The Christian Vanguard

I have an anabaptist coworker, and we got the talking about Original Sin. After pointing out Romans 5 to him and how it talks about how Adam's sin lead to the condemnation of all people, he pointed to a verse in the OT that says we will not inherit the iniquities of our fathers (which I have dealt with before on my short 3 part series on Original Sin, which you can find here , here , and here ). I then pointed to other OT verses that seem to say the opposite, my point being that with the ambiguity in the OT, we should look to the NT for a clear interpretation. But it occurs to me now that perhaps that isn't even necessary. His response was that the OT verses I pointed out only show that we suffer sins consequences. Is this a good response? It is not. According to Romans 6:23, after its long emphasis on the fallen state of humanity, says that the wages of sin are death. In contrast, our reward in Jesus is eternal life, and because that contrast is being made, we know that dea...

The following is an essay I wrote on Meno's Paradox.  Meno raises a problem concerning whether inquiries or a search for knowledge is, in principle, possible. Meno objects, “How will you look for it, Socrates, when you do not know at all what it is?...If you should meet with it, how will you know that this is the thing you did not know?” Socrates takes the word “it” here to refer to the form, or a standard, particularly the standard of virtue, although Socrates applies the problem to the search of any standard whatsoever. It isn’t certain that limiting the problem to the search for standards is what Meno had in mind, as Socrates first calls the argument a kind of debaters trick. Nonetheless, Socrates narrows the argument to just the search of standards when he says, “He cannot search for what he knows-since he knows it, there is no need to search-nor for what he does not know, for he does not know what to look for.” For example, suppose you didn’t know how to use the metri...

I recently found out that there is a Rothko Chapel . Apparently, Rothko intended on arousing a religious experience when you looked at his paintings, and it inspired some to build a chapel in his honor, where there would hang some of his work (different panels of the same project). Looks cold, sterile, and somewhat dystopian.  Two years ago, I wrote about how realism is necessary for art, which you can find  here . It was a reaction against Pollock and Rothko, and I still agree with what I said there. I did qualify myself as saying realism may not have been alone a sufficient reason, but it was definitely a necessary one. I want to add that abstraction is also necessary, which wasn't a view I held at the time. My reaction against the radical abstractionism of Rothko and Pollock inclined me against the view that abstraction was a necessary condition. I mean, look at the "chapel" and you could see why I believed it. It was nothing but abstraction.  But in a con...

I was in line at the confessional last week or so. I was towards the end of the line, and the priest had already begun hearing confessions. Another priest then came and directed some of us to another room where he would also be hearing confessions. So I go, and so do a few others. We realize that his confessions will be face to face, and not behind a veil. This isn't a problem for me, and never has been. It seemed to be a problem for the lady behind me. Now, it's usually bad manners to chit chat while in line for confession, since that's a time to prepare and meditate upon our sins, but apparently she didn't get the memo. "Oh dear," she says to me, "he's doing face to face. That makes me nervous." "It shouldn't." I tell her.  "But he will know who I am."  "That's right. And when you die, and you see God in the face, God will know who you are and what all your sins were, and you will have nothing to hi...

Another Newman Bible study I wrote. What Does The Bible Say About: Mary Biblical Data: Luke 1:41-48 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. 43 And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; Discussion: Sometimes Protestants will point to v47 to show that Mary was a sinner in need of a savior, which is contrary to Catholic teaching that Mary, from the moment of conceptio...

The following is a study I wrote for the Newman Bible Study. Feel free to use it as you see fit. What Does The Bible Say About: The Trinity Definition: In one substance God, there are three divine persons , The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Some Notes: 1) Because anti-Trinitarians, such as the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, typically do not deny the deity of the Father, we will not be going over biblical data proving it. We will only be focusing on the deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. 2) While there may be Christians who disagree with Catholics on some issues, such as the modes of baptism, it is still true they are Christians. However, anyone who denies the Trinity cannot be said to be Christian at all. Biblical Data: Acts 5:1-6 But a man named Ananias, with the consent of his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property; 2 with his wife’s knowledge, he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 “Ananias,” Peter asked, “why has S...

The following is a handout I typed for the Newman Bible Study. Feel free to use as you see fit. What Does The Bible Say About: Baptism Biblical Data: Acts 2:37-42 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Discussion: What is the context? Peter just preached the first sermon, ...

The following is a handout I typed up for the Newman Bible Study. Feel free to use it as you see fit. What Does the Bible Say About: Marriage Biblical Data Ephesians 5:21-33 21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates ...

The following is a paper I wrote for class. To avoid plagiarism, I won't be putting up the prompt, just my findings. Euthyphro In trying to defend his scandalous actions to Socrates, Euthyphro argues that his actions are pious, which implies some knowledge of what the nature of piety is. At first, Euthyphro gives a rough definition as being that which the gods love, but soon refines it to be that which all the gods love. Socrates then asks, “Is the pious being loved by all the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods?” Socrates goes on to flesh out what the thrust of his argument is, giving analogous examples such as being carried and being seen. What those examples are supposed to show is that when we try to define the nature of a thing, we have to be able to explain it in such a way that it wouldn’t be dependent on anything else. Some of the examples he gives are being led and being carried. The point of these examples is that one gives r...

The following is a handout I made for the Newman Bible Study. Use it as you see fit. What Does the Bible Say About: Homosexuality Definition: Homosexuality is the sexual attraction of one person to someone of the same sex. Biblical Data: Genesis 1:27-28 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Genesis 2:21-24 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. Old Words: The expression “male...

The following is an essay I wrote for class. To avoid plagiarism, I will not be putting up the prompt, just my personal findings. There were footnotes as well, but they don't show up in a copy-paste edit. “I Exist” In The Second Meditation Descartes argues that “I exist” is necessarily true. He writes, “...if I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed.” Being convinced of something implies there is someone real to be convinced. If there was no person existing to be convinced, then the thoughts don’t exist for us to be considering. But they are being considered, so there is a person existing. Descartes formulates the argument in a modus ponens, but can also be understood in the modus tollens way that I gave as they are materially equivalent. The conclusion that “I exist” is significant in the Meditation because it comes in the context of a severe skepticism. Skepticism in this sense is not the rejection of beliefs as actually being false, but only that we do...

The following is a handout I typed up for the Newman Bible Study that I lead. Feel free to use as you wish. What Does the Bible Say About: Capital Punishment Definition: What is Capital Punishment? It is the power of the government to take the life of a person who had been convicted of a crime . Biblical Data: Genesis 9:5-6 For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life. Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed; for in his own image God made humankind . Old Words: The verb “shed” is the Hebrew word shaphak, which means “to pour out in large amount, causing death.” So, death is being referred to here. Discussion: What is the context? What just happened to Noah and his family? Why is God giving Noah these commandments? Who is supposed to carry out this punishment? God or man? “I will req...

I had a pleasant restroom experience at school the other day. I was on my way to my professor's office hours, which was on the 9th floor of a building on the south east corner of campus. I walked into the elevator with an older gentleman whom I assume was also a professor. After noticing I hit the 9th floor button, he asked me, "Have you been to the 9th floor before?"  "No, I haven't." I replied.  "Make sure to use the restroom there. You won't regret it." A strange piece of advice, I thought, but, being two guys in an elevator, and understanding guys appreciate toilet humor every now and then, I nodded my head and took him up on it without hesitation. He got off on his floor, and I continued to mine, and found the restroom. When I walked in, the natural lighting delighted me. More than half the wall was just glass (starting at about four feet above the ground to about twelve feet high), and I could see for miles the beach at one end a...