I thought this little poem was appropriate given that fall officially started on Saturday. This is definitely my favorite season, but I’m not sure why. Perhaps because the change is so swift and dramatic. The leaves turn and then fall off and the days grow cold and boom! It’s fall! Spring comes on in strides: the winds, and the rain, and the slowly greening plant life. Maybe there’s just something enrapturing about the sudden onset of a rainy, cold, death-ridden season, which should be dismal, but is not.

One day soon, maybe not this week,
Or the next, Our Lady Autumn will rise
From her long, deep slumber
With the remnants of a previous year’s
Merry-making caking her tawny eyes.

A long sigh will escape her lips
Out of the west and into our very woods,
And nestling there in the tree creaks
And cicada’s dying drones,
Will slowly sink towards earth.

Her shaggy robes, remended,
Will snap and beat the lingering warmth
Under the loamy rugs,
To join their own unrestful hibernation
Till Spring cleaning.

Autumn will then burst upwards,
Dousing in cold stillness the lifeblood
That beats faintly out of Summer’s weak heart.
And his fantastic death shrouds will blaze upon the pyre,
Then pale and tatter with a last wheeze.

In a sibilant rush, the Lady will dance
Here and there, making sure all is prepared
For her inaugural feast:
The lights strung up between branches, out of reach,
And the carpeting laid down layer on crunching layer.

Pumpkins and gourds arranged in
Colors that match the decorations,
Cider weeping out through smashed skins.
The brown brew dyes the harvest-producing death;
A funerial tribute to plenty.

At last we will make a solstice toast,
Raising glasses by firelight
To the last fading greenery.
And the mortal crowning of
Our Lady Autumn.

It appears that writing verse in the future tense is strange; too many uses of the world “will.” Anyone have suggestions to get around that?

If you’ve been following the news lately you know how Muslims around the world have responded negatively towards remarks in Pope Benedict XVI’s speech at the university of Regensburg. For the sake of a coherent post, I’ll summarize. In the first part of the speech, Benedict quoted the medieval emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, who, in a dialogue with a “learned Persian” said the following:

“Show me just what Mohammad brought that was new and there you will find things only bad and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

Now making the assumption that Benedict intended to claim the thoughts and intentions of Palaiologos as his own, Muslims around the world have made death threats, burned the current pope in effigy, and so on (in fairness many of these actions may have been made by extremist groups). The problem is that the quote is taken entirely out of context. The full text of the pope’s speech has hardly anything to do with Islam or Muhammed at all. In fact, it’s a discourse on the proper interworkings of faith and reason. And I must say, it’s quite good. Benedict expounds upon the Greek philosophical roots of reason in Christianity, and the trend towards subjective reinterpreting of the gospel (a stunning indictment of the Emergent movement).

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Things like these little lists float around the net all the time so I thought I’d give this one a try.

1. One book that changed your life: Grendel by John Gardener

Perhaps an odd choice; allow me to explain. My senior year of high school I had the football coach for English class. We took an instant dislike to each other, but I managed to learn a bit and he managed to teach fairly well despite our differences.

During the lessons on early English, we read Beowulf, as I imagine many seniors have, but afterwards the teacher had us read Grendel, which if you’ve ever read you will realize it is quite a departure from the original tale. I thought the retelling was genius, especially the sermonizing to Grendel on the part of the dragon. It really made me look at literature in a different light.

Coming across those things that twist your thinking is one of the best reasons to read.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Cryptonomicon

Sometimes I just want to veg out in front of some Neal Stephenson. I should really go through the whole Baroque Cycle but its density frightens me.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

Assuming that the island was truly barren and I already had a copy of the Bible.

4. One book that made you laugh: Anything by Dave Barry

I’ve wasted days reading his books.

5. One book that made you cry: Peace Like A River by Leif Enger

If you haven’t read this one (and like randomly inserted cowboy poetry) then give it a shot. It’s really very good. The movie’s coming out soon so get it in your brain before Hollywood destroys it.

6. One book that you wish had been written: Apologetics Curriculae: Suggestions For Classes by C.S. Lewis

I can dream, can’t I?

7. One book that you wish had never been written: Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book. The story was really good, but the whole objectivisim thing… yeesh. I’d probably throw The Origin of Species out there too

8. One book you’re currently reading: The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind

If anyone wants to know why Christians are so dumb this is the book to read.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Moral Values And The Idea Of God by William Ritchie Sorley

I’ve had this on my to-read list for 3 years now. Laziness is a curse.

