my Cheesy Gordita Crunch and Caramel Apple Empanada. I feel like I’m being preached at. This shameless display of “wellness evangelism” is interfering with my enjoyment of hybrid pseudo-Mexican food and undermines the college’s focus toward diversity. Perhaps you could just go down to the other end of the track and run in place behind the fence. I’ll honk when I’m finished.

I ain’t heavy – I’m your overstuffed brother.

tim

Today IS that day...

2008-04-26T21:31:00.003-04:00

So I have these three boys--here posing at a Wal-Mart in Wisconsin during a recent vacation (yes, we vacation at Wal-Marts). Like most boys, they're pretty competitive and there is some Oedipal thing where they'd like to beat their dad. I talk a lot of smack with them, trying to demonstrate that their dad is tough and manly. One of my favorite lines is to paraphrase Aragon in Return of the King when he is rallying the troops before the black gate. We'll get wrestling together and I'll announce: "The day will come when you boys will be able to take your father. But that day is not this day!"

Truth be told, there are several events at which I can't keep up with my boys any more. I've given up trying in video games. The controllers have just become too complicated (my video game neuro-circuitry was formed on the Atari joystick). And in board games we play pretty straight-up with each other (Connor won Monopoly last night). I've held on to physical dominance, though. In wrestling, I can still take all three at once--but now it hurts my body pretty bad. Basketball in the driveway is getting closer, but the advantage still goes to the old guy.

Today, Casey (age 14.5) asked to go to the track and race me in a mile. He's in track right now and works very hard and diligently at running. But I've been running too. He broke 6 minutes for the first time this past week. I haven't run a mile all-out in quite some time, but have done some speed work as part of my runs. So I figured it was time to give him a shot. Well, it turns out that today is the day that junior beats senior. It was very windy at the track, and I kept pace for a six minute mile for the first two laps, but on the third, turning into the wind coming down the home stretch... I died (I thought literally so for a bit). He pulled ahead and stretched it out on the last lap to a 12 second victory.

Oh well, at least I still have chess.

Bethel Alum makes it to the Show

2008-04-25T07:38:00.008-04:00

Big news yesterday for all of you who are Red Sox fans and somehow attached to Bethel. One of our alums made it to the big leagues. Justin Masterson was drafted in the second round a couple of years ago and has been dominating AA ball. With Dice-K and Beckett ailing on the mother team, they needed some help, and Justin got the call.

He pitched six innings at Fenway against the Angels, giving up only two hits and one run. In my office at school I had purchased the internet broadcast for my computer, and at different times there was a Dean, the Director of Financial Aid, another VP, a Board of Trustees member, and the President in checking on the progress. Lots of fun (too bad the bullpen blew the win for Justin!).

Pictured here is the ball Justin signed for me. It sits on the shelf next to my autographed balls by Bob Gibson and Phil Niekro (no pressure, Justin).

When I got home, in the mail my official membership materials had come from Red Sox Nation. I'm no fair weather fan, and it's even more exciting to be a big fan of a team when someone you know is playing with them.

Expelled

2008-04-22T21:18:00.004-04:00

Last night Meister and I made it to the new documentary Expelled. Sam wrote a Facebook note about it here last week (based only on hearsay??) to which I made only a smart-alec comment. Here is a slightly more substantial assessment:

1. It is definitely over-the-top in style. The longer it went, the more I felt like it was trying to fight fire with fire. That is to say, it was squarely within the genre of Richard Dawkins's recent work: it was flamboyant, included lots of things just for shock value, chased some red herrings, interpreted some things uncharitably (which some will say are outright mischaracterizations), etc. At times it felt more like an ad in the current political campaign. Perhaps the producers thought that was the only way they'd make a splash in our Hollywood-ized culture. And that was too bad.

2. I was disappointed there was such an overt and strong connection made between Darwinism and the Nazis (and other totalitarian states). There is no doubt that evolutionary ideas influenced Hitler; and a case can be made that the spirit of natural selection pushes a culture toward eugenics. But there is a big difference between that and the claim that neo-darwinists today in academe are just as morally reprehensible--and that is certainly what was insinuated.

3. If you strip the above qualities away from the film, it did an admirable job of exposing contemporary evolutionary theory to be what Thomas Kuhn called "normal science". There is a dominant paradigm that remains unquestioned within the enterprise of science (which includes journal publications, tenure, grants, etc.). People who are outside of that paradigm are labelled as trouble makers or worse, because they upset the balance that has been achieved in the guild. Of course there are problems within theory, but very few are willing to go outside of the theory in order to solve them and prefer to work from within.

4. They were not trying to make the point that Intelligent Design--much less creationism--is correct; rather they were trying to argue that its proponents deserve to be heard, deserve a place at the table. That is hard to argue with unless you have a view of science that is so committed to positivism that it's silly. Science is imbued with metaphysical assumptions and claims, so trying to claim that Intelligent Design proponents aren't really doing science comes back to bite just about everyone on the tush. I'm sure there are ID folks who aren't doing science, but the ones interviewed on the film (and many more that I know of) are: they're developing testable hypotheses and submitting them as the best explanation of certain facts. Ultimately, the theories will sink or swim based on their predictive power and their ability to lead to new discoveries. It just can't be substantiated that ID is merely young-earth creationism in sheep's clothing (or would it be wolves' clothing?). It just isn't the case that ID people are trying to get creationism taught in public schools with the hope that that will lead to mandatory prayer and Bible classes in schools and the dissolution of separation of church and state.

5. I think my favorite moment of the film was when Stein was interviewing Richard Dawkins and asked what he'd say if he dies and meets God. Dawkins kind of himmed and hawed a bit and said, "I guess I'd give the same sort of answer as Bertrand Russell did to that question: Why didn't you give more evidence of your existence?" The scene then cut to Stein's narration saying something like, "Maybe he did... maybe God left evidence of his intelligent design of creation, but scientists aren't willing to look for it."

Book update

2008-04-18T21:47:00.003-04:00

Like many of you out there, I enjoy the company of books. Last weekend Chad and I made a trip to Chicago hook up with the good folks at The Chapel. On the way there we stopped in Hyde Park to cruise a few of the used book stores. I acquired the following:

Umberto Eco, Foucault's Pendulum (on the very strong recommendation of Samwise after having enjoyed The Name of the Rose.

Harry Prosch, Michael Polanyi: A Critical Exposition (because I'm interested in learning more about him as the second-hand things I've picked up about him resonate with my evolving thinking about epistemology).

Stanley Hauerwas, A Community of Character (I had decided to procure all of his books that I could find).

Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon, The Truth about God (basically the same reason as above).

Robert Hellenga, Philosophy Made Simple (A novel that looks to be in the same vein as Sophie's World--all it needs is the accompanying board game for philosophy parties at my house!).

David Edmonds and John Eidinow, Wittgenstein's Poker (a reconstruction of an encounter between Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein (and a threatening poker) at a meeting of the Cambridge Moral Science club in 1946).

Niall Griffiths, Stump (I couldn't pass up a novel with my family moniker as the title; evidently it is about a guy with an amputated arm... it won the Welsh Book of the Year award in 2004... uses some variation of the F-word in almost every paragraph).

Not sure if I'll ever read them all, but I enjoy being in their company.

An interesting thought

2008-04-16T21:55:00.003-04:00

While out on my run this evening, I was listening to a "Speaking of Faith" podcast with Martin Marty. It was a pretty interesting discussion of religion in American life, and there are probably lots of things worth commenting on. But one interesting things stood out to me in particular: He referenced a (hitherto unknown to me) Dutch philosopher named Eugen Rosenstock-Heussy (which took some doing to find how his name was spelled).

He claimed (according to Marty) that the history of learning in the western world can be written in three Latin phrases:
1. credo ut intelligam (I believe in order to understand). This is what led to the birth of universities in the middle ages.
2. cogito ergo sum (I think therefore I am). Here is the skepticism that characterizes modern thought.
3. respondeo etsi mutabor (I respond although I will be changed). Truth has a social character and we learn by conversing with each other.

I like this kind of thing. I like it when historians can impose a structure on the past in such a way that it gives meaning (or brings out meaning?). I suppose I feel more comfortable when there is structure. Of course there is a lot more to be filled in, but these claims are the like the joists (or are they rafters?) upon which the rest of the planks can be laid to make the roof.

(sorry for all the parentheses)

Is it live?

2008-04-14T20:39:00.004-04:00

Last night I dropped my son off at the Skillet concert in Elkhart where he was meeting his cousin. I brought my computer along and went somewhere for a couple of hours to kill the time. After the battery ran out, I drove back to the venue, thinking that it may about be over. When I pulled up in front of the auditorium, there were about 100 kids outside milling around and smoking. I sat there for a bit watching, and came to the realization that there were two opening acts (1000 foot crutch and someone else), and that it was probably in between acts at the moment. I also noticed that these people were going in and out without showing tickets or otherwise being regulated. So, I wondered if it was like a baseball game where after the sixth inning you can come and go as you please.

So I wandered in with the smokers and got to see the show. I'd seen Skillet a couple of times at Cornerstone and even have them listed in my favorite music section of Facebook. It's good hard rock with some pretty cool string sections. Lots of strobe lights and lasers and smoke in concert. Very loud. Not the most profound of lyrics (e.g., "you're better than drugs"), but still enjoyable.

