Joyful optimism without the modernist baggage

Previously I posted about the naive optimism so characteristic of modernism, whether in the unification of Yugoslavia or Stephen Hawkings view of what string theory can deliver. Irenicum wrote a perceptive comment on that post about how these views are so problematic because they overlook the sin of man.

It is interesting to see the critical but appreciative manner in which Karl Barth engages with the optimism of the 18th century, particularly embodied in Leibniz [better known to a science nerd like me as co-inventor of Calculus than as a philosopher].
Note that the wikipedia entry on Leibniz's Theodicy and optimism, states "the word “optimism” here is used in the sense of optimal, not in the mood related sense, as being positively hopeful, as contrary to pessimism."

As usual Barth is full of surprises.

It is worth considering this historical phenomenon, because in all its forms it approximates closely to the doctrine of creation as justification as it must be represented in dogmatics, and this approximation cannot be overlooked, and is not so simple to explain as might at first sight appear.

We, too, have had to state clearly the principle that the nature as well as the existence of the created world is affirmed by God its Creator, so that to this extent it is justified and perfect.

It is notable that in the whole history of ideas there is hardly a single verdict which verbally corresponds so closely to the Christian verdict as that of 18th century optimism....

It cannot be denied that Leibniz and all his stronger and weaker followers proclaim glad tidings, and thus display a formal affinity to the proclamation of the Gospel. Nor is it an accident that this century of all others produced the finest music: J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel, Gluck and Haydn, and the incomparable Mozart. And from this source there gushed out in other directions too a whole stream of natural joy in life in the strength of which we still live to-day....

Maintaining the same background, but emerging from it, even Christian preaching must take up again the theme of the stern and unmistakeable judgments of God, and learn to proclaim rather more radically and restrainedly what it means that all things work together for good to them that love God....

[Leibniz] must be taken seriously in dogmatics because he too, although in a very different way, tried to sing, and in his own way did in fact sing, the unqualified praise of God the Creator in His relationship to the creature....

....the Christian way of affirming the Creator's justifying Yes to His creation obviously has another dimension and a wider scope. It includes what is palpably missing in optimism: a true and urgent and inescapable awareness of the imperilling of creation by its limits, of sin and death and the devil. Unlike optimism, it has a compelling reason to view reality as a whole and therefore in this dimension too, and to take it seriously as a whole and therefore with an eye to this aspect too. For this reason it cannot be equated with 18th century optimism.

Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 3.1 The Doctrine of Creation, p.404-7.

Did Australian gun control reduce suicide rates?

In Australia, following the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996, the government iniiated much stricter gun control [already much stricter than the USA]. One initiative involved buying back semi-automatic weapons and shotguns. Since then there have been no multiple shootings, whereas before then there was a shooting every one or two years. Australia has a high suicide rate among young males. In rural areas many of these involve shotguns. A natural consequence of the buyback might have been a reduction of such suicides. An interesting Sydney Morning Herald article from August this year reports

[Then Prime Minister] Mr Howard's agreement with the states to ban and buy back more than 600,000 weapons after the massacre at Port Arthur in April 1996 cut the country's stock of firearms by 20 per cent and roughly halved the number of households with access to guns....
The buyback cut firearm suicides by 74 per cent, saving 200 lives a year, according to research to be published in The American Law and Economics Review...

Two of the independent rural MPs now holding the balance of power in Parliament opposed the plan.

The actual research article is here. A second article which reaches a different conclusion [there was no significant reduction in firearm suicides due to the buyback] from the same data is here.

Fundamentalism is an attitude

Michael Jensen has a very thoughtful article For and against fundamentalism, on the ABC Religion and Ethics site. It gives a lot of good historical information about the history of Christian fundamentalism and a balanced perspective. Here is a small extract:

I would accept that "fundamentalism" is descriptive of a kind of religious mentality which is in evidence most egregiously in a kind of epistemological double standard. That is, it is a mentality that confidently asserts the objectivity and interest-free status of its own reasoning while at the same time decrying the prejudice and interest-laden nature of the reasoning of its opponents.
This is the kind of "rationalism" that Harriet Harris decries in her book Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism, and which she claims to find evident in much of conservative evangelicalism. Why is it bad?
It is chiefly bad for spiritual rather than intellectual reasons. That is, it fails to be a posture of humble confidence rather than belligerence. It claims to know what it cannot. It is pastorally irresponsible, because it relies on intellectual short-cuts which people may accept for a time and then begin to doubt, to their spiritual detriment.
I would also argue that it is bad because the fundamentalist mindset is actually not faithful to Scripture....

