MY BOOK
Here are some links to my “book,” what I imagine as a book, however, it gives a good indication of my grasp of issues and apologetics.
The title of the combined work is:
Worldviews: A CLICK AWAY From BINARY Collisions
These jump to readable or downloadable PDFs
- Introduction – Technology Junkies
- Laws of Logic (Excerpt from above chapter)
- Reincarnation vs. Laws of Logic
- Infinitely Finite – Mormon Materialism
- Roman Epicureanism – Natural Law and Homosexuality
- Gnostic Feminism – Empowered to Fail
- Emergen[t]cy – Post Modernism in the Church
I will be adding to this over time as I go through my favorite responses to challenges to faith and my thoughts on stuff. Much of the times I am merely collating others thoughts into relevant context in my responses.
MY PDFs
In No Particular Order
Leaving the Conspiratorial Worldview
This is an excerpt from the longest chapter in my book that deals with my early studies on the Emergent Church. This is an edited (added to) excerpt of pages 6 through 10 of that chapter. It is a short retelling of what evidences challenged my previous position which led to me changing my view on a topic.
A Note From a Concerned Parent – Racism Invoked in the Classroom
While in class my youngest sone joined a conversation with classmates about immigration. The teacher shut down the conversation but ended with the that the position the conservative students held was racist. This prompted a letter to all the parents of the students in the class from me. As well as the teacher and principle. This was the last letter from my desk to parents when I noticed something in the classroom that needed addressing.
This was originally prepared for a Sunday school class of adults at church (Grace Baptist) when the leader of the class was on missions. The main point in using this was to note that when people discuss Muhammad’s history, often a counter will be, “Well, look at the horrible things Christianity has done!” That is missing the proper comparison, which is Jesus (the FOUNDER of Christianity) compared to Muhammad (the FOUNDER of the Muslim faith). We compare apples with apples, not apples with oranges. An expanded post on this is here: “Jesus vs Muhammad | Jordan Peterson“
This was a paper written to a co-worker to engender discussion. It covers relativism and the idea of truth and pluralism. Has great dialogue pointers and the footnotes are a great way to track down related resources/ This goes well with my post on Relativism/Pluralism: “Icons of Pluralism Examined: Elephants and Geography Fallacies.”
This is a good intro to the ideas behind worldviews and how Scripture tells us we should respond to challenges to our faith. I include commentary via a favored study Bible of mine, as well as some helpful charts at the end. For the person just starting out in understanding of the importance of these issues, the footnotes offer some decent resources to consider. This should also be coupled with the below “Crossroads of Life“
This was a paper I did for a class at Seminary title, “REFORMATION CHURCH HISTORY.” I am sure I was one of the only students to jump forward and show just how the influential the Reformation was on America. “America” is — or should be looked at — as part of (the logical conclusion of) the Reformation’s results. Here is the abstract:
The Reformation affected not only the dominance of the Catholic Church, Europe, and orthodox theology, it also allowed for the founding of America. Without the Reformation in fact, America would not be what it is today. The view of human nature, , law, the role of government and the church, covenantal theology, oaths, and the like all played a role for America to be the country founded on the fruits of the Reformation. America is said to be that nation founded on the Reformation, so it is.
Multicultural Deconstructionism
This was a paper done for a buddy’s accelerated Masters in General Ed., class. He had to go coach the schools baseball team as they were doing bnetter than expected. I took over one of his courses. This was my entry.
There is a band called Five Finger Death Punch… in this short hand-out I explain how to get the most out of Bible reading. This was [again] a handout for a Sunday school class I filled in for at Grace Baptist. This class I taught was on Hermeneutics and dissecting Scripture through exegesis.
I would love to rewrite this someday and make it longer and better referenced. This was an opening letter to a coworker from Border’s Books and Music ho was headed to college – San Francisco University. We were gonna debate in letter form the founders of sorts of the conservative and progressive foundations in the West. I started the debate, which was never responded to.
My Expanded Speech for My Son’s Wedding Day
As above
This was a letter to fellow employee at Whole Food’s who — after discussion — said he would be interested in my thoughts about him being a Jehovah’s Witness. This was my “letter” of information to challenge his views.
Separation of Church and State
(Although not referenced, I do rely heavily on David Barton’s works) This is my response to those who think the separation of church and state is something in the Constitution. I show that it is not only NOT in the document, but, the persons who were closest to it understood it differently that today’s college graduates.
Children’s Multicultural Literature Class: Latino Literature & Life
Again, this was a class assignment done for a friend’s accelerated courses while he was coaching the schools baseball team to a season win. This was a small essay assignment and cuts to the chase and “adds to” some of the history I was reading.
Of course there is my “book” — I am a horrible writer… I compile well and would be an excellent researcher for a better writer.
Here is another example of the “1apologetic nature” of the paper’s I write that topically are probably a bit different than my other class-mates. My professor was H. Wayne House, and during the class discussion of the New Age was presented, so, I thought I would expand a bit on this topic. Here is the abstract:
Daytime television is full of shows with gurus and psychics, sages and those who talk to the dead. Oprah Winfrey often has New Age devotees on her show that channel spirits, or guests who accept an Eastern mystical worldview that purport to be healers, doctors, or psychologists, and the like. While the New Age movement is not monolithic in its teachings (in fact varying wildly), it does have one thing in common, and that is that the viewers of such shows and personalities rarely – if ever – investigate these people’s philosophy and their claims. And so, I will attempt to meld a few of my papers as well as add some pertinent information that will enlighten the curious and tackle issues raised by Dr. House.
