Steven Colborne's Blog, page 77

Question of the Week

Hi folks! I hope you’ve had a good week? Every Sunday I write a quick recap of my week in blogging followed by a few personal reflections concerning my life at this time. Today I’d like to introduce something different as well – a way of helping me get to know you a little better. So we’ll close with a ‘Question of the Week’ and if you feel like participating, that would be amazing!

The Week in Review

For this week’s Monday Music post I shared a song that I find deeply moving. The artist is Laurel Hubick and her song, entitled Names of God, is (as the title suggests) a journey through many of the names of God found in the Bible. You can read the post and listen to the song .

On Thursday I was back with this week’s Thursday Theology post in which I looked at what I find to be one of the most convincing reasons for accepting the Christian faith. The Bible compels us to become fools for Christ, and in this post I looked at what 1 Corinthians has to say about The Foolishness of the Gospel. You can read the post here.

To round off the week I published my Friday Philosophy post. I really enjoyed writing this post, which looked at the famous Greek philosopher Socrates, and his big idea that the only thing we can truly know is that we know nothing. You can read the post, entitled Can We Know Anything? by clicking here.

A Few Random Reflections

I went into central London yesterday for the first time in ages. I met my friend on Trafalgar Square and it was absolutely packed with tourists. What struck me was how everyone was filming and taking photos with their smartphones – it made me think how you really cannot be camera-shy in public these days, as in busy places you’re likely to get caught in dozens of snaps whether you like it or not!
I bought some new clothes this week as I recently had a clear-out of my wardrobe. I decided to give away a bunch of clothes to someone in my area using Freecycle. The lady who collected the clothes was a Muslim woman and as she looked through the clothes she seemed delighted with their quality and size (I believe they were for her son). Always a blessing to be a blessing!
As I type this I can hear mice scuttling around in the walls of my flat (it’s early in the morning and they seem to be night-time creatures). I’m just so glad that having gone around all the cracks in the walls with filler, they can no longer get into the flat! But that gives me an idea…


Question of the Week:

Have you ever had a bad experience with rats or mice?

Let me know in the comments below!

 

Can We Know Anything?

Welcome to this week’s Friday Philosophy post! Today we open up a new chapter in our investigations into some of philosophy’s biggest ideas with a look at Socrates, one of the most famous philosophers of all time. Unlike many of the presocratics we’ve been looking at, we know quite a lot about Socrates, mostly from the writings of his student Plato.

Who Was He?

Socrates (470-399 BC) was an itinerant (wandering) philosopher who was born in Athens and lived during a time of great political unrest in the city. He taught solely by means of oratory and public discussion, so we don’t have any written works of his to investigate.

Scholars have struggled to discern how much of Plato’s writing represents Socrates’ thought, and it remains a grey area to this day. Socrates died as a rebel after he was put to death for allegedly corrupting the youth and not believing in the city gods. Those who are interested can read the fascinating account of the events leading up to Socrates’ death in Plato’s dialogue named Phaedo.

What’s the Big Idea?

There are many significant ideas that Socrates is remembered for. Many consider him to be the founder of the branch of philosophy called ‘ethics’, as he was less concerned with the metaphysical speculations of his predecessors and more concerned with personal conduct and how individuals and societies should live. But the big idea we’ll look at for the purpose of this article is Socrates’ claim that the only thing he was sure of was his own ignorance. The so-called ‘Socratic paradox’ is expressed in various slightly different forms, but is essentially this – “The only thing I know is that I know nothing”.

My Reflections

The Socratic paradox can be interpreted in different ways. Some believe Socrates was simply referring to the fact that the potential for knowledge is so vast that we can only know relatively little. Others believe it was a more literal statement of philosophical logic. In any case, it raises the question of what can be known; a predicament which would subsequently have an entire branch of philosophy – epistemology – dedicated to it.

In contrast to the Socratic paradox, I actually believe there are certain things that can be known. I can say with total certainty that I exist, and that God exists. Existence is a brute fact, albeit an incredibly mysterious one! I also believe that there are certain things that are absolutely true about God. For instance, God has the attribute of aseity (see this post); He is eternally existing and unable to be destroyed. That’s a fact.

On the other hand, an atheist would naturally take issue with what I have claimed in the previous paragraph, saying that my assurance that God exists is just a subjective belief not grounded in reality. The atheist might claim that some scientific facts are objectively true, but the existence of God isn’t.

While we might then conclude that any objective truth claim is actually subjective, the very fact that we can have this discussion means that at least one thing is true – there is some kind of reality in which we are having this discussion. Perhaps all of us, including Socrates, could agree on that.

