Amazing story to teach Isaiah 11:6-9
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 11:9
Thinking Faith blogs
Jimmy Saville and the Marquis de Sade
The Marquis de Sade (1740-1814) was a thinker and pornographic writer who would have appealed to Jimmy Saville. We could argue that both men lived in a similar story/narrative. Perhaps we could say that Thomas Hobbes and his many disciples had 'seduced' both men! Mugged by the materialist creed?
I do not know if Saville read the Marquis but their faith in 'nature' is strikingly similar. There is only one difference that I can detect. Saville claimed to be a Roman Catholic but De Sade openly despised Roman Catholicism.
RealityBites in New Zealand
It's been a really fabulous time for RB in New Zealand.
In partnership with the International Association for the Promotion of Christian Higher Education (IAPCHE) and the Bethlehem Tertiary Institute in Taraunga, I delivered six workshops to about 30 academics from Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan and Tonga. Other speakers included Dr John Kok from the USA, Ken Dickens and Chris Parker from Oz and Dr J Dinakarlal from India.
RealityBites goes to New Zealand
Tomorrow I am flying to New Zealand to lead six workshops on biblical ways of knowing.
I will be launching a blistering attack on Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Descartes, Hobbes, Hume, Jimmy Tarbuck et al and will also be exploring a Christian view of knowledge which honours midwives, blacksmiths, artists, cobblers and nomads as well as academics and boffins.
I will also focus on pedagogy and imagination in teaching/facilitating learning that honours the complex ways that God has made us.
Black Magic at the Court of Louis the 14th
The dismal and ugly consequences of marrying platonic views of the soul with Christian teaching is most evident in the following 17th century black magic story.
The Marquise de Montespan (1640-1707) was considered breathtakingly beautiful by the standards of her day. She had thick, curly hair that fell in ringlets around her face so charmingly that even the Queen of France copied her hairstyle. Her eyes were striking and blue, her lips full and her figure sensuously curvaceous. She was the posh Cheryl Cole of the French court during the reign of Louis the 14th.
Worldviews and Airline Crashes
The Significance of the Parable
What is the significance of the parable about little Dave the emotivist?
Well it might help us to understand why so few young people are interested in the Christian faith in the UK today. Emotivism has captivated their hearts and imaginations.
The Parable of Little Dave the emotivist
Hello – my name's little Dave and I'm an emotivist.
I don't like stamp collecting or coin collecting. I've no interest in football or computer games – and so I've decided to become an emotivist.
A lot of you out there don't know what an emotivist is and you've no idea why it is such an exciting thing to be one. I'm so excited about this!
Doreen, the servant of humanity
Sydney is fab
For those interested I had a great trip to Sydney and Canberra where I delivered RealityBites lectures and workshops to about 450 Christian teachers; I also spoke to about 200 young people in several Oz schools. Feedback has been really encouraging. One headmaster wrote to me as follows:
Dear Mark