There you have it. I have maybe 20 books in my house that I’ve bought but haven’t read. Sometimes I think I should burn the TV and my computer (but then how would I update this blog? hmmm…)

This is my first attempt at a villanelle. It was fairly hard, especially getting the refrains to make sense in more than one position or form. It’s not very good, in my opinion, though practice may bring me to make a finer version.

There is a fire on a hill,
Set long ago by men of old,
Burning away a bygone chill.

Twas kindled by their ancient skill
In deep forests above the wold;
There is a fire on a hill.

By its light they made mental drill
To fill their minds all they could hold,
Burning away a bygone chill.

The flame is beacon to us still,
And we proclaim with voices bold:
There is a fire on a hill.

Now we hold their high vigil,
Sounding thoughts that they had told,
Burning away a bygone chill.

Rememb’ring this our children will
Shelter their souls against the cold:
There is a fire on a hill,
Burning away a bygone chill.

There you have it. Quite an interesting style of verse if you want to challenge yourself.

Those who are familiar with the internet apologetics scene will probably be familiar with the name J.P. Holding. J.P., the founder of Tekton Apologetics Ministries, is a prolific writer on subjects pertaining to historical and textual issues in scripture, the Historical Jesus, and other bible difficulties presented by skeptics. He also frequents Theology Web, a debate and discussion forum.

I liked Tektonics the second I came across the site. J.P. has a wealth of articles on a variety of issues that are well-written and updated as people bring objections to his attention. He’s also affiliated with Glen Miller, another one of my favorite internet apologists.

There was one thing, one quirk, however, about J.P.’s personality that struck a dissonant chord in me. He’s aware that people catch a hint of this about him and he addresses it in his debates and in this piece here. It comes out mostly when he’s going head to head with an opponent on a forum, or in articles where he’s responding to someone; here it is: he’s a jerk.

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If you’re interested, Jars Of Clay has a moving version of this hymn on their album, Redemption Songs.

Let us love, and sing, and wonder,

Let us praise the Savior’s name!

He has hushed the Law’s loud thunder,

He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame:

    He has washed us with his blood,

    He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us love the Lord who bought us,

Pitied us when enemies;

Called us by his grace, and taught us,

Gave us ears, and gave us eyes:

    He has washed us with his blood,

    He presents our souls to God.

Let us sing though fierce temptations

Threaten hard to bear us down

For the Lord, our strong salvation,

Holds in view the conqu’rors crown:

    He who washed us with his blood,

    Soon will bring us home to God.

Let us wonder, grace and justice,

Join and point to mercy’s store;

When through grace in Christ our trust is,

Justice smiles; and asks no more:

    He who washed us with his blood,

    Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise, and join the chorus

Of the saints, enthroned on high;

Here they trusted him before us,

Now their praises fill the sky:

    “Thou hast washed us with thy blood,

    Thou art worthy, Lamb of God!”

Hark! the name of Jesus, sounded

Loud, from golden harps above!

Lord, we blush, and are confounded,

Faint our praises, cold our love!

    Wash our souls and songs with blood,

    For by thee we come to God.

               – John Newton

I especially like “When through grace in Christ our trust is, Justice smiles; and asks no more” a great word-picture.

Apparently Habermas has a new (I say new, it came out in 2004) book out, co-written with his former student, Michael Licona, entitled The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus. Looking at the reviews, it seems that it draws much from his arguments in The Historical Jesus. I imagine this is book is aimed at a more popular audience, though. It appears to have sections on evangelism and personal development, which is good to see.

The one thing about these Amazon reviews is that there’s always a few people who disagree with the argument of the book. That’s fine, and sometimes the disagreement is very well-written and thoughtful, but wouldn’t you know it, that’s hardly ever the case? The reviews of this book are no different.

There is one review in particular that I wish to dissect, because I haven’t written against an attack on Habermas’ resurrection argument in a while. Now I know that there’s basically no chance that the reviewer will ever see this. That’s OK, chances are no one will see this anyways

Rebuttal follows after the jump.

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Our database went down a few days ago, leaving me with nothing to do, so I basically spent the entire day reading about “cryptids” on wikipedia. Cryptids are creatures hypothesized to exist based on evidence, usually anecdotal, that is not strong enough to scientifically prove their existence. This group includes bigfoot, the yeti, el (la?) chupacabra, the Loch Ness monster (well not anymore, probably), the Jersey Devil, and mermaids, to name a few. There are also quite a few other less glamorous critters (the Kting Voar, or “snake-eating-cow of Cambodia”, for instance).