The music is pretty heavily produced, though, so when you're watching it live, you're never really sure how much is just coming from the apple computer that is sitting on top of the keyboards. They had a violinist with them, but pretty obviously he couldn't have been make all that sound. And the bass player is also the lead singer, and about half the time he's romping around not even pretending to play (but the music doesn't seem to suffer). Nobody seems to care, though, because it sounds so professional.

I suppose that lack of caring is what has allowed video churches to thrive. It doesn't matter that the speaker isn't really there; we can watch it on the screen and get a more professional version than we would if we had to have a speaker that came out of the actual body of believers we're in the same room with. There's one local church who seems to be contemplating doing the entire service through video (not just the speaker, as many places do). I wonder, "Why not just have it piped to my TV and I can stay in bed?" It's not like we fellowship with the people around us while we're watching the "show" anyway (aside from the obligatory, "Turn to the people around you and tell them you're glad they're here" which takes place after the first music set).

I wonder where it is headed...

Running and Pharisees

2008-04-08T22:00:00.006-04:00

We had a little mini-vacation last weekend, and one of the stops was at an outlet mall. I took a couple of the boys to an arcade and gave them each two dollars to blow while Chris did a bit of shopping. Then I sauntered over to the Nike outlet store (because there weren't any bookstores) and stumbled into a whole bunch of nice running gear for cheap.

I promise not to turn this into a running blog, but will venture one more for now:
Two things that have been interesting motivating factors for me during this last 8 months' renaissance of running in my life: good running gear (nice shoes, hi-tech moisture wisking shirts, etc.) and an on-line running log. The log, which as I mentioned is linked to the sidebar of this blog, has been particularly important. I really like keeping track of how far I've run and how long it took me. This particular log has the capability of during a google map of your routes that show distance and elevation (from our house to the river, there is a 175ft drop in elevation). You can track how many miles a particular pair of running shoes has on them, what the temperature was during your run, your weight and heart rate, etc. It is to the point that until I log a run and then check the various graphs that can be generated to see totals and comparisons and so on, it doesn't really count as a run.

I suppose that I lean pretty heavily toward performance and results. I can't help but see where a particular run stacks up with the other runs of that particular course (even if I'm not trying to run for speed). I just like to know. Does that make me a competitive person? I probably would have made a pretty good Pharisee.

Running and Mind

2008-04-08T21:32:00.003-04:00

So, in the new book I talked about last time, there are some pretty interesting essays. Some don't really have a lot to do with running, but just use running to illustrate some other favorite idea (like the one by my benefactor about dualism). Others, though are quite interesting and insightful pieces about running. One of them in particular, "Phenomenology and Running" was very nice.

Throughout the twentieth century there were, broadly speaking, two dominant camps of philosophical thought: analytical and continental. Analytical philosophy emphasized logic and scientific method and rigorous argumentation; in my less charitable moments I describe continental philosophy as "touchy - feeling" or "fuzzy". In some of my past philosophy classes I used to do something that was probably unfair to continental philosophy: I'd bring my copy of Heidegger's Being and Time and open randomly and read a paragraph and ask students if they understood anything. Of course no one did. I'd say, "See, these continental folks are just spouting words and trying to create impressions without really analyzing their concepts." (One could just as easily do the same with analytic texts like Principia Mathematica, but I'd not mention that).

Anyway, this running article was on phenomenology--usually a topic of interest to continental types. But I really enjoyed it. It was a discussion based on Merleau-Ponty (a continental philosopher of whom I don't think I've ever read a word) about how becoming a runner changes the way you perceive the world, the way things appear to you to be (which is what phenomenology is all about). There are some obvious things like how runners can tend to view the world in miles and minutes and pace when they didn't before. The really interesting discussion was how focusing on running makes it harder, but when you occupy your mind with something else (like listening to lectures, as I often do), the body sort of runs on autopilot.

The author (I've forgotten his name now and the book is two flights up) was concerned that this spoke in favor of separate mind and body substances when his hero Merleau-Ponty wanted to say something like "our bodies are the expression of mind in the world; they are the way we experience the world." I'm going to toy around with this a bit, because it fits my theory that I had started to propound back in an entry during my first blogging stint.

Running and Philosophy

2008-04-04T22:18:00.003-04:00

For those of you reading this on the blog site, you'll notice on the side bar my there is a feed from the running log that I keep. I was a high school cross country runner, and as an adult have been an occasional road runner. A dean at my college and I flirted with ramping up for a possible marathon run last winter (in a tropical climate), but neither of us made it. My cute wife (see the picture (in a tropical climate) on the sidebar) and I did do the Columbus Half-Marathon last October (see results here). That was a lot of fun.

Last week, was our annual Bethel Philosophy Lectures; the speaker was Charles Taliaferro. At supper I learned that he had been a contributor to the book, Running & Philosophy (Blackwell, 2007). He sent me a copy of the book this week. Thanks Charles! I'll do some reading in it this weekend as the Stumps go away and report back.

More highlights from philosophy classes past

2008-04-03T20:22:00.005-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, Chad Meister and I had our bi-annual debate in his Metaphysics class about God's foreknowledge and our freedom. It started six years when I wrote a response to a page that he had written that was inspired by Minority Report. Essentially I claimed that there is a distinction to be made between God (or pre-cogs, or MacBeth's witches) foretelling an action that is made with significant emotional involvement (like denying Christ three times or shooting the supposed abductor of my son) and some perfectly mundane, free choice.

So I composed a thought experiment in which I stop at Krogers and buy ice cream on my way home, having to make a choice between the vanilla and the mint chocolate chip (each of which I like equally well). But then suppose that God made a video of that future choice appear on my computer before I left work for the grocery store. I claim that revealing that to me would be enough for me to want to choose oppositely to what is on the video when I actually get to Krogers. Meister claims, then, that that is a flat out contradiction because the video shows what will happen, and so I couldn't choose otherwise (though he still claims it to be a free choice). Then I fall back on some Back to the Future-inspired space-time continuum gobbledy-gook about it being a different future than the one shown on the video tape (which was not a picture of the "me" that had knowledge of the video tape). And so it goes to where I say that God knows the future and we have free will, so long as he keeps his knowledge of our future free choices to himself. That's where the discussion has ended the last three times.

This time, however, I think we made some progress (or at least advanced the discussion a bit more). Meister's strong intuitions are that I cannot do otherwise than I will do. And I'm happy enough to affirm that, but I fear there is a problem when what I "will" do is revealed to me. Because that in some sense "fixes" the future. And my strong intuition is that I can still do otherwise when I get to that future choice if I really do have free will.

So I feel that there is a linguistic problem with our analysis. For Meister asks (with the law of non-contradiction lurking close by), "Is it possible for you to do otherwise than what you will do?" I want to claim that that is an incorrect verb tense and that we don't have a verb tense that works here. For in some sense it is like asking about an action that is already done, "could you have done otherwise?" to which we say "yes, but I didn't and can't undo it now." But that doesn't really work for that future action... I think I can "undo" my future free choice because it hasn't happened yet. Thus the video is not really of the actual future (or it is set).

And then I have to claim that there is a perspectival thing going on here, because it is my knowledge of my future free actions that causes the problem. I'm happy to affirm that God can know about them through simple foreknowledge without that causing the space-time continuum dilemma.

Someday I might try to write this more coherently...

"It's simple symbolic logic, captain"

2008-04-01T15:16:00.002-04:00

Because I'm kissing administration goodbye but still wanting a regular paycheck of some sort, they need to find something productive for me to do around here. For next fall that will include teaching Symbolic Logic.

Because this blog seems to get more reading as a Facebook note that appears there through the miracle of electronic wizardry, I'm hoping that a small commercial for the course might hit an appropriately targeted audience there of potential PHIL301 students. Also, at the joint Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics class last week with Taliaferro, there was some concern being propagated about Symbolic Logic being a difficult class; I thought I should address this concern as well.

I try to sell the course as a rigorous set of calisthenics for your minds. It is rarely the case that anyone taking it really needs to learn the symbols of first-order predicate logic for utilitarian reasons; but learning to use those symbols trains you to think in a certain way, and learning to think in that way is advantageous to just about anything you do in life (I'm not completely thrilled that I've fallen back on a utilitarian argument of sorts after all, but there it is).

In the interest of full disclosure, I always start my courses by reading some of the student evaluation comments from others who have taken the course from me. I'll give some of that here in order to get the buzz going. These are actual comments from actual people (which contrasts with what you'll get from Prenkert!! (though I'm not unaware that I'm still constructing my own narrative here)). Here is a fair representative sample of what students have said about the class over the last four times I've taught it:

"This class is very challenging. The content is difficult, but Stump is very good at making sure that students are understanding. I find this class interesting and "fun", at least, as fun as it could be. This was a very welcome breath of fresh air as far as difficulty is concerned."

Sometimes I felt as if I were sure to drown like a Viking Child thrown into the water of symbolic logic. Dr. Stump is a very good professor and this class was taught as well as any course I have taken. The class is hard for certain, but it has undoubtedly improved my thinking skills.

