Essays on Whole Person Life – Whole Person Whole Life

There is No Absolute Truth?

May 21, 2024 Eric Potter Quotes Quotes

“According to a recent poll, 66 percent of Americans believe that ‘”‘there is no such thing as absolute truth’ Among young adults, the percentage is even higher: 72 percent of those between eighteen and twenty-five do not believe absolutes exist.”

– from George Barna, The Barna Report: What Americans Believe (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1991), pp 83-85.

If such a statistic was true in 1991 when George Barna published this report, how much worse off is our society today? As a 19 year old in 1992, I would have been in the minority, but a large number of my now 50 year friends of today apparently have disowned the concept of absolute truth for 3 decades now.

Look around and consider what that has bought us in society today. As Richard Weaver said, “ideas have consequences”. While the disbelief in truth is not the only factor leading to the degradation of society, we are hard pressed to find much else with such an impact as this deception. When a group of people have lost sight of truth’s existence, they naturally return to life as in the time of Judges, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes.

We live is a sad world when we must begin evangelism with an establishment that truth exists. Overcoming this barrier is difficult when others have lived within this false worldview for their entire lives. We must teach them a new language of truth. This chasm over which their minds and spirits must travel can only be overcome by the work of the Spirit. I pray we can reach more with truth itself and Himself.

Sin Uproots a Society

May 7, 2024 Eric Potter Quotes Quotes

“Modern man destroys himself, not only in war and crime and alcohol, but he destroys the family, that perfect unity of God’s creative goodness, and thus disrupts the whole of society, uprooting states and nations with the solvent of sin.” — Van, Henry R. The Calvinistic Concept of Culture. Pusan, Young Yoim Sa, 1972. p.63

Man, without the Holy Spirit influence within him, is not only already dead in sin, but further destroys himself and the reflections of God’s design in the world. Van Til correctly recognized that war and crime and alcohol were outworkings of unregenerate man’s inherent tendencies to destroy himself as an individual.

Van Til did not stop at the individual effects of sin upon the person, but recognized that sin also destroys the social aspects of man in relationship to others. Sin of one person within a family adversely impacts upon the life of others in that family. Bonds are broken, Trust is shattered. Physical, emotional, and spiritual harm sprout and spread like weeds.

Even the wider bonds of human society beyond the family are affected by sins of the individual. As more and more relationships are impacted by spreading sin, the fabric of the society degrades. A society of individuals degraded by unresisted sin will results in a degraded society. As the “solvent of sin” dissolves relationships, the society suffers.

Sin and its roots in the individuals of a society uproots the Godly foundations of a Christian society. Repentance and a turning from sin is necessary for societies to be restored.

The Body in Practice

May 6, 2024 Eric Potter Prac-sy

Principled stewardship of the bodies gifted to us by our Creator requires targeted diligence in certain areas of life. From a prior essay, the drive behind pursuing such targeted diligence resides in the purpose of fulfilling God’s design for us, glorifying Him through the command to love God and to love neighbor. Properly functioning bodies generally improves our capacity for such purpose driven activity. Yet, God can still use illness to serve such a higher purpose so that illness and less than ideal health does not prevent achieving God’s purposes in one’s life. For proper functioning, our bodies require certain ongoing inputs such as calories and nutrients of different types which provide fuel and support for bodily operations. Beyond these basic necessities, our bodies can only handle a certain number of stressors like toxins of inflammatory inputs which must be recognized and intentionally limited. In addition to these necessities and limited stressors, our bodies require some measure of active physical operations beyond the sedentary in which proper levels of exertion can improve operative functioning as well as a sense of well-being. Excessive levels, however, can become a stressor and even harmful. Feeding our bodies well, tending to the level of stressors it faces, and keeping it in some level of physical fitness within the bounds of our abilities empowers us to fulfill our higher purpose. Given each individual’s uniqueness, each one must adapt the general principles of nature to one’s own unique needs.

Before moving forward, we remind ourselves that a sense of stewardship arises from recognizing life, body, and spirit as gifts from a benevolent Creator. The burden of stewardship arises from living in a fallen world with human limits that challenge the actualization of right stewardship. Striving for optimization, for attaining our highest abilities in this area requires a knowledge of the target or purpose, glorifying God by loving God and loving neighbor. Striving extends beyond a one time or one day event into a lifetime of pursuit. Our purpose is fulfilled both internally in our desires and externally in relationship to God and to others.

