Simple Gifts

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 4b

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

Plato’s GORGIAS, Part 2

Having not taught Plato's Gorgias since graduate school in the '90's, I had forgotten how rich and important this dialogue is to the Western tradition. Having now recorded the whole dialogue for Simple Gifts, I am delighted to share it with you.
Gorgias was one of the most famous Sophists in the time of Classical Greece. He was one of a number of traveling teachers of the discipline of rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech. The ability to persuade others to agree with you, regardless of the truth of what you are persuading them of, has given us our modern understanding of the term "sophistry" as persuasive, clever speech that is nevertheless dishonest and misleading. Obviously, this ability is most valuable for two professions, lawyers and politicians. Socrates (and by extension Plato) thinks that the true purpose of speech and dialogue is the discovery of truth, not persuasion. Philosophy, then, is a true art, whereas rhetoric is, as Socrates declares, a sort of flattery.
In much of the dialogue, Gorgias is rather a passive listener to the discussion than an active participant, but those who are Socrates' persistent interlocutors (Polus and Callicles) are most definitely maintaining the Sophist position. The dialogue is set in the house of Callicles.
Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#plato, #socrates, #platoandsocrates, #socratesandplato, #love, #symposium, #republic, #westerntradition, #philosophy, #rationality, #drjohndwise, #philosopher, #philosophical, #philosophicalauthor #westerntraditionphilosophy, #traditionalphilosophy, #foundations, #foundationalphilosopher, #foundationaltext, #platosrepublic, #philosophy, #dialogue, #dialogues, #greekphilosophy, #ancientgreekphilosophy, #athens, #platonicdialogue, #platonic, #ancientgreeks, #ancientgreece,#hellen, #hellenistic, #athenian, #atheniantradition, #greekcivilization, #greeksociety, #greekhistory #euthyphro #plato #socrates #socraticdialogue #trialofsocrates #piety #justice #aporia #socraticirony #onthesoul #phaedo #plato #socrates #ancientgreek #ancientgreece #greek #greece #apology #republic #gorgias #dialectic

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #34 ”General Power of Taxation,” (Cont.), by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Book 1, Chapter 6a

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Six: Demons and Philosopher
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 16

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 4a

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

Plato’s GORGIAS, Part 1

Having not taught Plato's Gorgias since graduate school in the '90's, I had forgotten how rich and important this dialogue is to the Western tradition. Having now recorded the whole dialogue for Simple Gifts, I am delighted to share it with you.
Gorgias was one of the most famous Sophists in the time of Classical Greece. He was one of a number of traveling teachers of the discipline of rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech. The ability to persuade others to agree with you, regardless of the truth of what you are persuading them of, has given us our modern understanding of the term "sophistry" as persuasive, clever speech that is nevertheless dishonest and misleading. Obviously, this ability is most valuable for two professions, lawyers and politicians. Socrates (and by extension Plato) thinks that the true purpose of speech and dialogue is the discovery of truth, not persuasion. Philosophy, then, is a true art, whereas rhetoric is, as Socrates declares, a sort of flattery.
In much of the dialogue, Gorgias is rather a passive listener to the discussion than an active participant, but those who are Socrates' persistent interlocutors (Polus and Callicles) are most definitely maintaining the Sophist position. The dialogue is set in the house of Callicles.
Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#plato, #socrates, #platoandsocrates, #socratesandplato, #love, #symposium, #republic, #westerntradition, #philosophy, #rationality, #drjohndwise, #philosopher, #philosophical, #philosophicalauthor #westerntraditionphilosophy, #traditionalphilosophy, #foundations, #foundationalphilosopher, #foundationaltext, #platosrepublic, #philosophy, #dialogue, #dialogues, #greekphilosophy, #ancientgreekphilosophy, #athens, #platonicdialogue, #platonic, #ancientgreeks, #ancientgreece,#hellen, #hellenistic, #athenian, #atheniantradition, #greekcivilization, #greeksociety, #greekhistory #euthyphro #plato #socrates #socraticdialogue #trialofsocrates #piety #justice #aporia #socraticirony #onthesoul #phaedo #plato #socrates #ancientgreek #ancientgreece #greek #greece #apology #republic #gorgias #dialectic
 

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #33, ”General Power of Taxation” (Cont.), by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Book 1, Chapter 5c

