First, a BackstoryThe inspiration for this new book analysis series has a curious backstory. A few weeks ago, as I was thumbing through my Twitter feed, I chanced across a certain video made by a biblical scholar who has his own YouTube (or is it TikTok?) channel. This gentleman was commenting on something yet another…
Hi Everyone. As the title says, a few weeks ago I was interviewed to talk a bit about the early Church Father, Irenaeus. In particular, the talk is in regard to his reading of Genesis 1-3 and the figures of Adam and Eve. I hope you enjoy it!
This year, in addition to my adjunct work, I am teaching high school English full-time at a public charter school. And, for the first time in sixteen years, I am teaching 9th grade English. Without going into a terrible amount of detail, I will say the school is very diverse, to the point where I,…
I haven’t written anything about the creation/evolution debate or Ken Ham for quite a long time. In fact, it has been almost a year. Yet although my writing on the topic has decreased quite a lot, I still follow some of goings on in those circles. And since it is the beginning of the new…
Welcome to Part 3 of my short critique of blogger Matthew Hartke’s post in which he puts forth the argument that the best way to explain the birth of Christianity is not the resurrection of Jesus, but rather that after his death, his disciples suffered from cognitive dissonance and who, much like the later Millerites,…
In my previous post, I outlined blogger Matthew Hartke’s basic argument regarding why he thinks Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT) best explains the reason for the rise of Christianity. Again, you can read his post here and my summary of his post here. As for this post, I am going to do two things (all within…
Matthew Hartke is a former Christian who still writes quite a bit about Christianity and Biblical Studies on his blog. He studied Biblical Studies at Regent University in Virginia Beach. The only reason I mention that is because my brother got a master’s degree in Business from Regent University, while I got a master’s degree…
Later on in the chapter, it says the following: “In chapters 3-4 of In the Spirit of Happiness by the Monks of New Skete, the aspects of spiritual living that come into focus are that of the discipline of change (chapter 2) and Asceticism and Life (chapter 3). The Discipline (and inevitability) of ChangeIt is…
Here in my second post about the book In the Spirit of Happiness by the Monks of New Skete, I want to focus my comments and reflections on Chapter 2, “First Fervor.” First Fervor to True FervorIn Chapter 2, “First Fervor,” the focus is on the importance for a Spiritual Seeker to move beyond that…
For the month of December, I thought I would take the time to write a few posts that focus on a book I read probably over 25 years ago that not only shaped much of my spiritual outlook, but also (looking back) was an early step on my journey to Orthodoxy. The book is In…