Next week we’ll continue our look at the philosophers known as ‘the Academics’ with another great name – Plato. If you’re interested in reading that post, please be sure you’re subscribed to this blog so you receive an email with each new post. Thank you for reading!

The Foolishness of the Gospel

Jesus famously taught that if we seek, we shall find. Those who wish to find favour with God and live a godly life will at some point encounter the teachings of the Bible and be forced to consider the Christian worldview, and whether to embrace or reject the radical gospel of salvation we find in the New Testament.

Considering the truth claims of the Christian faith in a rational way has led me to conclude that there are certain aspects of the Christian worldview that are illogical. But is that a sufficient reason to reject the faith? In this post, focusing on the apostle Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians concerning foolishness, I will try to address that question.

For the sake of brevity I’m only going to quote a section from chapter 1 of Paul’s epistle, but the theme of foolishness runs right through chapters 2 and 3. For those who really want to consider the arguments in this post, I recommend reading the entire epistle. It’s always a good idea to read each epistle as a whole (in the way it was written), as the context of specific verses is always important.

Let us now look at verses 17-25, and then I will offer my reflections.

17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

(1 Corinthians 1:17-25 NKJV)

The word ‘foolishness’ is repeated five times in this short passage. The Greek word translated as foolishness in these verses is moria, which is the word from which we derive the term moron, and we all know what that means; to be ‘moronic’ is to be stupid, idiotic, dumb.

To be honest, this is the only ‘knockdown’ argument in favour of Christianity that I have found. It does indeed seem foolish to me that God would judge people for their actions when He has caused those actions by His sovereign will in the first place. It seems irrational to me that because Adam and Eve ate some fruit, we are all sinners who deserve everlasting punishment in hell.

But Paul’s teaching to the church in Corinth seems to imply that we should suspend logic and simply believe and obey the teachings of Christ. Believing the gospel may be a foolish thing to do, but it seems from Paul’s teaching that God wants us to reject what we consider to be wise for the sake of the gospel and that this is the only way to be in right relationship with Him.

This is a challenge I take very seriously, and I find the argument very persuasive. If Paul’s writing is inspired by God, then we all have a duty to heed his words. The only question that remains for me is am I able to live my entire life dedicated to a faith that my rational mind tells me is foolish?

For a more in-depth look at these issues and a discussion of the most important arguments for and against Christianity, you are invited to read my essay entitled ‘An Almighty Predicament’, which you can download as a free PDF from my Essays page.

Names of God

Good morning and I hope your week is off to the best possible start. Every Monday I share a piece of music to inspire, motivate, and encourage you for the week ahead. This week I’m delighted to be sharing what is among my favourite songs of all time.

The musician who wrote and performs this song, Laurel Hubick, is relatively unknown, but in this track I believe she has created a masterpiece. The song is a journey through the many names that God is given in the Bible, performed with a beautiful piano accompaniment. This song has brought me to tears many times!

Here are the lyrics, and the song is embedded below.

Elohim, the Creator

Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord is There

My Master, Adonai

El Elyon, the God Most High

Yhwh, You Are the Lord

Jehovah-Rohi, My Shepherd

Mekaddishkem who sanctifies you

The Lord or Righteousness, Jehovah-Tsidkenu

Worthy is Your Name; Worthy of all my praise

El Roi, the God Who Sees

You are My Banner, Jehovah-Nissi

The All Sufficient One, El Shaddai

Jehovah-Jireh, You Will Provide

Rapha, the Lord Who Heals

Shalom, You are my Peace

The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah-Sabaoth

El Olam, the Everlasting God

Worthy is Your Name; Worthy of all my praise

Easter Sunday | Blessings!

Hello friends and followers of Perfect Chaos. This is actually a scheduled post, written yesterday (Saturday), as today I am busy traveling to Oxfordshire to spend some time with family. I have an older sister, who has flown over from Berlin for a few days, and we’ll be getting together with my father and his partner in Abingdon, which is the historic town where I grew up. I should be back in London on Monday evening.

The Week in Review

For my Monday Music post I shared an update on the T.E.N. Project, which is my ongoing experimental music project. I also gave details of the competition I’m running for someone out there to decide the album title and win a great prize. You can read the post here.

For this week’s Thursday Theology post I shared a short video which presents a metaphor for the omnipresence of God. The video, hosted on a Jewish website, looks at the analogy of fish swimming in water to demonstrate how God is all around us all of the time. To read the post and watch the video, click here.

