tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84315066044774537002011-09-13T21:26:25.746-07:00This blog was mainly created to organize my thoughts and receive feedback from others who are interested in theology and philosophy. The "Beaten Path" I'm on is one of many questions within the sure worldview of Christianity.Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-27270709070281780602009-01-13T19:07:00.000-08:002009-07-30T21:37:40.733-07:00

Hi everybody, though all I wanted to say is "goodbye" for now. With wedding planning (wedding is May 1!), my soon-to-be wife, working, grad school, and other responsibilities, for now I must dispense with my blog. I would love to resume once I start school full-time, but we'll see. Thanks for reading.I will update my blog links on the right from time to time. I've spent much time reading blogs,

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-5428756143441784652009-01-05T18:11:00.000-08:002009-07-30T21:36:27.942-07:00

I'm doing it, and you should too (just like if I jumped off a cliff, I'd expect all my closest friends to do the same). Both Reformation 21 and Princeton Theological Seminary are doing the church a great service by celebrating the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth in their respective ways. Reformation 21 will blog through Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion every weekday of '09

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-69002136689284890642009-01-03T16:38:00.000-08:002009-07-30T21:46:57.834-07:00

So I know I'm way behind the times in checking out all this controversy surrounding Peter Enns' book, "Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament" (henceforth, I&I), but I thought I'd share some quick thoughts on where I'm at in all this.Enns really brings up many valid questions, topics that I also have been struggling with for about a year. John Frame

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-21428792870255921842008-12-25T20:43:00.000-08:002009-07-30T21:41:27.379-07:00

Hey, what would you have thought if I went the PC way and said "HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!"? Let's just reflect on Jesus and reconsider our lives in light of him.So for the few of you who come here, you may notice that I haven't posted for a while. There's a lot of reasons - it's been a crazy month - but let me just give a general update of myself in quick bullet form for your speed-reading convenience.-

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-49365089498207689002008-12-08T11:22:00.000-08:002008-12-11T16:02:52.909-08:00

There's a certain point you reach after reading so much, that you forget why you're doing it. It happens to me a lot. I've been wanting to write a prayer out that I would try to slowly pray and meditate on before any prolonged study session (or even a semi-short one). This is what I came up with, and I think I'm sticking with it. It sums up everything that's important to me when it comes to

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-59450462088413909482008-12-05T15:17:00.000-08:002008-12-05T15:25:52.630-08:00

So I'm coming out of my philosophy cave for a moment (finals coming up!!!) to relay something very important I saw on Fox News. I'm a big fan of Joe Satriani, and his song "If I Could Fly" is one of my favorite songs of his. Now Satch is suing Coldplay for allegedly plagiarizing this song in "Viva la Vida". My opinion is that they sound exactly the same - same chord progression, rhythm and melody

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-5211164766567101522008-12-02T14:14:00.001-08:002008-12-03T17:23:56.946-08:00

So I've been really busy with school. I just finished writing a paper on "Substance and Modern Science" by Richard J. Connell, have read "The Identity of the Self" by Geoffrey Maddell which is most of what the final is about in 2 weeks, and am now reading "Naming and Necessity" by Saul Kripke which is also on the final. There's some other reading along with that and I'm working weird hours from

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-38856597876587904522008-11-25T14:55:00.000-08:002008-11-25T15:15:39.294-08:00

My views of social justice are based on what I believe Jesus did in ushering in the kingdom of God as an inaugurated eschatology, which means that His kingdom is "here" yet somehow "not yet". It's partially here and is leading to the glorious return of Jesus who will finally fully implement the redemption of all things. The Jews of the first century were expecting the judgment of the nations, the

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-66402910450468536472008-11-21T11:34:00.000-08:002008-11-21T12:24:32.276-08:00

I was going to start interacting with the Trinity and Incarnation but I think I'll postpone that yet again because I want to talk about this video:Embedded video from CNN VideoFirst of all, the CNN guy does a terrible job trying to argue on common ground, which is why they end up talking past each other. I actually thought the minister did a decent job on everything besides arguing for the

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-18662410621613647302008-11-19T19:31:00.000-08:002008-11-20T18:53:58.772-08:00

So I've skimmed a couple chapters or so of Mark's book, the whole of which is now available on his site called "Porn-again Christian." Yeah, it gets pretty detailed so, like him, I would not recommend women to read it unless they read it with their husbands to help them. It has a really good question and answer section and a heartbreaking chapter on the sex-trade rampant around military bases. Do

