Genuine Beauty more sustainable than Trendy Fashions

Here is another really great video from Roman Catholic layman Brian Holdsworth discussing artistic beauty.  As in other videos, he talks about how modern and postmodern architecture (and other forms of art) that are simply 'trendy' do not age as well as more classic designs; trendy or fashionable modern designs tend to look "dated" or simply "ugly" within a generation, while the classic designs tend to be acknowledged as beautiful for centuries.

What is the difference?  The ancient Greek philosophers believed that beauty was objective, and not simply "in the eye of the beholder."  Those designs that come nearest to expressing objective truth are most enduring and beloved over time.  The Early and Medieval Christians believed the same thing, holding that Beauty was objective precisely because its ultimate source is God himself.

But, don't different people look at works of art and respond in different ways?  Doesn't this prove that beauty is subjective?  Holdsworth deals with this objection by pointing out that different people also give different responses to a mathematical equation, but it does not therefore follow that there is no right answer after all.  It is simply a reflection of the fallible nature of human thinking.  This applies also to our thinking about beauty.

I'm sharing this video as one more plea for everyone to support the building and maintaining of buildings that are built according to classic modes or styles rather than modern or post-modern or trendy buildings that will look terrible in 40 years.  

Feasting on the Word: Thoughts on Study Bibles

Some thoughts and Recommendations on Study Bibles:

Amazing speech

Amazing, inspiring, gut-wrenching, God-honoring...all this and more:

Feasting on the Word: Bible Translations

Feasting on the Word is a series of videos I've created introducing the various tools and approaches that you can use to help you study, understand, and feast upon God's Word in the Bible.  This first video discusses Bible translations and includes a few recommendations:



In short, my recommendations are to get:

NRSV or ESV for a very accurate Bible to read and study (what I tend to read and preach from)
NIV for a "middle way" between an accurate translation and a (less accurate) easy to read translation
NLT for those whose main concern is getting a Bible in a very easy to read translation;

Note that, in the attempt to "smooth out" the translation into easier-to-read English, the NLT often (and the NIV sometimes) will give you the translator's interpretation of a text instead of a straight translation of the original words, and these interpretations always represent the view of a particular church or theological tradition over and against other possible interpretations

Psalm Study Video: The Grand Finale Psalms 146-150

A look at the five "Hallelujah!" Psalms that close out the Book of Psalms.

Are we living through another "Reformation Era"?

If you've studied (as I have) Church history, you know that the era of the Reformation, which spanned the 16th Century, was not exactly a peaceful or happy time, though it did bring with it many opportunities.

Historian Niall Ferguson shows that the disruption of the public square caused by the advent of the internet has a close analogue in the disruption that was caused by the printing press, and we are now living with similar consequences.

Of course, one of the consequences of that disruption in the 16th Century was long, massive, and continent-wide warfare.  Let us learn the lessons of history and work and pray for peace.

Psalm Study video #11: Psalm 119

Some thoughts and comments on Meditating on God's word as described in Psalm 119, the "granddaddy of them all."