The book I’m reading by Ed Feser, The Last Superstition, attacks secularists for having abandoned the brilliant philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, who, through reason, arrived at some pretty solid and basic truths, such as the fact God must exist, He can only be One, He created all there is and also maintains it, and there are absolute truths we can know because He made us. It’s great because I believe God’s Word teaches these things. But hey, if some famous philosophers did too, and you can prove God’s truth with their reasoning, I’m all in! Continue reading “Great quote and insight from “The Last Superstition” by Ed Freser”
Quote and insight from The Last Superstition, by Ed Feser
Some weeks ago, I was listening to a Dr. Frank Turek podcast, in which he mentioned Dr. Ed Feser’s book, “The Last Superstition.” Frank Turek highly recommended the book, so I got it right away on Kindle and am currently going through it. It’s really something I wish people of our day could grasp! For now, I’ll just post one little insight I thoroughly enjoyed: Feser devotes chapters to explaining how the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle (along with their later proponents among Christian philosophers and theologians of medieval times, such as Anselm and Thomas Aquinas) actually formed the very foundations of Western civilization. These brilliant, world-class genius thinkers and writers have devoted literally thousands of pages to demonstrating that reason and proper philosophy lead us to the inescapable conclusions, not only that is there a God, but there can be only one God, and that this God must also of necessity be omnipotent, omniscient, and good. After explaining this, Feser expresses his amazement that “New Atheist” Richard Dawkins has written, “there is ‘absolutely no reason’ to think that (Aristotle’s) “Unmoved Mover, First Cause,” etc. possesses any of these aforementioned attributes! Feser sarcastically adds, “Perhaps what he meant to say was ‘absolutely no reason, apart from the many thousands of pages of detailed philosophical argumentation for this conclusion that have been produced over the centuries by thinkers of genius, and which I am not going to bother trying to answer.’ So, a slip of the pen, perhaps. Or, maybe Dawkins simply doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.” Feser, Edward. The Last Superstition (p. 120). St. Augustine’s Press. Kindle Edition.
Quote from Richard Swenson’s book, “Margin”
In my studies at Regent, I read so many great books, and from time to time, I just gotta share quotes from them. This one comes from a great book I highly recommend, Margin, by Richard Swenson M.D.: “To be a follower of Christ means we should follow Him. No one lived a simpler, more unencumbered life than He. His birth was spartan, and His life was free from the ties of possessions or money. He was born with nothing, lived with little, and died with nothing. His simplicity was not accidental. Jesus could have chosen any standard, yet He chose to live simply.”
Great quote about the Church
Last week I was studying about Marxism and how the communist movement never really lived up to the expectations of those who promoted it. In light of that, as I started a different course on church history, I thought the following quote from Dr. Paul Maier in the forward of one of my textbooks, “The Church From Age to Age” was highly significant:
“Christianity is the greatest success story in the history of the world. No other religion or institution or government comes even close to the number of its adherents, with some two and a quarter billion in the present generation alone. It has exerted a greater influence, changed more lives, educated more people, fostered more progress in the arts and sciences, inspired loftier achievements in culture, and had a more powerful role in helping the helpless than any other institution on earth. In the past two thousand years, it has indeed proven to be the greatest movement ever.” Of course, I would add (and Paul Maier says something to this effect later on too), that it’s not really Christianity per se that has done this, but Christ, working through His weak and fallible people, the Church.
Quote from Hebrew Professor
Today my Hebrew professor said something I thought worthy of passing on. He said the translation of, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:11), should actually be translated in a more forceful way that clearly lets us know what we have to do. He said a more accurate translation would be something like, “make a deliberate effort to actively keep yourself from just trusting in your own efforts and understanding and strive to make sure your trust is in God alone.” I don’t know about you, but that seemed like a word from the Lord for me!
Great quote from my Hebrew book:
“No second hand knowledge of the revelation of God for the salvation of a ruined world can suffice the needs of a ministry whose function it is to convey this revelation to men, commend it to their acceptance and apply it in detail to their needs – to all their needs, from the moment they are called into participation in the grace of God, until the moment when they stand perfect in God’s sight, built up by His Spirit into new men. For such a ministry as this the most complete knowledge of the wisdom of the world supplies no equipment; the most fervid enthusiasm of service leaves without furnishing. Nothing will suffice for it but to know; to know the book; to know it at first hand; to know it through and through. And what is required first of all for training men for such ministry is that the book should be given them in its very words (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) as it has come from God’s hand and in the fullness of its meaning, as that meaning has been ascertained by the labors of generations of men of God who have brought to bear upon it all the resources of sanctified scholarship and consecrated thought.” B. B. Warfield, Selected Shorter Writings – I “Our Seminary Curriculum” quoted in Basics of Biblical Hebrew by Pratico and Van Pelt, 2007.
Quotes from St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Nothing is more reasonable; nothing is more rewarding. (than loving God)
This is so true, is it not? Nothing is more reasonable than loving God, because He is the most beautiful and wonderful Person in the universe. He created us and gave us our lives! He meets all our needs throughout our lives, giving us the air we breathe, the food we eat, our jobs, our families, a sense of purpose, a hope and a future. He even went so far as to give us His only Son! (Jn. 3:16; Ro. 8:32) How could we not love Him?
And nothing is more rewarding than loving God, because to know Him is to love Him, and to have relationship with Him is the greatest joy of life. He Himself is our “exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1). Loving God is what we were made for!
If you get a chance, you might want to go to this link and read all of St. Bernard’s treatise, “On Loving God.” It’s really quite profound and beautiful.
www.catholicspiritualdirection.org/onlovinggod.pdf
Quotes from “The Victory of Reason,” by Dr. Rodney Stark
I love this book! Here’s a great quote from the conclusion:
“Christianity created Western Civilization. Had the followers of Jesus remained an obscure Jewish sect, most of you would not have learned to read and the rest of you would be reading from hand-copied scrolls. Without a theology committed to reason, progress, and moral equality, today the entire world would be about where non-European societies were in, say, 1800: A world with many astrologers and alchemists but no scientists. A world of despots, lacking universities, banks, factories, eyeglasses, chimneys, and pianos. A world where most infants do not live to see the age of five and many women die in childbirth – a world truly living in “dark ages.” Continue reading “Quotes from “The Victory of Reason,” by Dr. Rodney Stark”
Quotes from “The Source of Life” by Jürgen Moltmann
Jürgen Moltmann fought for the Nazis in World War II and was taken as a POW to the UK for 3 years. It’s obvious he suffered from PTSD if you read his accounts, but he also suffered terribly as he and his fellow prisoners were shown pictures of the Nazi death camps of the Holocaust and realized what he had really been fighting for. He says all of the prisoners felt a sense of overwhelming shame. He was also afflicted with “survivor’s guilt,” as he constantly thought about all those who had died all around him and wondered why he had been spared. In the prison camp, a chaplain gave him a Bible which he read “without much comprehension.” I thought you might like to read a few quotes from his book on the Holy Spirit called, “The Source of Life”… Continue reading “Quotes from “The Source of Life” by Jürgen Moltmann”
The Victory of Reason
Dr. Rodney Stark is a professor of sociology at Baylor. I read his book, “For the Glory of God” and was impacted greatly. I’ve often mentioned it in sermons ever since. Now I’m reading his book, “The Victory of Reason” and it too has some terrific insights. I’ll share a few quotes below…