Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Arthur Holmes-Professor of Philosophy at Wheaton College, Illinois: The Greek Sophists

What does the word "sophist" conjure up in your mind? Anything? The word is hardly used today in normal conversation but we might glean that it is related to the word "sophisticated" and that might be as near as we get.

Holmes gives us the clues (my little joke) and opens up a picture of the developement of Philosophy from the time of the sophists.

"Sophistry" as Martin Luther understood the term was related to people who cared neither one way or the other for truth but were deeply into rhetoric and being persuasive. Winning the argument, persuading the people (often merely for personal gain) was the goal, not truth.

If we were to look at a class of people today who generally fitted this description probably the nearest we could come to such a generalization would be lawyers. After all it's their job to win the case irrespective of who is guilty or innocent. They have to persuade a judge or jury that the defendant is guilty (if they are a prosecuting attorney) or innocent if they are representing a defense on behalf of the plaintiff. In a paradoxical way though each is fighting for justice, in a sense they have to lay aside any sense of whether their subject is guilty or not, they simply have to persuade others that their client (if on the defence) is innocent, or if on the prosecuting side- guilty. They are in fact divorced from the idea of justice in an important sense in order that they be the best attorney they can be for their client.


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Loving God With All Your Mind- A question of stewardship

In the following 30 minute video Richard Howe, PhD gives a glimpse into his own personal journey in the faith, but at the same time, and perhaps more importantly he gives a cogent and persuasive argument for defending the faith. Of particular note was his lucid explanation of the term "worldview" towards the end of his presentation. Also of note were the various erroneous dichotomies he exemplified that we come across in the pluralistic world in which we live, particularly the so-called divide between faith and reason.