A Slice of Apologetics:

Every Thought Captive has a couple good ones today.

#5 in his “Is Apologetics Necessary” series.

Many are proclaiming that the idea of truth, as it has been understood for centuries, has been successfully pulled apart by various forces in the postmodern world. I, however, read things differently.

He also points us toward a New Atlantis symposium piece – “Acorns and Embryos”. He says “The New Atlantis is a great and relatively new resource on the web. The latest edition contains this article on embryos and personhood as part of a symposium on the issue. I would encourage you to read through these essays thoughtfully if you have the interest to do so.”

Indeed.

(I know. I couldn’t resist.)

Evangelical Underground has a couple good ones also.

They inform us of Rolling Stone’s Anti-Religious policy here.

They repost an older entry, entitled “Did Jesus Teach Tolerance or Love?”

The answer of course, is “love.” Now you may be scratching your head, curious as to what the difference is between the two.

Well let me begin by saying that I’ve been conversing with a self-proclaimed “mainline” Christian who subscribes only to the teachings of Jesus, and nothing else. Just Jesus. The rest of the Bible he considers “tainted” and he calls fundamentalists like myself, “followers of Paul.” (keep in mind he refuses to this day answer my query as to which books Jesus wrote, and who does he think wrote down what Jesus said.)

Anyway, on with the story.

So… go read it. All of it.

He also celebrates (as do I, as I live one state over, in Mississippi) that Louisiana’s Supreme Court “unanimously reinstated the anti-gay marriage amendment to the state constitution that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in September.

The high court reversed a state district judge’s ruling in October striking down the amendment on the grounds that it violated a provision of the state constitution requiring that an amendment cover only one subject.”

Good news is music. Good music. I’ll agree with Andrew’s comment to it… “It’s good to see the courts actually upholding the will of the people for once…”

You got that right.

firstPete315 has a nice “rewind” post, highlighting some of their posts from the last year. Go check them out.

They also gave the Apologetics Aggregator a nice flog.

AllThings2All has a new series called “Scene and Heard“, spotlighting what she’s seen and heard around the ‘sphere.

She speculates on what my name means in the first one – and points out a bunch of (other :D) notable female bloggers in the god-blogosphere in the second.

She also added an entry to the Jesus the Logician Project.

Weapons of Warfare (I dub thee “Andrew the Lionhearted!” – and you can quote me!) defends the Faith in a response to “The Angry Agnostic“s post concerning Jesus’ “so-called Divinity“, in a post of his own, entitled “Was Jesus Divine”?

As a side note: This was EXACTLY what I was talking about, when I say “engaging the culture”. Andrew pointed this out to me yesterday, and I didn’t catch it. Make up assignment complete!

He also has a slightly different take on AllThings2All’s “Pascal’s Wager” posts

He also has a JTL project entry…

He looks at The Mystery of the Goodness of God:

One classic paradox presented by atheists to theists, presumably to disprove the existence of God, or more likely to show that even if he did exist, he’s not much of a God, is a discussion about God’s moral directives to humanity. This discussion doesn’t do much for the atheist in the end, but I, as a theist, think that it’s well worth giving considerable thought to.
The question is presented thusly: “On basis does God declare what is good?” There are two answers, says the stater of the paradox.

(1): God declares what is good because he knows it to be good.
(2): God declares what is good simply because he declares it so.

The formulations I’ve given here are somewhat cryptic, because this paradox isn’t usually stated so formally, but the following discussion will serve to show what is meant by each stance, and what the consequences of each are.

Take some notes, apologists.

He also (He’s on fiiiiiire!) takes on Evolution, Neodarwinism, and the Establishment Clause, in response to a post on A Physicist’s Perspective discussing a Washington Post article.

He ALSO posts an excerpt from Tractatus Logico-Theologicus. Which, as it happens, Every Thought Captive also comments on.

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So, there’s your Daily Cut – apologetics style. By the way, Catez – what do you think my name means, anyway? 😀 (It wasn’t conceived in a very profound way, though. I’ll let you all guess – and wait with bated breath (laugh…) until I tell you tomorrow…

Also, don’t forget that Vox Apologia II is coming up fast. For the curious, look up, and to the right. Subject, host, and date for current, upcoming (and, starting Monday, PAST) Vox Apologias are all conveniently listed for you. Finally, there’s a short explanation of the Vox Apologia now posted.

Will be hosted right here.

So get ready… I’m going to have some fun, folks. My brother, over at BrainCatalyst, is doing my graphics for the “presentation” (because I believe in making a good first impression, with my first run at hosting this :D) – mostly because he’s good at it. You’ll see.

Yeah, yeah, so – what is the subject? “Digital Salt”. No explanation – that’s your job. I want to see what that conjures, and what YOUR explanation is for it. Ready? Start thinking on it, and start those mental engines.

The due date/time for all entries is midnight, (to give all the west coasters a bit more time), Sunday the 23rd (or Monday, if you want to get technical). I’ll have the actual post up the night of Monday the 24th.

So, you want to enter the Vox Apologia?

Read the following instructions.

You’re in the right place. Look up, and to your right. You’ll see a section entitled “Apologetics”. Directly under that (and, this is where it will stay, as I am the host, and originator), will be a sub-section, with the heading “Vox Apologia”. Under that, you’ll find the current “Vox Apologia” entries, and the current host (the weekly editions will be hosted at different blogs, every week. This panel will let you know where, and when this will happen.). You’ll see the next date, host, and topic listed directly under “Current.”