Properly functioning bodies generally improve our capacity for striving after and reaching these purposes, although God can still use illness and dysfunction to move us towards the higher purposes. Generally, caring for our bodies results in bodies that are more efficacious in serving God and others. Bodies with less pain are less distracted from caring for the pain and can focus attention on serving others. Bodies with more energy generally have more time in productive modes to help others. Even when a chronic illness or disability seems to limit our physical capacities, caring well for our bodies under such circumstances still leads to optimization within that providence of life.

In a reality where our fallen nature and our fallen world hinder such optimization, we do well to remember that falling short of such optimization does not prevent us from striving for these higher goals. The illnesses and dysfunctions of the body often prepare the spirit of the person to be more receptive to God’s leading and more understanding of other’s weaknesses. When our bodies are free of suffering and prospering, we can easily forget our Maker. If we make the body an idol, God may allow suffering to restore a once distanced spirit back to focus on Him and His higher purposes. We are also called to be understanding with the weaker brother’s shortcomings (Romans 14, Mark 9:24, I Corinthians 8:9-13) so that we do not look down upon them. While we act as stewards of the gifted bodies in health, we must also trust the providences of pain and suffering with their physical hindrances from the hand of God. In that manner, we can optimally serve God in both strength and in weakness.

In stewarding our bodies for the higher purposes, we must be aware of their proper care as our bodies require certain ongoing inputs such as calories and nutrients of different types. Overly restricting or overly providing calories can both lead to ill effects. Our current culture tends towards over-indulgence which leads to other health issues impacting the body. Yet, in the health-conscious world, over restriction can also lead to negative effects. Some fad diets leave out important nutrients. Some diets make health into an obsession, possibly even an idol. Without being a nutritionist, basic knowledge of the difference between macronutrients (fats, carbs, proteins, and fiber) allows one to self-monitor and self-adjust calorie intake to fit one’s individualized needs.

Beyond understanding the macronutrients and calories between different food types, an overview of the nutrient content of different foods is needed for optimization of health. Without spending inordinate time on counting every milligram or unit of a vitamin or mineral, one can still choose a mix of foods that covers the spectrum of needs. By combining different macronutrients and foods sources, the different nutrient needs can be met. Various animal products like meat and dairy can offer certain nutrients not as concentrated in other sources. These include protein for building our tissues, vitamin B12, and iron as well. A variety of vegetables offer both the necessary vitamins but also the helpful phytonutrients which lower inflammation and support gut bacteria. This includes vitamin A as necessary as well as flavonoids and other anti-inflammatory phytonutrients. It also includes fibers and resistant starches which our gut bacteria use for themselves and also to produce a healthy microbiome for us. Many fruits offer other anti-inflammatory nutrients and some vitamins like C in citrus fruits. Without some level of nutritional awareness, one can inadvertently fall into an unhealthy eating pattern on one’s own or follow the bad advice of a bad fad diet. Optimal bodily operations require some optimizing of inputs.

While we are guiding these nutrients into our bodies, we must also be aware of stressors on our bodies that counteract these efforts. Some of these stressors hitchhike into our bodies with the nutrients we seek. Some of these stressors simply lurk in our environment and seep in through skin and lungs. Such stressors may include pesticides on veggies, extra sugars and unhealthy fats added to processed foods, or chemicals naturally included in some foods like oxalates or gluten. In other cases, it may be the poor quality of the air we breathe due to nearby industry or traffic. It may be the growing number of toxins in our water supply or the chemicals applied to our skin in personal care products.

Such stressors can directly damage our bodies or indirectly hinder our proper functioning. Either way, the effects of the stressors require more work for our bodies to overcome and can lead to sub-optimal functioning in the short and/or the long-term. This extra work may hinder our striving after our purpose in life. Our fallen world has a number of potential stressors both from nature itself and increasingly from our own poor earth stewardship and foolishness. However, we can work to limit these stressors and their harm as much as possible.

Once our bodies are properly fueled with good calories, equipped with proper nutrients, and stressors are limited, our bodies need some activity. We don’t function well when entirely at rest no more than when entirely at work. We need a balance of rest and exertion. Regular exertion in proper patterns improves our body’s functioning and resiliency. Improving strength and endurance through activity improves our ability to serve God and others. Exercise in some form should never be completely shunned nor idolized. It should be viewed as a means to improve our health for the greater purpose of serving God and serving others. On the other hand, physical fitness for the sake of physical fitness is self-serving, which is contrary to the higher purposes this essay is espousing.

