Blog Links (Blinks, if you will) October 19th, 2013
- Dan Kuenh’s blog Facts and Other Stubborn Things is new to my blog list. He seems like a pretty regular smart guy, judging from his blogroll is left of center, and frequently comments on Econlog.
- A post by… Dan Kuenh -- A criticism of the Bootleggers and Baptist Metaphor. The end was particularly insightful:
”there is a strain of libertarian economics that runs on metaphors: Baptists and bootleggers, for example. The communication value of these metaphors is often very high, but the analytic content is much lower, I think, and it's usually because of a surprisingly narrow view of how the principles at hand are best applied, and a surprising lack of appreciation that others would apply it differently.”
- A debate between Steve Jeffrey – who I know, and Jacques More – who I’ve never heard of, on Calvinism.
- A C- grade episode of Econtalk where Cliff Winston tells us about the wonderful world of Infrastructure. At least it is better than Fox News.
- A debate between the Traditional and Annihilationist views of hell. Chris Date makes three arguments from scripture for Annihalationism (the unsaved will be destroyed, rather than be tormented everlastingly). All of his arguments come from scripture directly or by implication.
1. Scripture teaches that man is not inherently immortal. Eternal life is a gift from God that needs to be sought.
2. Scripture teaches that Jesus’ death was a substitute for our our punishment. Jesus died after suffering.
3. Scripture teaches directly that the unsaved are destroyed. The wages of sin is death. Death is eternal punishment.
- A very good overview of what scripture teaches about the intermediary state and final state of the dead.
The old testament uses the word Sheol which translated as the grave half the time, and hell half the time. Obviously the same image does not come to mind when one uses the word the grave and the other uses the word hell.
It gets worse. The New Testament Greek uses the word Hades for the Old Testament word Sheol, which is then translated into English as Hell. But there is another word the New Testament uses which is translated into Hell, Gehenna – which is in reference to the Final State after the dead are raised from Sheol or Hades, which is an intermediary state.
It is no wonder Popular Christianity explicitly acknowledges the resurrection of the dead in the end, but then implicitly denies it by claiming that people are in heaven or hell right now, and will spend eternity there. Christians are confused about the Afterlife.
- Did Coke really contain Cocaine? Cecil Adams answers.
