Category: Uncategorized
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Literacy, Numeracy, and Philosophy – Part 2
As I state in Part 1, literacy can be defined as the human ability to read and write. I also state numeracy can be defined as the human ability to understand and work with numbers. And while the historical foundations of numeracy are arithmetic and geometry, mathematical literacy expands into algebra, trigonometry, probability, statistics, and…
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Literacy, Numeracy, and Philosophy – Part 1
Literacy can be defined as the human ability to read and write. The majority of people who can read and write do read and write. By this I mean they do more than just read and write. They also cultivate their reading and writing skills to a level of contemplative thought and informative communication. Numeracy…
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Dust and Ashes of Ash Wednesday
Studies of starlight reveal that everything we can observe in space is made of the same matter as things on Earth. All matter is made up of atoms. The nucleus of each atom is composed of smaller particles called protons and neutrons, and the nucleus of each atom is surrounded by a cloud of electrons.…
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Book, Chapter, and Verse – Genesis 1:1
Bereshit בראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת הארץ Γένεσις Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν Liber Genesis In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis is the first book of the Bible. The opening word in the Hebrew is…
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DNA, Genetic Code, and Design
There are unique characteristics present in all living things that are absent from nonliving things. For example, cells are basic building blocks found in all living things and every cell contains DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA is a long, ladderlike molecule that carries genetic code within its chemical structure. And genes are sections of DNA that…
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Creeds, Catechisms, and Confessions
In “Credo – I Believe” I note the subtle but important distinction between Credere Deum (to believe God exists) and Credere in Deum (to believe in God). Here I want to share four resources that will help you compare various creeds, catechisms, and confessions in their historical Christian context. Please note the following: The text…
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Psalms, Proverbs, and Biblical Philosophy
In the 1920s, the philosopher Cornelius Van Til developed and popularized an influential form of the Transcendental Argument for God (TAG). The TAG states God’s existence is necessary to explain and account for both morals and logic. It also states that any and all facts known through morality and logic have God as their necessary…
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Credo – I Believe
The prevalent method of high medieval philosophy and theology is known as Scholasticism. This method distinguishes between the Latin terms credere (to believe) and credere in (to believe in). This is how Scholastic theology makes the subtle but important distinction between Credere Deum (to believe God exists) and Credere in Deum (to believe in God).…
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Gloria In Excelsis Deo
Angels We Have Heard on High Angels we have heard on high, Sweetly singing o’er the plains, And the mountains in reply, Echoing their joyous strains. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Come to Bethlehem and see Him whose birth the angels sing; Come, adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the newborn King. Gloria in excelsis…
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Forward, Backward, and Directly to Christ
Among the philosophers and theologians, the names of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas are intricately connected. While the Christian philosopher-theologian Saint Augustine drew from the philosophical insights of Plato, Saint Thomas Aquinas drew from the philosophical insights of Aristotle. Nevertheless, between chronologically moving forward and historically reflecting backward, there is yet an unnamed philosopher who…