Radically Happy

  • Malachi 4 The Day of The End

    Questions: What is the day of the Lord? Is it a good or bad thing? Do we fear the name of the Lord? Should we? How? “Read More” to pursue answers in Malachi.

  • A New Year’s Blessing from Kenneth James Sniecinski

    My friend Kenneth’s Christmas letter to my wife and I contained such a beautiful blessing, I wanted to include it here (under [Read More]). In some ways, this spontaneous blessing captures his heart even better than his ‘real’ poems.

  • Malachi 3 Testing Time

    Questions: What is the right and wrong way to test God? What would God say to us at our final exam? Is the day of reckoning a good or a bad thing? What is the real difference between the righteous and the wicked? When, if ever, does it matter? “Read…

  • Malachi 2 One Thing, More…

    Consider this:If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay [it] to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not…

  • DiaBlogue: The Tao of Hell (or perhaps vice versa)

    Alan has very kindly and patiently answered all my questions, but appears (understandably) somewhat concerned whether this conversation is ever going to converge: I am just trying to address Ernie’s wondering, and I hope that Ernie will be responding soon with some more details about how he sees these issues.…

  • Malachi 1 Talk, Turkey!

    As 2005 comes to an end, I felt it would be appropriate to close with the book that wraps up the Old Testament: the great “Italian” prophet, Malachi. Questions: When is a prophecy a burden? How do we know God loves us? Why is He so demanding? What makes a…

  • DiaBlogue: Playing God

    I thank Alan for his latest round of clarification, which I might summarize as: * The issue is not primarily fairness, but “justice, morality, and goodness” * The argument is primarily ethical (with secondary epistemic concerns) * The eternal nature of God’s punishment is what really bothers him [Read More]…

  • The Metallic Rules (Gold, Silver, Platinum…)

    1. The Golden Rule Do unto others as you would have them do unto you 2. The Silvery Rule Do not do unto others as you would not have them do unto you 3. The Brazen Rule Do unto others as they do unto you 4. The Iron Rule Do…

  • Nehemiah 13 Unhappy Returns

    yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.He is also bluntly clear that marriage is a social act, not a private one:Shall we then hearken…

  • Nehemiah 12 Role Call

    Questions: Why does it matter who did what when? What is the relation between spiritual and political leadership? Is there such a thing as a good tax? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • DiaBlogue: Putting Descartes Before Da Hearse

    In my previous DiaBlogue entry, I made three assertions which underly my belief in “hell”: a. Ethics: Choices have real consequences b. Epistemology: Character, not facts, drive belief c. Theology: God is just not fair Alan responded primarily to the third point, in a way I might summarize as a…

  • Nehemiah 11 A Capitol Idea

    Questions: Why induce people to live in the Capitol? Why focus on the leaders? Who’s responsible? Does it matter? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • Legitimate Authority

    Where does leadership come from? How can we recognize/create healthy leadership?

  • DiaBloguers Meetup

    In a turn of events that I’m sure Alan would ascribe to mere coincidence (though I consider them providential :-), he ended up here in California for Thanksgiving, less than two hours away from my house! We met halfway at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, where we took the…

  • Nehemiah 10 Performing Seal

    Questions: Why do we need a written contract? How much is our name worth? What role do leaders play? Are outsiders really the problem? Why must we not forsake the house of our God? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.

  • DiaBlogue: Ernie’s Ethical Inferno

    Since Alan has so patiently and valiantly attempted to answer all my questions, I will finally answer his: “Do I believe in hell?” The short answer is: Yes, I do believe that the Biblical descriptions of an eternal hell do refer to some sort of meaningful objective reality that await…

  • DiaBlogue: Just, The Facts

    Alan has kindly revised my Brickman to match his actual position. I think the central point he makes is well stated here: I believe that it is fundamentally unjust to punish someone eternally for choices he makes based on uncertain, incomplete and seemingly contradictory or incoherent information, while being subject…

  • Dialogue + Blog = DiaBlogue

    I’m really enjoying my exchange with Alan Lund over at Little Endian. Not only is the content engaging, but I’ve developed a real fondness for the format of interacting posts on separate sites — what I call a DiaBlogue. [Read More] for some thoughts on the advantages of this format.

  • DiaBlogue: On Hell, eh? No!

    Today’s palindromic title is a response (on several levels) to the latest post/attempt at wordplay from my friend Bucky (aka Alan Lund, aka “Physical Plant”). He is “concerned about getting mired down in philosophical hair-splitting”, and wants me to address what he sees as his “most important problem.” So I…

  • Nehemiah 9 Father-Land

    Questions: When should we mourn? Dare we criticize our forefathers? What must we separate ourselves from? What does it mean to consider ourselves sinful, and God holy? Is that a safe assumption? “Read More” to pursue answers in Nehemiah.