Don't forget to send me any submissions or nominations for the History Carnival. We have a full group, so I can't guarantee that all submitted posts will be included, but there's a good chance that it will if you get it to me in time.
I currently estimate that the History Carnival will be up by 2 A.M. on July 1st, Toronto time. If you want to know what time it is in Toronto right now, check the World Clock:
Toronto Current Local Time
UPDATE: I am revising my estimate to 1 A.M.
UPDATE: Call for submissions and nominations is closed. The Carnival will be up soon.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Liebniz on the Image of God
From Discourse on Metaphysics XXVI (this is the revised Montgomery translation; 'minds' would be a better word than 'spirits' for esprits in this section):
We can even say that it is because he is a spirit that God is the originator of existences, for if he had lacked the power of will to choose what is best, there would have been no reason why one possible being should exist rather than any other. Therefore God's being a spirit himself dominates all the consideration which he may have toward created things. Spirits alone are made in his image, being as it were of his blood or as children in the family, since they alone are able to serve him of free will, and to act consciously imitating the divine nature. A single spirit is worth a whole world, because it not only expresses the whole world, but it also knows it and governs itself as does God. In this way we may say that though every substance expresses the whole universe, yet the other substances express the world rather than God, while spirits express God rather than the world. This nature of spirits, so noble that it enables them to approach divinity as much as is possible for created things, has as a result that God derives infinitely more glory from them than from the other beings, or rather the other beings furnish to spirits the material for glorifying him.
From the Monadology:
83. Among other differences which exist between ordinary souls and minds [esprits], some of which differences I have already noted, there is also this: that souls in general are living mirrors or images of the universe of created things, but that minds are also images of the Deity or Author of nature Himself, capable of knowing the system of the universe, and to some extent of imitating it through architectonic ensamples [echantillons], each mind being like a small divinity in its own sphere.
84. It is this that enables spirits [or minds- esprits] to enter into a kind of fellowship with God, and brings it about that in relation to them He is not only what an inventor is to his machine (which is the relation of God to other created things), but also what a prince is to his subjects, and, indeed, what a father is to his children.
85. Whence it is easy to conclude that the totality [assemblage] of all spirits [esprits] must compose the City of God, that is to say, the most perfect State that is possible, under the most perfect of Monarchs.
We can even say that it is because he is a spirit that God is the originator of existences, for if he had lacked the power of will to choose what is best, there would have been no reason why one possible being should exist rather than any other. Therefore God's being a spirit himself dominates all the consideration which he may have toward created things. Spirits alone are made in his image, being as it were of his blood or as children in the family, since they alone are able to serve him of free will, and to act consciously imitating the divine nature. A single spirit is worth a whole world, because it not only expresses the whole world, but it also knows it and governs itself as does God. In this way we may say that though every substance expresses the whole universe, yet the other substances express the world rather than God, while spirits express God rather than the world. This nature of spirits, so noble that it enables them to approach divinity as much as is possible for created things, has as a result that God derives infinitely more glory from them than from the other beings, or rather the other beings furnish to spirits the material for glorifying him.
From the Monadology:
83. Among other differences which exist between ordinary souls and minds [esprits], some of which differences I have already noted, there is also this: that souls in general are living mirrors or images of the universe of created things, but that minds are also images of the Deity or Author of nature Himself, capable of knowing the system of the universe, and to some extent of imitating it through architectonic ensamples [echantillons], each mind being like a small divinity in its own sphere.
84. It is this that enables spirits [or minds- esprits] to enter into a kind of fellowship with God, and brings it about that in relation to them He is not only what an inventor is to his machine (which is the relation of God to other created things), but also what a prince is to his subjects, and, indeed, what a father is to his children.
85. Whence it is easy to conclude that the totality [assemblage] of all spirits [esprits] must compose the City of God, that is to say, the most perfect State that is possible, under the most perfect of Monarchs.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Another Poem Draft
Loyola at Llobregar
Sitting on the river-bank,
the water runs past;
the mind runs with it
on a path ever-moving.
The world blocks the mind,
stones in a river,
but thought overflows
these material dams,
moving as one,
a unity of disparates,
given one direction
by their natural place,
rushing like music
to a divine consummation;
and the mind now prepared
by ten thousand disciplines
flows with the river
to the ocean of God.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Wherein I Exhibit My Dark-Sidedness
You scored as Darth Vader.
