Schiavo Case Puts Human Dignity on Trial

March 07, 2005 by Doug Groothuis

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The Ethics of Eternity

June 28, 2002 by Doug Groothuis

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Blaise Pascal the seventeenth century French philosopher, scientist, and Christian—dwelt deeply and often on matters eternal. The vibrancy of his own intellectual powers was offset by the strain of his frail and fragile body, which would survive but a short thirty-nine years. His last few years were wracked by physical pain and debility; mortality was never far from his view. In this crushing crucible of pain, Pascal’s passion for truth was undiminished, even as his strength ebbed away. He took notes on what was to be his “Apology for the Christian Religion.” Although he died before finishing the work, the notes or “fragments” were discovered and passed on to posterity. Many of the fragments address the significance of eternity for mortality and morality. Pascal often attacked the indifference of those who through apathy and ignorance refused to take the claims of Christianity seriously. In one arresting fragment, he brings the afterlife to bear on the present life:

The immortality of the soul is something of such vital importance to us, affecting us so deeply, that one must have lost all feeling not to care about knowing the facts of the matter. All our actions and thoughts must follow such different paths, according to whether there is hope of eternal blessing or not, that the only possible way of acting with sense and judgment is to decide our course in the light of this point, which ought to be our ultimate objective.¹

Pascal the apologist is prodding the agnostic to sober up and consider his destiny, instead of disposing of Christianity as though it were a trifle. If Christianity is true, the ramifications are never-ending and beyond measure—for believer and unbeliever alike. If we are destined only for the grave, this life loses its meaning.²

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America's Ecological Millennium: Review of Al Gore, Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992

June 24, 2002 by Doug Groothuis

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Albert Gore’s ambitious four-hundred-page opus aspires to be no less than an ecological tour de force. This expansive and earnest volume combines scientific analysis, political policy, autobiography, intellectual history, and even a theology of the environment—all presented with the fervor of a conscience-bound activist striving to awaken a sleeping populace to the approaching ecological apocalypse of global warming, ozone depletion, soil erosion, and a host of other environmental ills unrecognized by those who oppose his views (many of whom are now in the White House).

Because of its encyclopedic aims, Earth in the Balance is difficult to review adequately. Instead of delving extensively into controversies over the veracity of Gore’s ecological vision, I will focus on the relationship of several roles he attempts to fulfill simultaneously: the politician, the environmentalist, and the self-confessed Baptist.

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Some Problems with Pragmatism

June 09, 2002 by Doug Groothuis

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Bertrand Russell, the famous British philosopher, gives some cogent criticisms of William James’s pragmatic theory of truth that amplify the critique given by W. Corduan in Reasonable Faith.¹ Yet before we address them, we should note that there is some debate as to just what James’s theory involved. Some, like Mortimer Adler,² argue that James held to a correspondence view of truth, but thought that truth was verified pragmatically by its effects. Others, such as Corduan and Russell, argue that James made the pragmatic effects the very meaning or essence of truth. This charge seems most obvious if it can be shown that James argues that opposing religious doctrines can be true if they work for their adherents.³ For instance, consider two sets of religious truth-claims:

Three Theravada Buddhist truth-claims:

(1.0) Buddha alone is the supreme revelation of spiritual reality.

(1.1) Buddha teaches that belief in God or gods is irrelevant to spiritual liberation and probably harmful.

(1.2) Buddha’s teaching should be followed by all.

Three Orthodox Christian truth-claims:

(2.0) Christ alone is the supreme revelation of spiritual reality.

(2.1) Christ taught that belief in and commitment to God is essential for spiritual liberation.

(2.2) Christ’s teaching should be followed by all.

Given the correspondence view of truth, (1.0)-(1.3) are logically incompatible with (2.0)-(2.3). They cannot both be true. To say that propositions (1.0)-(1.2) and (2.0)-(2.2) are both true denies the correspondence view of truth, since both Buddha and Christ cannot be the uniquely supreme revelation of spiritual reality, given their disparate teachings and practices. Furthermore, pragmatically, one cannot follow both Buddha’s and Christ’s teaching on the salvific worth of the belief in God, since they contradict each other.

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Weakness of Will and the Moral Imagination

June 07, 2002 by Doug Groothuis

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Aristotle’s treatment of weakness of will has been the subject of sustained reflection, interpretation, and criticism for centuries. Many have attacked his notion as inadequate on the grounds that it fails to grasp the depths of moral struggle wherein one truly knows the good and consciously chooses to do otherwise. Rather than extending this discussion, I will explain Aristotle’s doctrine, contrast it with the Socratic alternative, and suggest that Aristotle’s account of weakness of will is often the best description of a significantly large class of moral inadequacies (whether or not there are other cases which are better explained in non-Aristotelian terms).¹ I will then propose the cultivation and engagement of the moral imagination as an antidote for the weakness of will. This is fitting given Aristotle’s concern that the treatment of ethics “be not theoretical in its aim” but should address the matter of “how to become good men” who are concerned with “how our actions should be performed.”² I will argue that the moral imagination may fortify a weak will to follow the good and to avoid capitulation to lesser passions. In a day when character decay is often ignored or even hailed as liberation, such a study deserves careful analysis for those concerned about the dynamics of moral formation.

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Why Matter Matters: The Challenge of Cyberspace to Christian Doctrine and Ethics

June 04, 2002 by Doug Groothuis

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The credibility and applicability of Christian theology can be contested in countless ways, and Christians should be alert to all of those that pertain to them. God’s revealed truth can be attacked outright by unbelievers, heretics, and cultists who deny cardinal biblical doctrines on the basis of supposedly new revelations or through spurious skeptical arguments against the supernatural. These frontal assaults call for well-reasoned and loving apologetic responses (1 Peter 3:15-16; Jude 3; 2 Cor. 10:3-5).

More insidious, however, are the challenges to Christian orthodoxy that insinuate themselves into the fabric of culture so that their presence subtly undermines crucial Christian perspectives on the things that matter most—God, creation, human nature, salvation, and ethics. These implicit cultural factors may seduce the church to the degree that it finds itself ignorantly immersed in all the paraphernalia of worldliness. But we are called by Scripture to shun the love of the world (1 John 2:15-17; Psalm 1) and to embrace the love of God with all of our being (Matthew 22:37-39), that we might be transformed through the renewing of our minds to know and do God’s will (Romans 12:2) to his glory (1 Cor. 10:31; Colossians 3:17).

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