Welp, it took us over a year, but we've finally gotten around to reading a book that we warned you about in August 2013: Colorado radio preacher Kevin Swanson, one of our favorite minor-league Christianist nutters, went and wrote a book last year called
<a href="http:\/\/www.angelfire.com\/az3\/LDC\/hebrewthought.pdf" target="_blank">I am just going to leave this right here.</a> Consider it supplemental reading for extra credit. The first 25 pages or so deal with pre-Hellenistic views of God by Jews and early Christians, and views of Christ by Christians. Those conceptions display some interesting contrasts with Christian theology following the introduction of Hellenistic, especially Platonic (i.e., &quot;Western&quot;) concepts in the 2nd century CE. Swanson talks about wanting to return to a pre-Westernized version of Christianity. It will be interesting to see in what ways his concept of it parallels and in what ways it contrasts with the descriptions in this study.
Also, he has it backwards: &quot;Christians&quot; are getting exemptions from anti bullying laws on &quot;religious grounds&quot; - i.e. beating up the gehys *because* Leviticus.
He&#039;s not that much out of date. The idea that we <a href="http:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Preformationism" target="_blank">develop from tiny versions of ourselves</a> only died as serious science in the late 19th century. There were disputes whether the tiny babbies started in the ovaries or the testicles, with Leeuwenhoek, &quot;the father of microbiology&quot;, on the side of the spermists. On this view, a horde of dead babies is flushed away every time a mother washes her teenage son&#039;s socks.
Discussion question: Have crackpot crazy people always had this much influence, or are we just special like that? Or is it just a recurring, periodic thing...like a bipolar person&#039;s manic phase or PMS?
&quot;Christianity is almost extinct because mainstream churches have compromised too much with humanism, a problem going back to the very founding of Harvard and Yale, which were mostly Puritan at first but also, because they taught Latin and Greek classics..&quot;
Christ, Swanson, nobody likes studying Latin, but that doesn&#039;t make it the end of the world.
And let me think: in what language was the New Testament written?
I would dispute the premise that delusional religious fanatics like Swanson have much influence. They aren&#039;t opinion leaders outside of their tiny group of like-minded biblical literalists. They receive disproportionate attention due to the peculiarity of their views.
<a href="http:\/\/www.angelfire.com\/az3\/LDC\/hebrewthought.pdf" target="_blank">I am just going to leave this right here.</a> Consider it supplemental reading for extra credit. The first 25 pages or so deal with pre-Hellenistic views of God by Jews and early Christians, and views of Christ by Christians. Those conceptions display some interesting contrasts with Christian theology following the introduction of Hellenistic, especially Platonic (i.e., &quot;Western&quot;) concepts in the 2nd century CE. Swanson talks about wanting to return to a pre-Westernized version of Christianity. It will be interesting to see in what ways his concept of it parallels and in what ways it contrasts with the descriptions in this study.
&quot;serious Christian liberal arts student &quot;
Is that even a thing?
He <i>would</i> be, if he managed to get elected.
<i>Apustule-state</i>.
That&#039;s great news ... but why is it so hard to get rid of that last 0.5%?
Not unheard, unfortunately.
Also, he has it backwards: &quot;Christians&quot; are getting exemptions from anti bullying laws on &quot;religious grounds&quot; - i.e. beating up the gehys *because* Leviticus.
He&#039;s not that much out of date. The idea that we <a href="http:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Preformationism" target="_blank">develop from tiny versions of ourselves</a> only died as serious science in the late 19th century. There were disputes whether the tiny babbies started in the ovaries or the testicles, with Leeuwenhoek, &quot;the father of microbiology&quot;, on the side of the spermists. On this view, a horde of dead babies is flushed away every time a mother washes her teenage son&#039;s socks.
He&#039;s the Evil One: he would bring Arby&#039;s.
Not to mention a toilet with a seat and lid. I&#039;m guessing this is actually the Swanson family&#039;s Armageddon bunker, in the back yard.
Discussion question: Have crackpot crazy people always had this much influence, or are we just special like that? Or is it just a recurring, periodic thing...like a bipolar person&#039;s manic phase or PMS?
&quot;Christianity is almost extinct because mainstream churches have compromised too much with humanism, a problem going back to the very founding of Harvard and Yale, which were mostly Puritan at first but also, because they taught Latin and Greek classics..&quot;
Christ, Swanson, nobody likes studying Latin, but that doesn&#039;t make it the end of the world.
And let me think: in what language was the New Testament written?
If it&#039;s gotta be clean -- it&#039;s gotta be Tide.
Puritan?
AOT,K
I would dispute the premise that delusional religious fanatics like Swanson have much influence. They aren&#039;t opinion leaders outside of their tiny group of like-minded biblical literalists. They receive disproportionate attention due to the peculiarity of their views.