Still busy, as usual. :-) So, it looks like I should have some rough mixes of a few acoustic "indie/folk" songs I've recorded recently. I'll be putting those up on bandcamp.com for people to check out, and download on a 'pay what you want' basis. Hopefully I'll have a full album to release by the end of the year, if not sooner. So, watch this space for more info!
In the meantime, I'd highly recommend a couple other recent pieces of musical brilliance: the new albums from Anathema, mewithoutYou, and If These Trees Could Talk. All different styles, but all three are great rock bands. Oh, and if you haven't heard the side project from Derri Daugherty of The Choir and Michael Roe of the 77's, check out Kerosene Halo. Wonderful mellow alt-country kinda stuff.
Ok, that's all for now!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Busy summer...
So, I've gotten busy with a variety of projects this summer... First, I'm teaching again for a couple of different summer school program/mes (choose your spelling depending upon location ;-D), and that's been great both for experience and $$. Also, I finished recording some new music a couple weeks ago, which I will soon (hopefully) be making available for the world -- or at least the few people who are interested -- to hear. I am working, slowly, on a paper that I will be presenting at the 2012 Soren Kierkegaard Conference in Copenhagen... that happens from August 21-24, so I've got to finish that!
But, at the moment, I also have to finish an article for the Kierkegaard Resources series. I had been delaying that to work on other things. But I received an email saying that the publisher wants to get things rolling, so I have to get it done in the next few days! So... all that to say, I'm feeling a bit busy right about now! All good things, of course, but it does mean I don't have time to do things like update this blog regularly. Not that I've been doing a good job of that, anyway. But, I like making excuses. ;-) hehe. Ok, back to work!
But, at the moment, I also have to finish an article for the Kierkegaard Resources series. I had been delaying that to work on other things. But I received an email saying that the publisher wants to get things rolling, so I have to get it done in the next few days! So... all that to say, I'm feeling a bit busy right about now! All good things, of course, but it does mean I don't have time to do things like update this blog regularly. Not that I've been doing a good job of that, anyway. But, I like making excuses. ;-) hehe. Ok, back to work!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Eberhard Jüngel on Theological Conceptions of Actuality and Possibility...
This is great stuff:
"The future actuality of the world is not a matter of hope; it is made. It belongs to the context of worldly action; it is a matter of calculation and cannot do with hopes any more than we can work with hope in constructing an aeroplane or in pursuing historical-critical inquiry into the past. The future actuality of the world is something which can be made. As such it does not originate immediately from the word of promise, but from the work of the diviner, who, according to Kant, truly represents 'things imminent in future time', if he 'himself creates and continues the events which he announces in advance'...
What can be made does not become, in the strict sense of 'becoming ex nihilo'. We make actuality out of that which is actual. We change, we transform. In this way, we make the future. God, however, is not one who transforms; he is the creator, who allows possibility to move toward actuality. But this possibility arises from the divine distinction between the possible and the impossible, arises, that is, ex nihilo. The world's possibility is not within but external to its actuality. And its being is external to its futurity."
Eberhard Jüngel - "The World as Possibility and Actuality" (from his Theological Essays)
"The future actuality of the world is not a matter of hope; it is made. It belongs to the context of worldly action; it is a matter of calculation and cannot do with hopes any more than we can work with hope in constructing an aeroplane or in pursuing historical-critical inquiry into the past. The future actuality of the world is something which can be made. As such it does not originate immediately from the word of promise, but from the work of the diviner, who, according to Kant, truly represents 'things imminent in future time', if he 'himself creates and continues the events which he announces in advance'...
What can be made does not become, in the strict sense of 'becoming ex nihilo'. We make actuality out of that which is actual. We change, we transform. In this way, we make the future. God, however, is not one who transforms; he is the creator, who allows possibility to move toward actuality. But this possibility arises from the divine distinction between the possible and the impossible, arises, that is, ex nihilo. The world's possibility is not within but external to its actuality. And its being is external to its futurity."
Eberhard Jüngel - "The World as Possibility and Actuality" (from his Theological Essays)
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Kierkegaard on predicative being...
Wow, this is a deep bit of writing:
"Jehovah says: I am who I am; I am. This is the supreme being. But to be in this way is too exalted for us human beings, much too earnest. Therefore we must try to become something; to be something is easier. Roguish, as everything related to humanity is, we express it in this way: earnestness is to be something.
