Sunday, September 28, 2008
South for the Holidays
Good news, I am going south for the holidays. Bad news, south of Minneapolis includes Toronto and that's where I'm going. Sad isn't it?
The Case for Christ
In general, this was a well written book. He does build a strong case for Christ with his arguments and evidence, using 'typical' law rules to prove his case. Eye Witness, Historical Evidence, Expert Testimony and so on. He makes references in the bible to test consistency of the writings and events. All in all, it's not something scholars have never thought of - Lee Strobel verbalized it well.
There are however, 'holes' to his logic if you will.
1. No expert testimony from the opposing view. To get a holistic picture and to present a well balanced case, seeing as this is one of his 'key' premises to proving the case for Christ.
2. He makes a case for the authenticity of the document against the Illiad. If the Illiad is inaccurate from the beginning and has x number of versions, it doesn't matter how many translations it's been through, or version control or whatever, it is still inaccurate. Making a comparison to this book does not increase the bible's authenticity. He quotes the nature and stature of those who kept those records as time goes by and the strictness of versioning. Well, if the 'original' was wrong to begin with, it doesn't matter how strict the Church maintains its versioning control, you're maintaining strict control of inaccuracy.
Those were my biggest objections to his logic. All in all, it was a well written book and I do recommend it.
There are however, 'holes' to his logic if you will.
1. No expert testimony from the opposing view. To get a holistic picture and to present a well balanced case, seeing as this is one of his 'key' premises to proving the case for Christ.
2. He makes a case for the authenticity of the document against the Illiad. If the Illiad is inaccurate from the beginning and has x number of versions, it doesn't matter how many translations it's been through, or version control or whatever, it is still inaccurate. Making a comparison to this book does not increase the bible's authenticity. He quotes the nature and stature of those who kept those records as time goes by and the strictness of versioning. Well, if the 'original' was wrong to begin with, it doesn't matter how strict the Church maintains its versioning control, you're maintaining strict control of inaccuracy.
Those were my biggest objections to his logic. All in all, it was a well written book and I do recommend it.
Eat, Pray, Love.
So text books notwithstanding, it has rarely taken me so long to read a book. The book just never did generate enough excitement for me. It was slow. It was repeatitive.
The book was about the author's journey to self discovery - after a horrendous divorce and not knowing/feeling what she wanted. She made these self discoveries in the midst of her personal struggles in three place: Italy, India and Indonesia,which respectively corresponds to Eat, Pray, Love. Trying to let go of the pain of her past through an eating and traveling adventure in Italy and learning about what her "word" is (intraversero - or something - that means crossing over). Trying to find god in India through prayers and meditation with her guru, while in the meantime realizing her strengths and weaknesses and making them work. And finally, trying to find balance in her life by visiting an old Medicine Man in Indonesia (where balance is central to life on the island), in which, yes, you've guessed it, she's eventually found love on her terms as well as his.
The first chapter did a fairly good job of setting the scene: she's crying on the floor of her bathroom after realizing that she no longer wants to be married. I'm sure many women have had that thought crossed their minds many times at one or more times in their lives (and men of course). But it all went downhill from there. She just came off as whiny most of the time and perhaps that indicates my tolerance level for women crying about how tough life is. Granted, she did acknowledge that in the whole grand scheme of things, she probably doesn't have it all that bad.
The book would have been a more enjoyable read had the chapters been condensed to half of what it is. It just dragged on for too much. That or the book needs to be written in a way that can sustain attention and empathy from its readers.
The book was about the author's journey to self discovery - after a horrendous divorce and not knowing/feeling what she wanted. She made these self discoveries in the midst of her personal struggles in three place: Italy, India and Indonesia,which respectively corresponds to Eat, Pray, Love. Trying to let go of the pain of her past through an eating and traveling adventure in Italy and learning about what her "word" is (intraversero - or something - that means crossing over). Trying to find god in India through prayers and meditation with her guru, while in the meantime realizing her strengths and weaknesses and making them work. And finally, trying to find balance in her life by visiting an old Medicine Man in Indonesia (where balance is central to life on the island), in which, yes, you've guessed it, she's eventually found love on her terms as well as his.
The first chapter did a fairly good job of setting the scene: she's crying on the floor of her bathroom after realizing that she no longer wants to be married. I'm sure many women have had that thought crossed their minds many times at one or more times in their lives (and men of course). But it all went downhill from there. She just came off as whiny most of the time and perhaps that indicates my tolerance level for women crying about how tough life is. Granted, she did acknowledge that in the whole grand scheme of things, she probably doesn't have it all that bad.
The book would have been a more enjoyable read had the chapters been condensed to half of what it is. It just dragged on for too much. That or the book needs to be written in a way that can sustain attention and empathy from its readers.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
God and I
Well...as you might have noticed. I've stopped reading the Bible. Yes...it was kind of tough to go through it so I took a break. I did however, went to Church several times. I decided not to today. I just didn't feel like it. I don't feel anything really. Well, maybe exhaustion. Going to Church is kind of exhasuting sometimes. Especially when the majority of the time I just don't agree with what the Church is preaching about. Recently it's been about sin. It's weird hearing my 'name' being preached in Church and associating it with something evil. I did however enjoy the last service -
I like to use the grocery store analogy. When I go grocery shopping, I don't like everything that they carry, so I just pick and choose what I like and buy it. Sometimes though, maybe I'll try something new and end up liking it, even though I may not think so in the first place. I kind of see that metaphor with Christianity. I pick and choose what I like, and maybe someday I'll end up liking and accepting other parts of its beliefs. However, there are certain foods that I KNOW I don't like (like Avocado), and the same goes for with some Christianity beliefs (i.e. homosexuality is a sin). I think that's what I have the most trouble wrapping my mind around.
So I am taking a break. Besides, I've been buying a lot of new stuff and really haven't had the chance to 'eat' it yet.
CH
I like to use the grocery store analogy. When I go grocery shopping, I don't like everything that they carry, so I just pick and choose what I like and buy it. Sometimes though, maybe I'll try something new and end up liking it, even though I may not think so in the first place. I kind of see that metaphor with Christianity. I pick and choose what I like, and maybe someday I'll end up liking and accepting other parts of its beliefs. However, there are certain foods that I KNOW I don't like (like Avocado), and the same goes for with some Christianity beliefs (i.e. homosexuality is a sin). I think that's what I have the most trouble wrapping my mind around.
So I am taking a break. Besides, I've been buying a lot of new stuff and really haven't had the chance to 'eat' it yet.
CH
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