Lewis: Logic the Cornerstone

  

Some people think that scientific knowledge is somehow better than other types of knowledge. While it’s true that the scientific method is important, we need to have the proper perspective. I think C. S. Lewis provides that in an address he gave during WWII that showed up later in a collection of his essays as “De Futilitate”: The physical sciences, then, depend on the validity of logic just as much as metaphysics or mathematics. If popular thought feels “science” to… Read more »

How Did Puritans View Government?

  

We’re talking about Puritans in our ongoing trek through American history in this blog. As I mentioned in last week’s post about them, there is this stereotype that is difficult to reverse. But I hope I showed that not only were they earnest in their faith, but that they understood the concept of a covenant with God in which they needed to love one another. Were the Puritans always faithful to that covenant? Did they always treat each other in… Read more »

Marginalizing Christian Faith

  

When I was in college I often attended meetings of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. I found it to be an intelligent group of Christians who were devoted to understanding the faith and communicating on a level appropriate to the college population. Although most of my Christian activity was connected to my church, I always appreciated the influence of InterVarsity. Now comes news that the California system of state colleges and universities has denied official student group status to InterVarsity throughout… Read more »

Lewis: Surprised by Joy [Davidman]

  

I’ve been reading the letters of Joy Davidman, who, before her untimely death from cancer at the age of 45, was, for the last few years of her life, the wife of C. S. Lewis. If you’ve ever seen the movie Shadowlands, you’ve seen an attempt by Hollywood to portray the relationship between the two, but it falls far short of reality. There are historical inaccuracies—even for the sake of artistic license, one must not stray too far—and C. S…. Read more »

Lewis: The Reality of the Spiritual

  

C. S. Lewis was an atheist in his younger days, but eventually had to abandon his materialism and come face-to-face with the reality of the spiritual. Ten years after his conversion, in an essay called “Religion: Reality or Substitute,” he explained why the spiritual world is not just a figment of men’s imagination: Authority, reason, experience; on these three, mixed in varying proportions, all our knowledge depends. The authority of many wise men in many different times and places forbids… Read more »

Why “Pondering Principles”?

  

Every once in a while, I like to remind readers of this blog just why it’s called Pondering Principles. A principle is a general truth from which one can begin reasoning to proper conclusions with respect to God, man, and society. One must make sure, of course, that the principles one espouses are valid. Here are some principles I believe are demonstrable in Scripture, and that are confirmed throughout history. These form the basis for all my commentary, whether on… Read more »

The Puritans’ City on a Hill

  

The word “Puritan” has developed, over time, into a reproach. If someone is tagged a Puritan today, that supposedly means he is an austere, humorless, narrow-minded bigot. Yet what do most people really know about the Puritans who came over to America in droves, especially during the 1630s? Not much. What we have now is primarily a stereotype. Puritans were far more diverse than the stereotype allows. Some, indeed, were lacking humor, but that might be because they were persecuted… Read more »