Most men, or at least almost everyone, would die of anxiety about himself if his being should be—a tautology; they are more anxious about this kind of being and about themselves than about seeing themselves. So their situation is mitigated. The alleviation might be, for example: I am Chancellor, Knight of Denmark, member of the Cavalry Purchasing Commission, Alderman, Director of the Club. In a deeper sense all this is—diversion.
But, to repeat, man is probably not able to bear true earnestness. What I am inveighing against is merely this lying, this making diversion into earnestness. And yet perhaps I am wrong here, too; for generally men would never be able to last it out if they weren't permitted to live in the illusion that this is earnestness; they would die of anxiety about life and about themselves at the mere thought that their earnestness is diversion, without, however, being deprived of this diversion.
But no doubt all these numerous predicates are actually diversions, distractions, which prevent a man from the deepest impression of this to be. And how infinitely far men now are from being able to bear the actual impression of earnestness is best seen from the fact that they have even made this predicative being into—Christianity."
"Jehovah says: I am who I am; I am. This is the supreme being. But to be in this way is too exalted for us human beings, much too earnest. Therefore we must try to become something; to be something is easier. Roguish, as everything related to humanity is, we express it in this way: earnestness is to be something.
Most men, or at least almost everyone, would die of anxiety about himself if his being should be—a tautology; they are more anxious about this kind of being and about themselves than about seeing themselves. So their situation is mitigated. The alleviation might be, for example: I am Chancellor, Knight of Denmark, member of the Cavalry Purchasing Commission, Alderman, Director of the Club. In a deeper sense all this is—diversion.
But, to repeat, man is probably not able to bear true earnestness. What I am inveighing against is merely this lying, this making diversion into earnestness. And yet perhaps I am wrong here, too; for generally men would never be able to last it out if they weren't permitted to live in the illusion that this is earnestness; they would die of anxiety about life and about themselves at the mere thought that their earnestness is diversion, without, however, being deprived of this diversion.
But no doubt all these numerous predicates are actually diversions, distractions, which prevent a man from the deepest impression of this to be. And how infinitely far men now are from being able to bear the actual impression of earnestness is best seen from the fact that they have even made this predicative being into—Christianity."
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Kierkegaard on spiritual trials...
Since I don't really have much of interest to say these days, I'll turn to what someone else has said much better than I can -- of course, that means I'm going to quote from Kierkegaard... who else? ;-) I've been pondering this section from "For Self-Examination" recently:
"Truly, rest assured that anyone who comes down these paths shouting with joy has not been called. There is not one of those called who has not preferred to be exempted, not one who, as a child begs and pleads to be let off, has not pleaded for himself, but it does not help -- he must go on...
When the terror rises up, the person who is not called becomes so alarmed that he turns and runs. But the one who is called -- ah, my friend, he would rather turn back, shuddering before the terror, but as soon as he turns to flee he sees -- he sees an even greater horror behind him, the horror of spiritual trial, and he must go forward...
Everything that closely or remotely belongs to the given actuality arms itself against this man of spiritual trial whom it nevertheless is impossible to terrify because, strangely enough, he is so afraid -- of God. All attack him, hate him, curse him. The few who are loyal to him cry out, 'Be careful! You are making yourself and everybody else unhappy. Stop now and do not make the terror more intense. Check the words on your lips and recant what you have just said.' O my listener, faith is a restless thing."
While I suppose that some would merely perceive here an account of the psychological turmoil associated with religious belief, there is something about Kierkegaard's description that seems to contain a very important truth, though I'm not sure how to express it. What I want to say is something like this:
Faith is found in the individual's decision to follow God above all else, and this decision cannot help but create a kind of fear or terror in a person. But it is a terror that must be faced, because one is convinced that it will be an even worse thing to turn away from God. Nevertheless, there is a severe trial that takes place in every genuine expression of faith, because the person must hold together three things: 1) A belief that God is to be followed, even at the expense of everything else. 2) A recognition that this will not make sense to anyone else, unless they have gone through the same experience (and how can anyone be sure of that?). 3) The recognition that there is no way to ascertain whether one has made the right decision or not, at least not in our current human state.
Given this situation, faith should be a thing taken most seriously, and with full recognition of its difficulties and its offensive status vis-a-vis standard modern/postmodern human conceptions of knowledge and reality. This is why I, like Kierkegaard, am always a bit suspicious of people who make their claims to faith quickly and easily. I suspect that they likely haven't really dealt with faith on a very significant level. Why? Because, as Kierkegaard says, "faith is a restless thing." Faith cannot be domesticated, and any attempt to do so may just lead to its disappearance. And nothing is worse than to think you have faith when you don't.