Future listings will be directly under _that_. Directly under the “Coming Up” information, is a link that says “Submit your entry” – this is an email address, for the upcoming host. This is where you send the address for the blog entry you wish to enter. Click the link, and it should open your email client, with the subject already filled out. When you do, please include the following items:

Host name: (ex. RazorsKiss)
Host URL: (ex. https://razorskiss.net/wp)
Entry Title: (ex. My Vox Apologia Entry)
Entry URL: (ex. https://razorskiss.net/wp/voxapologiaentry.html) < -- Yes, I know it doesn't exist.
Synopsis (If desired): (ex. “This post is about such and such”)

So, you want to host the Vox Apologia?

Any dates that do not yet have hosts will have a link that says “Like to host?” That emails me. So, if you do – click it – and it will. Also with the subject filled out. The last link (at the time of this entry) says “Vox Apologia FAQ” – that is this post. So, you probably clicked it to get here.

When you are scheduled to host the next week, you need to email me, or the current host, at LEAST 24 hours before the preceding Vox Apologia is scheduled to go up. That way, you can have your information included in that edition, to point people to the right place.

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Ok, now for the “About”.

I decided to start this a while back. Maybe, oh, two months ago. (I’m writing this on 1/20/05). I was still on Oblivion’s Gate, and trying to rack my brains to figure out how to do something like this on that software. I decided I couldn’t do it. I spent the next week hunting for blog software, and another week after that, building/tweaking my blog.

Then, Joe Carter, from Evangelical Outpost, started several projects, in succession. I also read “Blog”, around the same time. Between the two, they convinced me I needed to start _doing_ something – and doing it now. I started to do some legwork – I examined the “Carnivals” and “Symphonies”, and I found the model I liked. However, I’ll say this upfront: This is NOT your normal “symphony.”
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Go here, read what they have to say, and please – help them out.

The resources they offer are INESTIMABLE to apologists, and to the online Christian community.

(HT: Bene Diction

Article 4 in “The Ghetto: Solutions”.

So, yeah – I’m a new kid on the block, I have some interesting ideas – maybe. That’s nice. So what. The blogosphere is an interesting phenomenon, but can it be used the way I’m talking about? If we do the same old things… No. That’s why we’re in the Ghetto to begin with. Remember? To change the paradigms, and actually get _out_ of the Ghetto – we have to rebuild it. Will it happen all at once? Of course not. Can it happen? I believe it can. Why do I believe this? I’m about to tell you why. I’m also going to tell you _how_ I think it’s possible for us to do it.

I’ll go back to my familiar themes. Hubs/Metablogs, Meta-Niching, and Individual Blogs.

This, time, though, I’m going to step past theories, models, and ideas – and get to practical application. I told you I was going to…
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We’ve discussed concepts, we’ve discussed theory – now, let’s discuss organizational models.

We all know by now what the “Ghetto” is. It’s the circular, exclusionary group of Christian god-bloggers who can’t seem to get out of their rut. That rut consists of several elements – but I want to focus on two – and the organization (or lack thereof), which causes them.
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Updates:

Wheat and Chaff takes on DarkSyde (~DS~, from EO commenting), concerning his Dare to Dream – primarily concerning his use of “self-evident” as a faith statement – when he’s an avowed atheist.

(HT: Evangelical Outpost, New Covenant)

Apologetics:

AllThings2All weighs in on Pascal’s Wager. Intelligent read, and a timely reminder.

Welcomes:

Weapons of Warfare, to the Apologetics scene. He should be asking to be added to the aggregator right about… now.

Now.

Now.

Well… whenever he’s ready. 😀

Thank you’s:

Evangelical Outpost, for the flood of traffic, and kind words, he’s been shooting my way. Thank you very much Joe. Want a fan club? I’ll do it!

Jollyblogger, for the very nice multi-flog.

View from the Pew, for the paragraph-long adulation! I’m not worthy. Seriously 😀

Mr. Dumpling, for his flog.

(Note, however, that I WILL take whatever nice things people say about me… lol.)

Around the ‘sphere:
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Well, we put forth the “concept”, in the first post – and got some commentary. Now, let’s look at a bit more of what I’m speaking of. I do understand, I really do, what Brad is getting at with his points about helping the church. I’m trying to take some concepts out of his discussion, and apply them to the God-blogosphere, though. As much as I love helping at my church (and I do), blogging isn’t how I believe I can help my church. My church needs my technical skills, and my musical skills. That’s where I help them. The young(er) denizens are the ones who are “hip” with the computers, technology, and the like. But… the internet ministry in my area doesn’t have much demand, and doesn’t get much play. Let me explain why, so you see where I’m coming from.
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At Every Thought Captive! The subject this week is “What does apologetics mean to today’s Christian church?”

Go read it – NOW!

I’m very encouraged, and very happy about the good number of entries – especially for an initial offering. I’ll be hosting the next Vox Apologia right here. I’ll have the subject posted on Wednsday.

Would you like to host? Please drop me a line at rk AT razorskiss DOT net

Now, this time – note how this is affecting the mid-level blogs – particularly how much they are moving. See what the “anti-ghetto” is doing? I just honestly didn’t have time to plumb the depths of the ecosystem yet again… so I just did up to 1000. We now have 50 (that I counted – I didn’t go over it that thoroughly) in the top 1,000. We were at 37 to start with.

(Links were updated for all in the top 500, and all that Joe annotated in the original. I added a |first week#| (+ /-) |second week #| to all of the link-annotated blogs.)
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