Apple News...

For a guy who likes to tease of Mac-idolators a whole lot, you sure like to post a lot about Macs. :-p just kidding

I just finished Vol 2 of A Scientific Theology by Alister McGrath. The volume was about Reality. He puts forth the notion of critical realism, which apparently hangs on a stratified view reality. Such as, biology rests on chemistry that rests on physics... etc. I'm not sure I understand the implication in full, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. His discourse on Christocentrism was also very good.

Secondly, I will be attending the RZIM summer school at Wheaton, which is held at the end of this month. I'm pretty stoked. Hopefully I'll get a chance to ask the gang of few of the questions I have. GKC was right, this Christian life is found difficult and hence many have left it untried. I can fully understand that sentiment.

:) I love Apple as a company and find the Mac fanatics to be very entertaining. Plus, they do cool stuff. I can't have a tech angle to the POCBlog without Apple.

That sounds like a great book - I need to read more McGrath. I have the reformation history you mentioned in my Amazon shopping cart right now. He really cranks them out - his new Dawkin's Delusion book just came out as well.

I would love to read more on the critical realism stuff - does he have an article length intro to his view online somewhere? I have too much seminary reading to hit his book, but I could squeeze 20 pages in for fun :)

I agree with GKC completely - in fact, we fall short of the gospel in order to see that we perpetually need it.

Enjoy the summer - love to hear how that goes and who the lecturers are.

I found this talk on his website:

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mcgrath/Lecture%20Text/Tokyo%20Science%20and%20Religion.pdf

i haven't read it, but a quick search of "critical realism" found 1 hit. But I think he explores the main theme of his scientific theology in the text.

Fundamental to critical realism, it appears, is the relationship between the knower and what is known (or what is being known). He says that Calvin thought this way in the relationship between the knowledge of God and the knowledge of self (or Self). McGrath offers a spectrum of epistemologies: (1) naive realism - reality impacts on knower only, (2) critical realism - reality apprehended by human mind that accommodates reality with tools at hand (i.e. math) and (3) postmodern anti-realism - human mind constructs reality as it so chooses.

again, it seems that fundamental to critical realism is the relationship between knower and that which is known.

the funny thing about his "Scientific Theology" series is that the one I just read, Reality, is sandwiched between Nature (Vol 1) and Theory (Vol 3). In other words, the unity between Nature and Theory = Reality.

I think much of the modern evangelical church malaise is the decoupling between the upper and lower stories. Richard Dawkins is attacking just that and few seem to realize it. To quote Ben Witherington, "Christ wants it all". There is no disconnect (or at least there shouldn't be) between the faith that I toy around with in my mental faculty and every day reality, if that makes sense. I'm still trying to discern all of the implications of this idea.

Oops, I mean McGrath offers a spectrum of ontologies..... Also, in critical realism the epistemology is in (or based on) the ontology. For example, the existence of a scientific discipline determines the methodology that is used. In other words, chemistry must first be chemistry before the chemical methodology is discovered or diagrammed.

I think.

Thanks for the mention, Reid!

Mac + ESV + Logos Bible Software = cool! :-)

http://www.MacBibleSoftware.com

Sure thing Daniel - I have been told how great Accenture is on the Mac...I could never switch because I like Logos native. If you guys' mac version is robust it may interest me in the Mac a bit more :)