"Don't you remember on earth--there were things too hot to touch with your finger but you could drink them all right? Shame is like that. If you will accept it--if you will drink the cup to the bottom--you will find it very nourishing: but try to do anything else with it and it scalds."
You are such a clever lie
Cuz I can never figure why
I keep running back to you
Why I do the things I do
I smell the fresh scent of your breathe
But know you merely breathe out death
The trick and scheme is never new
You mask the lie, and hide what’s true
So here is what I’ll do:
I’ll curse the man you’ve built in me
And tear apart each stone building
I’ll run to the nearest open road
And rip off all these shameful clothes
I’ll wait till your memory is gone
As long as the light in the sky lives on
And still I’ll wait just to be found
And until then I won’t make a sound
I need this every single day
My lack of this is why I pray
It holds me safely from myself
In between poverty and wealth
I love it as my major find
Its secrets I try to unwind
Its enemy will bend and bind
And keep you wounded, deaf, and blind
It’s worth a fight and worth a blow
A treasure many never know
It has its limits like the rest
But it will help you pass the test
It goes a long way, that’s for sure
It points you to what will endure
Your love for it will love you back
It won’t deceive and won’t attack
Its praise is shouted throughout time
Both throughout pros and throughout rhyme
It’s virtuous by its own will
Its truest form is humble still
- Castor
Christopher Randazzo – Philosophy Journal Article Review
“Free Will and the Problem of Evil”
Author: James Cain
Source: Religious Studies, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec., 2004), pp. 437-456
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20008555
___________________________________________________________
The central problem of this article is to defend the incompatibilism that is required by the free will defense that allows for the problem of evil to arrive out of a misuse of our free will in a world created by an all perfect God. This article is in response to the objection that determinism can be compatible with free will in such a way that God might have predetermined our free will to be exercised sinlessly.
The way Cain goes about this is first to distinguish between three different types of compatibilism—metaphysical, conceptual, and epistemic—and the logical relationship between them. He explains that to say two statements are “compatible” means they can both be true at the same time, thus he breaks down the three types of compatibilism into representative truth statements. At first glance it looks like a complicated proof you might see in a logic and proof class, but all in all he is plainly using symbols to simplify long statements.
First he defines a statement (S) as metaphysically necessary if it is true with respect to every metaphysically possible world, and (S) as conceptually necessary if it is analytically true in each possible world. Likewise a statement (S) is metaphysically possible if the statement is true in at least one possible metaphysical world, and (S) is conceptually possible if the statement can by proved analytically in at least one possible world. Thus “metaphysical compatibility” is when two statements are metaphysically true at the same time. Likewise “conceptual compatibility” is when two statements are conceptually true at the same time. Cain makes the point that if two statements are conceptually compatible, they must be metaphysically compatible. On the other hand, two statements can be metaphysically compatible but not conceptually compatible. Cain practically skips over “epistemic compatibility” as he refers to it as the least plausible type of compatibilism because it is the most complex and includes the most variables.
Based on this point, Cain spends the majority of time talking about his “difficulties” with metaphysical compatibility because if he can persuade the reader that there are simply too many problems with this kind of compatibility, he has no need is expounding upon the other kinds of compatibility. Cain admits that metaphysical compatibilism is the most plausible for the opposing argument, but he is far from convinced. He does this by using typical arguments for compatibilism—namely paradigm-case arguments, conceptual analysis, and Frankfurt-style examples—and shows that they are poor proofs for compatibilism.
I think Cain’s article is true under the assumptions and definitions he uses, most of which I would agree with. But there are so many terms to define and base assumptions made that one can hardly fully agree. Another sense of this article’s “trueness” is that Cain does not boldly say that one side of the argument is true or false. He does not refute the opposing argument as false, but only shows “difficulties,” and he only spends about a page arguing for his own side, which is no “proof” by any stretch of the word.
However, this article is still profitable to reader because Cain is not trying to convince the reader that his thoughts are irrefutable truths, but rather to think through the issue of free will and determinism in a new, hopefully clearer, way.
I could not find any style guidelines or instructions for authors.
The journal Religious Studies is peer-reviewed by a renowned international board of scholars to ensure that the articles are of the highest quality.
I’m trying hard to fall in love with you
Cuz I know you’re the best one to pursue
You’ve given me a reason for each day
Help my heart understand
When my eyes cannot see, I pray
Fill me up with your love
________________________
*I wrote some music to this, but i don't have any recording equipment. One day.
I feel like I finally understand what it means to be free from sin. Hersh explained that when he called "The Great Exchange." The Great Exchange was when Jesus died for our sins. At that moment, He traded all of His righteousness for all our sin. He suffered the punishment of our sin so that we could experience what Paul talks about in Romans 8:1-2 and II Corinthians 5:21 -
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit
of life set me free from the law of sin and death."
---
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God."