"This is the hardest class I've taken in my four years at Bethel.
I've never worked so hard in a class and not done as well as I would have
liked. The one redeeming quality of the class is that Stump teaches it,
but even that has failed to make the class bearable. This is not really
Stump's fault I guess. I just really hate and don't understand the content
of the course. It would be nice if Stump was more accessible--he's too
busy being an important Vice President--again I guess there's not much that can be done about that."

"Pensees are a definite plus--we miss them when they're gone. After
the Friday with the singing, the class has been way too relaxed and
lenient. Before, it was taken more seriously and I learned more."

"Good class; too picky on tests; doesn't give me points back when I whine;
it's better than Greek class; allegiance of professor to Red Sox is
unacceptable."

"I enjoyed this class, you did a good job ob of making foreign concepts
understandable. I came in with no logic experience and having no math
since my freshman year, but again you helped make it understandable. The
course was just difficult enough."

As to the difficulty of the course, the overall GPA of the grades I've given for the last several courses is higher than the average GPA of our student body. So, I'll spin that data to say, if everyone would take this class, our overall GPA would go up!!

I look forward to having you in class next fall.

Signs and Wonders

2008-03-31T22:13:00.004-04:00

Les Beauchamp is back in the house at Bethel this week. He has been a Spiritual Emphasis Week speaker four times over the past twenty years, and it just so happens that they have coincided perfectly with the times that I have been a part of the community. I'm not entirely certain of this, but I think that I have been to every one of the chapels he's spoken at (which would be 29 of them counting today's). There's something about him...

I convinced my son Casey to come with me tonight to see the service. On the way there I told him that it felt to me like it must have felt in the Bible days when John the Baptist was around (I won't go so far as to compare him to Jesus) when some father said to his son, "you've got to see this crazy preacher out by the river. Let's go out and see what happens."

I guess part of the draw is that the supernatural follows Les around. He used this phrase tonight that comes from Celtic Christianity: thin. "Thin" was used to describe places where the boundary between the natural and the supernatural is very thin--where the two pass over into each other. It's not the kooky TV preacher kind of stuff; but you get the sense that it is authentic Holy Spirit activity that we too rarely experience.

Everyone wants a sign. We'd all like to see a show. I guess there's some connection to my previous posts here. What role does the Spirit play today? I live in a pretty rational world.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign

2008-03-26T22:56:00.003-04:00

The good Dr. Haas took some exception to my recent post on coincidences as signs of God. He left a series of posts on my Facebook page into which this blog dumps (found here if you have access). I take it that the gist of his concern is that interpreting circumstances as messages from God is an inherently private action, and so removes the controls of a believing community centered on the Word of God and opens the door to all kinds of wacky things which are immune to falsification.

I continue to wonder, though, whether the kinds of experiences I alluded to have some legitimate place in the life of faith. Remember first of all that it's a pretty rare occurrence in my life that something dramatic like this happens (in a life approaching four decades, I'm still counting them on fingers (with several leftover)). Next, most of these incidents were not remarkable in their immediate contexts (with the exception of the radio song I mentioned), but have become more so as larger stories of my life unfolded. The historian will have fun with this, I'm sure: they are the interpreted "facts" (and I'm not sure there are any other kind) around which I've made sense out of some of the things that have happened to me and the choices that I've made. I'll continue to contend that my faith has a role to play in this. I believe in, trust in, and am committed to (these three attitudes classically constituting faith) seeing the hand of God at work in my life. This is always easier in retrospect and (I'm willing to concede) in community.

You'll not catch me claiming infallibility with such things, but I think it defensible that God does work through circumstances and impinge on the natural order of things. I think we can learn to hear his voice (though we need to be careful here not to think God just dictates to us what we should do in certain situations--thus rendering free will superfluous). These are components of my faith in the kind of being that God is.

Such a topic could hardly be treated with integrity without appeal to the Five Man Electrical Band classic:

"Whoaaaa signs, signs, everywhere a sign;
Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind.
Do this, don't do that. Can't you read the signs?

Play ball!

2008-03-25T18:30:00.005-04:00

There is still snow in piles in northern Indiana, but they're playing baseball in Japan. My family and I arose at 6am local time today to see the season opener for Major League Baseball which featured my beloved Red Sox beating the Oakland A's in extra innings in the Tokyo Dome. Evidently this is part of some marketing scheme to bring in more international dollars to MLB.

I have to admit that it seems a bit early for baseball to be going entering the official season. And I haven't decided yet how devoted of a fan I'm going to be this summer (though I'm not sure that we are always the agents of such decisions... more often we find ourselves engaged at various levels apart from any intentional choice). On the one hand, I won't be administrating any more this summer (which means I won't have to put on long pants every day and go to work), so there should be some time to devote to sport. But on the other hand, a writing deadline looms pretty large at the end of the summer, and there's not much of a margin for tomfoolery.

I'm also anxious to see how the whole world-champions-twice-in-four-years thing fits with being a Red Sox fan. Winning the World Series once was the incredible and unbelievable climax to the collective suffering of generations. But now it's almost old hat. The DNA of Red Sox Nation is changing. I haven't decided yet if I like it. It makes me feel pretentious... almost like a Yankee fan.

See you tomorrow morning at 6am for game two.

Resurrection musings

2008-03-24T20:53:00.003-04:00

Another Easter is in the history books. It is probably a little anti-climactic to discuss Easter after the fact (kind of like the Easter egg hunt that took place on Bethel's campus today). But I've never claimed to be ahead of the curve.

The resurrection of the body is an interesting topic to plumb. We quite often assume that it is the actual physical body itself that becomes re-animated at the resurrection. Certainly in the instance of Jesus's resurrection, there was no more body in the tomb (note the empty burial cloth in the photo).

We want there to be a connection between our physical bodies now and the resurrected bodies that are to come. Must there be? If not, then Jesus's "body" could have still been in the tomb when he was resurrected. But it gets complicated when we deal with others.

What about the resurrection of those who have been dead for thousands of years? There aren't many particles of their bodies left to animate. And a question that some Christians have given serious consideration to is: what if a guy fell overboard into the sea and was eaten by a fish; thus his body was incorporated into the fish's. Then someone else caught the fish and ate it, thus incorporating that flesh into his. At the resurrection, whose flesh will go to which resurrected person??

It seems to me that there is some sort of continuity. For instance, at the Transfiguration Jesus's regular body was transformed into the glorious one (the soma pneumatika?). It's not like his regular flesh was there too. But how do you maintain a continuity like that when all the material particles have disintegrated from the body?

VP No More

2008-03-21T17:05:00.007-04:00

One of the nice things about taking six months off from blogging is that you have a lot of topics waiting in the wings to be blogged. One of the categories I'll be interspersing here is "Catch up on my life" Probably the most momentous thing that has transpired during this time period is my decision to step down from my administrative post at Bethel. At the close of this academic year, I'll no longer be the Vice President for Academic Services.

I still have some major reflecting to do on this move. Coming to the decision was tortuous, but even if nothing else good comes from it, it was a worthwhile process because I heard from God. I suspect that most of us have times fairly frequently when there is a nudge or quiet word in our lives that provides direction. But I have a list that I can count on my fingers of the times when there was something more dramatic in the way of divine communication. I've never been one to hear audible voices or see skywriting; but God has worked powerfully and unmistakeably (at least to my lights) through circumstances--like the time that I asked if I was going to marry the girl I was dating and God "answered" through the song on the radio. This time it was through the timing of a telephone call. Perhaps I'll speak to it again in the future.

For now, I'll reflect a bit more on coincidences. There is a concept that has some traction from the Intelligent Design movement called "specified complexity". Essentially it is an event that has a very low probability of happening (complexity) AND shows unmistakable signs of intelligence (specified). When I lived in Illinois, the license plates had three letters then three numbers to them (unless you ordered a custom one--which was free in IL at that time but I chose not to do for aesthetic reasons). The one that we got was RCF 337. Getting that specific license number has a probability of 1 in 17,576,000. That's pretty rare, but I when we got it in the mail I didn't respond with, "Wow, can you believe we got that one??!!" However, if I had gotten JBS 711, which has exactly the same probability of appearing on an Illinois license plate, I would have been incredibly shocked and I doubt if you could have convinced me that something wasn't fishy somewhere (because that happens to be my initials and birth date).

In the same way, many of the "God things" that have happened to me had incredibly low probabilities as well as having the unmistakeable mark of someone standing behind them. I'm aware of the possibility that they could have just been random; but I choose to view those events as purposeful (and would argue that it is the better explanation of the facts to do so). I think that being committed to viewing the world in such a way is at least part of what it means to have religious faith.

It's all about me

2008-03-19T20:40:00.003-04:00

I'm back from a half-year blogging hiatus. I have enjoyed the break and feel that all jobs should come with six-month vacations. I'm a little nervous, to be honest. I've fallen out of rhythm. I feel like I don't what's going on out there in the blogodrome. I wonder if anyone will come back after my desertion.

