When we live the way we are supposed to God is glorified and we are blessed or happy (shalom). The biblical view of happiness is cultivated by living according to biblical virtues, such as justice and righteousness, which are motivated by flourishing (shalom). In this paper, I explore the prophet Isaiah’s prognostication in Isaiah 32:16-17…
In our fast-paced modern world, pride can disguise itself as busyness or even success. I am not talking about healthy responsibility. I am referring to taking on more and more stress until there is no time for spontaneity, enjoyment, and rest. We shove God off His throne and replace Him as the center of the…
In Rubén Darío’s poem, “Los Motivos Del Lobo” (“The Motives of the Wolf”), St. Francis of Assisi converts a wolf into being civilized but only temporarily does the feral canine stop the slaughter of animals and humans in the hills of an Italian town, Gubbio. At first the wolf conforms to the ways of the…
Click on the link below to read about the relationship between what Linda Zagzebski has doctrinally described as a divine attribute, omnisubjectivity, and what it means for God to change in his emotions. Omnisubjectivity and Passibility
The heart of God is for human flourishing. Episode 3, Intro to Biblical Ethics
IDEAS have consequences. For example, the invention and devastation of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II, started with an idea of atomic fission. Likewise, beliefs have consequences. For example, the Columbine school massacre on April 20, 1999, the 110th anniversary of Adolph Hitler’s birthday, was in part the result…
WHEN WE LIVE the way we are supposed to God is glorified and we are blessed (happy)! Sadly, most modern Christians take issue with the notion that happiness is for the here-and-now, delaying it for the afterlife. Too often we gorge ourselves on an ethical diet of doing the “right thing” out of a sense…
I recently posted on Facebook two alternative ways to live: thrive or strive. I wrote, “I need to stop striving for control and start thriving by trusting the One who controls everything.” Then, interestingly, I met someone at Starbucks who helped me see this dichotomy a bit more vividly. As I was sitting by the…