Ever wanted a book to let you think. Quite literally, to let you think about thinking and faith. Dallas Willard (The Divine Conspiracy) has a new book out called: Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge (Harper Collins/Harper One, 2009). Here is a sample of some of the thoughts:
. . . some people who enter the lottery know they will not win. they will not win, and they have good evidence that they will not. They may refuse to consider the evidence or hold it before their mind. Yet they are prepared to act as if they might win. In wagering they are irrational and irresponsible. Human life is full of such self-delusions.
And that explains why gambling is morally wrong. It is not a morally admirable practice, but rather just the opposite. Rational and responsible persons will not do it. (We have a duty to be rational. It is virtue.) And it also explains why the gambling industry presents itself as “entertainment.” It wants to disguise what it really is. When you gamble, according to it, you are just “enjoying yourself” or having a fling. But rational and responsible people are those who strive to base their beliefs and actions upon their knowledge.
Or how about this convoluted way to get a point across, where Willard quotes Elton Trueblood who is quoting Kirsopp Lake (and now you can quote me quoting Willard quoting Trueblood quoting Lake):
Faith is not belief in spite of evidence, but life in scorn of consequences.
Or, how about this snippet (you’ll have to read the book to get the context):
That also explains how many people can now say, “All religions are equal.” What is meant is that all religions are equally devoid of knowledge and reality or truth. In fact, however, no know religions are the same; they teach and practice radically different things. You only have to look at them to see that. To say they are all the “same” is to disrespect them. It is a way of claiming that none really matter, that their distinctives are of no human significance.