Feeding our bodies well, tending the level of stressors they face, and keeping it in some level of fitness readiness within the bounds of our abilities empower us for fulfilling our purpose. None of these action steps should overtake the higher purposes of loving God and loving neighbor or else they can become idols themselves. None of these action steps will be accomplished 100% in this earthly life. Providence of life can interfere with optimizing any one of them. Limitations of time, money, and other factors will influence how close to optimization we can attain. Even when illness, injury, pain, and suffering interfere, we can still pursue the higher purpose of loving God and loving neighbor. We can still fulfill stewardship responsibilities and benefit from the action steps that we are able to do. God does not need our physical perfection to work out His purposes. Perfection is not the goal. The higher purposes of loving God and loving our neighbor are the actual goals which these means are aimed to serve.

Next Pracsy, How do we live?

Discerning Truth

April 29, 2024 Eric Potter Doc-sy

If we recognize the existence of truth and acknowledge the value of possessing truth, then next we must be able to discern what is truth if we are to seek and to know we found it. Wisdom, in a sense, is this ability to discern by the senses what is true from the facts available using human reason guided as well by our spiritual nature. Ultimately, for the Christian this must be based upon the Bible. (You might call this later spiritual aide, intuition, if you want to avoid implicating the spiritual nature of man.) Optimal functioning and fruitful living require the development, maintenance, and continual practice of discernment applied to both the world of “what is” and “what ought to be”. If one values knowing truth, then discernment is the prerequisite active means of acquiring the truth you desire. Understanding discernment and the influences upon its practice will deepen your wisdom and ability to discern optimally. Practicing this discernment grounded in the last principle to be discussed in this essay will help lead you to a fulfilled life.

Before examining discernment and what influences it, quickly reviewing a few faulty worldviews of truth helps to develop an appreciation for the aspects of discernment to be examined next. Some worldviews deny universal or absolute truths and will therefore not seek truth as they believe it does not exist. Other worldviews may admit that truth exists but claim there is little value in seeking it. Still others may be agnostic, believing truth cannot be found or skeptical in that they believe truth changes over time. Regardless, claims of truth are not trusted by either of these last two groups. In the end none of these groups value truth in a way that will lead to a desire to develop discernment for the sake of discovering truth. Without developing discernment leading to truth, life will fall short of fulfilment.

In contrast, for those of us who believe in a Biblical God who created the universe with order and made us to comprehend it, we will be inclined to seek truth for the sake of knowing our Creator and obeying Him so that we can seek fulfilment in life. Once we assign a high value to truth in the pursuit of a fulfilled life, we must then determine a trustworthy method of ascertaining what is true. In other words we must develop greater and greater means of discerning fact from fiction and good from bad as we go through life. I repeat the fact that understanding the process of discernment and influences upon its practice will deepen one’s wisdom and ability to discern optimally. Learning the following eight aspects of or influences upon understanding discernment will serve each of us well to learn but culminate in the final aspect listed below – going to the ultimate source of truth and discernment.

First, discernment requires more than taking the data from the bare senses and regurgitating it as the senses can deceive in expected and unexpected ways. We know that our hearing may miss quiet or distant sounds. We know that our sight has a limited focus and can be distorted by suggestion and bias. We know that each sense can cross influence the others. In the midst of stressful circumstances, knowledge of the facts may become distorted making discernment more challenging. Even how someone asks us what we witnessed in an event can influence our memory of it. Without operating methodically through reason and logic, discernment according to senses alone cannot properly bear meaningful fruit.

Second, discernment, when employing human reasoning, takes the data from our senses and from our accumulated memories to evaluate what is true from the collective data available. In the middle of an event, one’s discernment must determine which sense should be given greater weight versus which sense or senses might be limited or distorted. Discernment must determine if our senses could have missed perceiving something or have misperceived some detail. Discernment must ask if a prior memory of a similar event distorts the perception of the current sensory input. For example, does your spouse’s tone of voice indicate anger and malicious intent similar to your own parents’ arguments years prior or did some event of the day hurt your spouse with you simply being the first person to hear the painful story? Just as senses may be distorted, reasoning may also fall short of correct discernment when it fails to distinguish between reality and misperceptions. Discernment requires moving past reflexive defenses and avoiding over reliance on past events to interpret present events. Such discernment cannot remain undeveloped if a fulfilled life is sought.

