Steven Colborne's Blog, page 75

Steffany Gretzinger

Welcome to this week’s Monday Music post, where I share a song to inspire you and lift you up at the start of the week.

I’ve been listening to a wonderful worship music playlist on Spotify (I might share the playlist with you in a future Monday Music post), and the song that I’m featuring today was on that playlist. I must admit, it didn’t grab me instantly, but after a couple of listens I was hooked.

The song is by Steffany Gretzinger of Bethel Music, and is the lead single taken from her second solo album, ‘Blackout’, which was released earlier this year (2018). It features a delicate and haunting vocal line, evocative melodies that stir up the emotions, and lyrics that make us reflect on our dependence on God in times of trouble.

Enjoy the lyric video below and let me know what you think in the comments!

Sunday Summary | QOTW

Greetings, dear ones! Welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary post, in which I’ll be offering a brief recap of my week in blogging, sharing a few personal reflections concerning my life at this time, and asking a Question of the Week, which is my way of getting to know you a little better. Also in today’s post, there will be details of my new single, which is released next week. Let’s get cracking!

The Week in Review

For this week’s Monday Music post I presented an orchestral piece by an American composer named Joshua Spacht. Those of you who checked out the song were impressed with its powerful and original musical interpretation of the opening of the book of John. To listen again, click here.

For my Thursday Theology post I shared a series on the Biblical view of hell, written by my friend and fellow blogger Amanda over at Kindling Truth. If you’ve ever been confused about Christian teaching on hell, you might find Amanda’s series helpful. To read the post, click here.

I ended the week with the latest instalment in my Friday Philosophy series. This week we looked at Epicurus and his teaching on ethics, comparing his hedonistic philosophy with my own thoughts concerning how we can be happy and fulfilled. Click here to read the post.

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New Song out Thursday 10th May

As you may already be aware, I’m in the midst of a ten-song experimental music project. My next release (Song 8) will be on Thursday. It’s a song about God’s love for the Jewish people, and the important role they have in His grand scheme.

 

A Few Personal Reflections

We’re experiencing some truly glorious weather in London this weekend. Temperatures are set to hit 28 degrees celsius tomorrow which will be a record high for a May Bank Holiday

God and Hedonism

In this week’s Friday Philosophy post we’ll be looking at a big idea from the ancient Greek philosopher, Epicurus. You may have come across the Epicurean paradox before, which is a truly fascinating set of propositions concerning the problem of evil. I won’t be focusing on the paradox in this article, as I covered it in in a previous post.

Who Was He?

Born in Samos in 341 BC, Epicurus came from a poor family that was far from aristocratic. He suffered from poor health for much of his life, but despite these troubles he founded several philosophical schools, including ‘The Garden’ in Athens which was partly a school and partly a philosophical community.

Epicurus’s work represents a blend of the metaphysical ponderings of the presocratics with the ethical philosophy of Socrates. In terms of metaphysics, Epicurus followed Democritus in espousing an ‘atomist’ view of reality, but in terms of his ethics, Epicurus was interested in the pursuit of a hedonistic lifestyle – aiming to enjoy life as much as possible without fear of divine judgment for doing so.

What’s the Big Idea?

Epicurus believed that happiness could be found in the elimination of mental and physical pain. He believed mental pain was the worser of the two, because physical pain is usually fleeting, or relieved somehow, or ends in death. So he focused on philosophising concerning how we could relieve the mental anguish we experience in life, such as fear, anxiety, and depression. Through wisdom, Epicurus believed, we can learn which pleasures to seek, and which to avoid.

My Reflections

I have a lot of sympathy with Epicurus’s concern for how to live a happy life. Those of you who have signed up to my mailing list recently will know that I have written an eBook about the different ingredients that we must balance in order to live a happy life. Some of the ingredients I discuss in the book are mental health, physical health, a rewarding work life, and various others.

As a spiritually inclined person, who believes in a monotheistic God, one of the key ingredients I mention in the eBook is nurturing a relationship with God, something that was not important to Epicurus. Epicurus believed that gods existed, but he thought they had no interest in human affairs and were not particularly relevant to the subject of happiness. I, on the other hand, would argue that relationship with God is the single most vital ingredient for living a happy and fulfilling life, as when we seek God’s truth we come to understand the bigger picture of life, without which, earthly pleasures are relatively meaningless.

In next Friday’s post we’re going to be looking at a philosopher named Diogenes, who rejected civic life in favour of a more vagrant lifestyle (he is known as a ‘Cynic’). To receive an email every time I publish a new post, please consider subscribing. Thank you for reading!

The Bible and Hell

In today’s Thursday Theology post I’d like to invite you to read a study on the subject of hell as it is written about in the Bible. You may find it refreshing to explore this subject in some depth. It is by no means a ‘black and white’ issue – it’s actually rather complex.