However, it is a grave theological mistake to accord one's theological convictions the finality that only the judgement of God can give them. Belligerence is not the necessary complement of confident conviction.
Let me be clear. Fundamentalism is a mentality to be avoided in whatever guise. But one does not eschew the name "fundamentalist" on account of wishing to look respectable. The term is treated with such a mixture of alarm and contempt in the contemporary world that you could be forgiven for not wanting to be the target of such opprobrium.
But respectability is not a category that ought to interest Christians if it means compromise of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christians are those for whom being killed by one's neighbours for what one believes is a consideration! After all, it was not dignity or status that Christ himself pursued. Respectability is not a Christian category.
If being fundamentalist means "not one of the respectable people," then I would happily accept it.

Guard against greed with gratitude and generosity

I produced this alluring alliteration to help me summarise a challenging and helpful talk, entitled "Money, Money, Money" I heard yesterday on campus by Andrew Brown, a staff worker for AFES.
The talk was a clear exposition of Ecclesiastes 5:8-6:9.

Singing the Hallelujah chorus (Biblically)

Everyone loves the Hallelujah chorus in Handel's Messiah, especially at Christmas time. Hearing and singing it with great gutso is exhilirating. Even non-Christians get into it.

But is there such a chorus in the Bible? It is intriguing that the word Hallelujah only occurs four times in the New Testament, and only in Revelation 19:

"Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
 ²for his judgments are true and just;
for he has judged the great prostitute
   who corrupted the earth with her immorality,
and has avenged on her the blood of his servants." ³Once more they cried out,
   "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever."
 ⁴And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, "Amen. Hallelujah!"

Wow! That is intense. It is not exactly warm and fuzzy. Singing Hallelujah  is associated with praising God for bringing just judgement on evil. 

"Hallelujah!For the Lord our God
   the Almighty reigns.
⁷ Let us rejoice and exult
   and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
   and his Bride has made herself ready;
⁸ it was granted her to clothe herself
   with fine linen, bright and pure" 

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Key ideas about the relationship between the Bible and Science II

Previously, I posted what I thought were some of these. My wife, Robin, rewrote these in a clearer and more basic fashion.

1.      The same God created this physical world and came to live on earth as Jesus and die for our sins.

2.      Science and the Bible have different purposes.
        They show us different sides of what is true about this world.
Science is great at helping us understand the physical world but can't help us understand the meaning and purpose of life.

Science helps us understand How and When.
The Bible helps us Who and Why.

3.      Science involves faith: that it can reveal truth about the physical
world and that there are laws to be discovered.

4.      We can't understand everything:
        About this physical world: Science does not give clear answers about some things.
        We can't understand everything about God: The Bible does not give a clear picture about certain things.

5.      A distinction must be made between:
        belief in evolution as a biological process
        belief in evolution as a world view.

The ripple effect: for good and evil

We are not islands. Our actions, both individual and collective, both positive and negative, have consequences for others, often far beyond those expected.  Most actions are not private, even if they should be or we wish they were.

I have been noticing this lately.

An alcoholic father not only ruins his own life. His children are deeply affected, especially in their tendency to addictions, and their ability to maintain stable relationships. Tragically, the damage is passed on to the children's children.

Greedy bankers lend too much money for dodgy mortgages. Banks fail. Stock market plummets. People loose their jobs. Tax revenues drop. Schools and hosptitals are closed....
Welcome to the Global Financial Crisis.


A football coach drinks too much, then drives, is arrested, and then fired. Lawsuits follow, players leave, and team perform plummets. Fans are disappointed and the club loses copius amounts of money.

A politician has an affair.  Tabloids get wind of it and government grinds to a halt as it is consumed  with dealing with the ensuing scandal and media circus.

"How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fie, a world of unrighteousness. ..., setting on fire the entire course of life..."
James 3:5,6

This is depressing but sobering. Our failings can effect so many.

On the positive side. Small acts of kindness, courage, grace, and obedience can multiply in great blessings for others.

One African-American lady refuses to give up her seat on the bus to whites.

One Chinese man stands in the path of a tank...

An affluent western family sponsors a child in the developing world...

The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.