Third, the ability of reason to combine all of this into a correct descriptive interpretation of reality requires not only time, but repeated experience in order to become adept at discernment. Such discernment is not something we are born with although some tend to have more natural ability than others. Each experience and practice of discernment provides opportunities to make wisdom and discernment better than before. Confidence in correct interpretation of reality grows and the speed by which discernment occurs grows faster. Even the complexity of life challenges may increase without decreasing accuracy with greater ability to discern over years of such practice. However, even reasoning applied to our senses over repeated opportunities does not guarantee that discernment will lead to truth.

Fourth, right use of the of the senses and their training along with right use of reason through training brings us a long way in the skill of discernment, yet the human sinful nature places limits on the results of our efforts. As previously mentioned, our senses will fall short in some situations and reasoning will be forced to proceed with less than all the possible information it could use in discernment. Additionally, unrecognized biases may leave one prone to mistakes in discernment. Beyond that, we are faced with the bare facts of our sinful nature, faced with the reality that without a spiritual influence outside of our sinful desires and sinful habits, we risk even greater distortions than our physical limitations produce. Sinful desires bias us towards false beliefs. For example, the sin of pride increases the number and the influence of blind spots in our lives. Without a recognition of sin within us, we will mistake motives, misread communication, and will fall short in discerning reality.

Fifth, the shortcoming of human ability becomes most apparent when we move beyond discerning “what is” and move into the realm of “ought”. While discerning “what is” can be challenging enough with the fallibilities of our senses, without an outside frame of spiritual reference for morality, far less can be determined regarding the “ought” of right or wrong. Many groups and even nations have sought to arrange life upon purely humanistic principles, but none has succeeded in a comprehensive approach to life. Looking outside of humanity and its nature to a God above creation is our only option. Knowing what constitutes right standards for ought requires a knowledge of what He revealed in the Bible as well as a spiritual connection to the one who wrote the Bible. Such a connection goes beyond what many call an intuition of what is right or what should be, but instead recognizes a spiritual reality which influences beyond a purely physical sense. Great wisdom and discernment require more than great senses and great human reasoning, but a gift of spiritual insight from our Creator.

Sixth, besides the need for this spiritual discernment, given the paucity of wisdom born into children, a comprehensive ability to discern our proper response to the descriptive interpretation of reality must be accomplished not only as individuals but also vicariously through the collective wisdom of other’s lives. Discernment stands alongside other skills in that it requires repetition for acquisition. Rarely do the repetitions come as exact copies of the prior challenge, yet, the patterns develop when one challenge is overcome, allowing the similarities in the next challenge to be approached more successfully. Given the great need and the multiplicity of potential challenges in life, we must also look to the lives of others practicing discernment and living out the wisdom that is desired. We cannot afford to wait for their own experiences to develop discernment in all areas of life. Instead, we must learn vicariously either through contemporaries further down the road of discernment, from prior lives who left a legacy of wisdom for surviving generations, or from the evidently bad examples offered frequently by the unwise. Discernment deepens when wise counsel is sought and accepted from the lives of others either directly or indirectly.

Seventh, as our ability to discern grows, we must nurture and maintain this gift as the skill can be lost rapidly. While pride can sometimes make us think that past discernment will automatically repeat itself, discernment requires some maintenance of conscious effort and developed habits. It is maintained by repeated intentional use. Just as the aging brain thrives longer on word puzzles and challenges, so the mind and spirit of discernment thrives when applied to greater and greater challenges repeatedly. Setting it aside gathering dust disables any hope of receiving its prior benefits. Neglect, disdain, and forgetfulness each detract from its efficacy. The victories of prior discernment may even be forfeited by single acts of ignoring new opportunities for proper discernment. Reputations fall and crash with such neglect and legacies can crumble when continued discernment is forsaken.

Finally, the ultimate source of truth and discernment originates from God and reaches us not only through a spiritually endowed sense of discernment but primarily through His revelation in His Word. Unable to depend entirely on our sense perceptions as just noted and unable to depend entirely on our innate human reasoning as just noted, we find the superlative truths in the words of the Old and New Testaments. While God’s gift of spiritual insight is required to fully plumb the depths of this revealed wisdom, truth cannot be attained and a trustworthy discernment for the optimal fulfillment of life is impossible without Biblical revelation. Human reasoning guided by spiritually gifted insight when working with Biblically revealed truth enables us to discern the reality of present life and respond with wisdom approximating God’s truth after Him. This is our best and only hope for living a fulfilled life in this present world and the one to come.

