Category Archives: Theology

God’s DNA

Posted on December 13, 2015 by hessd

We’re going to have to talk just a little about the Virgin Mary today. My strategy in entering this field is to begin on the outrageous end of the row and pick my way back to where I parked the … Continue reading →

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Jonathan Haidt’s “Inner Lawyer”

Posted on November 24, 2015 by hessd

Jonathan Haidt offers the third illustration in the clutch of three we are examining. All three involve two functions—actively suppressing information and not receiving the information—but it gets complicated because I am the person who plays both parts. I hide … Continue reading →

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Sincerely Heretical

Posted on November 22, 2015 by hessd

This is “When I lie to myself, I don’t believe me, Part 2”  It is the second of a series of three essays which, I maintain, are about the same issue. Maybe they are and maybe they aren’t, but the … Continue reading →

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Screwtape and Salience Games

Posted on October 11, 2015 by hessd

From the time I first read The Screwtape Letters (TSL), I have been intrigued by the way Screwtape plays with salience. And that was before I spent four very concentrated years at the University of Oregon studying salience. In this … Continue reading →

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The Moral Minority

Posted on October 6, 2015 by hessd

Molly Worthen writes in The New York Times (see the column here) that Donald Trump’s candidacy has exacerbated a split among evangelicals. She describes it like this. What is most striking is that Mr. Trump’s campaign has exposed a rift … Continue reading →

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Deathbed Confessions

Posted on August 26, 2015 by hessd

I want to think about “deathbed confessions” today. I am going to imagine for today’s purposes that they are fraudulent. The reasons for starting there will become clearer as we go. In order to use that frame of reference with … Continue reading →

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Believing and Believing IN

Posted on July 25, 2015 by hessd

I love it when this happens. I have watched Secondhand Lions maybe half a dozen times. Some parts, probably well over a dozen times. And always there is the sense that some part of my mind is receiving some really … Continue reading →

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The Bible in (less than) 300 Words

Posted on May 13, 2015 by hessd

The bulk of this post is going to be the work of others. My part in it will be limited to telling you who those “others” were and saying why I am so excited about what they did that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Biblical Studies, Living My Life, Theology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Loser Edit

Posted on March 12, 2015 by hessd

I am not a fan of “reality shows.” Shows about realty are another matter, but those shows raise the question of what is real. The question of the difference between the two was raised to prominence yesterday in the March … Continue reading →

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What does “moral fact” mean?

Posted on March 6, 2015 by hessd

One of the great advantages of writing a blog is that you get to decide what the title of a blog is. That is a luxury not shared by people who publish in newspapers, so I don’t really know who … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Society, Theology, Words | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments