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( Source ) by Hiram R. Diaz III My last post was inspired by a common defensive retort I've heard Social Justicians make when their "work" is correctly identified as promoting Critical Race Theory. The retort claims that Christians are incorrectly identifying the "work of 'social justice' as promoting Critical Race Theory," and are doing so in order to avoid dealing with the real problem - social injustice, as they perceive it. My goal in that post was to demonstrate that those who promote "social justice" are actually promoting the philosophical concepts and practices of French postmodernist philosopher Michel Foucault, as his thinking has been very influential among, albeit somewhat retooled by, Critical Race Theorists. In this post, however, my goal is to address the logical errors inherent to the retort, and refute the idea that Christians are using the issue of "Critical Race Theory" as a red herring, a distraction from the &quo

by Hiram R. Diaz III I Was Once a Young-Adult Postmodernist Since my conversion over a decade ago, I've grown more and more aware of just how much postmodern philosophy has taken root in much of American academia and, sadly, professedly Christian churches. And as I've reflected on this situation, I've grown more and more aware of why God foreordained for me to religiously follow postmodern philosophy when I wasn't a Christian.  I Was a Devoted Postmodernist If you didn't know me during my college days, I'll give you a brief recap of my life at the time. When I woke up in the morning, I would start thinking about what I had fallen asleep reading. Sometimes it was Jacques Derrida; at other times it was Michel Foucault, or Frederic Jameson, or Jean Baudrillard, or Friedrich Nietzsche, or Sigmund Freud, or Jacques Lacan, or Karl Marx. When I left my house to go to my lit theory and philosophy cla

by Hiram R. Diaz III Books and Stuff I took some time off last week and this week to focus on learning how to use a new piece of gear I recently was gifted with, the MPC One . If you aren't aware, I compose instrumental music whenever I get a chance , and have been wanting this machine for, literally, decades. So I've been excited to learn how to use the machine, and have been cranking out instrumentals in my few minutes of spare time every day. In addition to this, I've been reading up on several subjects that I hope to write about soon. This includes academic articles and books covering the subjects of biblical anthropology, biblical epistemology, biblical metaphysics, biblical psychology (i.e. the study of the soul), Foucault's archaeological method , Jean Baudrillard's nihilism , and discourse analysis . Oddly enough, there is a way in which these subjects intersect. However, I won't get into that...yet. Health Stuff Right now, I want to consume as much data

by Hiram R. Diaz III Tying Everything Together The last section of this study focused on Biblical semiotics. What is semiotics? One source defines it this way –  The theory and study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language or other systems of communication, and comprising semantics, syntactics, and pragmatics.( Source ) In Scripture we see that there are many different symbolic codes, and that these symbolic codes are hierarchically related. Animals and humans have the capacity to employ symbolic codes to communicate with one another and God. However, humans have the capacity to construct new symbolic codes that help facilitate the transmission of meaning from person to person. In the case of infants, we see that their cries communicate a multitude of requests to their mother and father, as well as other caretakers. Infants, in other words, communicate meaning via the only symbolic code they can manipulate with a large degree of variation – the noises they make with th

by Hiram R. Diaz III This past Lord's Day, I preached on Mark 8:27-38 (here's the link , if you're interested). While I had a general understanding of the text, I didn't grasp some finer nuances of meaning that our English translations don't always bring to light. In particular, I learned that Peter's rebuke of Christ was not harsh or aggressive, but gentle and friendly. Here are some commentators on the verse in question (v. 32b), as well its parallel in Matt 16:22 (I've italicized the key words). Gill's Commentary - ... [Peter] takes Christ aside, and very warmly expostulates with him about what he had said, and chides him for it, and entreats him that he would not think, or talk of such like things (Mark 8:32)   Pulpit Commentary - Either taking him aside, or taking him by the hand or dress - a reverent familiarity permitted by the Lord to his loving apostle. (Matt 16:22)   Geneva Study Bible - Took him by the hand and led him aside, as they used to

by Hiram R. Diaz III Language is the Best Vehicle of Thought, Not the ‘Only’ Vehicle of Thought Continuing on, I need to explain my last points in a little more detail seeing as for many, the confusion about infants and the capacity to even think sinful thoughts comes from a confusion about language and cognition. It is true that language is the highest means of expression we have been given by God, but it is not the case that it is the only means of expression. Scripture teaches us that man has the capacity to receive, interpret, construct, and meaningfully transmit non-linguistic symbols. (By symbols I mean those things which are used to convey meaning (e.g. letters, numbers, hand gestures, etc), and not literary symbols.) In what follows, we will first establish that there are non-linguistic symbols, according to Scripture. Secondly, we will establish there is an objective hierarchy of these symbols, according to Scripture. 1. Non-linguistic Symbols I have italicized the words that

by Hiram R. Diaz III As I scrolled through Facebook, I was reminded of how many professing Christians are still full immersed in the presuppositions and practices of the secular world. I have had discussions with many about the evils of the social justice movement, of the evils and hypocrisy of Black Lives Matter, of the evils of Marxism, of the evils of Critical Race Theory, of how these all contradict the clear teaching of Scripture, and of how their involvement with the social justice movement is evil and destructive. Yet I see them almost every day repeating the same Marxist, Critical Race Theory, Social Justice inspired slogans, formulaic expressions, and falsehoods, while claiming to be Christians. I also see them almost every day refusing to call their beliefs about "white supremacy" and "systemic racism" and "white privilege" into question, despite having been given numerous reasons and opportunities to do so. I love my family in Christ, so this ha