An unrelated story:
For a year in Sierra Leone I taught five boys all subjects that 7th and 8th graders are supposed to learn. One day I got so frustrated with the egocentrism that permeated their conversations, that I banned the use of all first-person pronouns and kept score on the board for any violations of the rule. One kid kept using them on purpose and it made me angry.

My Blogging Summer

2007-09-05T12:07:00.000-04:00

This is my 87th blogging entry (though there are a handful of those still in unpublished draft version), reaching back to April 27th with this post. With the passing of Labor Day, it feels like the summer is officially over, and as I reflect on the themes in my life during this period, blogging is definitely one of the noteworthy ones.

But now it is time to take stock of the priorities for the fall semester, and I'm afraid that blogging is not going to be very high on the list. I have thoroughly enjoyed it for a season, and am not going to completely remove myself from the blogosphere. But I'm not going to be very regular at it for the immediate future. There are too many other demands on my time right now and I need to be a good steward in that area of life.

I've discovered that blogging well is pretty significant commitment. It is not merely the time to write things down, but there is the time spent reading other blogs, and (perhaps more significantly) the mental commitment to blogging in the sense that it is one of the projects that never ends and competes with the other things in life.

Lest I end on a downer, I'd like to note the things about blogging that I see as positive:

I love the medium of language. Others paint or play music or blend media together in movies or what have you; I like straight language. It is remarkable to me that a certain pattern of ink splotches on a page, illuminated pixels on a screen, or vibrations through the air can be such powerful communication tools.
Blogging promotes a reflective lifestyle. Most all life forms experience the world (I'm not sure about bacteria...); I'd like to think that we humans are unique among creatures (at least those on earth) in that we are capable of reflection and the organization of our experience. Writing about our experiences is a great way of expressing our humanity.
Blogging promotes an interactive lifestyle. I suspect most all bloggers refer consistently to postings in other blogs. The nature of the web has grown this aspect exponentially over things like letters to the editor in a magazine, and I see it as a positive dimension.
It feels so hip to mention that you blog.

I have appreciated very much the feedback I've received. Perhaps I'll see you again next summer...

Returning Home

2007-09-03T06:22:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting in the airport in Kingston, waiting to return to the U.S. We have an early flight (6:40 am). My host suggesting getting a van from the hotel at 4:00am. Nothing else this weekend has gone on time, so I figured this was a good idea to aim for being early. But the driver called from the hotel lobby at 3:28am this morning--a full 17 minutes before we set the alarm. We got here to the airport and checked in and whizzed through immigration. The plane is expected to be late (no shock there). So we sit in the waiting area...

It was a great cultural experience for Casey and me this weekend. It wasn't very much tourism at all. We got the authentic experience. The commencement ceremony at JTS was late and long; church yesterday was late and long. And then there is just the different pace of everything. Yesterday, we were to drive from Kingston to Mandeville for church (about 90 minutes) and expected to return to the hotel by about 3pm. We got back at 8:30. But it was a good time. We stopped and visited with people along the way, and everything is just very relaxed.

Our hosts were very gracious at every point. We hope to return soon.

Jamaican me crazy, mon

2007-08-30T09:18:00.000-04:00

Tonight my son Casey and I leave for the land of reggae, Red Stripe, and 100m sprinters. I'm speaking at the Jamaica Theological Seminary commencement ceremony on Saturday and at a church in Mandeville on Sunday.

My wife and I decided that I'd try to take one of the sons (not sexist: we have no daughters) along with me when I go on trips like these, so they can start to experience more of the world first-hand. This is an especially significant sacrifice for her this time as we'll be missing her birthday on Sunday. We'll try to bring back something good!

Tuesday's Blog on Blogging

2007-08-28T09:22:00.000-04:00

It's Tuesday again. That means we step back from what we're doing here in Blogopolis and reflect on it.

Two weeks ago today the dialogue I posted (here) received lots of traffic and positive comments (more off the official site than on). Several of these insinuated that it was a nice piece of creative writing--probably conditioned to think in such ways from some familiarity with the genre over on ABUNCHALIES. However, the only accolades I should receive for the posting should fall along the following lines: "Your typing is very accurate." or "You really transcribed well!" For in truth, the dialogue was almost entirely exactly as it took place in real life. This might suggest one of a couple of things:

1. The Stimp household sounds like a lot of fun.
2. The best blog postings are really shows about nothing.

There have been several times since that posting that something very normal happens and one of us (in our best George Costanza accent) says, "There's a blog." I suppose that would get pretty old after a while.

I read about an Arabic guy out east somewhere who was arrested as a terrorist suspect; he was innocent, but to continue proving his innocence he has started logging everything that he does for the public to see. He keeps a gps on him transmitting to his website so you can always know where he is, he logs all of his financial transactions, etc. This is interesting for about 2 minutes.

In graduate school in an ethics class I remember a discussion about virtual reality machines and whether people would choose to hook themselves up completely to an alternative reality if given the chance (yes, philosophy graduate students really talk about such things). I argued that many would--after all, that's what TV and the lottery is to some extent--but only if it gave them a significantly different life than they currently had. The point was that people would prefer "real" life to virtual life if the quality of those lives was equal.

I guess the relevant point here is that blogging about nothing might be cute and funny once in a while, but no one really wants a steady diet of your normal life. Just give us the good stuff.

I'll Be Back

2007-08-23T20:41:00.000-04:00

Good times had at faculty retreat, but it is always pretty draining. I'll see if I can back in the blogging rhythm here soon.

Keep in touch.

New Year

2007-08-20T21:36:00.000-04:00

Those of us in the academic profession feel that new year's day should be sometime in late August. That is the new beginning for us, when all things are made fresh. I have a good deal of responsibility with the the prelude to the new year--think of it as organizing the New Year's Eve party.

We had our new faculty on campus today after a meal at the president's house Sunday night. Lots of fun. Tomorrow starts the full faculty retreat. I have a pretty big speech/talk/sermon (I'm never sure what to call them) to give on Wednesday night. The theme will be the purposes of God in our generation which might be served by the Christian college.

Across my banner at the top, the first descriptor is education. This blog has been rather thin on that topic so far. I'll see if I can't do something about that in the future. I need to dig in now to this speech/talk/sermon. If you're inclined to such things, I'd appreciate your prayers; if you're not inclined... fight the inclination and give it a try. I'm pretty sure it won't hurt you.

ND prayer service

2007-08-18T20:56:00.001-04:00

So today I participated in the ecumenical prayer service at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the campus of Notre Dame. It was a pretty awesome experience. For as much as I disagree with some elements of Catholicism, they sure know how to do pomp and circumstance.

It was the 150th anniversary of the Ft. Wayne - South Bend Diocese; the 25th year anniversary of Bishop D'Arcy becoming the bishop; his 50th anniversary of his becoming a priest, and his 75th birthday. The Basilica was packed and overflowing. The Archbishop from Indianapolis was there. President Jenkins of ND gave the opening remarks. I was in the processional that went to the platform with about 12 others (including some prominent pastors in the area, the Mayor of South Bend, a dean from Notre Dame).

During the intercessory prayer part of the service, we each had a line to pray, to which the audience responded in song, "Lord hear our prayer". My prayer/line was, "For people of all faiths, we pray that they would have freedom to worship according to the dictates of their conscience; this we humbly pray..."

Prayer

2007-08-17T16:15:00.000-04:00

I finally finished Yancey's book. It is a masterful treatment of the subject.

A glimpse into my daytimer:

Saturday: Ecumencial Prayer Service at ND
Sunday: New Faculty Dinner
Monday: New Faculty Orientation
Tuesday-Thursday: Faculty Retreat

Blogging may be down the priority list for a week or so.

Keep in touch.

Claiborne

2007-08-16T20:30:00.000-04:00

I mentioned I was a little disappointed with the seminars at Cornerstone this year (here). The first three I tried to go see, the speakers hadn't shown up yet. That kind of jaded me towards those speakers, and I didn't go back to try to see them later. I see now that was a mistake.

I get a podcast from Krista Tippett's "Speaking of Faith" radio show which airs on NPR (though not on our local NPR station--which is why I get the podcast). The show is very worthwhile listening, especially while out on long runs (very user-friendly instructions about how to subscribe to the podcast here). One of her recent shows was a conversation with Shane Claiborne, who was one of the late-comers to the Cornerstone seminar tents I missed. It was a pretty fascinating 53 minute conversation. I have a bit of a negative association with some of the celebrities in the emergent/missional movement for attitudinal reasons, but this guy is about as humble as they come. Very refreshing.

His words and life just drip with the Kingdom of God--a subject of near-future posts.

Tuesday's Blog on Blogging

2007-08-14T19:43:00.000-04:00

A conversation between two sitting at the table and one in the adjacent room (only the names have been changed to protect the innocent):

Mr. Stimp: Do you have any ideas for my Tuesday's Blog on Blogging?

Stimp Jr: What is your Blog on Blogging about?

Mr. Stimp: It is where I write a blog entry about writing blogs. It is my most popular posting of the week, but I'm not sure what else to say about it.

Stimp Jr: Just say you don't know what else to say about it.

Mr. Stimp: I already did that once.

Mrs. Stimp: [overhearing, laughs from other room]

Mr. Stimp: [to other room]: What do you think?