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Five: Man and Mythologies
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Parts 14 and 15

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 3c

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Chapter 6b

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #32, ”General Power of Taxation” (Cont.), by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Book 1, Chapter 5b

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Five: Man and Mythologies
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 13

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 3b

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Chapter 6a

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #31, ”General Power of Taxation” (Cont), by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Book 1, Chapter 5a

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Five: Man and Mythologies
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 12

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 3a

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Chapter 5b

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #30, ”The General Power of Taxation” by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Book 1, Chapter 4c

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Four: God and Comparative Religion
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 11

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 2b

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Part 5a

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

The Federalist Papers #29, ”Concerning the Militia” by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Book 1, Chapter 4b

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Four: God and Comparative Religion
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 10

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE, by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 2a

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Part 4

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #28, ”Restraining Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense” (Cont), by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Part 1, Chapter 4a

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Four: God and Comparative Religion
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 9

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 1b

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Part 3

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #27, ”Restraining Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense” (Cont), by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Part 1, Chapter 3e

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Three: The Antiquity of Civilization
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 8

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

ROBINSON CRUSOE by Daniel Defoe, Chapter 1a

As an elementary school student, I remember reading for the first time Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. I was captivated by Crusoe's solitary ingenuity on the island, his trips back and forth to the foundered ship, his reconstruction of civilized life from the fundaments. It awakened in me a lifetime love of survival narratives, and a fascination with survival strategies and skills. If today I can forage for wild foods, start a bow-drill fire, build a deadfall, construct a survival shelter and know a great deal more about our natural environment than most people do, it is in no small part a result of reading this book, which has been called the first English novel. It well-rewards the time spent in its reading. Enjoy!
If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist    / thechristianatheist   https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.word...
For more great content, check out our other podcasts: The Christian Atheist: where faith and reason fuse in the incarnation …https://pod.link/1553077203 and No Compromise: where faith and reason fuse in conversation …    • No Compromise wit...   #robinsoncrusoe #crusoe #dafoe #danieldafoe #castaway #realisticfiction #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Part 2

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
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#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #26, ”Restraining Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense,” by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Book 1, Chapter 3d

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Three: The Antiquity of Civilization
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Parts 6 &7

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow

”The Day Boy and the Night Girl” by George MacDonald, Part 7 (Conclusion)

C. S. Lewis called George MacDonald his spiritual "Master." In Surprised by Joy Lewis recounts his first encounter, as an atheist, with MacDonald:
The glorious week-end of reading was before me. Turning to the bookstall, I picked out an Everyman in a dirty jacket, Phantasies, a faerie Romance, George MacDonald. Then the train came in. I can still remember the voice of the porter calling out the village names, Saxon and sweet as a nut--"Bookham, Effingham, Horsley train". That evening I began to read my new book.
What he found there was life-changing.
I had not the faintest notion what I had let myself in for by buying Phantastes.
What MacDonald's Phantastes did for Lewis, he would eventually do with his Chronicles of Narnia, the presentation of God's reality through the medium of fiction.
The woodland journeyings in that story, the ghostly enemies, the ladies both good and evil, were close enough to my habitual imagery to lure me on without the perception of a change. It is as if I were carried sleeping across the frontier, or as if I had died in the old country and could never remember how I came alive in the new. For in one sense the new country was exactly like the old. I met there all that had already charmed me in Malory, Spenser, Morris, and Yeats. But in another sense all was changed. I did not yet know (and I was long in learning) the name of the new quality, the bright shadow, that rested on the travels of Anodos. I do now. It was Holiness.... Meanwhile, in this new region all the confusions that had hitherto perplexed my search for Joy were disarmed. There was no temptation to confuse the scenes of the tale with the light that rested upon them .... Yet, at the same time, never had the wind of Joy blowing through any story been less separable from the story itself. Where the god and the idolon were most nearly one there was least danger of confounding them. Thus, when the great moments came I did not break away from the woods and cottages that I read of to seek some bodiless light shining beyond them, but gradually, with a swelling continuity (like the sun at mid-morning burning through a fog) I found the light shining on those woods and cottages, and then on my own past life.... For I now perceived that while the air of the new region made all my erotic and magical perversions of Joy look like sordid trumpery, it had no such disenchanting power over the bread upon the table or the coals in the grate. That was the marvel. Up till now each visitation of Joy had left the common world momentarily a desert--"The first touch of the earth went nigh to kill". Even when real clouds or trees had been the material of the vision, they had been so only by reminding me of another world; and I did not like the return to ours. But now I saw the bright shadow coming out of the book into the real world and resting there, transforming all common things and yet itself unchanged. Or, more accurately, I saw the common things drawn into the bright shadow.... In the depth of my disgraces, in the then invincible ignorance of my intellect, all this was given me without asking, even without consent. That night my imagination was, in a certain sense, baptised; the rest of me, not unnaturally, took longer.
"The Day Boy and The Night Girl" was published 20 years after Phantastes, and it reveals a deep intellect and a profound mastery of the art of fiction. It serves as a wonderful introduction to MacDonald's work, and will reward any amount of effort in unraveling its beauty. Like all great literature, it is endless. We pray you enjoy it!
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#thedayboy #thedayboyandthenightgirl #thenightgirl #georgemacdonald #macdonald #photogen #nycteris #fairytale #1882 #watho #aurora #vesper #light #darkness #dark #fantasy #thechristianatheist #christian #christianity

