tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.comments2024-01-08T11:08:42.530-05:00in-fractiontchittomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comBlogger316125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-25897728387637471242024-01-08T11:08:42.530-05:002024-01-08T11:08:42.530-05:00Note the rhetorical form anacoluthon \anacoLUthon\...Note the rhetorical form anacoluthon \anacoLUthon\ "syntactical inconsistency or incoherence within a sentence". These frequently occur in speech or writing esp when the author is excited or distraught and the emotions are making clear speech difficult.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-60823335373734287292023-11-17T17:39:54.646-05:002023-11-17T17:39:54.646-05:00From a review of Christian Madsbjerg. Look: How to...From a review of Christian Madsbjerg. Look: How to Pay Attention in a Distracted World. New York: Riverhead Books, 2023 by James McCullough:<br /><br />The practical thesis of Madsbjerg’s project is the stock and trade of good phenomenology—don’t rely on what you think; go to the thing itself and begin living with it. With patience, persistence and practice, patterns will present themselves. Details and repetitions will start to cohere into the emergence of that favourite of German phenomenologists’ word-horde—a gestalt, a meaningful whole. And the pay-off is what Madsbjerg calls ‘insight’, further described in frankly spiritual terms:<br /><br />When you experience an insight like this—especially after having wrestled with a particular topic for a long period of time—it is a tremendous relief. The truth of reality emerges from the patterns of the phenomenon. Your mind is finally at ease. The experience of this kind of insight is so thrilling; in fact, it justifies all the effort. It could be an end in and of itself. (209)<br /><br />The late James Loder of Princeton Theological Seminary taught a process toward insight which anticipates much of what Madsbjerg writes. Loder outlined personally transformative observation (which is what Madsbjerg promotes as well) in terms of (1) the presentation of a conflict, a dissatisfaction, and conundrum, followed by (2) and “interlude for scanning,” the patient process of looking, of indwelling the art-work or situation long enough almost to become identified with it, (3) a constructive act of imagination where the latent gestalt begins to emerge resulting in a (4) eureka-type of moment like Madsbjerg describes above, and (5) the placement of this new insight within an ever-growing sense of things which gradually transforms the observer as much as it might contribute to the advancement of knowledge.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-43505191724934670392022-12-07T10:56:30.304-05:002022-12-07T10:56:30.304-05:00"The hard question of free will is whether, a..."The hard question of free will is whether, at the time of making a choice, we could have done otherwise (leaving aside randomness or chance). The most popular position in philosophy today is compatibilism: It says that, although we can’t do other than what we do, we still have a valuable form of free will that allows us to maintain ideas of autonomy, control, responsibility and blame. In short, we may not be as free as we think we are, but we are free enough." ~ Julian Baggini for the WSJ https://www.wsj.com/articles/freely-determined-review-autonomous-up-to-a-point-11670194091 accessed 12/7/2022tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-6818537647370894802022-11-22T17:07:07.043-05:002022-11-22T17:07:07.043-05:00"Here in Copenhagen, they use an interesting ..."Here in Copenhagen, they use an interesting approach for dealing with this feeling. In twelve weeks, we have to write twelve discussion board posts of 500 words. After four weeks, we take one of the four posts and elaborate on our observations in an 5-paged essay. We repeat this process another two times, and end up with three 5-paged essays that contain our own observations on a specific philosophical text. We pick one of these three essays, and expand it into a 10-paged paper. In this final paper, we engage with secondary literature on the topic, and try to formulate our own position in the debate. This might seem to be time-consuming, but it makes it a lot easier to identify your own questions, problems, and ideas." ~ Timon Beeftinktchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-12808300801660026172022-11-18T12:30:17.614-05:002022-11-18T12:30:17.614-05:00https://iai.tv/articles/why-ai-must-learn-to-forge...https://iai.tv/articles/why-ai-must-learn-to-forget-auid-2302?_auid=2020 interesting article about how forgetting needs to be encoded into AItchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-57248479604107396352022-11-10T17:59:40.505-05:002022-11-10T17:59:40.505-05:00"If we look at the biblical stories on Jesus ..."If we look at the biblical stories on Jesus and his words and deeds, we see that Jesus never put the correctness of theological teachings or the abidance to given rules above relationship. “The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath” (Mark 2,27). Let us be together in this spirit. Let us be grateful for all the denominational traditions that we come from. But let us always be aware that these denominational traditions are never an end in themselves but serve as a door to Christ himself. And if we are in relationship with Christ, in prayer, in reflection and in action, we will always be in relationship with our fellow human beings and, in a special way, with our sisters and brothers in Christ all over the world. That is why it is intolerable if those who call themselves sisters and brothers in Christ put each other down, spread hate against each other or even kill each other in war or through other forms of violence.<br /><br />"Through this, we betray Jesus’ call to be salt of the earth and light of the world. And we destroy all efforts to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded us (Mt 28,19f). We can only live the mission of God when we do not only speak of the love of Jesus Christ but also radiate it with our own lives.