Dec 9, 2012 | Faith
Philosophy objectifies its themes. Imagination creates an image, reason coins a concept. All conceptualization is limitation, restriction, reduction. In the question, What is the cause of being? the ultimate has been restricted to one aspect, to one category. “Cause” is one concept among many; “what” does not mean “who.” There is an anticipation of a “who” in the question of religion, as there is an anticipation of a “what” in the question of speculation…
The argument that “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” only provides temporary satisfaction to the craving for causal explanation and is insufficient to even answer the child’s question, “Who made God?” – rests upon the assumption that to the biblical mind the supreme question is, “Who made the world?” and that the essential idea of creation is the answer, “God made it.” However, the Bible does not begin by saying, “God created heaven and earth”; it begins by saying, “In the beginning.” The essential message is not that the world had a cause, but rather that the world is not the ultimate. The phrase “in the beginning” is decisive. It sets a limit to being, as it sets a limit to the mind.
The supreme question is not, “Who made the world?” but rather, “Who transcends the world?” The biblical answer is, “He Who created heaven and earth transcends the world.” Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets, pg 340-341.
Wow.
Dec 4, 2012 | Reading Life
So Goodreads is telling me I’m behind in my 2012 reading target – 16% behind, to be precise – and I don’t like it one bit. Plus, it’s December already!
Since I’m an engineer, I can’t help obsessing about numbers. My target for the year is to read 50 books. I finished 38 already and I’m now working on book #39 and #40. I’ve read more than 38, actually, but I exclude some from the list because they’re too light or short. That leaves me with 10 more books to go this month. Last year, I read the most books in December, so there’s still hope for me.
I think I can do it. No. I know I can.
I just have to alter my strategy a bit. Maybe I’ll target books that range between 150-300 pages, and leave those 500+ pages biographies for next year. But then again, biographies have a way of sucking me into their world, accelerating my reading speed. The biggest problem, though, is that I don’t have enough medium-sized books to make 50 yet. Right now, this is my list for the rest of the year:
Currently reading:
39. On Writing Well by William Zinsser
40. The Prophets by Abraham J. Heschel (which I may have to ditch and pick up next year since it’s like…700 pages long!)
To read:
41. Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller
42. The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller
43. The Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart
I’m very excited about #41-43, so there should be no problem finishing them (#41 and #42 are arriving today via Amazon shipment. Woohoo!). But now it gets trickier, and the rest is still tentative.
44. A Governor’s Story by Jennifer Granholm
45. William Wilberforce’s book (long, old English)
46. John Newton’s biography (long)
47. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
And I still don’t have good candidates for #48-50. Need help. Any recommendations?