Mrs. Stimp: I think it's funny.

Mr. Stimp: Can I quote you on that?

Mrs. Stimp: Yes.

Mr. Stimp: Are you serious?

Mrs. Stimp: Yes... but why would you want to?

Mr. Stimp: Because that would be funny.

Mrs. Stimp: I don't understand why anyone would want to read that I think it's funny or that I washed the car today or that I did anything else today. Why do we just put boring things out there for everyone to read? Seriously, what is the point?

Mr. Stimp: Ummm.... you should read Derry's Philosophy of Blogging. It has five parts. It's really quite good.

Mrs. Stimp: I don't have time to read Derry's five part philosophy of blogging. I have to go put the laundry away. [exits]

Mr. Stimp: This is going to make a cool blog entry for today.

Stimp Jr: Yah. Cool. I'm going to go take a shower. Can you cut my hair?

[Some minutes pass. Mr. and Mrs. Stimp meet at the bottom of the stairs.]

Mrs. Stimp: So I was thinking while putting the laundry away that maybe conceptual, academic types are more into blogging, because they spend their day immersing themselves in the realm of ideas and reading lots of words. But for someone like me who is busy doing things, if I'm going to make the effort to sit down and read something, I'd like for there to be some substance.

Mr. Stimp: Yes. I think you're right.

Mrs. Stimp: Do you know what I mean? I don't want to make the time to read a blog and then just hear that someone washed his dog today.

Mr. Stimp: This is great. I need to go downstairs and type it before I forget it.

Mrs. Stimp: I reserve the right to edit or veto.

Mr. Stimp: OK. You'll come out looking like the sane one.

Mrs. Stimp: I'd better because I might be the only one.

Stimp Jr: [from upstairs]: Dad, I'm ready for you to cut my hair.

Mr. Stimp: OK, just a minute, I need to go write my blog.

Wonder of Nature

2007-08-13T20:51:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend we got in one last summer fling--camping with our friends the Meisters. We went down to The Shades State Park in west-central Indiana and were totally awed by nature.

Yes, it was hot--probably too hot for tent camping and camp fires--but we enjoyed both nonetheless. A canoe trip down Sugar Creek (anybody else read the Sugar Creek Gang books when they were kids? Same Sugar Creek?) was great fun. Hiking in canyons (the likes of which I didn't know Indiana had) was unbelievable. Then it was a perfect midnight to view the meteor showers. The two couples cozied up on a blanket (girls in the middle) and saw a bunch of shooting stars. Evidently the best one of the night occurred while I was rubbing my eyes.

Other memorable moments included the Lego candy found at Wilson's market on 31 where everyone waited while Chad and I went in search of a new wheel for the broken down trailor ("It's all part of the camping experience"); poison ivy everywhere; listening to Captain Picard read The Last Battle while on the road; Chad's new hat.

Knee Deep Comes Back to Life!

2007-08-10T09:03:00.000-04:00

It is good to see Dean Linhart back on the blog-waves. His blog, Knee Deep in Life, came roaring back this week. I was especially thrilled to land a guest spot on the popular series, Tuesday's Travel Tips (airing on Wednesday this week because of a dispute over the international date line). Also of significant note is his feature of an up and coming Red Sox pitcher who came through Bethel--significant because the personal connection to Justin was strong enough to overcome franchise loyalty (Terry doesn't talk much about the '04 series)

The gray lining to this silver cloud is that it signals the end of summer... The swallows return to Capistrano, the French President winds up his New Hampshire vacation, the lemmings jump off the cliff, and Terry's back writing. You've got to take the bad with the good.

There's something very satisfying about the rhythms of life. Here's to hoping that you've got rhythm and good friends to share it with!

Lost Dogs Uprising

2007-08-09T09:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a funny thing I stumbled upon out there on the worldwideweb: a massive criticism of my posting about my disappointment with the Cornerstone Lost Dogs concert.

You can find it here. This is page two of comments about the C-Stone show. A little ways down the page, someone puts a link to my disappointing blog entry, and that unleashes the dogs and their fury. I signed up to get on the message board (feeling a little like I was signing up for a Treky Convention) and left a post in my defense.

It's all good fun.

Philosophy of Religion

2007-08-08T19:02:00.001-04:00

This book, co-edited by my friend Chad, was just released. It is a very significant volume, containing 64 brand new introductory essays on lots of topics in the Philosophy of Religion by such luminaries as John Hick, Bill Craig, Kai Nielsen, Merold Westphal, and other famous philosophers you've never heard of. It represents an enormous amount of work on Chad's part, and I'm very proud of him. It is only in hardback at the moment, and so carries a hefty $160 price tag from the publisher. Amazon will have it shortly for $100. They expect a paperback in a few months (and if sales are strong, perhaps a movie adaptation thereafter).

To celebrate, I'm taking him to see the Bourne Ultimatum tonight. Nothing says "congratulations on your new academic work in philosophy of religion" better than going to an espionage thriller blockbuster movie! (Showplace 16 at 9:50 in case you'd like to join us.)

Tuesday's Blog on Blogging

2007-08-07T16:05:00.000-04:00

So my plea for a carefully articulated philosophy of blogging has been heard! There's a very nice series going on over on Derry Prenkert's blog about this topic, beginning with this one. I expect that in the future, serious philosophy departments around the country will have specialists in the philosophy of blogging who point back to the Prenkert Series as the seminal work in the field. Seriously, it is worthwhile for both readers and writers of blogs to ponder what it is they're doing and why they're doing it.

But then, you probably know all about that series already, because it appears that nearly everyone who reads this blog is somehow connected to Derry's. It seems to be the case that Derry is a kind of godfather of blogging related to the web of linked sites in which we live and move and have our digital being: a good word from him and you'll get visitors; his shunning of your site would be its death knell. I appreciate the chance to ride his blogging coat tails.

Interesting name, Derry... the only other I know of is the guitar player and lead singer of my favorite band of all time: The Choir. His name is Derry Daugherty. I think his real name is Derald. Unfortunate name, Derald...

2007-08-06T22:11:00.000-04:00

I was thinking about Frank Peretti's novels (This Present Darkness, etc.) for some reason today (I think when mulling over the reality that there is a spiritual realm) and got chuckling a bit when I realized the eerie similarity with the movie, Monsters, Inc.

In the latter, the monsters in their alternate reality have to live on the power of screams that are collected from the regular world; in the former, the combatants in the spiritual warfare that is going on behind the scenes are buoyed and strengthened by the prayers that are offered in the regular world.

Something seems a little funny about that... We certainly need a way of articulating that reality of a spiritual realm and the fact that we can influence what is going on there (and vice versa); but we need to be careful not to reduce prayer to screams that can be collected and burned for fuel.

Mindless Musing

2007-08-04T18:33:00.000-04:00

Sorry things have been a little slow on Stump Speeches this week. I suppose we could make a ratio of what you have burning in your gut to say to how busy you are. Let's call it the blog-o index Then the higher your blog-o index on a particular day, the more likely you are to post an entry blog. My blog-o index has been pretty low lately.

I see, though, that with this posting I've just provided a counter-example to my own theory. Because I actually have quite a bit to do at the moment, and this isn't exactly a message burning in my gut...

I guess we could save the theory by adding another factor that takes into account the propensity we have for avoiding work by tricking ourselves into believing that we're doing something important by the mere fact of fingers striking keys... evidently I'm scoring pretty high on that count at the moment.

I feel a little bit like that song on the new Relient K disc that goes like this: "I've just wasted ten seconds of your life."

tuesday's blog on blogging

2007-07-31T16:08:00.000-04:00

At some point, you run out of things to say on some topics...

Lust

2007-07-26T20:20:00.000-04:00

I've been asked to speak in chapel October the 15th about lust. This is a dangerous thing to talk about to a bunch of guys on the internet... I'm taking nominations for funny stories, songs, or other "hooks" to incorporate.

Terrorist

2007-07-25T19:57:00.000-04:00

When I travel through airports, I have a difficult time resisting some over-priced fiction at the book shops. On the way out to Portland, I picked up Terrorist by John Updike.

Last summer I tried doing a reading group with a couple of ex-philosophy students, but it fell apart when we picked Updike's Rabbit, Run (for reasons I'll leave to your imagination). Updike is one of those highly regarded contemporary novelists, and I've read a couple of his stories.

Well, this was not his greatest fiction. The supporting characters were under-developed and almost caricatures, and the plot was fairly predictable. But it was very interesting because you got into the head of the main character who is a Muslim teenager growing up on the outskirts of NYC. You could almost feel that it made sense for him to accept a suicide mission. Updike had certainly researched the Koran.

I don't know that I'd go so far as to recommend this as reading, but if you're looking to eat up some time between Minneapolis, Portland, Detroit, and South Bend, there are worse things you could do. Though I'll also admit that it makes you a little jumpy reading about terrorism as fly the friendly skies...

Tuesday's Blog about Blogging

2007-07-24T21:57:00.000-04:00

Communication 101 drills into you that the first rule in communicating is to know your audience. Blogging by its very nature renders that almost impossible. I tried to do something about that.

Last week's blog about the blogging process yielded six people who revealed themselves from behind the mask of anonymity. How does that affect things? If I know who is out there, am I no longer blogging and now essentially writing letters to them?