<br /><br />"When Paul deplores the divisions in the Corinthian congregation in 1 Cor 1, he asks a question: “Has Christ been divided?” I want us as executive committee just as much as the central committee of the WCC to give a clear answer. No! Christ has not been divided! Therefore, we as Christ’s followers will never accept the divisions amongst ourselves. We will give a witness of unity to the world and thereby help the world to move toward more unity!" ~ Dr Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, moderator of the WCC central committee, to the executive committee of the World Council of Churches, Bossey, 7 November 2022.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-21038637323652686192022-09-21T17:04:47.459-04:002022-09-21T17:04:47.459-04:00Thank you, Cousin!Thank you, Cousin!tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-71723505379704792802022-09-20T16:34:25.440-04:002022-09-20T16:34:25.440-04:00Main clauses = most important ideas. Subordinate c...Main clauses = most important ideas. Subordinate clauses = extra information . Conjunctions of various types display relationships such as condition or cause-and-effect. Dependent clauses "attach" to the independent clause using the doors of adverb or adjective or noun.<br /><br />Readers use acquired knowledge of syntactic patterns to predict the morphological categories of upcoming words (the subject and verb are done. What is the object?). There is a close relationship between morphology and syntax. Syntax provides the structural frame into which certain categories of words normally fit. Both the order of the words and the inflectional endings provide important cues. Part of knowing a word is not just being able to say it is a noun or a verb, but also knowing what other kinds of words will follow. (Read: accusative or dative.) Proficient readers have acquired knowledge of the kinds of words that will follow.Good readers make predictions. Struggling readers focus on individual words. In their attempts to sound out words, they lose the flow of the sentence or passage. They develop tunnel vision in which their focus becomes so narrow that they miss important syntactical clues that could help them construct meaning from a text. This is the word recognition view of reading where words are the focus with little attention to syntax. Readers with this view fail to access syntactic cues. students do not learn a language; they acquire it. Meaning is what we are after! People acquire language when they receive messages they understand. Language is only acquired when you can generate sentences.<br /><br />The five challenges for second language students reading academic texts: passive voice, comparatives and logical connectors, modal auxiliaries, verb phrases containing prepositional phrases, and relative clauses. Modals include subtle shades of meaning such as permission, obligation, necessity, and possibility.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-37768198968914986392022-09-16T17:50:52.782-04:002022-09-16T17:50:52.782-04:00https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2022/09/11/searching...https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2022/09/11/searching-for-our-human-face-animals-in-the-eschaton-3/ an article running along a parallel coursetchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-21169883643254186952022-08-25T18:28:53.978-04:002022-08-25T18:28:53.978-04:00When teaching pupils: “He [Ralph Vaughan Williams]...When teaching pupils: “He [Ralph Vaughan Williams] eschewed textbooks in favor of models from historical literature . . . and emphasized technique as the means to effectively express their artistic visions, never as an end in itself. Most importantly, Vaughan Williams empowered his pupils to make their own creative decisions rather than relying on his pronouncements.”<br /><br />As the composer himself wrote: “I always try to remember the value of encouragement. Sometimes a callow youth appears who may be a fool or may be a genius, and I would rather be guilty of encouraging a fool than of discouraging a genius.”tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-54733208748677098992022-08-16T17:39:11.601-04:002022-08-16T17:39:11.601-04:00Neil Shenvi, "One Argument for the Existence ...Neil Shenvi, "One Argument for the Existence of God: Mathematics" https://www.crossway.org/articles/one-argument-for-the-existence-of-god-mathematics accessed August 16, 2022.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-2329285719929616432022-08-11T15:40:11.464-04:002022-08-11T15:40:11.464-04:00"All of us, in many ways, contribute to the b..."All of us, in many ways, contribute to the brokenness of the world. And the brokenness of the world shapes people who grow up to do terrible things. And all of us have to come to terms with the fact that we are part of this world that is broken and we contribute to it." ~ Dr. Isabelle Hamley and a more cruciform way to think about Thrownness.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-54152426119433003252022-08-11T11:14:33.778-04:002022-08-11T11:14:33.778-04:00Yes, but as the one and the many is a subset under...Yes, but as the one and the many is a subset underneath the problem of defining and discovering justice.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-1669556819216165032022-06-25T19:58:36.890-04:002022-06-25T19:58:36.890-04:00May God crown them with glory and honor!May God crown them with glory and honor!Carsonhttps://www.wistly.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-81294483931314101072022-05-20T15:18:12.766-04:002022-05-20T15:18:12.766-04:00I wonder if you aren't coming up against the p...I wonder if you aren't coming up against the problem of the one and the many?tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-63597621698773598742022-05-18T18:29:12.262-04:002022-05-18T18:29:12.262-04:00In his most recent book, Einstein’s Unfinished Rev...In his most recent book, Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution, physicist Lee Smolin describes the conclusions that his colleague Julian Barbour has reached about the nature of time:<br /><br />Barbour insists that the passage of time is an illusion and that reality consists of nothing but a vast pile of moments, each a configuration of the whole universe. You now are experiencing a moment. Now you are experiencing a different moment. According to Barbour, both moments exist eternally and timelessly, in the pile of moments. Reality is nothing but this frozen collection of moments outside time … The moments all coexist, and each is a configuration of the whole universe.