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September 2021

September 28, 2021

Moral Certainty Is Both Overrated and Dangerous

Do moral absolutes exist? Is human engagement with moral principles more like a treasure hunt,...

September 20, 2021

Is God More Like Ella Fitzgerald or Ludwig van Beethoven?

Autumn officially begins this week, which is wonderful news. Autumn is by far my favorite...

September 16, 2021

Is Ignorance Just as Good as Knowledge?

A continuing theme of my various classes over the first three weeks of the semester...

September 12, 2021

The Stories We Tell and the Lies We Believe

As always, this past summer was a season of eclectic reading. I am team-teaching a...

September 09, 2021

A Question for the 20th Anniversary of 9/11: Are We Tired of Hating People Yet?

Everyone beyond a certain age can remember clearly what they were doing twenty years ago when...

August 2021

August 31, 2021

I’m Faith and He’s Doubt

One of my favorite things to do is plan a new course, especially when I’m...

August 17, 2021

I’m Working On It

Any caring human being asks the question What is the right thing to do? on...

July 2021

July 22, 2021

A Philosopher Who Happens to Be a Christian

Who gets to call themselves "Christian"? A few months ago on this blog, I suggested...

July 06, 2021

What an Ancient Greek Puzzle Can Teach Us About the Life of Faith

After several years at sea rescuing besieged towns from monsters, slaying the Minotaur, and doing...

June 2021

June 17, 2021

Faith Is About Asking the “What If?” Questions

In Lies We Believe Abut God, Wm. Paul Young (author of The Shack) tells the story of...

June 12, 2021

God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It? Not so much.

One of the books I gave Jeanne for her birthday this past week is As a...

May 2021

May 05, 2021

No One Owns God

Over the past few weeks, I have received more negative comments on my blog than...

May 02, 2021

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear–or so we’re told

After the mass shooting in a Colorado grocery store a few weeks ago, a woman...

April 2021

April 27, 2021

So You Want to Be a Good Person?

A Polish Franciscan priest. A Lutheran pastor and theologian. A French, Jewish social activist attracted...

April 15, 2021

Death and Taxes

In a normal year, today would be everyone's least favorite day of the year--Tax Day....

April 13, 2021

The Tools of Lifetime Learning

My father, an itinerant Baptist minister, once told me about a plaque on the preacher’s...

April 10, 2021

Faith and Doubt Go Hand in Hand

The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty Anne Lamott I am currently in...

March 2021

March 31, 2021

An April Fools Day Question About Jesus: Did He Ever Laugh?

I know we're in the middle of Holy Week. I know that today is Maundy...

February 2021

February 16, 2021

The Earth is Round. Two Plus Two Equals Four. Deal With It

The earth is round. Two plus two equals four. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won...

February 07, 2021

We are All Wind . . . and That’s a Good Thing

I am not a complainer by nature. My wife, my family, and my friends would...

January 2021

January 14, 2021

The Best of 2020 #4: I am a Liberal Because I am a Christian

Coming in at #4 in my list of my top blog posts of 2020, judged...

December 2020

December 29, 2020

Is Tolerance a Luxury or a Virtue?

Earlier this month, I posted an essay titled "It Isn't True Just Because You Believe...

December 08, 2020

It Isn’t True Just Because You Believe It. There Is No Immaculate Perception

I have taught philosophy in Catholic higher education for thirty years as a non-Catholic. Although...

November 2020

November 24, 2020

Christianity Does Not Solve the Problem of Evil

In the eight-plus years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve occasionally been asked what...

November 22, 2020

Cathedrals and Physics Labs: Saying “Hello” to God

You can either think of the creeds of the great traditions . . . as...

November 12, 2020

Dancing with the Stars

I love the stars. Not as in “Dancing with . . .” or in Hollywood...

November 05, 2020

What to Do When an Argument Leads to a Conclusion that You Don’t Like

People are prone to apply the meaning of other people’s arguments to suit opinions that...

September 2020

September 29, 2020

A Few Thoughts Before the First Presidential Debate

The first debate between the 2020 presidential nominees is this evening. It will come as...

September 22, 2020

Don’t Be a One Issue Voter–even if that issue is abortion

With the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginzberg, the abortion issue is slowly...

September 08, 2020

Living On the Edges of the Christian Circus Tent

Jeanne and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary in July—the gifts we gave each other are...

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