To finish the week, I shared my weekly Friday Philosophy post. Each week I look at a key idea or insight from a famous philosopher from history, and at the moment we’re looking at the ancient Greek philosophers. This week we looked at an important and profound idea by Zeno of Elea. To read the post, click here.

Some Random Thoughts to Round Off the Week

Despite not being a practicing Christian at present, I very much respect how important this time of year is for Christians. I hope that my Christian followers have had a blessed Holy Week, and let me wish you all a very Happy Easter!
In a previous blog post I proudly proclaimed I’d given up fizzy drinks. Well, sadly, I’ve somewhat ‘relapsed’ this week, and the poison that is Coca-Cola has re-entered my life (and my body!). I know it’s doing me no good – I can feel it – so I’m determined to give it up again soon!
I’ve felt God prompting me to read from the New Testament epistles this week, and in particular certain passages where Paul writes about the ‘foolishness’ of the gospel. I’m thinking of forming my thoughts on these passages into a Thursday Theology post, so keep an eye out for that.

It just remains for me to assure you that I am praying for you! Every Sunday I spend some quality time in prayer, and I always lift up my blog followers to God and ask for his blessing and favour over your lives in the week ahead. I know He hears these prayers! Thank you for reading, God bless you, and have a wonderful week!

Infinite Wisdom

Welcome to this week’s Friday Philosophy post! As promised, today we’ll be looking at another thinker from the Eleatic School of ancient Greek philosophy, a man named Zeno. This post naturally follows on from last Friday when we looked at the thought of Parmenides, as Zeno was a student of his.

Who Was He?

Zeno of Elea (not to be confused with Zeno of Citium, another Greek philosopher who came later) lived approximately between 490–430 BC, and was regarded by Aristotle as the inventor of the ‘dialectic’, a style of philosophising that is characteristic of many of the ancient Greek thinkers. The dialectic method is a type of conversational philosophy where reasoned arguments are exchanged with the intention of deducing certain truths.

What’s the Big Idea?

Zeno was a defender of Parmenides against the followers of Pythagoras, and he sought to discredit the arguments of the Pythagoreans via the use of a logical technique known as ‘reductio ad absurdum’ (or ‘reduction to absurdity’). This style of argumentation manifested in a series of paradoxes, for which Zeno is best known.

Zeno’s philosophical style is encapsulated in the following example. Any three-dimensional object can be separated into constituent parts. These can be further divided until we get to very small objects like atoms. But even these can be divided further, so that we find neutrons and protons. Logically, however small we go, any particle can be divided in half ‘ad infinitum’. The conclusion here is that matter is not composed of a collection of spatially extended units and that reality is not as tangible and stable as some materialists might suppose.

My Reflections

To postulate that matter is infinitely divisible is really quite an amazing thought. It’s no surprise that Zeno is remembered as the first philosopher to grapple with the idea of infinity, as this is perhaps the prime example of reductio ad absurdum. There are some things that it seems impossible for human beings to grasp, and the concept of the infinite is one of those things.

I think the idea that things can be infinitely small, and infinitely large, says something of the incredible power of our Creator. Simply gazing out into the cosmos at night, or looking at a small insect under a microscope, demonstrate that God’s power both in the macrocosm and the microcosm is truly spectacular.

While much more could be said about the paradoxes and other ideas that Zeno has passed down to us, I think for this post it’s sufficient to celebrate the fact that what fascinated Zeno about the infinite has brought the same sense of wonder to human minds for thousands of years. Such contemplation is a timeless part of the human experience, and in my view encapsulates an incredible truth – we are subjects of a God without boundaries.

Things will start to get really meaty next Friday as we’ll be looking at a big idea from one of the most famous names in the history of philosophy, Socrates. Please subscribe to ensure you never miss a post! Thank you for reading and God bless.

Good Friday | Reflections

Later today I will publish my scheduled Friday Philosophy post, but I just wanted to write a quick message to all my Christian followers acknowledging Good Friday. This is such a special day for followers of Jesus, as the crucifixion is at the very heart of the gospel.

The crucifixion raises very important questions for everyone:

Who exactly was Jesus of Nazareth?

Are we sinners in need of salvation?

Was Jesus God incarnate?

Did the events recorded in the Gospels really happen?

As we reflect on these questions over the long weekend, let me wish you all a peaceful and blessed Good Friday.

Prayers and blessings,

Steven

Swimming in God

In this week’s Thursday Theology post I want to share with you a video that utilises an excellent metaphor for the omnipresence of God. Many of you will know that I am drawn to the view of God known as panentheism, which means that all of creation exists in God. The idea that God is everywhere, and the idea that everything exists within God, are complementary concepts.