I really want to be hip and with the times (though by using such a locution I probably render myself unfit for membership in the club), but I still would like to see a carefully articulated philosophy of blogging.

Ease into Mondays

2007-07-23T19:43:00.000-04:00

Instead of adding some cheesy song to my blog today (which according to the feedback doesn't seem to be my most popular feature), I thought I'd post a You Tube video. And now that I'm composing my post, I realize that I don't know how to do this. A little help anyone??

In the meantime, you might check out this post by my Colorado-an reader which has a video of Keith Green--who was a significant influence in my own life.

Have a good week.

Internet Predators

2007-07-19T21:23:00.000-04:00

Last night during the big storm in northern Indiana, our internet connection went out for a while. So, to track the progress of the tornado warning we had to break our weekday TV fast. Once the sensationalized weather coverage finally went back to network programming, I found myself watching this show called something like, Dateline--Predator.

The whole thing was a sting operation to catch guys chat with 13 year old girls on the internet and make arrangements to come have some sexual liaison with them. There are hidden cameras and microphones so we get to watch as some fifty year old guy comes to rendezvous with the girl (who is played by a very girlish, petite 18 year old). Then the Dateline host comes waltzing into the scene and springs the trap. Policemen come jumping out of the bushes and handcuff the guy while holding him facedown on the ground. It's quite gripping television (and another reason to keep the TV fast going!).

I haven't been able to sort out my thoughts on this yet. I guess I'm not surprised to know that there are otherwise fairly normal guys trying to do this sort of thing. I was pretty surprised to see it in action. I'm a bit repulsed by the slick, holier-than-thou host of the TV show (I wonder what his private life is like?), and it almost feels like entrapment. It is probably a healthy accountability mechanism for what people do on the internet. What was hidden and secret is laid bare for the world to see.

Oh, that we would have the character to be able to do the right thing even when no one is looking!!

Blank Spaces

2007-07-18T19:45:00.000-04:00

In one of John Wesley's addresses ("An Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion") he writes:

"And, indeed, it is obvious that the earth, as it is now constituted, even with the help of all European arts, does not afford sufficient employment to take up half the waking hours of half its inhabitants."

I've always been intrigued with this claim, because it is so obviously false in today's culture. He claimed that in the blank spaces that were a matter of course in 18th century life, people were forced to reflect on themselves and the futility of life apart from God. Such reflection, I'll claim, is an important (I'll almost say, essential) component of being a rational creature.

TV, Ipods, internet, etc., do pretty well at filling up all the blank spaces in life today, and it is pretty easy for people to go through life and never have to reflect at all, but merely react to the constant stimuli they encounter. I'll almost claim that makes such creatures less human.

Tuesday's Blog on Blogging: Show Thyself

2007-07-17T21:30:00.000-04:00

So during my hiatus from blogging over the last week and a half (or has it been longer?) I was in a couple of places where, rather unexpectedly, some people would come up to me and say, "Hey, I enjoy reading your blog." It got me wondering who all is out there. My readership fluctuates from about 15 to 40 readers per day (of unique visitors). Some of those are the very random "5 second stop by" variety who stumble onto Stump Speeches by scrolling through blogs on Blogspot. But many of them appear to be regular readers from places like New Jersey, Hawaii, Atlanta, Texas, and British Columbia. Who are you people?

I realize that one of the attractions of blogging is the anonymity that goes along with it. But I'd like to know who you are. If you are a regular reader (i.e., you stop by at least once per week), I'd appreciate you showing yourself. Perhaps you don't want to leave a comment to this post where everyone else can see you. Then you could send me an email at jstump46544@hotmail.com. If even that somehow ruins things for you (the way that, say, TV shows are ruined when the creative tension between two long-time characters is dispelled when they get hooked up), at least leave an anonymous comment as to why bloggees (is that a new word?) should not be coerced into exposing themselves.

Easing back into the saddle

2007-07-16T19:31:00.000-04:00

Well, here we go. Back in the saddle again. It is Monday. There is now a straight shot until school begins next month. Lots to do. Better not get too serious here yet. The week has just begun.

Being back in the saddle makes me think of cowboy songs. Here's one from the Brasil silly songs: Peanut Butter.

I desire (see June 13) to get writing some substantial blogs again soon. We'll see how that goes.

1 vs. 100

2007-07-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back from gallivanting around the country. It feels like the summer is over. I have no more trips planned, and it's time to ramp things up for the next school year. I should be sliding back into the rut next week and will attempt to become regular once again at maintaining my digital doppelganger.

The family has been on a partial TV fast for the summer months: no TV at all (including movies and video games) Monday through Thursday. So by Friday evening, everyone is craving some mindless visual stimulation. Tonight we caught the new NBC game show One vs. One Hundred. It is actually pretty fun.

It is a trivia show--mostly about popular culture, but with a few geography, logic, science questions thrown in. The contestant and the "mob" of 100 people (tonight there were janitors, spelling bee winners, and Hooters waitresses in the mob) have to answer questions. If you get one wrong, you're out. The goal is for the contestant to beat everyone in the mob and s/he gets $1million. You can try playing it yourself online here. It is certainly far superior to the totally random Deal or No Deal and Bingo Night in America.

It is a curiosity to me that broadcast TV has become so saturated with game shows. I suppose the most reasonable response to this would be to extend the TV fast to 7 days per week.

Easing and Blogging

2007-07-09T19:25:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back from 2 weeks of vacation just in time to jet off to Portland, Oregon tomorrow for the big denominational conference. It has been nice to have some time away from the office and do some exciting things. My writing and blogging rhythm has been knocked out of sync, though.

I suppose I'm at a crossroads where I need to decide whether to double down and ingrain the discipline of blogging deep into my DNA, or whether I say, "that was a fun season" and merge back into the analog world.

By the time I get back from Portland, I feel like the summer is gone... it will be time to go hammer down getting ready for a new school year.

Independence Day Part II

2007-07-04T16:21:00.000-04:00

Last year Jonathan Foreman wrote another declaration of independence (of sorts):

When success is equated with excess
The ambition for excess wrecks us
As the top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess
If you're time ain't been nothing but money
I start to feel really bad for you honey
Maybe honey put you're money where your mouth's been running
If you're time ain't been nothing but money

I want out of this machine
It doesn't feel like freedom

(chorus)
This ain't my American dream
I want to live and die for bigger things
I'm tired of fighting for just me
This ain't my American dream

When success is equated with excess
When you're fighting for the Beamer, the Lexus
As the heart and soul breathing the company goals
Where success is equated with excess

I want out of this machine
It doesn't feel like freedom

(chorus)

Cause baby's always talkin 'bout a ring
And talk has always been the cheapest thing
Is it true would you do what I want you to
If I show up with the right amount of bling?
Like a puppet on a monetary string
Maybe we've been caught singing
Red, white, blue, and green

But that ain't my America,
That ain't my American dream

(chorus)

Independence Day

2007-07-04T10:53:00.000-04:00

231 years ago, Thomas Jefferson penned these words:

"When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world."

He went on, then, to give a long list of grievances like keeping standing armies among them, taxing them without their consent, depriving them of trial without a jury, and so on. So we became the United States of America. On Memorial Day I gave a list of my conflicting allegiances to the most powerful nation on earth (find them here).

Happy 4th of July!

Tuesday's Blog about Blogging

2007-07-03T00:10:00.000-04:00

I'm up late, so the body clock doesn't know it's Tuesday yet, but technically it is. So here is the Tuesday post:

One of the virtues of blogging is that it forces you to reflect on life a bit. Among you regular bloggers, how often do you think throughout the day, "I can write about this in my blog"? It think it is a positive thing to have to systematize your experiences through the process of writing.

However, there is a downside to this as well. I have an uncle who used to do a lot of world traveling with his wife. I remember one time asking him if he had some pictures of these places, and he said he no longer takes any pictures, because picture taking got in the way of experiencing the moment.

I suppose there is something to that for blogging too. Does knowing that you're going to have to write about life get in the way of experiencing life?

Rarely (but occasionally) is there unadulterated good.

Ease into Mondays

2007-07-02T15:24:00.000-04:00

We're back to our "Ease into Mondays" feature. As I'm still recuperating from Cornerstone, I really need this today. Not much profound going on.

I mentioned a bit of disappointment with the Lost Dogs show there. One of the lowlights was a new gag they tried where they pulled someone up out of the audience to sing one of their songs. It was this one: Bad Indigestion. Sorry to share the misery.

Cornerstone Hangover

2007-06-30T18:41:00.000-04:00

We decided to skip out on the final evening of C-stone and pack up and head for home. As I type this entry on my Blackberry, we're stuck in traffic on I-80 with the Chicago skyline in the distance. Evidently there is an accident up in the distance somewhere.

It's interesting how after seeing a bunch of bands, some move up your ranking and others go down. Last night Switchfoot definitely went up. It was a great show (all live music instead of lots of pre-recorded tracks like the trend seemed to be) and they seemed very humble - again contrary to the trend.

