Viewing entries tagged with 'christianity'
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol
Christmas will be here sooner than I expect. I know that, but I haven't started Christmas shopping yet; my Christmas tree and all the lights and other decorations are still in storage; Christmas parties are starting to fill up my schedule but I haven't given them much thought. But I did read a book I try to read every year around this time—Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, the subject of my latest recommendation. I hope you get a chance this Christmas to pick up this wonderful little book and allow its story to haunt you and infect you with its laughter and good-humour.
Confused Expressions #13: Proof Versus Evidence
I'd be hard-pressed to find an expression more commonly misused by otherwise careful writers and speakers than the expressions I'm sometimes faced with when an agnostic or atheist friend discovers that I'm Christian. "But how can you believe in Christianity when there isn't any proof for it?" they'll say or write. Or, "Well, I believe in science, because it has a lot of proof going for it."
Your God is Too Small When He's Too Big
If you'd only ever read the title of J.B. Phillips' little book Your God Is Too Small, you may feel that the counterpoint needs to be made. Yes, we often build up inadequate images of God in our heads (the Resident Policeman or the Grand Old Man, to take two examples from Phillips' book), idols that need to be smashed as much as any idol that appears in the Old Testament needed to be smashed—but what of people whose view of God is too big? That is, what of Christians who say things like, "I won't bother God with this problem, it's too trivial," or "I can't bring myself to pray for something so insignificant." Actually, Phillips raises this issue in his book, and it's the right place to do so because it is, in fact, still a too-small view of God. The deep implication of such a stance isn't that God is so big that He can't worry about each of our little problems, it's that He's too small and too limited to be able to do anything about them. Phillips calls this idol the "Managing Director," drawing the analogy to a manager who, if he is in charge of fifty other people, can get to know each one as an individual; but if in charge of five thousand, is unable to take a personal interest in each one.
Confused Expressions #10: Money is the Root of All Evil
There's nothing inherently confused about the expression "money is the root of all evil." I don't happen to agree with it, but that's a philosophical point that can be debated. The confusion comes in since most people who use the expression think they're quoting the Bible (and often are trying to defend money against the charge). Those people are confused because the Bible never claims that money is the root of all evil, although something like those words does occur in something like that sequence. While giving his disciple Timothy advice on "fighting the good fight," St. Paul writes:
Confused Expressions #9: My Body is My Temple
When I was younger, a friend said to me—if memory serves, in response to my resolute disinclination to smoke cigarettes with him—"Your body is your temple, isn't it?"
Confused Expressions #5: Thank Goodness
Of all the expressions I don't understand, "thank goodness" is my favorite.
The Christian God vs the Sky-Bully
In my city, a mini-controversy has recently erupted over an advertisement that an atheist group would like posted in city buses. The ad reads, "There's probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life." (If this campaign hasn't come to your city yet, I'm sure it will soon.)