"Truly, rest assured that anyone who comes down these paths shouting with joy has not been called. There is not one of those called who has not preferred to be exempted, not one who, as a child begs and pleads to be let off, has not pleaded for himself, but it does not help -- he must go on...
When the terror rises up, the person who is not called becomes so alarmed that he turns and runs. But the one who is called -- ah, my friend, he would rather turn back, shuddering before the terror, but as soon as he turns to flee he sees -- he sees an even greater horror behind him, the horror of spiritual trial, and he must go forward...
Everything that closely or remotely belongs to the given actuality arms itself against this man of spiritual trial whom it nevertheless is impossible to terrify because, strangely enough, he is so afraid -- of God. All attack him, hate him, curse him. The few who are loyal to him cry out, 'Be careful! You are making yourself and everybody else unhappy. Stop now and do not make the terror more intense. Check the words on your lips and recant what you have just said.' O my listener, faith is a restless thing."
While I suppose that some would merely perceive here an account of the psychological turmoil associated with religious belief, there is something about Kierkegaard's description that seems to contain a very important truth, though I'm not sure how to express it. What I want to say is something like this:
Faith is found in the individual's decision to follow God above all else, and this decision cannot help but create a kind of fear or terror in a person. But it is a terror that must be faced, because one is convinced that it will be an even worse thing to turn away from God. Nevertheless, there is a severe trial that takes place in every genuine expression of faith, because the person must hold together three things: 1) A belief that God is to be followed, even at the expense of everything else. 2) A recognition that this will not make sense to anyone else, unless they have gone through the same experience (and how can anyone be sure of that?). 3) The recognition that there is no way to ascertain whether one has made the right decision or not, at least not in our current human state.
Given this situation, faith should be a thing taken most seriously, and with full recognition of its difficulties and its offensive status vis-a-vis standard modern/postmodern human conceptions of knowledge and reality. This is why I, like Kierkegaard, am always a bit suspicious of people who make their claims to faith quickly and easily. I suspect that they likely haven't really dealt with faith on a very significant level. Why? Because, as Kierkegaard says, "faith is a restless thing." Faith cannot be domesticated, and any attempt to do so may just lead to its disappearance. And nothing is worse than to think you have faith when you don't.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
A few more thoughts on the Bible...
I've written on this topic before, but this week a friend of mine asked me to give a quick explanation of my basic views on the inspiration and interpretation of Scripture. Clearly, this is not the kind of thing that can be fully explained in a single blog entry (or even a series!), but I want to post these thoughts here and see what kind of feedback I get. So, here goes:
Like many evangelical Christians, I grew up simply believing that the Bible was the book of Truth (with a capital 'T') given to us by God. I never really questioned it much, even in college, and post-college, when I prided myself on being a bit more 'avant garde' than the average Christian, primarily because of the music I listened to. (Rather foolish, I know, but aren't we all a bit foolish in our early 20's?)
Anyway, to make a long story short, I pretty much accepted the Bible at face value, without really thinking very deeply about what was going on behind the scenes, so to speak. Sure, there were lots of debates over interpretation, but these were mostly 'in-house' debates having to do with what specific verses did or didn't say about things like rock music, tattoos, and drinking alcohol. I have no doubt that many Christians are still living in this paradigm.
Like many evangelical Christians, I grew up simply believing that the Bible was the book of Truth (with a capital 'T') given to us by God. I never really questioned it much, even in college, and post-college, when I prided myself on being a bit more 'avant garde' than the average Christian, primarily because of the music I listened to. (Rather foolish, I know, but aren't we all a bit foolish in our early 20's?)
Anyway, to make a long story short, I pretty much accepted the Bible at face value, without really thinking very deeply about what was going on behind the scenes, so to speak. Sure, there were lots of debates over interpretation, but these were mostly 'in-house' debates having to do with what specific verses did or didn't say about things like rock music, tattoos, and drinking alcohol. I have no doubt that many Christians are still living in this paradigm.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Mooney on faith...
"Faith means taking the things of the world in a certain manner. In contrast to stoicism, it means taking them as blessed, just as Job blesses the Lord who gives and takes. But how can a man as afflicted as Job is, nevertheless affirm the inexhaustible meaning of the particulars around him...? Job's capacity to maintain a faithful vision is put on trial. We can conceive this trial as a battle between two competing frames or visions for understanding suffering and affliction. The battle takes place on many fronts, between Job and his friends; between Job and the Lord; within Job himself; and within us as we read this unsettling, inconvenient scripture..."
- Edward Mooney
- Edward Mooney
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