SHAKESPEARE’S HEART SKIPS A BEAT WHEN SUZI CALLS

“In fact, when I pick up the phone and see that it’s her, I’m almost at a loss for words,”  said the reknowned poet and dramatist. “Are you kidding?  You - the master of the English language at a loss for words?”  I asked him. I was talking to the world-famous author of  “Romeo and Juliet” about the alluring woman named Suzi who has been texting and calling him for the last few days. “Her voice... Read more

Wernor Herzog: The Thinking Man’s James Cameron

January 1, 2010 - From Richard Rushfield, over at Gawker: Sanity is a relative term in the realm of Hollywood directors who generally function on a mental health continuum ranging from borderline OCD cases on the benign end to paranoid schizophrenic megalomaniacs on the deeper end. On that far side, James Cameron has long sat as Hollywood’s, raging at all within his grasp, building cruise ships and sinking them; the sort of man whom makes one... Read more

EVELYN UNDERHILL: GUIDANCE FOR THE SPIRITUAL LIFE

Dateline - October 14, 2009:  An article by Mary Brian Durkin: Evelyn Underhill is recognized as one of Great Britain’s outstanding religious writers. Her books, lectures, retreat conferences, and letters of spiritual advice offer insights into ways to develop and maintain a sane spiritual life. In these works, often in homey and humorous ways, Underhill shows how the natural ... Read more

WAYS OF THE MYSTIC: LETTING THE WELL REPLENISH; SAYING NO EVEN TO “OBLIGATION”

Dateline:  September 1, 2009 - I can feed upon and be built up by delving into the Word and letting it guide me to new places, including green pastures. My cup will begin to overflow and I will need to express this overabundance, this exuberance of spirit, by praying or testifying. But afterwards, I may feel drained, depleted, spent. I have to wait until my well has replenished itself or else I have nothing to offer. For me, the spiritual well... Read more

HEMINGWAY ON THE WRITING LIFE

Dateline - August 10, 2009   I just finished “Ernest Hemingway on Writing” (edited by Larry W. Phillips) which is not a treatise on the subject written by Papa, but excerpts from his books and letters on the subject.   I culled the parts that relate to the daily writing discipline.  According to Hemingway, here’s what his daily routine looked like (and how he recommends the writer’s routine should be): In general, wake... Read more

ORDERING PRINCIPLE LEAVES “MORAL” ATHEISTS CULPABLE FOR NATURAL EVIL

Dateline - August 8, 2009   The ordering principle of the universe, regardless of whether it is conscious or not, is a huge dilemma for the “moral,” rational atheist. And atheist John Loftus acknowledges that there is indeed an ordering principle in Chapter 5 of his book, “Why I Became An Atheist”: “Have you ever stopped to think that what exists outside of our universe, that is, what is beyond the known ORDER [caps... Read more

THE PROBLEM OF PAIN REVISITED: HOW GOD DECIDES WHAT IS GOOD

Dateline:  August 3, 2009 - Recently John Beversluis updated his critical book entitled C.S. Lewis and the Search for Rational Religion and atheist John Loftus has written a review of the updated work. Victor Reppert, whose book C.S. Lewis’ Dangerous Idea was in response to Beversluis’ original work, has not yet written a formal response to the updated work, but he has written several posts addressing some of the major points, in particular... Read more

RESPONSE TO JOHN LOFTUS ON MISCOMMUNICATION, PART II: THE LAW IS A CONCESSION TO MAN’S EVIL HEART

Dateline:  August 1, 2009   Don’t go blaming God for miscommunication.   It was man that told God to “SHUT UP!” As I noted in an earlier post, over at Christian Cadre atheist author John Loftus has raised the issue of miscommunication, the idea that if there is a God he has failed to clearly communicate his will, making him responsible for atrocities and other moral failings of man. I argued that both the Gospel and the Bible... Read more

RESPONSE TO JOHN LOFTUS AND MISCOMMUNICATION, PART I: THE MURDER OF GOD

Dateline - July 25, 2009  Not only does the Bible frankly admit the connection between murder, religion, and power, the central message of Christianity proclaims that God was murdered in the name of religion in the struggle for power. As such, it is an incredibly salient cautionary, if not an indictment, against those who would carelessly and gratuitously make religious condemnations. Any writing or gospel that points to – indeed, makes the... Read more

WHY MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE CANNOT BE DEFINED AS BRAIN ACTIVITY

Dateline - July 17, 2009  In discussions of whether brain activity indeed causes mystical experience or whether it simply runs parallel with it, one controversial issue has been the definition of mystical experience and how one confirms it. On the one hand, Metacrock argues that 1) researchers are not confirming in their work that their subjects are indeed having religious experiences – mystical experiences should be defined by use of the M-scale... Read more

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