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Yearly Archives: 2009

The Psychology Behind Economic Decisions

January 25, 2009 7:33 pm / 4 Comments on The Psychology Behind Economic Decisions

The Psychology Behind Economic Decisions

::::::::::::::HT: TED Talks

**When Experiences Become Free Advertisements

January 22, 2009 8:00 pm / Leave a comment

1. When Experiences Become Free Advertisements :: Aaron Skinner shows how churches don’t necessarily need millions of dollars to compete with secular messages. 

2. What Is Marketing? :: Aaron Skinner argues that marketing strategies can never take the place of gospel community, and without authentic Christian living all marketing strategies will fail.

 

::__::__::__::__HT: U R B A N G L O R Y

A R I S T O T L E ::: Snapshot at His Life

January 22, 2009 3:19 pm / Leave a comment

:: A R I S T O T L E  ::

A Life That Changed the World

______________384 – 322 B.C.______________

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

The following chart I have made based on the chapter, “A Life that Changed the World,” in On Aristotle by Garret Thomson and Marshall Missner (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2000), 5-8.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Age

Time

 Event

 

384 B.C.

Aristotle is born.

37

347 B.C.

Plato dies and his nephew Speusippus becomes head of the Academy, so Aristotle leaves Athens and begins independent exploration, first in Assos where he founded an academy, second on the island of Lesbos 7 miles south of Assos.

41

343 B.C.

Aristotle is invited by Philip of Macedonia to tutor his son Alexander the Great at 14 years old.  Aristotle accepts and tutors for 7 years until Alexander became King in 336 B.C.

50

334 B.C.

Aristotle returns to Athens to start his own school, the Lyceum, in a grove in  the north of Athens that was said to be a spot frequented by Socrates.  Here  Aristotle would produce most of his mature and well known works, build a  team of researches in almost every field of science, collect hundreds of  manuscripts, maps, natural objects, specimens, etc., effectually creating the one  of the first libraries and museums. 

61

321 B.C.

 Alexander the Great dies and Athens targets Aristotle as the city becomes a  center for strong anti-Macedonian sentiments.  Aristotle voluntary leaves “in  order that the Athenians might not commit a second crime against Philosophy”  (i.e. repeat the fate of Socrates).  He leaves Theophrastus in charge of the  Lyceum. 

62

322 B.C.

 Aristotle dies leaving a will that he be buried next to his wife Pythias.

 

 

::__:: Climbing Skyscrapers With Bare Hands ::__::

January 22, 2009 2:03 am / 1 Comment on ::__:: Climbing Skyscrapers With Bare Hands ::__::

Spiderman Climbs Jakarta High-Rise

Not Just Faith in Anything; Content Matters :::::

January 21, 2009 11:06 am / Leave a comment

motivational noob

::: Marketing a Metanarrative :::_::: written version

January 20, 2009 1:56 pm / 3 Comments on ::: Marketing a Metanarrative :::_::: written version

Here’s the written version of my latest •audiopost•.

_____________________________

The following are my afterthoughts after listening to an 11 minute  U R B A N G L O R Y  podcast entitled Marketing a Metanarrative.

Is marketing merely about selling a product?  Well … not when marketing has come to the place of getting people to associate ideas, beliefs, messages, and metanarratives with their product.  This is when the power of marketing goes beyond merely selling products to shaping the worldview of its target audience.  

Most marketing techniques do this even if their message is not explicit.  For example, how many times have you seen a Budweiser commercial where people were bored, depressed, unattractive, etc.?  Never.  What Budweiser would love for their target audience to do is associate happiness and attractiveness with their product.  

But marketing doesn’t stop with this kind of association tactic.  Marketing media often attempts to give much more in depth interpretations of life, values, and the world.  Sometimes it’s explicit, sometimes it’s subtle enough that you don’t realize your being asked to believe something like, “World peace exists,” or “Your life is incomplete without our product,” or “Sex before marriage is OK, but you better wear a rubber,” or “Being yourself is more important than anything else,” etc. 

These kinds of messages are commonly communicated in highly sophisticated ways without some sort of explicit declaration.  This means marketing strategies, branding, and really all forms of media, can are are being used to promote points of view, messages, and values that are capable of shaping ones worldview.  

In light of this, contra the recent article in Christianity Today by Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, “Jesus is Not a Brand,” marketing strategies do not turn Jesus into a product or idol.  Rather, marketing the gospel (i.e. Jesus) is simply a way of translating the gospel into the language of marketing in order to communicate a worldview, values, stories, messages, etc.  We should never disengage these venues as Christians out of fear, ignorance, a fundamentalist mentality, legalism, etc.  Rather, we should fully engage this cultural language for the sake of the gospel.  

If you don’t like the way Jesus is being “Branded” in the media, critizising the enterprise of “Branding Jesus” is not the answer, providing alternative media that better communicates the gospel and engages the culture is.   

____–__–__HT: U R B A N G L O R Y

:: Marketing a Metanarrative :: •audiopost•

January 20, 2009 5:20 am / Leave a comment

Ok … so I did another •audiopost• so you can listen to my post while doing laundry, getting dressed, cleaning your room, doing the dishes, driving to work, or lying down.

In this post, I argue (contrary to Tyler Wigg-Stevenson) that Christians should use marketing media to advance the message of the gospel.  You can listen by clicking on the link above or below, or by clicking on the •audiopost• page. 

UPDATE: There’s been some difficulty for some with the mp3 file … I think I’ve fixed it, but if you still have trouble, the sure way is to run your mouse over the entry on the audiopost page, then click on the play button that appears in the popup. 