This was just a letter to “correct” something a professor said in class. Not a correction as much as a “hey, there are other views/evidences out there.”
What Is A Cult? (Summer Readings)
I used to do a “newsletter” for anyone interested in the varied topics I would include (news items, commentary, philosophy, history, and the like) at my place of work at the time — Whole Foods. This was a section in the larger larger newsletter one month.
DISCOVER the TRUTH – Vestigial Organs Fully Functional
This was a 2005 paper I wrote, borrowing heavily from a book by Drs George Howe and Jerry Bergman. This was the book I had Dr. Howe into Borders Books and Music for a book signing and presentation when I was the “special order clerk” there.
Murder: Homosexual vs. Heterosexual (Summer Readings)
This was another insert in the newsletter for the Whole Foods break room I use to write up and print copies for. This is mainly and excerpt from William McGowan’s book, “Coloring the News: How Crusading for Diversity Has Corrupted American Journalism.” These early revelations about how Matthew Shephard was murdered isand was eye-opening. Here is an update to this info in a post of mine: “What ‘Counts’ as a Hate Crime? (RPT FLASHBACK)“
Natural vs. Divine Revelation: The Unknown God
This is a paper for a class in seminary on the Book of Acts. I make the distinction of what the Athenians “knew” about God and how Paul was preaching to them that final puzzle piece.
Of course, at the outset, all we can do to explain the concept of the Triunity of God is to use our limited, and imperfect language and analogies. So, do not look to paper as a be all, end all of understanding the concept. This is a 2005 creation. For more on the Trinity, see my post “Struggling With the Trinity | Some Examples & Responses“
This was the first paper for a Theology 5311 class (Theology 1: Intro & Scripture) and dates to early 2007. It is kinda the “what did you pull out of the class lecture and expand if you wish” type paper. Here is the abstract:
Definitions of theology, prolegomena, as well as definitions and concepts behind liberal and conservative theologies are discussed. Where revelation comes from is next up, is it from God or man. Did we invent it or receive it. What are the limiting factors of revelation if indeed it comes from man and not God? Hermeneutics and exegesis are briefly discussed considering the eight historic rules guiding these concepts. Liberation theology is also touched upon and made relevant by connecting it to the 2008 election cycle. Papyri are discussed, most notably the Magdalene College portions of Matthew. (Dr. house is the first person to go in-depth on this discovery, at least that I have heard.) Ossuaries wrap up my class notes, with a finish on how to counter the dreaded “Mormon Testimony” in case you run into them on a plane.
This was a hand-out for an adult Sunday class at Grace Baptist while the regular teacher was on a missions trip. With this reading of Jeremiah I was getting to the point that God can use us all as we were created and bonded to God through the Son with a gift to build the church, only by the Holy Spirit’s influence — which we all as believers have.
(A Power Point presentation) I was invited to speak a few days at a non-credit class of seniors at Village Christian — one of the many schools I was kicked out of over my life. The reason for the invite was I came across a 2005 DVD by Brian Flemming, an atheist and a fellow student a few years before me at Village Christian – titled, “The God Who Wasn’t There.” The DVD was an amateur attempt to show that Jesus did not exist historically, something very few in the history of skepticism have tried to defend. In the section entitled “From Village Christian to Village Atheist,” Brian goes back to Village Christian under false pretenses and interviews on camera the then principle, Dr. Ronald Sipus, as part of his weaving his biographical loss of faith in with his main thesis. I critiqued that in my first chapter (pp. 15-18) of my book. This critique made its rounds at Village Christian and the head of Student Spirit Life invited me to speak. This was my “day-one” presentation.
(A Power Point presentation) This is the “day-Two” presentation I gave at Village Christian introducing apologetics as a force in my life and a force for the people of faith to both embolden their walk as well as their witness. Here is the handout for this presentation I print for this presentation.
This was a response to a guy whom often opposed my religious, historical, and political views. This was a response to his signature: an email or post signature is a block of text, images, and links that appears at the end of every email you send. It had been a topic of discussion on the forum prior, however, my dealing with it was a bit different — and the conversation that stemmed from it was valuable to many.
Apologetics: Negative and Positive
Distinguishing between negative and positive apologetics can be helpful. Positive Apologetics: supplying reasons for believing the Christian faith (offensive). Negative Apologetics: answers to objections to the Christian faith (defensive).
Believe it or not, but, I have been asked this question a few times. So this is my “canned” response to the issue.
This is actually a paper for a philosophy class by my oldest son. He got a low grade on it — I assume because the teacher did not believe he had access to these resources? All these books are in my library that were cited.
Did the Early Earth Have a Reducing Atmosphere?
This is a response by me to a challenge regarding “evidence” for the earth’s evolutionary past. In this response deals a blow to the MILLER-UREY and MILLER-OPARIN experiments.
“Forcing” Morality: Debating a Pro-Choice Female (around 2001 via Space Battle’s Forum)
I respond to Susan’s claim in her opening challenge to me:
- “No SeanG, unlike you, we are not forcing morality on anybody. We are for allowing a choice. NOWHERE in the pro-choice agenda is there anything about making abortion mandatory.” (Emphasis in the original)