The author was a prominent Church of Scotland man Continue reading
Author Archives: TJH
The Slovak people continue five centuries to 1938
Continuing the brief history of the Slovak people from the narrative begun earlier, through the modern Continue reading
Google, Shmoogle, Joogle
This is a story about Google, not First Word. But to make make the case I will be developing here, I will need to present evidence, Continue reading
Berman on Law and Religion
The topic addressed in this little book is important, asking such questions as what is law? where did it come from? what are the dynamics Continue reading
N. T. Wright on the Resurrection
The thesis is that the “Easter belief” of the early Christians (a) refers intentionally to a literal, physical (not merely spiritual) raising of Jesus from the dead, and (b) the mode and breadth of this belief can only be explained on the hypothesis that that is what actually happened. The thesis is pursued in specific and detailed interaction with the Leben Jesu literature, most of which denies the resurrection. The characteristic emphasis that we would expect from Wright is Continue reading
The Pastor of Buchenwald with Parallels
This book (see biblio info at end) is a nice companion to the Wentorf biography of this dear German Reformed pastor who died Continue reading
Frege’s Sinn und Bedeutung: first third
This essay by Gottlob Frege (1848-1925) was published in 1892 in the journal Zeitschrift für Philosophie und philosophische Kritik, pp. 25-50. Dealing with the “philosophy of language,” it discusses the distinction that should be made between the sense and reference (hence: the title of the essay) of linguistic expressions.
It will be helpful to have the essay in hand to follow our discussion with maximum profit. It is available in more than one English-translation editions. Our discussion here covers the pages corresponding to pp. 25-31 of the original.
The Slovak people: original settlement
This report is based on a “target of opportunity” — an old beat up book from a co-worker; though held together with masking tape and rubber bands, Continue reading
Discussion of Wagner’s Ring: Rheingold
While only a few people will be interested in our philosophical podcasts, I hope many will give the operatic ones a try. Here, we discuss Continue reading
Westminster Seminary and Pete Enns: Ten Observations
It behooves us to take an opening stance on the volcano Continue reading
La Bohème comes around again
Today, April 5 at 1:30 on your affiliated NPR station; or Continue reading
Noll on Bible and Slavery in US History
An essay by Prof Mark A. Noll of Wheaton College in the collection Religion and the American Civil War (Oxford, 1998) outlines the place of the Bible in the American debate on slavery during the years leading up to the Civil War. Noll identifies the dominant view of the Bible on both side of the debate as “Reformed literalist.” Given that view of the Bible, the proslavery side seemed to have the upper hand. The Abolitionists were willing to move toward a “spirit not letter” type of interpretation, but all the orthodox saw this approach as a trajectory toward liberalism. Noll knows that “proslavery” — his term — is wrong, though a high view of the Bible is right; so he explores what might have gone wrong. He examines four alternative hermeneutical traditions that could have led to a different conclusion on slavery, while still holding to a high view of the Bible:(1) the “African American” way of reading the Bible; (2) the Roman Catholic; (3) High-church Lutheranism or Reformed; (4) the non-Southern Reformed, especially Charles Hodge. Only the last named of these had enough of a foothold in America to temper the discussion, but it fell short because of a root inconsistency in the American outlook which compromised the profession of sola scriptura and led to failure to draw a key distinction that would have unraveled the proslavery argument. Continue reading
(DVD) Lennie Explains Music
The Unanswered Question – Six Talks at Harvard by Leonard Bernstein (1976) is a series on music appreciation that Leonard Bernstein delivered Continue reading
Wading into the Tractatus
The attached audio (or better: use this 16 kbps compressed version) is our beginning of a close reading of the early Wittgenstein. Continue reading
Valkyrie (Die Walküre) matinee Feb 2!
The greatest opera ever! Continue reading
Is the decimal system best?
Earlier, when discussing the (lack of) inherent advantage of the metric Continue reading
Cheat sheet for the Romanov succession
I have prepared a chart showing the Romanov succession of czars, along with the preceding century, in a way that is proportional to elapsed time, and with a few noteworthy parallel events in history indicated. Go here. (May be helpful while reading the Solzhenitsyn selections.)
Protected: 200 Years Together: You’re in; no, you’re out. Okay, you’re in
Protected: 200 Years Together: The Judaizing Heresy
Solzhenitsyn on Jews and Russians Together
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s recent book, Two Hundred Years Together, covering the intertwined history of Russians and Jews, is published in two volumes. The first volume covers the history up to the 1917 Revolution. The second finishes the story as far as 1995. Continue reading
Protected: Two Hundred Years Together: From the Beginnings in Khazaria
Agrarianism and shopping cheap
Eliza asked for a practical discussion of agrarianism Continue reading
Berlin
Berlin was the city that anchored the start and end of my trip.
Now before getting to the question that is at the forefront of everyone’s thinking, namely: what were the women like? (and rightly so: Continue reading
Thoughts on Halloween
First, let’s lay out the landscape of the phenomenology of Halloween as it is experienced in America. Then, let’s analyze its propriety. There are two axes of analysis that I will highlight. Continue reading
Berlin Musical Instruments
The Musical Instrument Museum would be easy to miss on a first trip to Berlin. But all that are interested in classical music (especially keyboard) or fine cabinetmaking should consider making a stop here. Continue reading
The spirit is willing, but…
My colleague will be back… I’m quite sure. But here, we can see the basic problem. Continue reading
Buchenwald Inmate #2491: Christian martyr
Paul Schneider was a German Reformed minister whose early ministry coincided with the ascendancy of the National Socialist movement in the 1930s. His critique of the folk’s movement in view of the Word of God as well as a series of stands for the independent rights of the church vis-à-vis the state led to continual conflicts with Party functionaries, and penalties of increasing severity. At length, the conflict culminated in consignment to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, where his life ended. Continue reading
Why I am not a Methodist
Everyone expects me to say “Predestination” or something. But that’s so far down the list that I’ll forget to even mention it.
There are three things that prevent me from becoming a Methodist. Continue reading
When I hear the word “anti-Semitism,” I reach for my revolver
but for a reason opposite to that of the Semite-worshippers that are also seen to be grabbing their pistols.
My thesis is very simple: the term anti-semitism exploits an equivocation between race and religion that sets up the discourse for fallacious inferences. Moreover, the privileged status that this term has over others in its genre is itself an indication of the racism of those that recklessly purvey it. Continue reading
Jena the Battlefield
The British were willing to negotiate with Napoleon, and in August 1806 made generous concessions, only asking for unmolested control of Hannover; Talleyrand favored the agreement, but Napoleon nixed it. Continue reading