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-30061715042880025912008-11-15T09:08:00.000-08:002008-11-20T18:54:26.997-08:00

Hello all, I haven't been up to too much. This week I've been trying to keep up with all my metaphysics reading. I'm a slow philosophy reader, especially because I really mark my books up, ha. I also have been spending valuable time with my 3 dogs and I've been doing some wedding planning...I hate wedding planning. Wait, what? :P It's really not that bad.I've also been looking for a dang job

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-29628764436289750932008-11-13T12:03:00.001-08:002008-11-13T15:35:19.798-08:00

I posed this question to a friend who said that even if one candidate had all the right views on "everything else" (like health care, economics, etc.), abortion may probably still trump all that because of how many people die through abortion. Without minimizing the wholly unethical nature of abortion, I do want to say that I think there is something more to this.What I'm trying to show is that

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-53704066061047829352008-10-31T20:39:00.000-07:002008-11-01T16:38:08.824-07:00

So last night was a crazy night of much thinking because Francis Beckwith showed up and spoke of "Abortion and American Politics" at Biola. After his lecture, us philosophy majors at both Talbot and Biola had the privilege to speak to him further at the philosophy house. The topics of the night were Catholicism, the relationship between church and state, abortion, and Prop 8. Even after Beckwith

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-16704739177053620522008-10-27T23:01:00.000-07:002008-11-15T09:56:07.713-08:00

So I'm crazy busy studying for my metaphysics midterm Wednesday morning, but I did want to post a short thought.Hebrews 9:27 - "people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment."This verse is used to talk about how there's no purgatory or spirit prison (LDS) after death. I use it like that and I'm not sure that I'm questioning that interpretation.But I randomly thought about what

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-57107971288245893452008-10-23T15:39:00.001-07:002008-11-15T10:03:21.988-08:00

This is such a broad topic that I will not even try to give a broad overview of it. Here we find ourselves around the neighborhood of a perennial debate in philosophy that began with Plato and Aristotle. It is the debate about if properties, if they exist, are "universals" (multiply exemplifiable and nonspatiotemporal, see below).So far I'm learning in metaphysics that I am what is called a "

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-46286803454163000602008-10-20T19:13:00.000-07:002008-11-15T11:51:27.912-08:00

People will commonly say that they will not believe anything they can't see. Eventually they have to modify this naively simple statement to not believing anything that's not physical (whatever that means). JP shared a short observation today that nullifies this argument.Suppose there are twenty people in a room looking at the same yellow paper. There are now twenty independent sensations of that

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-48637642170566214262008-10-16T16:35:00.000-07:002008-10-16T19:16:12.802-07:00

I want to raise incisive questions on statements made by Mark Driscoll and his wife throughout this video. I will tag the quotes with the time the statement generally begins. My purpose is primarily to ask questions that undermine what they are both saying, and secondly, to challenge Mark's derision of hermeneutics (which is what it really is). Lastly, I will point out where I do agree with them

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-17300980764943249212008-10-13T21:27:00.000-07:002008-10-16T17:01:00.386-07:00

This post is about something that's very close to my heart. I've been forced to reflect upon this issue very deeply simply because I've noticed a change in myself. I guess it's kind of weird because the focus of this blog is to talk about deep theology and philosophy, but I've decided to share my thoughts on my personal afflictions with physical pain and the effect they've had on my life and my

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-3530580556536120472008-09-26T12:58:00.000-07:002008-10-20T19:21:11.626-07:00

I had the opportunity to meet with JP on Wednesday and was able to ask him about epistemological method as it pertained to the noetic effects of sin. It was a very short meeting, but my reflecting on his lectures in class and his responses to my questions have allowed me to systematize this topic in my head more coherently. So far, this is what I understand.Epistemological ParticularismJP starts

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-85204626809852980842008-09-18T17:47:00.000-07:002008-10-16T17:04:35.637-07:00

They're not many, but these few have signifiance:1) John 6:34-45 (see previous post) --> it says that God must draw people for them to come to him and that all whom he draws will come.2) Romans 9 - unless you take the nations view which I would say covers half the view. I am studying it still.3) Consider possible world B in which Hitler believes in the gospel and is transformed to live and

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-47083615781587132162008-09-12T11:00:00.000-07:002008-10-16T17:04:07.566-07:00

Now just to warn fellow exegetically minded theologians out there, this is not going to be an argument from the text for Molinism. All I have done is reflect upon the implications of Molinism and seen whether or not certain texts are contradictory; this is more like philosophical analysis of the text. The main question I'm trying to answer is this: can John 6:35-45 be reconciled with Molinism