Again, with the potential deceit of the senses, the limits of human reasoning, and the sinful nature of fallen man, those of us who seek truth require the continual practice of discernment empowered by spiritual insight firmly grounded in Biblical revelation. To live a fulfilled life, a life of shalom described in other essays, we must discern which of the many offered paths of daily life lead to these goals. This pursuit of a fulfilled life includes discernment in the area of physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual health. Living as embodied souls means our physical habits affect our spiritual health and our spiritual habits affect our physical health while a life of discernment is our only hope of a fulfilled life before our Creator. Caring for each part of our being and our relationships with others requires such attention to discernment.

Next in the Series, “To Be Determined”

Cowardice, the Acceptable Sin

April 23, 2024 Eric Potter Quotes

“No shortage of scripture establishes cowardice as a horrid sin, most specifically Revelation 21:8: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

— Andrew Allis on Truthscripts “What are You Willing to Sacrifice?”

Mankind for ages has sought to simplify the requirements for Godly life. We choose the easy sins to avoid such as sexual immorality, sorcery, and idolatry (okay, these sins are not so easy). We then pride ourselves in ostensibly avoiding these “bad” sins. Meanwhile, we ignore the import of God’s inclusion of cowardice in this list of sins taking someone into the lake of fire and sulfur.

f we get past this point and take the Bible at its word, we then try to explain away what such a sin like cowardice really is. We may think this is refusing to run into a burning house to save someone or standing up to a bully on the playground of life. Resisting cowardice is more than that and more than refusing to denounce one’s faith at the threat of martyrdom.

More often than the extraordinary moments of existential threat, we are faced with choices to abandon the implications of our faith. We are asked to go along with the crowd in accepting a whole list of gender perversions. We are asked to go along with the indoctrination of our children in public schools. We are asked to attend the fake weddings of those with flagrantly unbiblical lifestyles.

Simultaneously, we must act courageously with wisdom whether we run into a burning building or refuse to condone sinful lifestyles. Prayerfully asking God to provide insight and wisdom into any such situation is critical. We should stand for truth wisely rather than foolishly, but all with courage.

We need more bravery and less cowardice to avoid judgement for ourselves and degradations for our society.

Liberal Society Permits Discrimination

April 9, 2024 Eric Potter Quotes

“… liberal society necessarily makes possible, permits, and even fosters what is called by many people ‘discrimination’.”

— Caldwell, C. (2021). In The age of entitlement: America since the sixties (p. 15). essay, SIMON SCHUSTER. quoted from Strauss, Leo. Jewish Philosophy and the Crisis of Modernity: Essays and Lectures on Modern Jewish Thought. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.

Initially, this seems like an illogical statement until one reads the preceding text and understands the terms “liberal” and “discrimination”. Leo Strauss had begun his point with “A liberal society stands or falls by the distinction between the political (or the state) and society, or by the distinction between the public and the private. In the liberal Society there is necessarily a private sphere with which the state’s legislation must not interfere.” He then stated the remainder of the quote above introduced.

Strauss was dividing life into a political and a private sphere, the former regarding how government placed limits on how members of its society could interact one with another while the latter private sphere regarded what men and women did or believed in their interpersonal interactions. His liberal society referred not to the current polarized sides of liberal and conservative, but to the classical sense of liberalism in which mankind had freedom to act according to their wishes within bounds.

Strauss’ point can then be understood that while mankind can rightfully be limited in the wider sphere of public life by their government, there existed an area of life, that of the private life, in which the government should not interfere. By allowing men and women freedom in this area, the people could be free to discriminate. Rather than the pejorative connotation of discrimination we think of today, it simply means that we should be free to choose based on our beliefs and preferences. Government should not dictate every decision of our life as there is a limit to its jurisdiction.

City on a Hill and American Civil Religion

March 26, 2024 Eric Potter Quotes

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” Matthew 5:14

— Gamble, R. M. (2012). In In search of the city on a hill: The making and unmaking of an American myth (pp. 1–7). essay, Continuum.

Christians look to this verse as a reminder that the church as God’s people should live in such a way that the world sees their works in God’s Name. It also reminds us that we unavoidably stand out for the world around us to see. These spiritual truths are important to remember, but American civil religion has attached a separate meaning to this phrase “a city set on a hill”. Richard Gamble begins his book with this verse and spends the remaining page elaborating on how this Biblical phrase came to enamor America.

Gamble went on to say a few pages later. “The city on a hill’s journey from biblical metaphor to nationalist myth, and the rise of the Model of Christian Charity to canonical status with the American Scripture, raises fundamental questions about the American civil religion” (p7). This civil religion refers to the beliefs and values of a nation’s people in regards to their nation’s image. There are certain things expected of those citizens in belonging to that nation.

