Category Archives: Philosophy

James K A Smith: Speech and Theology (Review)

Posted on December 2, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

This is the old Jamie Smith, before he went full-blown NPR.  This book is quite brilliant, actually.  I fully endorse it. Phenomenology:  I am no longer concerned with the thing, but how the thing appears to me.  We are concerned … Continue reading →

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Boersma on Hospitality, 1

Posted on December 2, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Notes on chapter one from Boersma’s Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition. Hans Boersma uses concepts like violence and hospitality, particularly in their recent philosophical venues, as a set of ciphers to explore the atonement.  He succeeds brilliantly. … Continue reading →

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The Providence of God (Paul Helm)

Posted on November 26, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Helm, Paul.  The Providence of God.  Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsityPress, 1993. Thesis: “In summary, the essential elements of divine providence are these.  God preserves his creation and all that it sustains” (Helm 22). Helm adopts the “no-risk” view of providence.  God’s … Continue reading →

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Review: Torrance, Space, Time, and Incarnation

Posted on November 10, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Torrance, Thomas F. Space, Time, and Incarnation.  Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1969 [1997]. At barely 90 pages of text, Thomas Torrance wrote a book on cosmology that shocked the theological world.  If his arguments in this book obtain, then all … Continue reading →

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Review: Theological Science (Thomas Torrance)

Posted on November 8, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Torrance, Thomas F. Theological Science. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1969 [1996]. If Torrance’s works on the Incarnation and Atonement are his doctrinal magnum opi, this is his theological magnum opus. It demands much from the reader, as Torrance is dealing … Continue reading →

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Systematic Theology, volume 2 (Wolfhart Pannenberg)

Posted on November 4, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Review: Pannenberg, Wolfhart.  Systematic Theology volume 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991. Translated by Geoffrey Bromiley. (His name is pronounced “Volf-hart,” not “Wolf-Heart.”  He is not a character in a Twilight fan fiction). What would a Christology from below look like if it were … Continue reading →

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Charles Darwin: Origin of Species (Review)

Posted on October 30, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

At best Darwin can explain the survival of the fittest, not the arrival of a new species. Survival, not arrival. If this book were written today, it wouldn’t have caused such an uproar. Some of that is we are familiar … Continue reading →

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Dallas Willard: Knowing Christ Today

Posted on October 26, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Thesis: A life of steadfast discipleship to Jesus Christ can be supported only upon assured knowledge of how things are, of the realities in terms of which that life is lived (Willard 7).  Correct knowledge gives us secure access to reality. … Continue reading →

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Dallas Willard: Renovation of the Heart

Posted on October 25, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

It’s hard to write a new book on spiritual formation. Even the books that are good seem to have covered already-covered ground. What more is there to add? Dallas Willard takes a different angle. Rather than aiming for spiritual formation … Continue reading →

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Blogging through Darwin (4): Addendum on minor difficulties

Posted on October 24, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Chapters 7-9 Darwin follows up with objections raised.  Most of these are quite uninteresting and are literally  arguments against certain bird specialists. He does make one interesting comment in passing (chapter 7). “Lastly, more than one writer has asked, why … Continue reading →

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