I'm afraid, though, that one of my all-time favs, The Lost Dogs, dropped a bit. Perhaps it was because it was a midnight show, and we were dead tired after several days, but their show seems to be devolving into a burlesque show with a little music tossed in occassionally.

Tonight was a bunch of screamers on the mainstage, so we decided to shake the dust off our shoes (literally) and get home a day early to nurse the inevitable hangover caused by such an event.

At the rate the traffic is moving, though, it may be another night sleeping in a non-horizontal position.

Cornerstone field update

2007-06-29T09:36:00.000-04:00

There was a steady rain yesterday until afternoon. I was 0 for 3 in seminars, as they all missed flights. Relient K was also a no-show as their bus burned down at 3am on the PA turnpike on their way from that other festival out there.

I caught the old-school Violet Burning during supper. Rockers Skillet, Anberlin and Jonezetta on the mainstage. Then late night was my wife's fav: Over The Rhine, and one my new faves (on account of the fact that their lead guitar player's father-in-law is going to be a Bethel prof this fall!): Copeland.

Early this morning was the 5k. My wife came home with the major bling, as she won her age group. I was third in mine. Major hills, not much sleep, but good times were had by all.

Cornerstone

2007-06-28T09:43:00.000-04:00

Day 1 at Cornerstone is in the books. We made 300 mile trip without incident, but our preferred campsite was occupied when we got here. We sacrificed level ground for shade. When we got up this morning, everyone was in one corner of the tent.

We thought it might storm last evening, but the worst of it missed us. A gust of wind blew down our screened gazebo right on top of me. It is drizzling this morning.

We saw a very cool concert by The Crossing - the Celtic band from JPUSA. Then David Crowder Band was on the mainstage and gave essentially the same show as last year, but still inspiring. Then Trevor and skipped out on Toby Mac to go see Glenn Kaiser. The old guy can still play the blues.

The real reason everyone comes to cornerstone begins today: the seminars.

Cornerstone Bound

2007-06-26T14:14:00.000-04:00

I'm interrupting the Monday and Tuesday regular features (although Sunday's post probably should count as the Monday, ease-into-the-week posting). I'm technically on vacation for two weeks, and my normal schedule is thrown off.

Tomorrow, the family leaves for Cornerstone Music Festival -- the hippest, edgiest, counter-culture-est of the Christian music festivals. If I'm remembering correctly, this will be my ninth Cornerstone ('88, '89, '90, '00, '02, '03, '04, '06, '07). Of the 20,000 or so people in attendance, there aren't a lot that fit my demographic. And I suppose that is part of the attraction: it is different; it is a cross-cultural experience.

This will be the sixth C-stone for our kids. And given that the youngest is only 9 years old, it has been an experience for them that seems like a normal part of life (I hope we don't have too many counselling bills later on for that!). Some of the highlights that come to mind:

Playing frisbee as the sun was setting at the old Cornerstone Fair Grounds in '88 while Margret Becker wailed songs from the Never for Nothing album.
Watching One Bad Pig in '89 in one of those metal buildings (my introduction to the punk scene).
Larry Norman's come-back concert in '90 (along with cameos with Geoff Moore and the Distance on "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music" and with DeGarmo and Key on "They Said He Was an Outlaw.")
Dancing in the shoe-sucking mud to the W's in 2000 at the mainstage.
The packed-out tent in 2002 for the first Lost Dogs show after Gene Eugene's death
2003 20th reunion concert at mainstage at which all the classic Cornerstone acts were paraded through for a song or two--and the full concert by Steve Taylor coming out of retirement.
The Alarm late night in 2004.
P.O.D. and David Crowder Band -- unlikely bedfellows, but my two fav's last year.

Some lowlights:

The heat
The dust
The mud
Going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 during a raining afternoon
Losing the 3-on-3 basketball tournament in 2000 after making it to the finals of the winners bracket
Everyone getting sick on the ride home in 2000
Seeing my favorite bands get old

Hopefully we'll add to the good column this year!

I may try some blog posts via email, live from the festival. We'll see if they've gotten reliable cell service out in the cornfields yet.

IPOD Shuffle

2007-06-24T10:52:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting out on the deck on a Sunday morning, having done Saturday night church last night because of a family reunion later today (I think I could really get into the Saturday church thing--Sunday feels so much more like a day of rest... perhaps a later post on this). Anyway, I'm cruising through some blog posts, and see this thing going around where you're asked to put your Ipod on shuffle and write down the first fifteen songs that come up. I suppose this tells something about you. I was "tagged" do so from the blog of Tom Carpenter (aka, the Tom).

A couple of qualifications before my list. 1. I don't own an Ipod. A year and a half ago for our 15th wedding anniversary, my wife and I decided to go out together and collaborate on getting gifts for each other. She got a piece of jewelry; I got a Philips Go Gear MP3, because it held way more than an Ipod for the same money (though I feel now like my neighbor back in the 80s who got a Beta machine rather than a VHS). 2. I'm not sure how representative my list from this device will be; I don't have all my music on there, and I'm a little nervous what it might reveal about me... I'm fighting all sorts of urges to "manufacture" a random list--but that sort of thing belongs on RCP's blog. So, once I figure out how to do the shuffle, here's the list:

"Wikki Tikki" Lost Dogs, Island Dreams
"Be My Escape" Relient K, Mmhmm
"The Winds" At the Foot of the Cross Vol. II, The Seven Last Words of Christ
"Bhagavad Gita" Prof. J. Rufus Fears, Books That Have Made History
"How Deep the Father's Love" Bethel Chapel Band, More Than Enough
"Sleeping In" The Postal Service, Give Up
"Roots in Stereo" P.O.D., Testify (see photo below)
"Kissers and Killers" The Choir, Speckled Bird
"Play it Loud" MxPx, Before Everything & After
"Moondance" Nightnoise, The Whitehorse Sessions
"Skin is Burning" Burlap to Cashmere, Anybody Out There?
"Where Travelers Meet" Phil Keaggy, The Wind and the Wheat
"Allegro Assai" City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven Symphony No. 9
"Casino" Acoustic Alchemy, Arcanum
"Chitarra Romana" The Three Tenors, The Best of the Three Tenors

OK, I feel a little better. There are actually a bunch of lectures on my player that I listen to when I run and travel (things from the Teaching Company, and other places). I was nervous that I was going to be shown for the geek that I am. As it is, I got a nice random mix of the kinds of tunes that warm me up for Cornerstone this week. (I hear the 3 tenors might be a surprise act to appear!). In this vein, the MP3 is still running while I type this, and #16 is "Firefly" by Over the Rhine on Drunkard's Prayer.

That's my list, that's my life.

Final Flesh

2007-06-22T19:51:00.000-04:00

I think I've decided that the blog is not the venue for expository philosophizing. I think the journal article and the monograph evolved because of the need for sustained argumentation.

My last few fleshly posts have been like rocks skipping across the surface of an ocean of metaphysics underneath (still trying to decide on the aptness of that metaphor...), and I can see the eyes rolling back into their heads.

So, let me wrap this up with another of the marquee passages of scripture relevant to spiritual formation and our bodies. Paul writes in 1 Cor 9:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one wins the prize? Run in such a way as to win the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to gain a crown that will not last. We do it to gain a crown that will last forever...

What is the "it"? Strict training. Strict train is what those who have intended to grow spiritually enter into. He continues:

Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight
like a man beating the air. No. I beat my body and make it my
slave.

I think the last sentence should be read as follows: instead of being a slave to my body and its desires, I make it my slave. That way it can work in service to me. I train it to do the things that I want to do.

The Flesh Again, With Fasting as an Example

2007-06-21T13:45:00.000-04:00

OK, so I'm fully aware that there is a bit of revisionist history going on here, but I'd like to claim that among the early ascetics, those who got it right were the ones who saw that the way to spiritual maturity was not to transcend (or mortify) their flesh, but to transform their flesh. And the transformation process is one of reprogramming.

Let's take fasting as an example. I used to think that fasting was some means of bribing God (like people who go on hunger strikes to protest various causes). I want God to do something really bad, so I'll quit eating to show him how serious I am. And I don't want to discount the "fast and pray" injunctions and the relation between the two.

But my understanding of the practice of fasting has been transformed by the model of flesh and spirit I've been propounding. On this model, fasting is like doing spiritual calisthenics. My flesh is programmed to want food three times (or more per day); I don't have to have food for about 30-40 days, but I've been habituated to it. By fasting, I am practicing to let my spirit/person/soul have sway over the desires of the flesh. It builds up the "spirit muscle" so that when other kinds of fleshly desires may rear their ugly heads, my spirit has had practice at saying 'no' to such things. I see it very much along the lines of junior high basketball players practicing dribbling around chairs and crossing-over their dribble. This develops in them a skill, or a natural predilection, that is immediately transferable to the game situation.

I have found in my own life that when I am fasting consistently, I seem to have more spiritual power. I am "in shape" in spiritual life. When I don't fast, I tend to get a bit flabby and lazy and out of shape.

