Kevin Stilley

  • Home
  • Blog Posts
  • On the Air
  • Quotes
  • Site Archive

Archives for January 2011

January 27, 2011 by kevinstilley

Church & State – select quotes

Deep in the heart of this nation’s history and in this nation’s future, we are acutely aware that we cannot be a free nation without the blessings of the Almighty … In my oath of office and with my hand on my Bible, I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States and of Colorado, ending with the words, ‘so help me, God.’ If my last words were beseeching the assistance of a higher being, why would it surprise or offend anyone if we begin each meeting asking for direction and wisdom as we govern?
~ Peggy Littleton [new Commissioner for El Paso County, Colo.], in a statement after verbal attacks by atheists for her suggestion to start all meetings with prayer.

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education of minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
~ George Washington

__________

RELATED CONTENT

  • Index To Great Quotes

__________

Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog, Quotes Tagged With: Church and State, Politics, quotations, quote

January 26, 2011 by kevinstilley

History of Empires

Filed Under: Blog, History Tagged With: Empire, western civilization

January 25, 2011 by kevinstilley

For Reflection . . .

The American Dream

by Delaney McDonough

There’s a girl somewhere sitting in front of a cheap, slow
public library computer
Striving to be the first in her family
College bound
Walking home in the dark
Alone
To a hungry family, a poor family, an angry family, a broken family
That’s not me

I’m a Catholic white girl
Average brown hair (with the best shampoo),
Average blue eyes (with the best mascara),
Average height,
Average weight,
An average athlete (with the best equipment),
An average student (with the best tutors)

I don’t have to bring home money
I study on occasion
I cheat and don’t get caught,
I steal and don’t get stopped,
I live a life where community service is an act
And summer programs have to prove something

Politicians, poets, rappers, proud of their struggle
Tell stories of discrimination, perseverance, challenge, strength,
Proud of their identity
Proud of the injustice they conquered
That’s not me

I was born in my identity
I was born where I sit in a J.Crew polo
In front of a plasma screen
In a well-lit, well-designed, freshly painted room

I never lived through any struggle,
Actually I sprained my ankle once
And the saddest day of my life
Was when I left summer camp

I have food, a home, an education, a family
I have a second cell phone, a second digital camera, a third iPod
I have money
But I hate it

I never had to prove myself to the world
I don’t deserve what I have
I don’t deserve who I am
I have nothing to live for
Nothing to fight for
Nothing to beat

I’m not living,
I’m dying the American Dream

*************************

Psalm 139 (NIV)

1 You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, LORD, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Filed Under: Blog, Ethics / Praxis Tagged With: logos, meaning, purpose

January 19, 2011 by kevinstilley

Exponential Times

Students, below are the “Did You Know” videos.   The one we watched in class about exponential times is version 3.0.

    Did You Know 4.0

    Did You Know 3.0

    Social Media Revolution

    Social Media Revolutions 2010

Filed Under: Blog, Zeitgeist Tagged With: change, Education, Social Media, technology

January 19, 2011 by kevinstilley

Diairesis and Prohairesis

Plato's ManDiogenes Laertius has handed down to us some fascinating source material in his work Lives of Eminent Philosophers. The historical background he provides for Paul’s address on Mars Hill is extremely enlightening, and yet it seems to be completely ignored by most expositors of the book of Acts. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog, Philosophy Tagged With: Ancient Western Civ, Anthropology, Blog, critical thinking, decisions, definitions, Diogenes, logic, philosophers, Philosophy, Plato, taxonomy, VeggieTales

January 15, 2011 by kevinstilley

Pop Quiz

What holds water yet is full of holes?

Filed Under: Pop Quiz, Trivia Tagged With: brainteaser, Pop Quiz, puzzle

January 14, 2011 by kevinstilley

Pop Quiz

If one child has 5 2/3 sand piles and another has 2 1/3, and you combine them, how many sand piles do you have?

Filed Under: Pop Quiz Tagged With: brainteaser, puzzle, riddle

January 11, 2011 by kevinstilley

Discussion Questions from Aristotle’s Rhetoric

Introduction

1.       Is The Rhetoric a reaction toward Isocrates and the sophist?

2.       What is the significance of the The Rhetoric?

Book One

3.       Why is rhetoric the “counterpart of dialectic”? 1354a

4.       Does this definition differ from other ancient rhetoricians?

5.       What is his definition of rhetoric?  1335b.35.

1.)    What are the limitations of this definition?

2.)    Has this definition changed in the culture; in the academy?

6.       What are the three types of rhetoric? 1358b5.

1.)    What is Deliberative (Political) Rhetoric?

2.)    What is Epideictic (Ceremonial) Rhetoric?

