Electric Agora (archive)

Tag: Christianity

  • Remarks on Religion

    By Daniel A. Kaufman ____ By now, most readers know that I am an atheist, as I do not believe in the existence of God or anything supernatural. Readers also likely know that I am Jewish by lineage and culturally and that I think God is useless both as an explanation and as a moral…

  • A Journey Through Grief

    by Peter Smith __ 53 years ago, I married my sweetheart. After two children and two grandchildren I looked back with contentment on a good marriage and a wonderful family. Then came the devastating news. Following the death of my son five years earlier, my wife Jenny would now also die. She was diagnosed with…

  • Meaning, Intelligibility, Morality, and God: A Conversation with Joshua Rasmussen, Part 1

    by Daniel A. Kaufman ____ The first of a two-part conversation with Joshua Rasmussen of Azusa Pacific University on a broad variety of issues, related to the meaning of life, morality, the intelligibility of the world, and God. Technical difficulties interrupted us, so the conversation is being presented in two parts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-p33YkCHXA&list=PLFBaXJ7yNOYERObvjSkJfoDOgtMWVhWse&index=9&ab_channel=ElectricAgora 02:50 Meaning in…

  • Death and the Icon

    E. John Winner ___ Let us begin with a technical clarification, by way of a discussion of the semiotic status of icons. An icon is a powerful representation, not only of an object or a person, but of the concept of that object or person; a reminder of what it is the perceiver of the…

  • On Wanting and Doing: A Conversation with CriSpin Sartwell

    by Daniel A. Kaufman ____ In this episode of Sophia, I talk with Crispin Sartwell of Dickinson College about my essay, “Wanting and Doing.” [https://theelectricagora.com/2021/05/25/wanting-and-doing/] We discuss action, desire, and powerlessness as understood in Christian theology and contemporary addiction discourse.  https://youtu.be/F4zXOajVfmQ 4:04 Wanting and doing in Christian and Addiction Discourse. 36:54 Overeating and the Problem…

  • Wanting and Doing

    by Daniel A. Kaufman ___ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. –Paul, Letter to the Romans 7.15 (Revised Standard Version) ___ Remarks by Crispin Sartwell on addiction, during our second dialogue on my Prolegomena for a Pluralist Metaphysics,…

  • the history and uses of the devil

    by Kevin Currie-Knight ____ Stephen Davies (Institute of Economic Studies) chats with me about his new book, A Street-wise Guide to the Devil. [Edward Everett Root, 2021] We talk about the (monotheistic) history of the Devil, why the Devil keeps hanging around, his role in contemporary moral panics, and more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FueUPPWJMss&ab_channel=ElectricAgora 6:13​ – Why/How the…

  • On Catholic Colleges and the atonement: a conversation with Chris Dodsworth

    by Robert Gressis ___ Chris Dodsworth (Professor, Spring Hill College) and I talk about what it’s like to teach at a Catholic college (spoiler: it’s good!) and the doctrine of the Atonement. We focus in particular on why Christians care about the Atonement, why the doctrine is baffling, how to make it less baffling, and…

  • Through a Glass Darkly

    by Mark English I have certain reservations about Ingmar Bergman as a filmmaker. Some of his films or segments thereof – particularly those influenced by surrealism – I am not keen on. Here is one small, perhaps trivial, example. The clock with no hands motif in Wild Strawberries (a wonderful movie, I admit) simply annoys…

  • “Killest us, lest we die from thee:” Response to Daniel Tippens

    by E. John Winner ___ Prologue: First, let me say that I am very pleased to see Dan Tippens return to the Electric Agora. His contribution to the Agora‘s development cannot be overstated. I am also pleased that he returns here with a well-written essay. Within the limited scope of its concerns and focus, it…