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
My colleague will be back… I’m quite sure. But here, we can see the basic problem. Continue reading
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
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
A. J. Ayer’s view of ethical judgments, often dubbed “emotivism,” is that ethical statements are neither true nor false and therefore are without significance. Behind this stance is his empiricism. In order for a statement to be meaningful, it must lend itself to some sort of verification. Without any possible means of verification statements fail to have to express anything. But Ayer does distinguish ethical judgment from other meaningless talk such that of speculative metaphysics or theology in that the former have at least a semblance of meaning since they display the attitude of the speaker toward certain types of actions. When one says, for example, “treason is wicked,” he is, on Ayers view, not uttering a statement with any cognitive content, but is, displaying his strong disapproval of treasonous behavior. Continue reading
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
Perhaps the title is something of a stretch, but Wittgenstein does make numerous comments that fit within an agrarian outlook. Along with his distrust of science, his attitude towards culture, aesthetics, tradition, religion and life share much in common with Virgil, the Old South, the Inklings, the Vanderbilt agrarians, and to a certain extent, Jefferson. Continue reading
Since the previous post on “monsters” (The Ten Worst Monsters of American History) proved diversionary for some, I thought a similar treatment of our cousins across the Atlantic would be of interest. Continue reading
Not to be confused with another movie with the same title, this is a documentary about the Battle of Stalingrad which was fought between the German and Soviet armies during the fall and winter of 1942-43. Before making a few comments, a little background about the battle may be helpful. Continue reading
Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies
One of the few benefits of living in an era of insanity is that it makes the peddlers of the most prosaic and obvious truths appear like sages. The banality I will defend here is that almost every stereotype you have ever heard is true. Continue reading
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
The view of man and of history presented by Augustine in the City of God is glorious and awe-inspiring. In this vision, all men are active and loyal citizens of one or the other of two invisible Cities: the City of God, or the City of Man. Continue reading
The book entitled The Philosophy of Science and Belief in God expounds Gordon H. Clark’s view of science. The book proceeds by historical survey, and the three chapter divisions divide the history into the ancients, the Newtonians, and the 20th century. Roughly speaking, this corresponds to views of science that we could call rationalist, empirical-determinist, and empirical-indeterminist. Each of these is shown to come up short of the standard Clark has set for what science needs to accomplish Continue reading
Utilitarianism is famous for its many flaws (e.g. committing the naturalistic fallacy, positing a simplistic psychological theory, failing to come to terms with ethical distinctions). All these, and more, have been dealt with extensively elsewhere. Here I merely wish to show that if one of J. S. Mill’s arguments succeeds, then Utilitarianism fails. Continue reading
Two statements are often heard, to justify ongoing massive immigration. One hears them spoken by everyone from talking heads to politicians to folks chatting at backyard barbecues. They are meant to “end the argument.” But I submit, they are not valid. Continue reading
This article by Gresham Machen is must-read; as timely today as it was in 1936. I have seen almost all these same tricks used at every level, including congregational meetings.
There is nothing more wicked than cloaking power-religion with the form of godliness.
The return from Lutheran bare orthodoxy to inward change, known as Pietism, was begun by Jakob Spener, though anticipated in the earlier writings of Johann Arndt. It grew wings, however, as a result of the life of August Hermann Francke (1663-1727), and transformed the city of Halle in remarkable ways. This is a brief rehearsal of this amazing story. Continue reading
One of our correspondents raised a question about the ethics of nudity in movies in connection with a remark I made in reviewing Dreamlife of Angels. In trying to pen some preliminary thoughts, I soon realized that the topic deserved a thread of its own, both because more needs to be said than is appropriate in a little “comment†box, and also to provide a better stage for our readers to offer additional suggestions on how to address this topic. Here are a few random thoughts to prime the pump: Continue reading
Roger Williams, because of his views of freedom of conscience and Continue reading
My point in this endeavor is not to give a full exposition of either Mormonism or Wagner’s Ring cycle, but simply to compare and contrast Mormonism’s Jehove and Wagner’s Wotan for the purpose of reflecting on whether love for the story of Wotan is rational. Continue reading
There is a scene in Godfather where the chief counsel for the Don goes to meet the “Hollywood bigshot†Woltz, who has cheated godson Johnny. When Tom explains the (somewhat shady) things he could do in exchange for “one small favor,” Woltz hits the ceiling: “I don’t care how many dago guinea wop greaseball goombahs come outta the woodwork.” Continue reading
In a recent article, Gary North enlists the aid of his readers to come up with the worst monsters in American history. I immediately went to work, but soon realized that my criteria were not the same as North’s. For one thing, North put on the stricture that the monster had to use other people’s money. Though this requirement is met in most of the monsters I came up with, it did not include all. So rather than contributing to his list, I offer my own. Below is the fruit of my effort. Continue reading
In each generation, it appears that Hollywood produces one centerpiece sermon-movie to instruct the goyim on their most serious besetting sin of the time, including an “application” section on how to make progress in sanctification. This movie was the chosen vehicle for the 60s generation, presumably to make sure the free speech/sexual revolution did not stop short of full consistency. The denounced sin appears to be resistance to miscegenation. To ensure an impact, heavyweight Hollywood legends Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy were marshaled for service as the parents of the gushing bride-to-be. Continue reading
Just about every day is the anniversary of one Allied atrocity or another. I only mention this one because Continue reading
Philip Jacob Spener wrote this initially as a preface to an edition of some sermons by J. Arndt; it became popular in its own right and subsequently was published by itself Continue reading
Jena (pron. YAY nuh) is a quiet little town on the Saale River. The Saale forms the left segment that, with the Elbe, defines the triangle in which the Saxons finally Continue reading
Whenever I meet a Baptist or other Independent in a context where Continue reading
Johann Arndt (1555-1621) was a Lutheran minister that was troubled by formalism or dead orthodoxy among the German people. He wrote this book, True Christianity (Wahre Christenthum) to counter this trend, arguing that mere assent to correct doctrines Continue reading
Some of our correspondents seem to depart from the legacy of Christendom on the subject of the magistrate. They think the magistrate is beyond criticism by men. Continue reading
In a The Boston Globe op-ed piece, an hysteric woman named Ellen Goodman makes a remarkable assertion: Continue reading