3.)    What is Judicial (Legal/Forensic) Rhetoric?

Book Two

7.       Discuss Aristotle’s triad of rhetoric.  Why would this be helpful in the evaluation of current speeches?  What is the liability of its use with speeches/sermons?

1.)    Pathos

i.      It is advisable pedagogy to arouse emotion (anger/fear/indignation) without its resolution?

ii.      It is advisable pedagogy to teach without pathos?

2.)    Ethos

i.      What is his understanding of Ethos?

ii.      Is it limited to character, or broadened to encompass credibility/ability.  (Return to 1356a5).

3.)    Logos

i.      Was his emphasis the content of the speech or the development of logical argumentation?

8.       Are these criteria by which we could evaluate our own classroom rhetoric?

Book Three

9.       What stylistic choices of speech delivery would seem appropriate/inappropriate for contemporary rhetoric?

10.   How applicable, in a contemporary context, is his warning against bad taste in rhetoric? 1406a

Applications

11.   What influence does this work have on the contemporary pulpit?

12.   How could it be used to train pastors?

13.   How could it be used to train professors?

A Suggested Chart of Relations between ancient Rhetoric and the Contemporary Pulpit

Cicero De Oratore 55 BC

Governor of Cilicia 51-50 BC; would have resided in Tarsus

Apostle Paul  II Cor. 2:1-5 AD 55-56

Warns against “persuasive words of wisdom”

Paul influenced by Cicero or sophistic rhetoric?

Augustine’s Book IV of De Doctrina Christiana 426 AD

Dependent on Cicero

Fenelon’s Dialogue’s 1715

Example of revival of ancient tradition and a dependence upon Cicero and Augustine in a modern homiletic

Contemporary Pulpit

1. The ancient tradition is more alive than one may realize.

2. Paul’s  warning against the abuse of rhetoric directly “anticipates” present rhetorical schemes.

Filed Under: Blog, Books, Philosophy, Preaching / Teaching Tagged With: Aristotle, Preaching, rhetoric

January 11, 2011 by kevinstilley

Metaphysics, book epsilon – discussion topics

Things to cover today:

Are you ready for your presentations?

Book Epsilon

Think of Aristotle’s four categories of being as being two sides of the subject-predication relationship.

Dante was to describe Aristotle as “The Master of Those Who Know,”

He is concerned not just with “being” that is meaningless because it has been stripped of everything that helps us make sense out of it.  So…

  • He is willing to consider “truth being” and accidental being, but puts them on the predication side of the equation.  He is very concerned that we are able to speak meaningfully about the world – he wrote a whole book on “Categories”
  • Substance is “primary” category of being
  • Actual/Potential being becomes a kind of handmaiden to substance

It is helpful to think about these categories in terms of essential and non-essential properties

So, first philosophy enquires into the Primary

How many times has he made this point so far?  Repeatedly

  • Thoroughness, “let’s go back to the beginning”

Page 155 –First Science re: First Cause = Theology

Which leads to the quote on page 156; either first science or first philosophy

Epsilon 2 –

Wants to talk about “the thing that is”, not accidental qualities

Think about “to be” verbs

Strip away accidental properties and you are talking about “this”

White man, white is an accident.

Eliminates “accidental being” from primary consideration here and Epsilon 3 and “being as truth” from primary consideration in Epsilon 4

Next semester group projects will be Zeta, Eta and Theta together.

Filed Under: Blog, Philosophy Tagged With: being, ontology, truth

January 11, 2011 by kevinstilley

Reading List For Life & Thought Seminars

First Year: Fall Semester
Early Western Civilization Seminar (IDE 1103)

Author Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Aristotle Selected Works, 3rd.

(Nicomachean Ethics, Poetics, Categories, Rhetoric)

9780911589139

 

0911589139

 

 
Cicero On Duties 9780521348355 0521348358
Homer Odyssey 9780140449112 0140449116
Plato Republic

Timaeus and Critias

9780872201361

9780140442618

0872201368

0140442618

Sophocles (Greek Tragedies) Oedipus Rex

Antigone

9780226307909 0226307905

 

First Year: Spring Semester
Church & Empires Seminar (IDE 1203)

Author Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Athanasius On The Incarnation 9780913836408 0913836400
Augustine Confessions 9780800787240 0800787242
Aquinas On Faith and Reason

On Being and Essence

9780872204560

9780888442505

0872204561

0888442505

Anselm Proslogion 9780872205659 0872205657
Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 9780023464508 002346450X
Virgil The Aeneid 9780199231959 0199231958
Trans. Kevin Crossley-Holland Beowulf 9780192723697 0192723693
Trans. Keith Harrison Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 9780199540167 0199540167

 

Second Year: Fall Semester
World Religions Seminar (IDE 2103)

Religion Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Buddhism The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha 9780451627117 0451627113
Confucianism The Analects of Confucius 9780679722960 0679722963
Hinduism The Bhagavad-Gita 9780915132355 0915132354
Islam The Meaning of the Holy Qur’an 9780915957323 0915957329
Judaism The Talmud (Everyman’s Talmud) 9780805210323 0805210326
***Some leeway has been given to choose other texts in the realm of world religions. You may choose from Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Shinto, Taoism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Baha’i.