There is nothing I can do, even through obedience, that will bring me to a point of being more righteous before God. If there was anything I could that would make me more righteous, then Jesus' death wasn't quite enough. We will sin, but after we sin we should not believe the lie that says we aren't good enough for God to use us. I have heard a few stories this week about how God has used non-Christians to lead others Christ miraculously, and then countless stories from CRU college students this week about how God has worked miracles to open doors and share the hope Jesus has to offer to what will hopefully be hundreds by the end of the week (which I suppose is counting, so ignore the colloquialism used at the beginning of the sentence).
Gardens surround the red brick path
And lead me to the charming red door
A welcome mat and flower pots
Implore me to want to see more
I step inside the homiest house
Looking over the loveliest lawn
The cozy couches calling my name
But I choose to keep my shoes on
~
The fireplace cracks and keeps me warm
The carpet is white, cozy, and soft
Chocolate served hot is cupped in my hand
As I hear music played in the loft
My hosts beg me to feel right at home
They’ve made it so I feel drawn
But respectfully I must decline
And I choose to keep my shoes on
~
They show me to their best guest room
They say “stay as long as you want”
A king size bed and flat screen TV
Thousands of books, from Plato to Kant
A room so tempting to say the least
Relaxing, it seems, as I yawn
But I say "no thanks" as I head for the door
Because I’m living with my shoes on
Barren had not gone far when he came upon his first adventure. As Barren got close, he noticed another bird doing something to the narrow land, but he could not tell what exactly. He addressed the bird in hopes of passing him without trouble.
“Greetings, my name is Barren.”
“Greetings of the same; it is good to meet you Barren. My name is Christian, but most birds around here call me the Pointless Planter.
“Might I ask what you are doing to the ground?” asked Barren.
“I have this seed I am trying to plant in the narrow land. Nothing has grown yet, but I trust that when the time is right, my seed will sprout.”
Barren did not understand. He had only ever heard of food crawling around to the surface of the land, but never grown. Yet the Pointless Planter seemed to carry with him a wisdom he had not seen in any other bird, so he brought himself to inquire about his mystery.
“Do you know anything about what is beyond the blinding whiteness?” Barren asked.
“Certainly. I’ve been there. Being outside of this blinding whiteness is the most wonderful experience in life.”
“Really, what is it like?” Barren asked excitedly.
“You can see more than only birds' faces; you can see the rest of their beings too. You can see every bird, all the wonderful different kinds. And there are other birds, but different than birds. But this is the best part: we, birds, can fly.”
Barren did not know what “fly” meant, but it sounded wonderful to him. “How can I get to everything you are talking about, beyond the blinding whiteness?” Barren asked.
“It is simple, but very difficult. You must jump off the narrow land.”
“But that is suicide. I will die.” Barren shouted angrily. After the Pointless Planter’s answer to his last question, Barren’s demeanor ran from excitement to resentfully doubtful. Barren passed the Pointless Planter disappointedly. As he passed, the Pointless Planter told him, “You must die to truly live. But if you ever decide to jump off, God will catch you.”
Barren heard what the Pointless Planter said, but he was not listening anymore. He had heard of God before, but knew nothing about him. Saddened that his first adventure left him more confused than before, he continued on his journey to the end of the land, determined to find out what was beyond the blinding whiteness.
(to be continued)
Once upon a time there lived a group of birds. The land they lived on was very narrow; so narrow that hardly two could fit side by side without one falling off the land. Of course this is what they understood to be death. The other strange part of this land was no one could see any further than right in front of their faces. Everything was like a blinding whiteness. As a result, the only faces some ever saw were those of their family and their close friends. Also, since the land wasn’t very wide, you couldn’t walk from one end of the land to the other, so most spent all of their lives on the same segment of the land.
There were a few adventurers who wanted to go to the end of the land. This meant they needed to meet many different birds and pass them to continue their journey, and if they met a bird who didn’t want to be passed, they would have to turn around or fight to the death. Great stories were told of those who made it to the end of the land, but most of those stories ended with the adventurer disappearing.
One day a bird was born whose name was Barren. Barren lived on the far left side of the land. He had one brother and four sisters, but because the land was so narrow, he only ever saw his parents and brother. Barren’s parents were like most birds’ parents. They caught worms that climbed around to the surface of the land as food, they told him not to talk to birds with voices they didn’t recognize, and taught him the best way to live on the land was never to show your face to anyone you didn’t trust and never to pass people as much as you could help it.
When Barren was past of age of learning to catch worms for himself, he became very dissatisfied with his life. He thought there had to be more to life than hopping around the narrow land and only ever seeing two or three other birds. Barren wanted to know if there was something more than the blinding whiteness everyone was accustomed to. And he heard stories from his brother of famous birds, adventurers, who traveled to the end of the land. So one day, Barren decided to become one of the adventurers.
(to be continued...)
