idle banter

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Is everything relative?

One of the great philosophical/existential questions of all time is "If a man is standing in a forest all alone and screams, with absolutely no-one around, did he really scream?

But don't get confused, this is not the same as a married man asking "If a man is all alone in a forest, is he still wrong?" back to the point ...

Relativism. It's a bitch. It's all around us. It calls everything we believe into question. How can we REALLY know that God exists? How do we REALLY know when God is speaking to us?

A bit of history - the relativism argument has not been around all that long. In what is known as the modern (1500 - 1900) and pre-modern (pre-1500) periods science and the church ruled as authorities on truth.
The pre-modern argument when the church ruled was that God was God and there was not alternative Truth. In the modern times when science ruled, scientific reason was the authority as proven through scientific enquiry.

Now, in our post-modern times, reason and our free-thinking is the authority (also known as humanism). I've struggled with relativism most of my post-teen thinking life, and have now learnt not to give it too much room, but to rather learn what faith means in the face of very good arguments against the Truth I follow (Jesus).

This is my take on things, what is yours? (Sheesh, now wasn't that a relativist question?)

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Times, they are a changing

Rhema Choles here,

The Northfield Elders and ministers are retreating this weekend @ Good Shepherd Retreat Centre @ Harties to consider, pray, listen and discern on some important decisions.

I would like to encourage those who read idle banter to pray for them.

One decision they are considering affects the services @ Northfield. They elders have taken note of how late the 19h30 Show finishes as well as some logistical issues between 19h30 and 17h30. so the idea is to move 17h30into the new chapel (with it's 140 capacity, this should be no problem) and then move 19h30 to a 18h30 service.

I'm really game for this as it makes having coffee and soup @ The Crossing much more relaxing without having to worry about getting my beauty sleep.

What say you?

Monday, July 11, 2005

Monday, July 04, 2005

ReverendFun.com


One of the things I like to hold onto as a Christian is the ability to laugh at ourselves (or maybe, just at myself!). So, if you'd like a daily dose of laugh-at-yourself humour, check out http://www.reverendfun.com.