DISCOURSE ON METHOD by Rene Descartes, Part 1

In my Introduction to Philosophy course I introduce Descartes in this way:
Almost 2000 years after Socrates’ death in 399 B.C., the study of philosophy underwent a radical change. Epistemology became the central concern of philosophers beginning with the Frenchman, René Descartes (1596-1650), often called the “Father of modern philosophy.” Descartes, frustrated that 2000 years of speculative metaphysics yielded nothing he could confidently accept as certain, sought to discover a secure foundation upon which to base the emerging scientific outlook. His procedure, outlined in his Discourse on Method (1637) and Meditations on First Philosophy (1641), became known as methodical doubt. Descartes resolved to set aside as untrustworthy everything that admitted of the slightest doubt. As the senses often deceive us, we should not trust them. In fact, there is not even a certain procedure to differentiate waking experience from dreams. Mathematics and knowledge of general objects seems, however, to remain the same whether we dream or not, but even mathematical conclusions are susceptible to error if the supreme being of my universe is not a supremely good God, but an evil demon, seeking at all times to lead me astray. What remains of my experience that is not subject to doubt in such a scenario? Nothing, Descartes declares, except the fact of my own existence. No matter how deceptive may be the content of my thought, I cannot doubt my own existence so long as I am thinking – doubting, questioning, feeling, being deceived, experiencing. This conclusion, then, becomes the certain foundation upon which Descartes will resurrect the structures of knowledge demolished by his radical doubt. Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” is Descartes’ foundational innate idea.
Thus, truth/knowledge is discovered, not through the senses, which remain subject to error, but rationally. Descartes and his followers (the Continental (i.e. European) tradition in philosophy) become known as rationalists.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#rene #descartes #renedescartes #discourse #discourseonmethod #epistemology #cogito #cogitoergosum #ithinkthereforeiam #firstphilosophy #materialthings #existence #evidence #senses #will #judgment #socrates #plato #philosophy #philosopher #frenchphilosophy #frenchphilosopher #skeptical #skeptic #faith

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS #25, ”The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense,” (Continued) by Alexander Hamilton

Authored by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to appear anonymously in New York papers under the pseudonym "Publius" in 1787 and 1788, the Federalist Papers aimed to rally public support for the proposed Constitution of the United States. As such, it is one of the most important sources for understanding the original intent of the US Constitution by those who participated in its construction.
In Federalist number one Alexander Hamilton sets forth the ambition of arguing the following positions in favor of the adoption of the Constitution:
"I propose, in a series of papers, to discuss the following interesting particulars:
THE UTILITY OF THE UNION TO YOUR POLITICAL PROSPERITY
THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE PRESENT CONFEDERATION TO PRESERVE THAT UNION
THE NECESSITY OF A GOVERNMENT AT LEAST EQUALLY ENERGETIC WITH THE ONE PROPOSED, TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THIS OBJECT
THE CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION TO THE TRUE PRINCIPLES OF REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT
ITS ANALOGY TO YOUR OWN STATE CONSTITUTION and lastly,
THE ADDITIONAL SECURITY WHICH ITS ADOPTION WILL AFFORD TO THE PRESERVATION OF THAT SPECIES OF GOVERNMENT, TO LIBERTY, AND TO PROPERTY."
Articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
#thefederalistpapers #federalist #alexanderhamilton #hamilton #jamesmadison #madison #johnjay #publius #ratification #constitution #unitedstates #thefederalist #independentjournal #newyorkpacket #dailyadvertiser #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE EVERLASTING MAN by G. K. Chesterton, Part 1, Chapter 3c