 

Second Year: Spring Semester
Renaissance and Reformation Seminar (IDE 2203)

Author Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Dante Alighieri The Divine Comedy 9780199535644 0199535647
Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion 9780801025242 0801025249
Luther 95 Theses

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church

The Freedom of a Christian

 

9780800616397

 

0800616391

Erasmus Praise of Folly 9780140446081 0140446087
Molina On Divine Foreknowledge: Part IV of the Concordia 9780801489358 0801489350
More Utopia 9780140449105 0140449108
Machiavelli The Prince 9780199535699 0199535698
Jacob, Margaret C. The Scientific Revolution: A Brief History with Documents 9780312653491 0312653492
Shakespeare Hamlet

Julius Caesar

9780140714548

9780199536122

0140714545

0199536120

***Recommended strongly that C.S. Lewis’ work Discarded Image, 6th Edition, be used as an introduction to this seminar.

 

Third Year: Fall Semester
Enlightenment Seminar (IDE 3103)

Author Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Bunyan, John Pilgrim’s Progress 9780883680964 0883680963
Descartes, Rene Discourse on Method 9780140446999 0140446990
Locke, John Two Treatises on Gov’t 9780915144860 0915144867
Pascal, Blaise Pensees (Christianity for Modern Pagans) 9780898704525 0898704529
Rousseau, Jean Emile 9781591021117 1591021111
Wesley, John Selected Works 9780195028102 0195028104
***Recommend reading Jonathan Edwards’ Religions Affections corresponding history course.

 

Third Year: Spring Semester
The 19th Century Seminar (IDE 3203)

Author Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Darwin, Charles Origin of the Species 9781412018258 1412018250
Finney, Charles Lectures on Revivals of Religion 9781932370478 1932370471
Marx, Karl The Communist Manifesto 9781599869957 1599869950
Nietzsche, Friedrich Beyond Good and Evil 9780486298689 048629868X
Spurgeon Lectures to My Students (selected) 9780310329114 0310329116
Tocqueville Democracy in America,

Vol 2

9780872204942 0872204944
***Recommend reading the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and other important political treatises in the corresponding history course.

 

Fourth Year: Fall Semester
The Early 20th Century Seminar (IDE 4103)

Author Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Chesterton, G.K. Orthodoxy 9780970377210 0970377215
Conrad, Joseph Heart of Darkness 9780393926361 0393926362
Dewey, John Experience and Education 9780684838281 0684838281
Eliot, T.S. The Waste Land 9780393974997 0393974995
Freud, Sigmund Civilization and its Discontents (1989 ed.) 9780393301588 0393301583
James, William Pragmatism 9780915145058 0915145057
Russell, Bertand Why I am Not a Christian 9780671203238 0671203231
***Recommend reading Churchhill’s Second World War in corresponding history course

Fourth Year: Spring Semester
The Late 20th Century Seminar (IDE 4203)

Author Textbook ISBN-13 ISBN-10
Barth, Karl The Word of God and Theology 9780567082275 056708227X
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity 9780060652920 0060652926
Huxley, Aldous Brave New World 9780060776091 0060776099
Niebuhr, H. Richard Christ and Culture 9780061300035 0061300039
Vatican Vatican II Texts (selected) 9780918344373 0918344379
Derrida Deconstruction in a Nutshell 9780823217557 0823217558
***Recommend reading Between Heaven and Hell by Peter Kreeft in the corresponding history course.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Books, History, Philosophy Tagged With: classics, Reading, seminars, western civilization

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Recent Blog Posts

  • Discussion Questions for “The Language of God”
  • Billy Graham knew where he was going
  • Interesting quotes from “The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln” by Stephen L. Carter
  • The Bible – select quotes
  • America’s Christian Heritage
  • Christian Involvement In Politics
  • Freedom – select quotes
  • Kevin Stilley on For Christ and Culture Radio
  • Early Western Civilization classroom resources
  • Early Western Civilization Final Exam

Currently Reading

Frankenstein

Twitter Feed

Tweets by @kevinstilley

Connect With Me On Twitter

Follow_me_on_Twitter

Connect With Me On Facebook

Receive My Monthly Newsletter


Copyright © 2021 · Executive Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in