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Showing posts with label casuistry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label casuistry. Show all posts

Friday, May 17, 2013

Definition: Casuistry.


Yesterday, I spoke about casuistry in relation to Mark 7:10-13. The word, casuistry, is derived from the Latin word casus, which means “event” or “case.”  The benign definition of casuistry is that it is a discipline within ethics which deals with ambiguous issues of right and wrong.  The most common use of the word today is more sinister: it is described as sophistical reasoning used in matters of ethics.

Sophism (from the Greek word Σοφία = “wisdom”) comes from the ancient Greek Sophists who developed elaborate philosophical and rhetorical arguments to teach excellence and virtue to young men.  The catch was that they charged for their teachings.

Socrates refused to take any money for teaching and considered the practice by the Sophists to be deceptive and specious.  From this developed the modern English use of the word: a specious argument used to deceive and to obscure one’s true intent.  There are many modern examples of this practice.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Stop With the OMG Already!


We hear it almost every day, on television, in movies, on the radio, from adults, from children.   “Oh, my God!” used as an exclamation of surprise.  OMG used as an abbreviation or shortcut in texting and e-mails.  It is used by many people who never give God another thought.  The name of the Lord is used in a casual, thoughtless manner; a practice which many Christians consider to be blasphemous.

Historically, the Jews have had a deep reverence for the Name of God.  In much Jewish literature God is written as G_d.  Christians sometimes seem a little too "familiar" with God.  We are allowed, as individuals, to approach Jesus Himself without the need for intercessors.  This does not mean that Jesus is our "buddy." He is The Word of John 1:1.

The reverence for the name of God is even the origin of the name “Jehovah,” which is a well-intentioned error.  Jews placed the vowel points for “Lord” (Adonai) onto the name JHWH, making the name unpronounceable in Hebrew. Jewish readers would substitute the word “adonai,” “my lord.” Most scholars believe that the mistaken pronunciation as Jehovah was adopted by many Christians about the year 1100 AD/CE.


"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Exodus 20:7