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-5562902399730069392008-09-10T11:35:00.000-07:002008-10-20T19:22:03.161-07:00

JP talked about presuppositions in Metaphysics I on last Wednesday and I thought I'd share some of the notes I transcribed from my recording. This is pretty short, and I don't think that posting this is inappropriate (posting the audio lecture itself, yes), but if it is I'll take it down. Any comments? I think I fully agree with him!Student: so this [approach] is where you question your

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-2222422846138893652008-09-06T10:34:00.000-07:002008-10-16T17:03:42.112-07:00

Apparently that's the name of a Facebook group (yeah, I guess I'm not that creative). But before I start this post I just want to say that I haven't posted for a while because it's been so crazy busy. For anyone who doesn't know yet, not only have I started grad school (I'm getting my butt kicked!) but I also just got ENGAGED! So I'm a really happy guy, only missing the full-time job I'm looking

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-50942493821311959332008-07-29T18:59:00.001-07:002008-07-29T19:22:32.918-07:00

Some thoughts I've been having over the past couple of days about Young Earth Creationism (YEC) and a universal flood.Here's a thought: It doesn't matter if you're a young earth creationist, old earth creationist, framework theory advocate, analogous day theory advocate, mature creationist, some modified "warp" creationist, etc., by the time you get to the flood all distinctions really are made

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-66574305618907471472008-07-14T22:49:00.000-07:002008-10-16T17:06:26.635-07:00

I've been thinking a ton about apologetic methodology, and if you love the topic you'll probably like reading my meanderings.1) Neutrality? I used to attend Faith Community Church pastored by Dr. Robert Morey, so I definitely learned a lot about his views while I was there. Still, I can't help but see more and more how confused he is in everything concerning natural theology and apologetics. This

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-25631426645478115102008-07-04T16:37:00.000-07:002008-07-04T16:40:30.515-07:00

Craig has posted a link to an article he wrote for Christianity Today on his blog (http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/A2FZ18JC1MQS4E/ref=cm_blog_dp_artist_blog). Most of it is pretty basic stuff but he has some interesting observations as to what contemporary secular philosophers believe.You can read his entire article here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/july/13.22.htmlAlso be sure to check

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-75107406636669707072008-06-30T19:41:00.000-07:002008-06-30T19:49:38.452-07:00

Did God create this?That's not my question, but leads to it indirectly. I have recently begun to suspect that the seventh day in Genesis need not necessarily end God's creative activity. I wonder if one could build a case for God creating certain kinds of creatures after the fall. I've thought of the Book of Hebrew's "spiritualizing" of the seventh day in passing in relation to this and thought

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-63088966629476932162008-06-23T18:59:00.000-07:002008-06-23T19:14:37.640-07:00

I'm now a little over halfway through Gregory Boyd's book "The Myth of a Christian Nation" and I've really been impressed with his ideas. I would encourage everybody to read it though I suspect some readers would be incensed by his ideas. Still, these are things I've been thinking about for a while, the crux of the matter being what is and should be the relationship between the church and state?

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-11146055730085543842008-06-14T00:30:00.000-07:002008-06-14T00:41:04.248-07:00

This is the best short statement concerning the comparison between deductive and inductive reasoning I've ever seen that indirectly corrects the common Presuppositionalist claim that their deductive reasoning proves a Biblical Christian worldview with absolute (Cartesian) certainty.Moreland & Craig, Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview, p. 59"In a sound deductive argument the

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-14375148024707672932008-06-09T22:30:00.000-07:002008-06-09T22:48:33.739-07:00

I haven't posted for a while because I've been working like a dog. Seeing as I only have about 3 hours to myself a day, I haven't really made blogging a priority. This post will probably have no structure but that's the nature of my "random thoughts" posts. It's kind of like following my thoughts as I organize them at the moment. Well, here's a tidbit of what I've been thinking in terms of Bible

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-92195851278149038412008-05-21T15:58:00.001-07:002008-05-21T15:58:42.934-07:00

Sorry, but this post may be a little hard to follow. I’d still love comments from those who get through it though. :DThat the original manuscripts of the original authors of the Bible have been redacted/edited/tampered with (though that last one is misleading) - whatever you want to call it - is pretty well founded. The extent of the work of those later redactors can be questioned (and we must

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-87764351205049923702008-05-16T00:24:00.000-07:002008-05-16T00:38:42.757-07:00