Darth Vader | 86% | ||
Yoda | 72% | ||
R2-D2 | 53% | ||
Obi Wan Kenobi | 50% | ||
General Grievous | 50% | ||
C-3PO | 50% | ||
Anakin Skywalker | 50% | ||
Emperor Palpatine | 39% | ||
Clone Trooper | 36% | ||
Chewbacca | 36% | ||
Mace Windu | 31% | ||
Padme Amidala | 22% |
Which Revenge of the Sith Character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com
But part of it is that I said I'd like to choke my underlings. You think I was being facetious? I find your lack of faith disturbing....
(Hat-tip: Parableman.)
History Carnival Reminder
The next History Carnival will be held here on Friday, 1 July.
Email your nominations for recently published posts (preferably since the last carnival) about history, whether your own writing or that of other bloggers, to me at the following address: branem2[at]branemrys[dot]org
Just provide the title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name (or pseudonym) and the title of the blog. You can submit multiple suggestions, but preferably not more than one post by any individual author (with the exception of multi-part posts on the same topic).
If you have any questions about the criteria for inclusion, check out the Carnival homepage (link below); if any doubts remain, go ahead and send it to me, anyway.
***
Also, don't forget that on July 5, Jonathan Dresner will host an early modern edition of
!
Email your nominations for recently published posts (preferably since the last carnival) about history, whether your own writing or that of other bloggers, to me at the following address: branem2[at]branemrys[dot]org
Just provide the title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name (or pseudonym) and the title of the blog. You can submit multiple suggestions, but preferably not more than one post by any individual author (with the exception of multi-part posts on the same topic).
If you have any questions about the criteria for inclusion, check out the Carnival homepage (link below); if any doubts remain, go ahead and send it to me, anyway.
***
Also, don't forget that on July 5, Jonathan Dresner will host an early modern edition of
!
More Noteworthy Links
I almost called this post, "Of Sex and Southern Baptists," but there are a few links that don't fit into either category.
* At "Obsidian Wings" hilzoy points to an article on virginity movements in Christian America. Virginity movements are always a bit odd in some ways, since they are inevitably very arbitrary about a number of things; but it seems to me that they are actually a fairly common expression of sexuality. It would be surprising if they didn't exist in modern America. These things (in their American manifestation) are, in fact, clubs for the sexually like-minded; and are, as far as I can see, no more weird than any other sex-oriented club, along BDSM or fetish lines. In fact, the particular virginity group discussed in the article sounds very similar to a lot of casual BDSM groups. The difference is just the particular expression of sexuality involved. Yes, one could focus on virginity without surrounding oneself with the rituals; but there isn't a manifestation of human sexuality that doesn't incline to ritual: accoutrements like pins and garters, wedding rings, bridal veils, purity rings, and chastity belts (yes, chastity belts: they are a fairly common instrument in certain forms of D/s); events like mixers, honeymoons, power exchange rites, Gorean play parties, swing parties, collaring, etc. Ritual is an ineliminable part of what human beings do when they sexualize. That's one of the interesting things about human sexuality. Whether the ritual sounds creepy or repellent will depend a great deal, I imagine, on how well one's sexual tastes can stand the particular variation at hand. Or, more baldly, how prudish one is about it. But that's inevitable; everyone has a point where they go prudish. That's another interesting thing about human sexuality.
* Hugo Schwyzer had a recent post on XXX Church, which is a Christian ministry that does work on issues relevant to pornography. Quite good stuff, actually; a little too pop-and-hip at times, but it's the sort of thing that needs to be done.
* I meant to post this link before: "The Elfin Ethicist" has a series of entries called Glow-worm on a Grass Blade that attempts "to lay a foundation for a Christian view of history -- but a view that moves away from providential history." The entries are:
Humility
Conversation
Observation
Passion
Grace
* What to Do with a Reluctant Reader at "Rebecca Writes"
* Boar's Head Tavern has been discussing VBS, which is always around this time of year. I always liked VBS; it really was a vacation, and gave my mind something to do over the summer months beside sit in my room and read. In retrospect the thing I think was most wrong about the way it was usually done is that it was too often spliced with a fund-raising drive. For those who don't know what VBS is, it's safe to say you never grew up in a small town with lots of Baptist churches; it's often a way working parents keep their kids busy during the day over the summer months.
* Michael Spencer discusses the role of theologians in the SBC. I wonder if the rise of the theologian class isn't actually an inevitable by-product of the interaction between academia and Southern Baptist churches; the result is a group of people with an academia-style sense of self-importance actively involving themselves in denominational politics. I've noticed among Baptist academics, even very non-Mohler ones, a tendency to see themselves as being the protectors of doctrine, even against Baptist preachers; and, even more than this, they sometimes see Baptist preachers as a threat to their academic rights. And it is certainly not confined to the SBC. An interesting shift in power.