The video I’d like to share was brought to my attention by Dinos who is a regular reader of, and contributor to, this blog. Thank you Dinos. The video is hosted on the Jewish ‘Chabad’ website, and is narrated by David Sacks. Please take a couple of minutes to watch the video, and feel free to leave your reflections in the comments below.

Click here to watch the video!

In case you aren’t able to watch the video for some reason, I have typed out a transcript below.

I once imagined a conversation between two fish. One says to the other, ‘Do you believe in water?’ The other says, ‘I don’t know if I believe in water. My grandfather was very religious. He believed in water.’ Meanwhile, the only thing that’s going on around them is water! So it is with us and God. God is all around us. We are completely saturated by His presence. And yet, precisely because He’s absolutely everywhere, like the fish in water, we philosophise and wonder if He even exists!

In English we have an expression which perfectly describes this phenomenon; it’s called hiding in plain sight. I was once having lunch with a friend of mine, and I asked him, ‘Where did you park your car?’ He said, ‘Across the street.’ I said, ‘Do you realise you can’t walk to your car without swimming through God?’

Do you understand what’s going on here? God is absolutely everywhere, and yet it’s possible not to see Him at all.

To delve deeper into the the idea that God is omnipresent, and the implications of this perspective for theology, check out my book entitled ‘Ultimate Truth: God Beyond Religion’. For more info or to buy the book, click here.

T.E.N. Project Update

Greetings, everyone! For today’s Monday Music post I thought I would give you an update on my music project. For those of you who aren’t aware, last year I embarked upon a mission to record and release 10 songs over 10 months. Each new song would be released on the 10th of the month, at 10am.

So far I have kept to schedule with every song, and having started last October, I’m already 60% of the way through the releases (with song seven on the way). I haven’t made videos for all the tracks, but I have for most of them. They are very simple videos because I have limited resources. But here’s the story so far…

October 2017: Running For the Bus
November 2017: Is the Mormon my Brother?
December 2017: With Six Strings (watch video)
January 2018: Alien Love (watch video)
February 2018: Speak Life (watch video)
March 2018: Machines Taking Over the World (watch video)
April 2018: Coming soon!

When I’ve finished recording all 10 songs (God-willing), the plan is to release them all on an album, which will be available on all the major digital retailers, including Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, etc. You’ll also be able to stream the album for free, both on my blog and on YouTube. I’m also considering a limited edition CD and/or Vinyl version if there is enough interest.

Spring Forward

Happy Sunday! With the clocks going forward today (in the UK) it’s going to start feeling like Spring has arrived, and with warmer weather on the way my boiler will be grateful for a hard-earned rest. I’m dreading my energy bill for the last quarter!

This post is my summary of what’s been happening on the blog over the last week, supplemented with some personal reflections on what God is doing in my life at this time, and a bit of light-hearted fun at the end. Let’s jump in!

The Week in Review

For my Monday Music post I shared a classic piece on 70’s rock in the form of the worldwide hit that was Hocus Pocus by Focus. It’s hard not to love this song, whatever your tastes! You can check out the post and the song, here.

Prompted by a chat I had with one of the helpful ‘happiness engineers’ at WordPress support, on Tuesday I wrote a post about Gutenberg, the new WordPress editor currently under development. This will be a big change for the blogging community! Read all about it here.

For this week’s Thursday Theology post I published a short extract from my most recent book entitled Ultimate Truth: God Beyond Religion. In the article I made some observations about the relationship between God and the laws of science, and I was delighted that this article resonated with a lot of you. If you missed it, you can catch up here.

Finally, on Friday I continued my Friday Philosophy series with a look at a big idea by Parmenides, an ancient Greek philosopher known as the founder of the Eleatic school of thought. You can read about his groundbreaking deductive reasoning here.

Some Random Thoughts to Round Off the Week

I’ve been reminded of the huge importance of getting up early. When I get up at 6.30am or earlier, I tend to be drastically more productive and less depressed than if I get up late.
I’ve just about finished recording song seven of my T.E.N. music project, but am doing lots of fiddling with the levels in the mix because I can’t seem to get the volume of the drums right. It’s sounding ace though! Release date is 10th April.
I’ll be taking a trip to my home town of Abingdon in Oxfordshire next weekend (Easter weekend) to catch up with my father and sister. This will be the first time the three of us have been together in several years.
Just an observation – have you noticed everyone (myself included) is hooked on using the word ‘super’ at the moment? It’s super-cool! I’m super-excited! Funny how these things catch on