I've been thinking about inerrancy for over a year and I still don't know what to think. I don't want to go into detail about the ins and outs of it but to share my reflections on what the position of infallibility, rather than inerrancy, does to a Christian.For one, I don't think denying inerrancy is heresy as long as you affirm infallibility. As an infallibilist, you can still hold to the sin

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-52351001380083598952008-05-13T10:17:00.000-07:002008-05-13T10:43:25.889-07:00

Here's the paper I just turned in yesterday super cut down to half its original text. Again, if anybody wants the full paper, email me at samuel.garcia@biola.edu. The first section is much longer than the last two.The Nature of the Essential ProblemAt the close of World War I, the doctrine of imperialism necessitated that control of Palestine by a foreign, European power. The ensuing British

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-12532581161791081222008-05-10T00:38:00.002-07:002008-05-10T00:39:01.816-07:00

Ugh, I should be writing my paper on the Israel-Palestine conflict (will post a condensed version of it on here later) but instead am posting these very random thoughts that came to my head in class the other day.Most of the people who were able to write on parchment or scrolls back in the day were wealthy (the money to buy parchment!) or had some sort of privileged access to write. The fact that

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-46754761088245460782008-05-05T19:22:00.000-07:002008-05-11T13:29:41.364-07:00

I’ve devised this simple system (it's actually more complicated than it probably should be but "meh") to gauge where you fall. The first 3 sections can score from -3 to 3 each, the former being “very confident that the Egalitarian interpretation” is correct and the latter being “very confident that the Complementarian position is correct. “Zero” is completely neutral or so unsure you can’t pick a

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-28897508007204146212008-05-02T11:19:00.000-07:002008-05-02T11:33:19.999-07:00

I watched a youtube video a couple of days ago in which Mark Driscoll talks about how the church has been "chickified" and that we need a more "manly" ministry. He talks about how when he looks back in the Bible, he doesn't see little wimps but King David and other men who saddled up and slaughtered other people. These are "men," not the wussy pastors we see now, he says. The church has been

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-2772598189876640702008-05-01T10:48:00.000-07:002008-05-01T11:35:13.988-07:00

So I just turned in my paper, and presented and defended it in class, yesterday and just thought I would share a heavily edited and chopped down version of it; what Mig calls "highly concentrated orange juice." If anybody is interested in the full paper, you can email me at samuel.garcia@biola.edu.Matthew 21:5 from Zechariah 9:9The OT Text in Its Context The book of Zechariah was written in

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-51118917116799332992008-04-29T11:11:00.000-07:002008-04-29T11:20:58.828-07:00

I finally got "The Impossible Miracle" by William Beeson in the mail yesterday!I'm so excited to read this book. William Beeson came to my "Jesus' Life and Ministry" class with Dr. Lunde last semester and he totally blew us away with his story of how God miraculously healed his ridiculously wrecked body. I've always been skeptical about stuff like this, but this is the most extensive miracle I've

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-1613392736452573502008-04-28T14:27:00.000-07:002008-04-29T11:21:39.814-07:00

For those who are interested, Bart Ehrman and N. T. Wright are having a pretty cool discussion about it over at http://blog.beliefnet.com/blogalogue/

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-4346944200964175852008-04-26T11:24:00.000-07:002008-04-26T16:32:58.105-07:00

So I’m writing a paper on Matthew’s use (21:5) of Zechariah (9:9) and I wrestled with Matthean authorship this whole morning. If you guys are interested, here’s a summary (this’ll be sporadically inserted into my paper in the form of footnotes). Comments are especially appreciated on the last paragraph.Arguments for Matthean Authorship1. No competing tradition (no other author ever proposed),

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-71946447215713111462008-04-23T23:41:00.000-07:002008-04-29T16:26:21.410-07:00

As always, there are times when we'll have a biblical verse that does not support one of the categories we force Scripture into. At first it's hard to see these verses as saying anything other than what we have thought in the past but sometimes the evidence will lead us to reconsider our interpretations. At times we will support "the right doctrine from the wrong text" (to borrow G. K.a Beale's

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8431506604477453700.post-65498410340452639302008-04-22T11:14:00.000-07:002008-04-22T11:57:11.596-07:00

Kicks sooooo much butt!"Whoa, awesome sexiness..."For all you Greek readers who have "A Reader's Greek New Testament" published by Zondervan and are thinking about buying the 2nd edition, don't do it!"Booooooeth!"Reasons why you should buy the UBS reader instead:1) Maps! Okay, they're really lame but people get excited about pictures.2) Never deviates from the UBS text.3) Perfect Greek font.4)

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07547907438379868209noreply@blogger.com7