Lying

2007-06-20T22:54:00.000-04:00

One of my wife's and my favorite contemporary novelists is Alexander McCall Smith. Last night we were reading his Sunday Philosophy Club and came across these two paragraphs about lying:

"Of course, not all lies were wrong, which was another respect, Isabel thought, in which Kant was mistaken. One of the most ridiculous things that he had ever said was that there was a duty to tell the truth to the murderer looking for his victim. If the murderer came to one's door and asked, Is he in? one would be obliged to answer truthfully, even if this would lead to the death of an innocent person. Such nonsense; and she could remember the precise offending passage: 'Truthfulness in statement which cannot be avoided is the formal duty of an individual to everyone, however great may be the disadvantage accruing to himself or to another.'...

The answer, surely, is that lying in general is wrong, but that some lies, carefully identified as the exception, will be permissible. There were, therefore, good lies and bad lies, with good lies being uttered for a benevolent reason (to protect the feeling of another, for example). If somebody asked one's opinion of a newly acquired--but tasteless--possession, for instance, and one gave an honest answer, then that could hurt feelings and deprive the other of the joy of ownership. So one lied, and praised it, which was surely the right thing to do. Or was it? Perhaps it was not as simple as that. If one became accustomed to lying in such circumstances, the line between truth and falsehood could become blurred."

Tomorrow I'll try to get back to the morass I've gotten into regarding the flesh and spiritual formation (the folks on Facebook, where this blog automatically posts, are jumping all over me!).

Tuesday's Blog about Blogging

2007-06-19T19:25:00.000-04:00

In the analysis of my blog traffic by statcounter, it tracks the last 500 page loads. Of these, about half have gone directly to this page. Then, there are the links out there from which people find this blog. Of these, my Facebook Profile page narrowly leads the way over the links on the blog of the very hip Derry Prenkert . Holding a solid third (not that it's a competition) is the blog of one of the very few successful youth ministers who became successful deans: Terry Linhart .

Then there are a couple of other bloggers out there giving the occasional electronic shout out to Stump Speeches: Bob Carder is an old district board buddy now involved in church planting out in the plains somewhere. Find his blog here. And Nate Loucks--my star epistemology student--directs a few folks here from his xanga site.

Today I'm trying to return some love. I can't help wondering if the first people who wrote books on dinosaur skins or chiseled them on rocks passed them around to each other and said, "I'll read yours if you'll read mine."

The web is a wild, wonderful place.

Monday after Father's Day

2007-06-18T21:31:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely Father's Day yesterday. Came home from church and put some steaks on the grill. My family got me a nice sound system for the computer (with subwoofer!). That has me sampling all the music on the computer.

Sampling all the music has me deciding to make it a Monday tradition of easing into the week with something light-hearted (two weeks in a row makes it a tradition!). Traditions need some explaining:

I have a sister who lives in Sao Paulo, Brasil. We were able to go visit her and her family at Christmas time last year. During the 8 or 9 days we were there, we calculated that we spent 30 hours in the car trying to get around the city and to the beaches. During those 30 hours of very close quarters, something had to occupy the kids, so we listened (over and over) to what we called the "Brasil Silly Songs".

Here's another offering from the Brasil Silly Songs Greatest Hits: Cheech the School Bus Driver. (This is high class stuff.)

Flesh is neutral

2007-06-16T17:05:00.000-04:00

The last post could leave the impression that the flesh is bad. On the interpretation I'm trying to articulate, flesh in itself is not bad. Christ became "flesh" -- the same Greek word the NIV translates as "sinful nature" most of the time in Paul's letters.

What I'm claiming is that flesh itself is neutral. Flesh can be trained or "programmed" to be a positive or a negative in our lives, because it is so capable of sustaining habits (see earlier post on this). The issue is that given the tendency to sin that we've inherited and given the fact that we exist in a very fallen culture which encourages the development of certain habits, the "flesh" for most of us is something we have to overcome when we become Christians.

The point of the spiritual disciplines, then, is to retrain the flesh to sustain positive habits. This is what Jesus did (WWJD). His flesh was a boon to his spiritual life, rather than a bane.

More to come...

(this bonus post for the day is brought to you by the fact that Red Sox are on TV again and I'm sitting here with the laptop!)

Spirit and flesh redux

2007-06-16T09:43:00.000-04:00

OK, let's try this again. Galatians 5:16f in the NRSV (not the NIV, because it translates sarx as "sinful nature" rather than "flesh"):

Live by the spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the spirit, and what the spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other to prevent you from doing what you want.

Does this speak to anyone's experience other than mine? Or we might go to Romans 7:

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right but I cannot do it.

Here again we're talking about two different agendas at play. "I" (my spirit/soul that has been regenerated) want to do what's right, but this flesh that is also "me" seems to want other stuff that conflicts. Paul goes so far as to say that it is not "I" that do the bad stuff, but the sin dwelling in my flesh.

This is tough stuff to explain unless we have recourse to the actual, physical flesh that has become habituated in certain ways. Remembering that our brains are part of that, and that the neural pathways that have been formed govern (they don't dictate completely except in extreme situations) my thoughts, attitudes, emotions, etc. Here, then, is why spiritual formation must pay attention to our fleshly existence.

Spirit, flesh, and Mona Lisa

2007-06-14T19:52:00.000-04:00

"The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." So said Jesus about the disciples when they couldn't stay awake. There is a consistent ontology of flesh and spirit in Scripture. Some argue about this, but I see it pretty plainly. And I think the best argument for it is that such an ontology best explains the data of spiritual formation.

If this were a philosophy paper, I'd have to get a lot more sophisticated, but I don't think we lose too much by claiming that human beings are spirit and flesh. These are not two different parts that make up one whole (the way it takes hydrogen and oxygen atoms to make water molecules). Rather, there is an essential substance (the spirit/soul/person) and a mode of its existence (human flesh).
By way of analogy (and it's only an analogy), consider the Mona Lisa. The picture to the left is the "Mona Lisa" in the medium of crayon. This is possible, because there is something that IS the Mona Lisa, and that thing can be represented in different media.

So, we might say that the thing that is me (my spirit/soul/person) is currently "represented" in human flesh. It seems possible, then, that it could be represented in something else, like a spiritual body (the soma pneumatica of 1Cor. 15).

OK, lots of objections come to mind here (Could I be "represented" in beetle flesh? No. You couldn't. Perhaps I'll get to that in another post. Am I not essentially human? Hmmm... Let's just let that sit for a bit.) The point I want to draw out is that even when I'm "born again", my spirit may be reborn, and I genuinely desire and will to do the right things, but I'm still enfleshed. And we know what flesh means: habits. God doesn't seem to take away the habits of the flesh for most of us at conversion. The good news is, we don't have to be slaves to the flesh any more, and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit we can retrain our flesh.

Whoa... too much to digest. We'll let this sit and try again tomorrow. There's really some very important stuff for spiritual formation in all this.

Wishing, Desiring, Intending

2007-06-13T18:47:00.000-04:00

I wish I had a million dollars; I wish I were snorkeling in the Caribbean; I wish the Sunnis and Shiites would quit blowing each other up. That is, I can form a positive mental image of the object of my wish. When I conceive of it happening, I have good feelings about it.

I desire to learn to speak Spanish. I desire to run a sub-20 minute 5k. I desire to organize my office. That is, beyond forming a positive mental image about these things, every once in a while I engage in a flurry of activity that has something to do with achieving these goals. I consistently want to do them, and have resolved (several times, in fact) to make these things happen, but none of them are currently achieved (nor, if I'm being brutally honest, do I expect them to happen any time soon).

I intend to write a book. I intend to go camping at Cornerstone again this year. I intend to pay off the van loan by the end of the summer. That is, beyond wishing for these things, and beyond desiring them and resolving to accomplish them, I am currently engaged in practices which have reliably shown to lead to the intended goal. I am committed to seeing them happen and have prioritized accordingly.

Wishing, desiring, intending... If we asked Christians where on that scale would the goal of "Becoming more like Christ" fall, I fear that for most of us it is somewhere between wishing and desiring.

Equally we might ask about "Becoming spiritually mature" or (to use Willard's blunt example) "stopping sinning", or to link an earlier post, "learning to obey all that Jesus has commanded". What does this tell us about the depth of Christianity as practiced in 21st century America?

Tuesday's Blog on Blogging

2007-06-12T20:32:00.000-04:00

Here continues my public reflections on the process of reflecting publicly. I'm settling into the rhythm of posting almost every day. I feel like the Israelites going out onto the desert sand every morning to find some manna. The thrill of seeing it the first few mornings probably wore off after a while. Then it became work.

Some must have been thinking, "God, if you're going to miraculously make manna appear, why can't you just make it appear in our cupboards?" It would be any harder for him, would it? And it would save us a lot of work! Evidently that's not God's style.

Blogging, then, becomes the metaphor for manna collection, which is the graphic reality of God's decision to work with us--not to work for us. And then again, the benefit of blogging is primarily for the blogger--not for the bloggee.

It's easy to read other people's interesting thoughts, good ideas, profound insights; but that rarely does much for you. Having to work through it yourself, putting your own hiney on the line--there's where the benefit lies (or is it lays... pretty sure it's lies).

Of course there's the continuing irony that if there weren't a few people out there actually reading the stuff, then it wouldn't really be blogging... it would just be keeping a diary. Thanks to the readers who keep us honest.