I spent quite a long time on the Bigfoot article because it was so well written. It quotes numerous sources and goes through all the evidence both for and against the existence of the ol’ hairy guy. The basic gist is that while bigfoot (or sasquatch, if you prefer) may or may not exist, there is certainly goings on in the forests of the Pacific Northwest that are not all hoaxes. It makes you think. If you grew up during the 80s like I did, you probably saw the movie “Harry and the Hendersons”, which I’m sad to say was made into a TV show (and I’m even more sad that I watched). Bigfoot was popular! Even more popular in the 70s. For that lovable, fictional hairy guy to actually be… something… out there makes for some interesting mental fat-chewing.

Another cryptid I came across (how’s that alliteration for ya?) is the Fear Liath, or Am Fear Liath Mòr (a.k.a. The Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui). This one is either a creature or “presence” thought to haunt Ben MacDhui, the 2nd highest mountain in Scotland and Great Britain. It’s said to be biped, and resembles a yeti, being very tall and covered with short hair. The interesting twist to the Greyman is people generally describe an uneasy feeling attached with the sightings.

In one such 1925 sighting, recounted by the climber John Collie, he says that as we was walking alone near the summit of Ben MacDhui when he suddenly heard a “crunch” sound behind him, and the crunching sounds continued to follow him though only one per every three or four of his steps, as if something with a very large stride was pacing him. Seized by a sudden onset of terror, Collie ran through a field of boulders for four or five miles before stopping.

One of the plausible explanations offered for the Greyman is that the large gray apparations perceived may be a Brocken spectre, which is where the shadow of a person on a high mount is cast, when the sun is at a certain angle, on the low-lying clouds around them, appearing like an enormous human form, even moving as the clouds swirl about. Brocken spectres are also usually accompanied by a glory, which is a sort of corona of colored lights appearing around the brocken’s originating vantage point, which in the case of a person is the head, so it seems like a halo.

I really have no specific unifying point to make about cryptids, only that they make for interesting reading when you’re bored, especially when you enjoy learning about the strange.

A while back I stumbled my way through St. Anselm’s Proslogium. That’s the one where he lays out the ontological argument for the existence of God. It’s a very beautiful writing, even if you don’t lend credence to the points of his case. You can find it free online here.

The following quote is Anselm’s prayer at the end of the discourse, and I just found it thrilling. Anselm goes through his work outlining how the fullness of God compares to the limitedness of man, and how the absolute greatness of God necessitates his exisence. Because we can conceive of a being whom greater than which cannot be conceived, and since it is greater to exist in reality than the mind only, that being must exist truly, or else that being is not truly greater than any other that can be conceived. Here he takes that understanding of the overwhelming fullness of God, the incapacity of our understanding to grasp it, and the fact that, in the words of a song, “He is more than enough for me,” and turns it into a prayer.

“My God and my Lord, my hope and the joy of my heart, speak unto my soul and tell me whether this is the joy of which you tell us through your Son: Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full (John xvi. 24). For I have found a joy that is full, and more than full. For when heart, and mind, and soul, and all the man, are full of that joy, joy beyond measure will still remain. Hence, not all of that joy shall enter into those who rejoice; but they who rejoice shall wholly enter into that joy.

Show me, O Lord, show your servant in his heart whether this is the joy into which your servants shall enter, who shall enter into the joy of their Lord. But that joy, surely, with which your chosen ones shall rejoice, eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man (Isaiah lxiv. 4; i Corinthians ii. 9). Not yet, then, have I told or conceived, O Lord, how greatly those blessed ones of yours shall rejoice. Doubtless they shall rejoice according as they shall love; and they shall love according as they shall know. How far they will know you, Lord, then! and how much they will love you! Truly, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man in this life, how far they shall know you, and how much they shall love you in that life.

I pray, 0 God, to know you, to love you, that I may rejoice in you. And if I cannot attain to full joy in this life may I at least advance from day to day, until that joy shall come to the full. Let the knowledge of you advance in me here, and there be made full. Let the love of you increase, and there let it be full, that here my joy may be great in hope, and there full in truth. Lord, through your Son you do command, nay, you do counsel us to ask; and you do promise that we shall receive, that our joy may be full. I ask, O Lord, as you do counsel through our wonderful Counsellor. I will receive what you do promise by virtue of your truth, that my joy may be full. Faithful God, I ask. I will receive, that my joy may be full. Meanwhile, let my mind meditate upon it; let my tongue speak of it. Let my heart love it; let my mouth talk of it. Let my soul hunger for it; let my flesh thirst for it; let my whole being desire it, until I enter into your joy, O Lord, who are the Three and the One God, blessed for ever and ever. Amen.” (em. mine)

The part in bold says it all.

Amen.