* At "Obsidian Wings" hilzoy points to an article on virginity movements in Christian America. Virginity movements are always a bit odd in some ways, since they are inevitably very arbitrary about a number of things; but it seems to me that they are actually a fairly common expression of sexuality. It would be surprising if they didn't exist in modern America. These things (in their American manifestation) are, in fact, clubs for the sexually like-minded; and are, as far as I can see, no more weird than any other sex-oriented club, along BDSM or fetish lines. In fact, the particular virginity group discussed in the article sounds very similar to a lot of casual BDSM groups. The difference is just the particular expression of sexuality involved. Yes, one could focus on virginity without surrounding oneself with the rituals; but there isn't a manifestation of human sexuality that doesn't incline to ritual: accoutrements like pins and garters, wedding rings, bridal veils, purity rings, and chastity belts (yes, chastity belts: they are a fairly common instrument in certain forms of D/s); events like mixers, honeymoons, power exchange rites, Gorean play parties, swing parties, collaring, etc. Ritual is an ineliminable part of what human beings do when they sexualize. That's one of the interesting things about human sexuality. Whether the ritual sounds creepy or repellent will depend a great deal, I imagine, on how well one's sexual tastes can stand the particular variation at hand. Or, more baldly, how prudish one is about it. But that's inevitable; everyone has a point where they go prudish. That's another interesting thing about human sexuality.
* Hugo Schwyzer had a recent post on XXX Church, which is a Christian ministry that does work on issues relevant to pornography. Quite good stuff, actually; a little too pop-and-hip at times, but it's the sort of thing that needs to be done.
* I meant to post this link before: "The Elfin Ethicist" has a series of entries called Glow-worm on a Grass Blade that attempts "to lay a foundation for a Christian view of history -- but a view that moves away from providential history." The entries are:
Humility
Conversation
Observation
Passion
Grace
* What to Do with a Reluctant Reader at "Rebecca Writes"
* Boar's Head Tavern has been discussing VBS, which is always around this time of year. I always liked VBS; it really was a vacation, and gave my mind something to do over the summer months beside sit in my room and read. In retrospect the thing I think was most wrong about the way it was usually done is that it was too often spliced with a fund-raising drive. For those who don't know what VBS is, it's safe to say you never grew up in a small town with lots of Baptist churches; it's often a way working parents keep their kids busy during the day over the summer months.
* Michael Spencer discusses the role of theologians in the SBC. I wonder if the rise of the theologian class isn't actually an inevitable by-product of the interaction between academia and Southern Baptist churches; the result is a group of people with an academia-style sense of self-importance actively involving themselves in denominational politics. I've noticed among Baptist academics, even very non-Mohler ones, a tendency to see themselves as being the protectors of doctrine, even against Baptist preachers; and, even more than this, they sometimes see Baptist preachers as a threat to their academic rights. And it is certainly not confined to the SBC. An interesting shift in power.
Seventh Day of the Month
Things I have blogged about on the seventh day of each month since I started blogging:
June: Acts 17:28 in early modern philosophy
July: Quotes from Novalis at the beginning of George MacDonald's Phantastes
August: nothing (August 7 is my birthday)
September: The content of our idea of nothing and willing suspension of disbelief in reading philosophy texts
October: Remarks on a paper by Rob Shaver on Non-naturalism in 20th-century ethics
November: Pascal's Wager
December: I criticize an argument found in a footnote of a paper by Graham Oppy
January: The Trinity
February: Aquinas on Divine Simplicity
March: Blogs and Science
April: A few distinctions I think should be made in discussions of public ethics
May: I suggest that usury is unnatural
June: I give a translation of Aquinas's article on whether God could make better than he did
June: Acts 17:28 in early modern philosophy
July: Quotes from Novalis at the beginning of George MacDonald's Phantastes
August: nothing (August 7 is my birthday)
September: The content of our idea of nothing and willing suspension of disbelief in reading philosophy texts
October: Remarks on a paper by Rob Shaver on Non-naturalism in 20th-century ethics
November: Pascal's Wager
December: I criticize an argument found in a footnote of a paper by Graham Oppy
January: The Trinity
February: Aquinas on Divine Simplicity
March: Blogs and Science
April: A few distinctions I think should be made in discussions of public ethics
May: I suggest that usury is unnatural
June: I give a translation of Aquinas's article on whether God could make better than he did
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