Edmund Pevensie is a sinner. He is not a person that is basically good and nice and therefore in no need of salvation. He is traitor. A traitor to the rightful king of Narnia; a traitor that colludes with a wicked tyrant. He is a traitor to his family, willing to hand them over to …
Virtue in Literature (4) – The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe: Faith Read More »
Many of us have heard the old saying, or some version of it: “there are only two things certain in life: death and taxes.” Not all men have been subject to taxes, but all men are subject to the consequence of our sin, death. It is our scourge, our fear, our dread. It cuts down …
Virtue in Literature (3) – A Tale of Two Cities: Love (9th Grade) Read More »
When most people think about Homer’s Odyssey, they think about bizarre monsters and odd happenings—Circe turning men into animals, a cyclopes eating sailors, Poseidon sending storms, etc. But these mythical sections actually compose a rather small part of the story, and for my money at least, they are the least interesting parts of the book. More …
Virtue in Literature (2) – The Odyssey: Hope (7th Grade) Read More »
As you returning students and parents know, each week I try to send a message related to one of our key distinctives (Gospel-Centered, Classical, Collaborative, and Joyful Discovery). My hope in doing this is to edify you, even if only to small degree. I want to give you ideas to think about and things to …
Productive debate can only occur when there are agreed upon premises. From common assumptions we can argue about applications. For example, Americans have always agreed that ‘all men are created equal.’ But they disagreed as to what this meant. Woman Suffragists agreed with this premise and said that it meant that women should be able …
Last week I gave an example of the difficulty of engaging in moral discourse. I originally wasn’t planning on writing this message, but as I wrote last week’s message I thought it might be helpful to share some thoughts as to why this is the case and how this came about. I should note that …
Foundational Issues (8) – Why has the discussion of moral issues become so difficult? Read More »
To briefly summarize what I have written so far: Christians believe that both physical and spiritual reality exist, that morality is a part of reality, and that only the Bible gives sure knowledge of morality. They believe that man is made in God’s image, but fallen. Government is therefore necessary to restrain sin, but it …
Foundational Issues (7) – Discussing Moral Issues in a Pluralistic Society Read More »
The view of man that one holds influences the type of government that one believes is best and the type of government that one believes is best determines one’s view of the role of civil society. This is a topic that is far broader than anything I can cover in a short message, so I …
Foundational Issues (6) – The purpose of government and civil society Read More »
As I wrote last week, the Bible gives certain knowledge of ethical matters. But this begs the question: can people do what they know is right? Are people capable of living moral lives? As with all great questions there are a number of answers. On one extreme are determinists. They believe, in short, that everything …
Foundational Issues (5) – Are people capable of living moral lives? Read More »
There are essentially four ways we come to know things: observation, reason, feeling, and authority. Observation is the source of most of our scientific knowledge. We, for example, observe that water boils at 212 degrees and freezes at 32 degrees. We can’t figure these things out using abstract reason; these are things we observe and …
Foundational Issues (4) – Ethical Epistemology: How do we know what is moral? Read More »
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