For instance, did you know that there are four different words that are translated as hell in the King James Version of the Bible? The meaning of some of these words might surprise you. Also, have you considered whether eternal conscious torment (ECT) is a Biblical idea, or one that theologians have invented outside of Scripture?

To guide us through the issues, I’d like to introduce my blogging friend Amanda and her blog Kindling Truth. As far as I know Amanda wouldn’t describe herself as an academic or theologian (she’s very modest), but she’s a great writer with a passion for Scripture and she has certainly done a brilliant job in producing a thorough study on the subject of hell.

So then, without further ado, here’s the link:

The Nature of Hell (Complete Series)

If that’s too much to read in one go, here’s the series in four parts:

The Nature of Hell (Part 1) – Hell Lost in Translation

The Nature of Hell (Part 2) – Does God Subject People to Never-Ending Torture?

The Nature of Hell (Part 3) – The Lake of Fire and The Second Death

The Nature of Hell (Part 4) – The Teachings of Jesus on Hell

I’m sure Amanda would be happy to answer any questions or comments on her blog, and you’re welcome to leave a comment here if you’d like to do so – I’d be grateful to hear from you if you feel you’d like to add to the discussion. God bless and thank you for reading!

Music | Joshua Spacht

This year I’m once again reading a One Year Bible, which if you’re not aware is the entire Bible divided up into 365 daily readings. My New Testament passage for today was the beautifully majestic opening of the Gospel according to John.

As I was reading, a piece of music came to mind. I have shared this piece on Perfect Chaos before (last year) but I have many new followers since then who may not have heard it, and even if you have heard it before, it’s such a powerful piece that hopefully you’ll relish giving it another listen.

The piece of music is entitled ‘In The Beginning’ and is orchestrated by Joshua Spacht, an American composer, arranger, and producer. I will post the passage from John 1 that the music accompanies below. The passage is traditionally understood to make reference to the divinity of Jesus Christ, and also His eternality. I have embedded a lyric video of the song below the text.

I hope you enjoy the piece, and if you do, let me know in the comments!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

(John 1:1-5 NKJV)

Sunday Summary | QOTW

Welcome to this week’s Sunday Summary post where I’ll be recapping my week in blogging, sharing a few personal reflections on my life at this time, and dangling a Question of the Week in front of your eyes in the hope that you will bite, and in doing so teach me a little bit more about yourselves. Let’s jump into the post!

The Week in Review

I was excited to kick off the week with some Monday Music. This week I shared a live version of a song containing one of the best grooves in my musical collection. Many of you shared your love for this artist in the comments. To listen to the song click here.

For my Thursday Theology post this week I did something a little different. Rather than sharing a theological discussion I shared a piece of ‘theological poetry’, if we can call it that. It’s one of my favourite poems of all time. You can read the post here.

I rounded off the week with my regular Friday Philosophy post, which this week focused on a big idea by an ancient Greek thinker named Democritus. This post should be of interest to scientists, philosophers, and theologians, and you can read it here.

A Few Personal Reflections

I’m delighted to have made excellent progress with Song 8 of my music project this week. I got a bit behind schedule with this song, which made me panic (even though my schedule is self-imposed!) but after some prayer and a walk in the sunshine the Lord was gracious unto me and the song is sounding super!
We’ve had proper old April weather in the UK this week. Grey cloud, constantly. Seemingly endless drizzle. But I’ve actually quite enjoyed it as I’ve been recording so wouldn’t have been able to get out much anyway. I feel so blessed to have a roof over my head!
I realised I’ve been writing so much about ancient Greek philosophers that it would make sense to add an ‘Ancient Greece’ category to the blog. So now you can find all of those posts in one place – take a look at the category list and you’ll find it under ‘Philosophy’.
If you’ve visited my blog this week, thank you so much! Please know that I really appreciate my readers – you lot are my best friends. You’re in my prayers!


Question of the Week

Can you name one book that has impacted your life recently?

Let me know in the comments below!

 

The Theory of Atoms

Welcome to this week’s Friday Philosophy post, in which we’ll be taking a brief look at one of the ancient Greek ‘atomist’ philosophers, a man named Democritus. We’re actually jumping back in time a little, as Democritus is a presocratic thinker, but it makes sense to group him in with the atomists, as he is considered to have been pioneering in this respect.

Who Was He?

Democritus (c.460-370 BC) lived in ancient Athens and wasn’t recognised as part of the intellectual elite in his day. However, he has remained of interest to philosophers and scientists up until the present day, as his philosophy has a distinctly modern flavour.

At the heart of Democritus’ work was an explanation of the nature of things. He postulated that all matter is divided into indivisible components called atoms. To further explain reality, Democritus realised that these atoms must exist within something, which he referred to as a void.

Many of his writings have survived, and he is also referenced extensively by other writers, including the ancient Greek biographer Diogenes Laërtius, who notes that Democritus lived exclusively for his studies. It is thought that he died at the ripe old age of 90.

