I am not going to try to prove the doctrine tolerable. Let us make no mistake; it is not tolerable. But I think the doctrine can be shown to be moral, by a critique of the objections ordinarily made, or felt, against it.

C.S. Lewis

First, there is an objection, in many minds, to the idea of retributive punishment as such. This has been partly dealt with in a previous chapter. It was there maintained that all punishment became unjust if the ideas of ill-desert and retribution were removed from it; and a core of righteousness was discovered within the vindictive passion its self, in the demand that the evil man must not be left perfectly satisfied with his own evil, that it must be made to appear to him what it rightly appears to others—evil. I said that Pain plants the flag of truth within a rebel fortress. We…

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March 12, 2019March 16, 2019 by James Ross Kelly

Jesus Was a Socialist | Chuck McKnight

Many Christians think socialism is at odds with their faith. But Jesus taught (and the early church modeled) principles very much in line with socialist […]

Source: Jesus Was a Socialist | Chuck McKnight

March 12, 2019 by James Ross Kelly

Alan Guth–Why is an Inflationary Universe so Astounding? – YouTube

March 12, 2019March 12, 2019 by James Ross Kelly

Proof of Heaven: A Doctor’s Experience With the Afterlife–DR. EBEN ALEXANDER

When a neurosurgeon found himself in a coma, he experienced things he never thought possible—a journey to the afterlife.

Before my experience these ideas were abstractions. Today they are realities. Not only is the universe defined by unity, it is also—I now know—defined by love. The universe as I experienced it in my coma is—I have come to see with both shock and joy—the same one that both Einstein and Jesus were speaking of in their (very) different ways…

The plain fact is that the materialist picture of the body and brain as the producers, rather than the vehicles, of human consciousness is doomed. In its place a new view of mind and body will emerge, and in fact is emerging already. This view is scientific and spiritual in equal measure and will value what the greatest scientists of history themselves always valued above all: truth.

Source: Proof of Heaven: A Doctor’s Experience With the Afterlife

March 12, 2019March 12, 2019 by James Ross Kelly

Bernardo Kastrup–This philosopher goes toe-to-toe with materialist science… so far he’s undefeated–from Skeptiko

Bernardo Kastrup

Source: This philosopher goes toe-to-toe with materialist science… so far he’s undefeated |274| – Skeptiko – Science at the Tipping Point

Alex Tsakiris: Okay, Bernardo. Let me move on to another couple of criticisms and here’s one of my favorites because it really captures the lack of deep thinking that always seems to accompany this goofy materialism. I hate to say it so conclusively but we’ve both been doing this for a long time, and you go down these rutted roads that have been so well worn that after a while you see it coming. But you label this as criticism #14: Why would consciousness deceive us by simulating a materialist world?

Dr. Bernardo Kastrup: It is a precious one, isn’t it?

Alex Tsakiris: It is precious in the same way that a child says something, and it’s just precious. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you just have to marvel at it.

Dr. Bernardo Kastrup: There is so much prejudice imbedded in it in a way that people are not self-reflectively aware of it. It’s amazing. As I write in the book, why did the sun deceive us for so many centuries by pretending to go around the Earth? Why did the Earth itself deceive us for so long by pretending to be flat? It’s the same kind of question as asking why is the universe deceiving us by pretending materialism to be correct? It’s not the universe. The universe it what it is. The sun has always been doing what it always did. The Earth has always been spheroid since it’s formation. Nothing is deceiving anything. The only thing that’s deceiving is ourselves. Materialists are deceiving themselves by interpreting the world according to a certain perspective, certain implicit, hidden assumptions. And they are so committed to that, thinking so much within the box, when they are pushed out of the box they ask this kind of question. Why is the world deceiving me by pretending materialism to be true? Yeah, ask the sun why it deceived us by pretending to go around the Earth. It’s the same kind of question.

Brief Peeks Beyond: Critical Essays on Metaphysics, Neuroscience, Free Will, Skepticism and Culture by Bernardo Kastrup

March 12, 2019 by James Ross Kelly

The IRD’s Mark Tooley Reveals All: The Full African Takeover Of The UMC | Christy Thomas

Yes, Mark Tooley reveals all. However, I feel sure the Wesleyan Covenant Association people, who now have gotten their hopes fulfilled by continued […]

Source: The IRD’s Mark Tooley Reveals All: The Full African Takeover Of The UMC | Christy Thomas

March 11, 2019 by James Ross Kelly

Higher Ed & Our Cultural Inflection Point: JB Peterson/Stephen Blackwood

March 11, 2019 by James Ross Kelly

MertonTalks Hear the voice of Thomas Merton today!

Now You Can Enjoy Thomas Merton’s Best Talks. With your subscription, you’ll enjoy weekly talks by one of the world’s greatest spiritual masters. Here are just a few examples of the talks you will receive. You can listen to Merton Talks, recordings of his actual voice, when you sign up for your MertonTalks subscription today!

Source: MertonTalks Hear the voice of Thomas Merton today!