THE EVERLASTING MAN by Gilbert Kyle Chesterton
Part One: On The Creature Called Man
Chapter Three: The Antiquity of Civilization
Gilbert Kyle Chesterton remains one of the great voices of Christian faith in the last century, and it is a tragedy that more Christians are not familiar with his work. C. S. Lewis credits Chesterton, and in particular The Everlasting Man, with displaying the rationality of the Christian worldview par excellence, though it was not one work alone, but a progressive development away from atheism and toward God, that Lewis discusses.
I was at this time living, like so many Atheists or Antitheists, in a whirl of contradictions. I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world.
It was while in the army in WWI that Lewis said:
It was here that I first read a volume of Chesterton's essays. I had never heard of him and had no idea of what he stood for; nor can I quite understand why he made such an immediate conquest of me. It might have been expected that my pessimism, my atheism, and my hatred of sentiment would have made him to me the least congenial of all authors. It would almost seem that Providence, or some "second cause" of a very obscure kind, quite over-rules our previous tastes when It decides to bring two minds together. Liking an author may be as involuntary and improbable as falling in love. I was by now a sufficiently experienced reader to distinguish liking from agreement. I did not need to accept what Chesterton said in order to enjoy it.... For the critics who think Chesterton frivolous or "paradoxical" I have to work hard to feel even pity; sympathy is out of the question. Moreover, strange as it may seem, I liked him for his goodness. I can attribute this taste to myself freely (even at that age) because it was a liking for goodness which had nothing to do with any attempt to be good myself. I have never felt the dislike of goodness which seems to be quite common in better men than me.... It was a matter of taste: I felt the "charm" of goodness as a man feels the charm of a woman he has no intention of marrying. It is, indeed, at that distance that its "charm" is most apparent.
It seems as though Lewis himself took up this "charm" when he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia years later, introducing the real-world content of the Gospel message in a digestible form for those who might not wish to taste it full strength, and thus avoiding the censor.
In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere--"Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.
This is a point that motivates ALL of our work here on Simple Gifts ... ALL of God's creation, and thus all of man's best creative efforts, when properly understood point us to the Creator. For Lewis, one work in particular was the proverbial "straw":
Then I read Chesterton's Everlasting Man and for the first time saw the whole Christian outline of history set out in a form that seemed to me to make sense. Somehow I contrived not to be too badly shaken. You will remember that I already thought Chesterton the most sensible man alive "apart from his Christianity". Now, I veritably believe, I thought--I didn't of course say; words would have revealed the nonsense--that Christianity itself was very sensible "apart from its Christianity".
We present here this text with the hope that the effect might be reproduced in others, too.
Enjoy!
#christianapologetics #gkchesterton #chesterton #orthodoxy #westerncivilisation #theeverlastingman #poem #poetry #verse #literature #aestheticliterature #aesthetic #history #historical #philosophy #religion #christianity #bible #god #jesus #science #culture #society #humanities #wisdomofthepast #wisdom #classics #faith

THE SONG OF HIAWATHA by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Part 5

One of the great works of American poetry, without doubt, Longfellow's HIAWATHA gets into one's bloodstream with its trochaic tetrameter, sounding the drums of the native warriors of a bygone era. Enjoy this tribute to Native Americans along with us!
Longfellow: The Song of Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha (hwlongfellow.org)
If you enjoy our content, why not buy us a cup of coffee? via https://ko-fi.com/thechristianatheist
Check out our first book, THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: THE IMPLODING OF AN ATHEIST PROFESSOR'S WORLDVIEW
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-Wise/author/B0BXHHKW4V?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.facebook.com/JnJWiseWords https://wisewordsforyouroccasion.wordpress.com
#hiawatha #ayenwatha #aiionwatha #iroquois #onondaga #mowhawk #dekanawidah #thegreatpeacemaker #hiawathabelt #ojibway #manabozho #nativeamerica #nativeamerican #thesongofhiawatha #longfellow #henrywadsworthlongfellow