Opus 2026-147: Another Reading Project?

Back in the days before wokeism became predominant I used to read a lot of fiction.  Alas, the lockstep ideology in the publishing industry has destroyed what used to be a great pastime.  The requirements for feminized characters who tend to be of untraditional sexual orientation and the great combat skills they seem to have gets a bit boring.  I am leaning toward nonfiction more often.

That presents its own problems.  Much of the nonfiction is also politically correct and tediously predictable.  I used to be able to get recommendations from others who read a lot but the books they have recommended to me and I have read are not as awesome as I was led to believe.

What is a man to do?

I am going back and reading things I read years ago.  Thomas Sowell’s Conflict of Visions is always worth a reread.  C.S. Lewis is rewarding.  The current book I am planning on working through is Idols for Destruction by Herbert Schlossberg.  It is copyrighted in 1983 but views society like it was written tomorrow.  He starts off like this,

“The technological flowering and economic expansion of the 20th century has been accompanied by an astonishing growth in pessimism, even despair.”, p. 1

I read it twenty years ago and took notes.  It seems worth reconsidering.  I doubt if you will find it in the library but I think it is worth your time.

I have several long term reading adventures going on.  My hope is I live long enough to finish them but knowing me I will keep adding more to expand the list.  Does that lead to immortality?

Schlossberg, Herbert.  Idols for Destruction.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-144: Early Seeds of Modern Education

We often tend to think that the ideas and philosophies we see and hear are somehow original.  Not so.  Most people have heard of H.G. Wells.  When I was a kid we had his Outline of History on our shelf and I remember looking through it.  Evidently that was in his early years before he went to the dark side.  Here is a description of his later thinking,

“By 1933, when he published the shape of things to come, he could see no better way to overcome the stubbornness and selfishness between people and nations than a desperate action by intellectual idealists to seize control of the world by force and established their vision of a universal compulsory educational program.” P. 2

If you know much about the history of the International Communist Party and the National Socialist Party then you know that they instituted just that.  In more recent times we have seen the educational establishment implement similar programs of brainwashing.  Compulsory education plays along with this.

The average teacher probably has no idea what is going on.  Many like children and want to help them grow up.  Discernment and insight are not their strengths.  The people directing education are another story.  They have taken over the power positions from day care to Harvard and are vigorously pushing their agenda.  Be aware.  Do everything you can to defund their efforts and get them fired.

It may be too late for your children so do it for your grandchildren if they are allowed to be born.

Schlossberg, Herbert.  Idols for Destruction.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-147: Ignoring the Problem

A long time ago Alistair Begg was talking about the apostle Paul’s comments on spiritual warfare.  He said Paul doesn’t try to present a case for the existence of the devil, he just assumes it.  I can’t find the reference at his point but Hebert Schlossberg maintained that one of the assumptions we should have is that there is a spiritual realm and we are battling in it.  Remember the well known statement of C.S. Lewis about the devil.  He said there are two mistakes people make.  They either totally ignore him or give him too much attention. 

The problems that our world faces are based on spiritual malnutrition, not material shortages.  Take world hunger.  People are starving to death all around the world.  It isn’t because there isn’t enough food to feed them.  The problem is governmental coercion and personal selfishness.  It is in distribution and management, not production.  The same case can be made for most shortages.

How about unemployment.  Obviously there are some big issues but one of the contributing factors is an unwillingness to work.  It always amazes me then young men who seem alert and capable ask me for money outside a store when across the parking lot there is a sign saying, “Now hiring”.  Two things are necessary for a person like this.  They must be willing to work and willing to cut their life style to match their income.

We do live in a physical world.  There are physical needs and demands.  Those are real.  Our problem comes when we forget the spiritual forces and priorities that propel how we deal with those demands.  Saving is wise.  Hoarding is destructive.  Feasting is glorious.  Gluttony is a sin.

As long as our leaders and teachers refuse to address the spiritual we will continue to be like natural water, always running down hill and following the path of least resistence. 

Schlossberg, Herbert.  Idols for Destruction.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-81, New Terms: Ressentiment

In Idols for Destruction Herbert Schlossberg writes about a term I had never heard before:  Ressentiment.  At first I thought he had misspelled resentment.  Then I thought he was coining a phrase himself, but when I googled it I found it was real.

It is a French word that looks like it is a translation of the English “resentment.”  That is a good place to start, but that is only a start.  Schlossberg is discussing the rise of Humanitarianism.  This is an extension of the humanism of the Renaissance that is traced back to a group of heretics.