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-44588779275109101162022-04-29T18:09:26.324-04:002022-04-29T18:09:26.324-04:00"In rendering . . . extraordinary judgments, ..."In rendering . . . extraordinary judgments, Christians should not forget what is true about our ordinary judgments: we are not God, and our judgments are not perfect. Whatever judgment we render is not final judgment, which is reserved for God. We trust in divine providence, approaching judgment in humility and with prayer. “In enacting judgment we are not invited to assume the all-seeing view of God. … We have a specific civic human duty laid upon us, which is to distinguish innocence and guilt as far as is given us in the conduct of human affairs. … To lose the will to discriminate is to lose the will to do justice” ~ Dr. Allan M. Parrent I'm copying this quotation from the blog of my friend Jody Howard. It reminds me that there is more to this digging around in circle drawing, in purity seeking, in hermeneutical judgment. There is the question of judgment and justice.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-86117550914165573772022-04-14T16:21:39.492-04:002022-04-14T16:21:39.492-04:00Do you have a link to where BibleArc shares these....Do you have a link to where BibleArc shares these. I would love to read further on those.jjorloff1https://www.blogger.com/profile/01177066264814018338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-60389056334317383652022-04-07T18:44:25.945-04:002022-04-07T18:44:25.945-04:00I like the way BibleArc "horizons" the d...I like the way BibleArc "horizons" the different quadrants of theology: Biblical Theology is the covenantal horizon. Systematic theology is the canonical horizon. Historical theology is the confessional horizon. And practical theology is the contemporary horizon. That is a neat description. I can only assume they are thinking of Thistleton's horizon, which he got from Gadamer.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-54934554055725322312022-04-05T17:26:48.639-04:002022-04-05T17:26:48.639-04:00"Death doesn't exist. It never did, it ne..."Death doesn't exist. It never did, it never will. But we've drawn so many pictures of it, so many years trying to pin it down. comprehend it, we've got to thinking of it as an entity, strangely alive and greedy. All it is, however, is a stopped watch, a loss, an end, a darkness. Nothing." ~ Ray Bradburytchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-9646681575463670442022-04-04T18:33:19.343-04:002022-04-04T18:33:19.343-04:00The term "sacramental universe" was firs...The term "sacramental universe" was first used in the modern era by William Temple in _Nature, Man and God_.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-15990734786901766222022-04-04T18:17:45.308-04:002022-04-04T18:17:45.308-04:00The book _Four Views on Christian Metaphysics_ Tim...The book _Four Views on Christian Metaphysics_ Timothy Molsteller. Wipf & Stock, 2002, divides its content up into four options: Platonism, Aristotelianism, Idealism, and Postmodernism.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-56516298668055701632022-03-11T18:15:15.712-05:002022-03-11T18:15:15.712-05:00" If the Triune God is the transcendent, imma..." If the Triune God is the transcendent, immaterial spiritual source of all created existence, yet in the Son took on flesh for our redemption, then the orthodox Christian can neither escape to a purely spiritual world nor reduce God to a material idol. Instead, the Christian must learn how to see and know God in a sacramental way—in a way that does justice to both the material and spiritual existence of reality, at the center of which is the God-Man, Jesus Christ." ~ Alex Folgleman writing for CSRtchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-140534904551517732022-03-11T14:57:58.755-05:002022-03-11T14:57:58.755-05:00"Apart from human interaction, reality is jus..."Apart from human interaction, reality is just a confluence of electromagnetic fields and invisible particles. In its harshest, most unfeeling characterization, reality is mostly empty space. It is, therefore, not so farfetched to conclude that the universe—with all of its unfathomable intricacies—can only be understood through human interaction and, therefore, was made for us to be appreciated as a fantastical, God-given gift.<br /><br />It is by science-faith that I state my case, and I’m in good company with the writer of the book of Hebrews. He explained that the unseen things of this world could only be understood by faith, characterized not as intangible but as substantive and evidentiary: “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)." ~ Gregory J. Rummo, lecturer of Chemistry, writing for the CHE.tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11511673.post-63553418662064227712022-03-02T17:19:26.691-05:002022-03-02T17:19:26.691-05:00"'Standing sentinel.' I can’t recall ..."'Standing sentinel.' I can’t recall a more incisive formulation for the way many of us may experience being online at certain times. I especially appreciate the way [Patricia] Lockwood links this to some underlying, possibly inarticulate longing for control in what are, in fact, moments of extreme flux and disorder. This impulse may spring from the misguided belief that more information will automatically lead to greater clarity about what needs to be done, almost as if the accumulation of sufficient information will perforce reveal a plan of action eliminating the need for judgment. Judgment, after all, entails a measure of risk and responsibility, neither of which are especially welcome in our time." ~ L. M. Sacsas. The Convivial Society Vol 3 No 3tchittomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603445266088083067noreply@blogger.com