::__::___::___HT: Theo•philogue •Audiopost• 

The Pope Believes in Justification by Faith

January 18, 2009 11:18 pm / 4 Comments on The Pope Believes in Justification by Faith

(And before you think I’m theologically naive, make sure you read my comments that follow the quotation)

The following excerpts come from the lips of Pope Ratzinger himself, spoken Nov. 19th 2008.  

On the journey we have undertaken under the guidance of St. Paul, we now wish to reflect on a topic that is at the center of the controversies of the century of the Reformation: the issue of justification.

…

To be just means simply to be with Christ and in Christ. And this suffices. Other observances are no longer necessary.

That is why Luther’s expression “sola fide” is true if faith is not opposed to charity, to love. Faith is to look at Christ, to entrust oneself to Christ, to be united to Christ, to be conformed to Christ, to his life. And the form, the life of Christ, is love; hence, to believe is to be conformed to Christ and to enter into his love. That is why, in the Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul develops above all his doctrine on justification; he speaks of faith that operates through charity (cf. Galatians 5:14).

…

Paul knows that in the double love of God and neighbor the whole law is fulfilled. Thus the whole law is observed in communion with Christ, in faith that creates charity. We are just when we enter into communion with Christ, who is love. We will see the same in next Sunday’s Gospel for the solemnity of Christ the King. It is the Gospel of the judge whose sole criterion is love. What I ask is only this: Did you visit me when I was sick? When I was in prison? Did you feed me when I was hungry, clothe me when I was naked? So justice is decided in charity. Thus, at the end of this Gospel, we can say: love alone, charity alone. However, there is no contradiction between this Gospel and St. Paul. It is the same vision, the one according to which communion with Christ, faith in Christ, creates charity. And charity is the realization of communion with Christ. Thus, being united to him we are just, and in no other way.

…

Paul’s experience of the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus led him to see that it is only by faith in Christ, and not by any merit of our own, that we are made righteous before God. Our justification in Christ is thus God’s gracious gift, revealed in the mystery of the Cross. Christ died in order to become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (cf. 1 Cor 1:30), and we in turn, justified by faith, have become in him the very righteousness of God (cf. 2 Cor 5:21). In the light of the Cross and its gifts of reconciliation and new life in the Spirit, Paul rejected a righteousness based on the Law and its works.

Actually, in droves Catholics have come around to basically granting a doctrine of justification by faith.  

If your reaction is, “Yeah … but they don’t mean by faith alone,” you probably have been too influenced by uninformed Protestant rhetoric and haven’t been following the ecumenical discussion carefully enough.  If you say, “Yeah but when Catholics affirm justification by faith alone or by grace alone, they don’t mean the same thing the Reformers did,” well … The Reformers themselves didn’t mean the same thing by “justification by faith alone.”

There is no single doctrine of justification in the Reformation.  

To this very day Protestants understand the doctrine differently (nothwithstanding much overlap between their views, and between their views and Catholic views).  Thus, Martin Luther taught a sola fide, Calvin taught a sola fide, and Catholics also teach a sola fide, yet each are different in significant ways I do not have time to fully develop here.  They all have one thing in common: they all affirm that justifying righteousness originates outside of us in God himself (extra nos) and justifies us by grace alone (sola gratia), and the faith by which we are justified is a free gift of God—-notwithstanding the fact that all language of “free gift” and “sola gratia” are going to be understood differently by Arminians and Calvinists/Augustinians.  (It is the latter point of difference that caused a great deal of the tension between Luther and the Catholic Church).     

If you still think I’m theologically naive, leave comments in the thread.  It may be because I can’t say everything in one post.  

 

|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__|__HT: Zenit

What Martin Luther Really Said ::: Luther’s Sola Fide

January 17, 2009 1:02 am / 19 Comments on What Martin Luther Really Said ::: Luther’s Sola Fide

Martin Luther’s doctrine of justification is all too often assumed to be the same doctrine that later wound up in the Reformed Orthodox creeds.  This sola fide (the one of Reformed Orthodoxy) tends to be read back into the magisterial Reformers, and in this manner the nuances of the original Reformation sola fide are missed.  

The excerpts below come from Martin Luther’s introduction and summary of the book of Romans.  Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, trans. J. Theodore Mueller (Grand Rapids: Kregel Classic, Zondervan, 1954).  

Notice that Luther’s notion of justifying righteousness is faith itself because faith satisfies the law.  Luther’s notion of justifying righteousness, then, was not Christ’s active and passive obedience, as in much of the Reformed versions of the doctrine of imputation.   (more…)

Allah is the Only God, and Jesus Too, and the Holy Spirit Too

January 15, 2009 7:00 pm / 2 Comments on Allah is the Only God, and Jesus Too, and the Holy Spirit Too

A missionary to Muslims who goes by From the Middle East, shared in post form what he shares with Muslims to get them more interested in the gospel.  His post wasn’t intended to be a gospel presentation itself, only pre-evangelism, but it didn’t take long for evangelicals in the blogosphere to pounce on him for supposedly watering down the gospel.  Some objected to his use of the word “Allah” for God, even though it’s the word used to translate YHWH in Arabic Bibles, and is apparently the only word for God in that language.  Although not all the comments were off base, in my opinion the comment thread is a sad example of how quick we evangelicals are to vilify their fellow brother serving in a rough place due to lack of understanding and failure to come across with a gracious tone. 

________________HT: sbcImpact

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