A blog by Tom Sheepandgoats (aka Tom Harley)
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Save Us from Critical Thinking: Part 2
Luke Timothy Johnson, lecturer of the Great Courses series, ‘The Story of the Bible,’ likened the historical critical method (higher criticism) to a Trojan Horse. It is dazzling in appearance. Therefore, you let it right into your camp. Once inside, however, it releases the seeds of your own destruction. This is because the historical critical method is based entirely on ‘critical thinking,’ which is all…
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Save us from Critical Thinking: Part 1
Here in the U.S, when the media wishes to discredit someone, they say that he or she stated such-and-such “without evidence,” as if it were a god that they failed to bow down to. It is a relatively new expression, not more than 10 years old. In fact, meaningful “evidence” is extremely hard to obtain. Just distinguishing causal from correlated can spur endless studies and…
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Save Us from the Trolley Problem
The trolley problem: it’s a great philosophical puzzle to occupy the musings of that bunch and keep them off the street where they might do harm. Maybe you’ve seen the drawing. By pulling a lever, you divert the trolley to the track on which one person is lying, killing him. By doing nothing, the trolley rolls ahead and kills 5 on the main track. What…
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When the King is a Boy and the Princes Start Their Feasting in the Morning
In government, when people enter office with modest means and a few years later have amassed wealth far beyond what the paycheck would account for, is that an example of the following? “How terrible for a land when the king is a boy and the princes start their feasting in the morning!” Ecclesiastes 10:16. [The king is a relative “boy” who allows them to get…
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An End of War: What is God Waiting For?
Q: If God really can bring an end to war so easily, then what is he waiting for? After all, the longer he delays, the more generations live and die in suffering. Yes, they do, but it is reversible through the provision of resurrection. In time, former distresses will be forgotten, as though a bad dream. One must not rush a trial. One must allow…
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A Gilead Instructor Speaks About Job
In a group, one Witness said. “I really like Brother Noumair’s talks. He’s a good speaker.” My friend waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . .and then burst out laughing. She was waiting for a B part—an example, a qualification, a contrast. Nope. That was it, the complete comment. “*Everybody* likes Brother Noumair’s talks,” she told me. She had…
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What is it With Pharaoh’s Obstinacy? A Lesson from Football
What is it with Pharaoh’s obstinacy as his land and people in it are being destroyed? It’s been the content of the mid-week meeting for two weeks running. Frogs, gadflies, boils, locusts, hail, darkness, etc. He just gets more stubborn! I mean, you can admire a guy for sticking to his guns, but there is also such a thing as taking a hint! Maybe the…