“Humanitarianism was the term originally applied to a group of eighteenth century theologians who affirmed the humanity but denied the deity of Christ.” (page 51)

When you get away from the clear teaching of the Bible it opens up the door to all kinds of perversions of truth and allegiance to sin.  This led to the extreme mutation of the tenth commandment, “Thou shall not covet.”  Ressentiment is coveting gone wild.

“Ressentiment begins with perceived injury that may have a basis in fact, but more often is occasioned by envy for the possessions or the qualities possessed by another person.”  (page 51, emphasis in original)

Where this goes beyond resentment is in the willingness to do damage to yourself in order to bring the other person down.  You hate so much that you are willing to destroy yourself, your family, your future in order to make sure that the other person or group does not enjoy the benefits that they are experiencing. 

“Ressentiment values its own welfare less than it does the debasement or harm of its object.”  (page 52, emphasis in original)

This is part of the thinking that is going on in the class warfare being promoted by the Progressives in charge of our government.  That is why Barak Obama can admit that raising the tax rate on capital gains will actually bring in less money but that it is “fair.”  The purpose of the tax increase is not to benefit the country but to attempt to destroy those with investments.  This is ressentiment at work. 

This is why the progressives keep passing program that make it almost impossible for poor people to get off welfare.  The goal is not to benefit the poor, it is to cause class warfare that drags down the middle class.

Keep your eyes open.  You will see many examples of this.  The only cure is a belief in a righteous and just God that says, “Thou shall not covet.”

homo unius libri

Schlossberg, Herbert.  Idols for Destruction.  Nashville:  Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983.

Opus 2011-57, Assumptions

Recently I left a comment on a blog dealing with something called a “gender neutral” translation of the Bible.  The host of the blog obviously disagreed with me.  You can check the post and discussion HERE if you like.  The show stopper for me was this statement: 

“this is where an argument would get difficult because don’t have the same assumptions.”

He was right.  We would keep on arguing and get nowhere because we have different assumptions.  If we were in a coffee shop or worked in the same office I would love to continue the discussion, but on the internet it is too frustrating.

What he said was a profound point that we need to consider when we are trying to witness or advocate a point of theology.  More and more, believers have different assumptions from people in the world.  I am not de-Christianizing the guy I was exchanging thoughts with, the discussion was not on that level.  I am thanking him for bringing up a point.  In Idols for Destruction Hebert Schlossberg makes this point.  When we are dealing with professors who reject the Christian point of view or a neighbor who thinks we are nuts, there is a good chance we won’t be able to do anything to change their minds. 

“The evidence is often good and the arguments sound  It is the assumptions we must question.  These are statements that are presumed to be true but are not proven....Assumptions are beliefs; if they were proven they would not be assumptions.  And they are beliefs so taken for granted that it is not deemed necessary to prove them.”  (Emphasis in Original), p. 8

In the book he is talking about people in science or history who are telling the world what to think. 

“Soundly designed experiments, complete data, airtight controls, scrupulous honesty, and rigorous logic yield wrong conclusions when the original assumptions are wrong.” p. 8

I would put it, “You can’t reach the East coast by taking the westbound train.”

One day in our history department meeting we ran out of official topics and were discussing our differences.  I am an evangelical, one was a devout Catholic and the third teacher was a non-religious socialist from the Middle East.  We have some great discussions on very real disagreements.  What was amazing was that we finally got down to assumptions.  The socialist admitted that one source of our conflict came down to our view of human nature.  As Christians, the Catholic and I share the assumption of original sin that corrupts human nature.  As a humanist the socialist believed that man was good and society was to blame.  It was a great moment.  No one changed their views but we reached some real understanding.

What are your assumptions?  Is there a God?  Is that God the God of the Bible?  Does truth exist?  Can we know that truth?  Was Jesus God?  Did He die on a cross and rise again?  The answers to these questions determine the answers to all the rest.

Examine your assumptions.  Are they more in line with a believing Christian or a traditional pagan.  Start by being honest with yourself.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-40, New Book: Idols for Destruction

I have begun another book, Idols for Destruction, by Herbert Schlossberg.  This will be my third time through the book.  The theme comes from the book of Hosea:

(Hosea 8:4 ESV)  They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction.

He is looking at the different areas of modern life where we as a culture have substituted false objects of worship.  He covers history, humanity, Mammon, nature, power and religion.

It will not be a fast read.  I will try to share some of the juices that he stirs up in my mind.

homo unius libri