Tuesday, June 16, 2015

My 10 Favorite Movies of 2015 So Far


Now that we are nearly halfway through 2015, it is time to share my 10 favorite movies of the year so far, so people can start catching up with their movie watching for the summer, and to help prepare me for my final list at the end of the year. I'll leave my comments for the final end of the year list, but each title below is linked to the Wikipedia page if you want to read more about it and see the trailer. Though some of these films were released in 2014, they were officially widely released in the United States and viewed by me in 2015 (I added an extra movie because I'm not sure if one on the list was widely released in late 2014 or early 2015).

Monday, June 8, 2015

Saint Athanasios Parios On Philosophy

Saint Athanasios Parios (Feast Day - June 24)

Saint Athanasios Parios (b. Paros, 1722 - d. Chios, 1813) was one of the most significant ecclesiastical figures of the 18th and 19th century and is listed with Saints Nikodemos the Hagiorite and Makarios Notaras as the three most significant Kollyvades Fathers and defenders of traditional Orthodoxy. Saint Athanasios was especially influential in his confrontation with western models of doing philosophy and theology as a director of the Mount Athos Academy as well as the School of Chios (more can be read about St. Athanasios here).


Theoretical and Practical Philosophy

- A great and wonderful gift has been given by God to man: the faculty of reason. This invents various sciences. Employing this faculty, man digs up from the earth various kinds of metals and precious stones. Then he examines the different species of animals: the quadrupeds, the bipeds; those that crawl on the earth, the birds, the terrestrial animals, the aquatic, and the amphibious; the wild and the tame, the viviparous and the oviparous. He examines the various kinds of trees: the evergreen and those that shed their leaves, those that are fruitless and the fruitbearing. He seeks to find out which trees are suitable for the needs of the various arts, and which are useful only as firewood.

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Art Is Often Misinterpreted


What do you think this depicts?


The painting above at first sight seems to depict a horrific image, but in reality it shows that art is often not to be interpreted literally. One needs to think outside the box and put art in its context.

So what does it depict?

Monday, June 1, 2015

The Ethics of Facebook, Twitter and Social Media


By Douglas Groothuis

SYNOPSIS

Social media are growing explosively and are changing the way people around the globe think of friendship and community. While media such as Facebook offer us unique opportunities, they also present real dangers. Christians should realize that not all forms of culture are advantageous to human flourishing and that every medium has it limitations. We are shaped in profound ways by every medium of communication. Yet, for all its immediacy and possibilities, the computer world of social media cannot replace the significance of embodied interactions. Friendship, fellowship, and community cannot be duplicated at the deepest levels in social media. Nevertheless, if we resist gossip and gullibility, and are careful not to overexpose ourselves in these media, we can engage these forms of communication wisely and usefully. The following principles can help guide our involvement with social media: (1) Monitor yourself for unhealthy behavior. (2) Restrict late evening and early morning for other activities. (3) Avoid narcissism and present one’s true self. (4) Pay special attention to specific Facebook friends each month. (5) Be skeptical of how others present themselves on Facebook. (6) Periodically abstain from Facebook. (7) Develop a philosophy of what a Facebook friend should mean to you. For me, this means presenting thoughtful material to as many people as possible, which includes apologetic engagement.