What’s the Big Idea?

The obvious thing with Democritus would be to talk about his atomic theory, but I’d like to be a little novel and focus on a big idea of his that, although relevant to atomic theory, is a rather different area of wisdom.

Democritus believed that every event in the universe is causally determined by preceding events, and all this activity is an expression of atoms colliding with one another. The classic example of this is the effect of a billiard ball striking another. Modern determinists and materialists would find a lot of agreement with this way of thinking.

My Reflections

Deterministic thinking necessarily causes one to go back in time and postulate what it was that got the metaphorical ball rolling in the first place. Scientists in the modern age postulate a big bang theory, but this always begs the question of what preceded the big bang and how something can come from nothing.

I believe this leads us to a powerful argument for the existence of God. While I believe that every event must have a cause, I don’t believe the universe is unfolding in a mechanical cause and effect way. Instead, I believe that a living God exists, who is in control of all activity in creation, and is unfolding events in accordance with His sovereign will in the single eternal moment.

It is not necessarily the case that the rules of science are absolute, and as one who believes in miracles, and has seen miracles, I know that the laws of cause and effect can be overruled by God in any situation. The universe is not robotic, it is much more like a grand cosmic puppet show, in which God, as puppet master, is unfolding a wonderful story of which scientific laws are only a part.

While Democritus shed light on the building blocks of matter, modern science has proved that atoms can be broken down into smaller particles, and those particles can theoretically be broken down ad infinitum, so the nature of matter which seems so solid to the human senses is really mysterious stuff. Perhaps matter isn’t so material after all.

Next Friday we’ll be looking at another atomist philosopher, Epicurus. He had some novel ideas in the field of ethics, so most likely the big idea we’ll be focusing on will be along those lines. Please subscribe to ensure you never miss a post, and thank you for reading!

A Covenanted People

Greetings, everyone! The last few Thursday Theology posts have been pretty heavy, so I thought I’d lighten things up today with a bit of poetry. I suppose this post is still theological in nature, depending on how you look at it.

I’m a huge fan of poetry that is simple, unusual, and profound. In another post I shared my favourite quatrains, which are four line, single stanza poems. Check out that post if you want to be inspired! In this post I want strip things down even further and share one of the shortest (and probably one of the best) poems I have ever read. Ready?

How odd of God

To choose the Jews

The above couplet is attributed to William Norman Ewer, a British journalist writing in the 20th century. It’s also worth sharing a response he received to the poem:

But not so odd

As those who choose

A Jewish God

Yet spurn the Jews

That response is attributed to an African-American writer named Cecil Brown, although its authorship is contested.

I don’t think these poems require much commentary. I’d prefer to let them speak for themselves. If you enjoyed them, you’re welcome to leave a comment below

Music | Bill Withers

I’m so happy I thought of this song when considering what to share for my Monday Music post. Listening to this has already been a mood boost for me this morning. The musicianship is excellent, and that groove is sheer brilliance!

I hope you enjoy this live version of ‘Use Me’ by Bill Withers. I’ll be working on song eight of my music project this week, and this soulful performance will serve as inspiration. God bless and have a great week!

Sunday Summary | QOTW

Hi friends and followers! Another week has passed and it’s time for my Sunday Summary post, where I offer a round-up of my week in blogging, some personal reflections on my life at this time, and a Question of the Week to help me get to know you all a little better.

I’m aware that last Sunday I mentioned that I would only be posting once this week, on Monday. However, due to having more time than anticipated, and also because inspiration struck, I have managed to keep to my posting schedule this week (and even threw in a Blog Spotlight post for good measure). Here’s the summary…

The Week in Review

Normally on Mondays I post a piece of music, but this week I had a theology post that I really wanted to share. The post was about a passage of Scripture in the book of Romans and how it relates to the free will debate. You can read the article, and the interesting comments, here.

On Wednesday I shared my monthly Blog Spotlight post. Every month I feature a few of the blogs that have been submitted to my ‘Promote Your Blog’ page, as a way of giving a bit of extra exposure to both new and established bloggers. You can view the post here.

I was back on Thursday with my Thursday Theology post, in which I quoted an extract from a book I’m reading about how the Bible came to be in its present form. After quoting the passage I gave a brief commentary explaining why the passage is relevant to the free will debate. You can read the post here.

On Friday I shared my Friday Philosophy post, which this week focused on Aristotle, one of the most influential of the ancient Greek philosophers. To read the post and see which of Aristotle’s big ideas I wrote about, click here.

A Few Personal Reflections

We’ve had a mini heatwave in the UK over the last few days, and after some very cold winter weather in recent months, the sunshine is very welcome! Ironically, I’ve barely left my flat, so haven’t really made the most of it. Must do better!
I now have not one, but two, very noisy neighbours – one in front of my flat and one behind. When they both play loud music simultaneously I can’t concentrate on anything much! Still, I’m counting my accommodation blessings, of which there are many