Ultimately, this phrase carries more weight in influencing our nation’s civil religion and our nation’s behavior than it seems to do for churches. God did not give a promise to America that it would be an inspired nation. Like all nation’s, we have a role to play in bringing about God’s providence, but it is the church that is the true city on a hill. Let us turn back to Biblical application. If we as a nation would do that, we would have our best chance at being a city set on a hill.

We Learn Something New Everyday

March 22, 2024 Eric Potter Current Inks Family, School, Tennessee Legislation

By Jennifer Potter

In this brief post we offer a correction in part of our review of House Bill 1183. Because HB1183 has language dealing with the scholarships and even more language dealing with public education issues, we need to clarify the testing requirements for scholarship recipients. Previously, we noted that the testing requirements in the bill for the scholarship students follow the federal guidelines and testing schedule. However, that testing schedule is for the public education portion of the bill.

While the scholarship students in private schools will have their academic performance indicators monitored by the Department of Education, they are not required to test according to the federal guidelines like the public-schools. Instead, a third-party contractor will be collecting data from the private schools regarding the scholarship student’s academic performance per the school’s chosen measures. These will be included in a yearly report to the house education committees. We have been told that the third-party contractors will be prohibited from selling the student’s data for profit but do not see the language for this provision in the current version of the bill.

Despite its less rigorous testing schedule, the house bill still contains the same Department of Education approval oversight, DOE rules promulgation issues, and public-private funding concerns. Because the funding schema in this bill involves government money (not tax relief) being paid directly to private education institutions, it tips the balance of power over private education in favor of ever greater state oversight- especially in the future as the size of the program grows.

While some of the public education measures in this bill seem to have some merit, we continue to oppose the bill for reasons discussed. Let’s find another way to help children stuck in a bad education system, not extend the power of that system over the private sphere.

Instructed in Racism

March 12, 2024 Eric Potter Quotes

“Race is the part of the human experience in which American schoolchildren are most painstakingly instructed. Their studies of literature, of war, of civics, are all subordinated to it”

— Caldwell, C. (2021). In The age of entitlement: America since the sixties (p. 10). essay, Simon Schuster.

Here, Caldwell was building on work by Derrick Bell in which he “described the quarter-century after the Supreme Court’s school desegregation decision Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954) as ‘the greatest racial consciousness-raising the country has ever known.'”

Civil rights legislation had ostensibly sought to eradicate racism as it existed in modern society, at least in practice. Racists might carry the feelings in their minds and emotions, but they would not be permitted to express it in their daily life in relation with others in society. This appeared noble and righteous as it addressed actual offenses of one human against another based solely on race. No one can deny the existence of racism in the history of human nor in the present day in which we live. Still, this legislation was mean to level the playing field so that all would be treated equally.

This quote uncovers a dirty little secret however. Rather than eradicating racism and leading all to be color-blind, race has become one of the defining factors of life in society. Children are bathed in the fact of race in all their subjects. Rather than hearing that a person did such and such, they usually get a racial descriptor added. That descriptor may be used to describe why that person chose to do such and such. That descriptor may be used to describe the effects of such and such on another race. Regardless, race becomes a seemingly necessary part of any lesson.

Rather than becoming color-blind to race, children are taught to see everything in full color in order to understand the world. They are now possibly more aware of their differences than their similarities. This seems counterproductive to becoming one people under God. Christians can do better than this.

Postmodernist Seeks “What Works” – Veith Jr.

February 27, 2024 Eric Potter Quotes Quotes

“Whereas classical scholarship sought the true, the beautiful, and the good, the postmodernist academy seeks “what works.” – Veith, G. E., Jr. (1994b). Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to Contemporary Thought and Culture. Crossway, p. 58.

When scholarship still held to Christian values regarding the value of truth, beauty, and the good, they sought after these things in life, work, and their studies. As Christian values faded from the halls of academia, first modernism sought to replace Christian truth with scientific truth. Then post-modernism sought to throw out the concept of truth all together. Without truth and a transcendent point of reference, they also lost any recognition of beauty or good. The postmodernist falls to seeking what “works”, at least for the time and situation. The true and the good are what gets them what they want, but beauty is lost from this equation.

Whole Person Whole Life Blog

There is No Absolute Truth?

Sin Uproots a Society

The Body in Practice

Discerning Truth

Cowardice, the Acceptable Sin

Liberal Society Permits Discrimination

City on a Hill and American Civil Religion

We Learn Something New Everyday

Instructed in Racism

Postmodernist Seeks “What Works” – Veith Jr.

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