Tag Archives: sin

Potency, Act, and the Withdrawal of Grace: Thomas Aquinas on Original Sin

Here’s Thomas Aquinas in Summa Contra Gentiles, Book IV, ch. 52: “[We Christians] affirm that man was, from the beginning, so fashioned that as long as his reason was subject to God, not only would his lower powers serve him without … Continue reading

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Two Paths to Self-Control: The Buddha and Jesus vs. Ulysses and Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor

Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology at Duke University, has an interesting recent blog post on self-control, which he frames as a dual dilemma: should we intensively train ourselves to be serene Buddhas, indifferent in the presence of immediate pleasures that might undermine our larger … Continue reading

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Bart Ehrman: Liars Wrote Parts of the Bible

Bart Ehrman has a new book out and it’s got a rather attention grabbing title: ‘Forged: Writing in the Name of God — Why the Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are’ (HarperOne 2011). And in a recent piece for HuffPo, … Continue reading

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Our Monsters, Ourselves

The MONSTEROUS plays an enormous role in literature and the human imagination—from the Book of Revelation and Dante’s Inferno to Nosferatu and Mad Monster Party. It also plays a large role in politics—as in the demonizing, by the far right, of Barack … Continue reading

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California Gay Marriage Hysteria Watch: James Dobson Compares Gay Marriage to Pearl Harbor

Dorian Davis, a contributing writer to Business Week and the New York Daily News, claims that James Dobson, in one of his books, compared gay marriage to Pearl Harbor. Here’s Davis’s quote: James Dobson, in his 2004 book Marriage Under … Continue reading

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Stuff Happens: Donald Rumsfeld, the Free Will Defense, and the Problem of Suffering

After the invasion of Iraq in April 2003, George Bush’s Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, provided a free-will defense for the rampant street looting in Iraq. Why was it occurring, and why wasn’t the United States actively engaged in stopping it? Here’s Rumsfeld’s answer: Freedom’s … Continue reading

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