The preliminary draft of what we’re calling (for now) “The Garnett Vision” is available to all Garnett members interested in reading it and offering feedback. I know there are at least 2.5 people form Garnett who read this blog, so if you want a copy of it, email me and I’ll send it to you.

Last night Heather and I went with some friends to the Merton Banquet sponsored by the Monos Community in Tulsa. We participated in vespers, then had a gourmet meal, and then heard a lecture on the writings of Thomas Merton. We had a great time.

In the latest issue of the Mars Hill Review, there is an article by John Sexton entitled “The Argument from Story.”

The journal’s summary of the article is as follows:

The author reviews the classic arguments given by philosophers for the existence of God and proposes another argument that apologists have overlooked: the argument from story. In doing so, he revisits Joseph Campbell’s concept of the monomyth, or hero’s journey, which is at the heart of the greatest stories ever told.

On page 42, Sexton writes:
How exactly does one account for the centrality of “death and resurrection” at the core of man’s being and the Christian story? One could simply say Christianity is a projection of the psyche and be done with it. But, not so fast. Even as a lie, Christianity is nevertheless a pure and perfect distillation of man’s “collective unconscious.” Put another way, if Christianity is not true, it is revealed to be merely the greatest work of art ever created. In either case it deserves a good deal of our attention. Of course the Christian, who takes from the text itself that God is a storyteller, is free to believe both.

Yesterday, when I got home, Caleb, my two-year-old, said, “Daddy I put candy up my nose.” He was very proud of it, and he was seeking my approval. Not wanting to give him a “father wound” this early in life I congratulated him on his accomplishment.

Turns out it was an orange Smartie. Heather said he had orange snot draining out of his nose all day long. What’s not to be proud of?

Tremper Longman has written a helpful book on Proverbs.

On page 77 he writes:

This study of the similarities between the advice given in the biblical book and ancient Near Eastern wisdom also makes concrete what we read in 1 Kings 4, that the sages of Israel lived and studied in an international setting. It is always dicey to be dogmatic about specific borrowings, but there is little doubt that Israel’s wise teachers read, understood, adapted, and appropriated the wisdom of their (pagan!) neighbors.

Does this tell us something about how we should view our own, non-Christian culture, as well as other cultures worldwide? Many Christians react strongly against today’s culture and the literature it produces–reading only Christian literature, going only to Christian schools, avoiding movies, and so forth. Certainly the prophets of Israel issued important warnings about the seductive power of pagan culture. The sages, though, are the counterbalance. They are a model of thoughtful observers, reflecting on the world around them. Perhaps we should be better observers ourselves.