Is Reality Objective?

At the heart of today’s debate over many social issues, particularly transgenderism, is a very simple question: is reality objective? That is, is there a genuine, objective reality that exists outside of me? Is there something transcendent (a god, nature, etc.) to which I must inevitably relate and by which I am bound; or am I self-determining and self-defining? Do my beliefs and desires, my psyche, create a reality to which the world around me, including other people, must conform?

How we answer this fundamental question (and we often answer it subconsciously) will determine how we live our lives and how we interact with our fellow citizens. Debates over social issues will, of course, remain fruitless as long as we disagree about this basic concept.

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The Real Presence & Paedocommunion: A Deeper Rift Between Reformed Churches

You're going back to Rome! Theological disagreements within the Reformed world, especially those of the last half century, often devolve into these sorts of accusations. As controversialists like Doug Wilson and Peter Leithart began to break away from the larger conservative Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, it became clear that the rift was deeper than semantics and systematic minutiae. Much like the Reformation four centuries before, the Table was a primary point of conflict. What does it mean? Who may partake? What do we call it? These questions, along with a few more, divided Reformed brethren as the physical elements of our religion reflected deeper conflicts. Good men began to understand that the problem wasn't just in our logos, but in our pathos and ethos, as well. Paedocommunion (hereafter PC) has been one of the hottest points of contention. PC has always been normal to me as I grew up with it. I underst...

Anglicanism, Paedocommunion, & Being Reformed

I consider myself Reformed. I was baptized as a baby in a PCA church. I grew up in a Reformed microdenomination that allowed its member churches to subscribe to any of the Reformed confessions (we subscribed to the Three Forms of Unity). In many ways, whether I like it or not, I still think and act like a Reformed Presbyterian. Some, however, would seek to deny me that label. I suspect there are many reasons for this, but paramount among them is that I hold to Paedocommunion (hereafter PC), which, for some reason, is absolutely the worst thing ever to these people. Some would go so far as to say that PC makes me a heretic, but they all agree that I am certainly not Reformed . My recent engagement with these opponents of PC has caused me to reflect on what it means to be Reformed and what it means to be a Christian. This online jousting has dovetailed well with some of my recent study, particularly An Apology of the Church...

Some Thoughts on the 2024 Election

So, we had an election earlier this week. Perhaps you heard about it. I have done my best to remain mostly silent on political issues this time around because I have found that fixating on such matters does little for my mental or spiritual health. Also, no one cares what I think. Nevertheless, here are a few thoughts on our recent election. 1) I didn't vote for Donald Trump, but I'd be lying if I said I'm not glad he won. To be clear, that says more about Kamala Harris than about Donald Trump. 2) This election seemed much cleaner--much less suspicious--than the sordid affair we had in 2020. This election didn't feature any poll workers tallying (discovering? conjuring?) votes behind closed doors in the wee hours of the night, messy mail-in voting, or voter turnout beyond plausible expectations. The 2020 election had me convinced that we would never see another peaceful, uncontested election, but, as contentious as things were this year, it seems like...

Always Reforming

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