Check out the new book, A Controversial Clergyman, by Rev. Dr. Clinton Chisholm. Now available on Amazon.com. A Controversial Clergyman showcases, provocative Newspaper Articles to Foster Critical Thinking on Social, Societal, Legal, Church and Public Speaking Matters. Promoting Critical Thinking Everywhere In the Caribbean, no commentator or journalist arrives at the level of sophistication represented by Clinton Chisholm. His evaluations of things theological, political and cultural, stand leagues above average fare. Those outside the Caribbean would learn much reading him. His new book is simply “must†reading for anyone who wishes to think seriously about contemporary issues in light of classical values. John Warwick Montgomery, Ph.D., D.Th©ol., LL.D. Professor Emeritus of Law and Humanities, University of Bedfordshire, England Gain experience in critical thinking from the Caribbean’s finest apologist, Rev. Dr. Clinton A. Chisholm. who is at his provocative best in A Controversial Clergyman. This book has 33 of his best… read more
Insights
The more popular claims of borrowing or influence between Christianity and the mysteries pertain to the birth/death/resurrection of Jesus Christ. What were the mystery religions? The mystery religions (contrary to George James’ book Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy) were really Hellenistic religions, called ‘mystery’ because they involved secret ceremonies that were thought to bring their initiates some special benefits. They were more or less based on the annual vegetation cycle of life (spring) and death (fall). Each religion originated from different areas. From Mesopotamia—Tammuz or Dumuzi (the Sumerian version); from Egypt—the cult of Isis and Osiris (later called Serapis); from Greece—the cults of Demeter and Dionysus which later developed into the Eleusinian and Orphic mystery religions; from Phrygia in Asia Minor—the cult of Cybele and Attis; from Syria/Palestine—the cult of Adonis and from Persia (modern Iran)—the cult of Mithra (twin brother of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda). Before responding… read more
Stimulus & Response Revisited – It seems that a few who read my letter to the editor about the Yellow Pages issue thought, like Mr. Robert Dalley, that I was dismissing the power of stimuli. On the contrary, I just wanted to focus on response because it is too often neglected perhaps because it broaches the awkward notion of responsibility for whom I am and for what I do. I had no clue then as a 17-year old boy about the practical difference between admiring and lusting I am too old to be unaware of the stimulating power of a good looking female body, even dressed normally, whether live, in a movie or in a photo. In fact I still recall the pangs of remorse I felt when, as a Christian for only a few months (in 1967) I lusted at a prostitute while on my way to a Convention at Jarrett Park in… read more
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. — Galatians 6:2 See others humbly. Your response to another’s fall reveals your own walk, whether it is spiritual or not. Pride will make it impossible for you to help the fallen, but humility will bring blessing to you and to them. – W. W. Wiersbe
addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, – Ephesians 5:19-20 Verses 15 – 18 speaks about what we should not do as followers of Christ who should be growing in his way and in the Spirit. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, – Ephesians 5:15-18 Then we follow Him (Jesus) to the banqueting hall and learn to walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26) and be joyful, thankful, and submissive to one another. –… read more
If you have a problem with the front cover of your copy of the current Jamaican yellow pages directory (dance hall scene) why not just flip it over to the back cover (ska/rocksteady scene) or better still just tear off the front cover. This is a simple solution to a simple problem in my view. The cover is almost literally a flat (two-dimensional) cardboard photo and that disturbs or turns on some of us? Give me a break. Now, though I am trained in music and philosophy and have been a Christian for 49 years I would not venture to do any kind of research at a live dance hall session because I personally could not “plead the blood of Jesus†fervently enough to keep all sections of my anatomy calm. Even then my possible response to the visual stimuli in that setting would be essentially saying much more about… read more
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. — Proverbs 9:10–11 Wisdom multiplies days (Proverbs 9:11) Those who abuse their bodies with sin usually cut their lives short, but when you follow wisdom, you can add years to your life – and life to your years! God gives a fullness of experience to those who obey Him. – W.W. Weirsbe
The Bible is probably the only ancient text that any Mike, Mary or Marcia waxes warm about despite stark ignorance of the book’s actual texts and historical contexts (plural). The lay critic may be very educated but (s)he and even most Christians need to understand how to read an ancient text from a different linguistic and cultural milieu than ours. I illustrate the need with the issue of slavery in the Bible, an issue I had to deal with in a Barbados newspaper years ago in response to a learned critic there. Said critic charged that “Slavery is justified in both principle and practice throughout the Old and New Testament.†Most of us learned in English literature class the basic point that a text must be read in light of its context. What contextual cues do we need to bear in mind to read the Bible responsibly? Well for starters we need to… read more
This One Thing TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: “…I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” Philippians 3:13, NLT TODAY’S WORD: Are you focused on forgetting the past? Many people don’t fully understand what that means. They wonder, “How can I forget something that’s happened to me?” But one definition of the word forget is to “disregard intentionally or to overlook.” What this verse is saying is that you have to choose to disregard your past so that it doesn’t keep you from moving forward. That means the good and the bad. Even our past victories can sometimes keep us from rising higher. If we don’t let go of the old, we’ll never be able to embrace the new. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in your history, it’s time to forget what lies behind. Make the choice today to look forward. Trust that God has… read more
Scientific Problems for Atheists ‘Village atheists’ and the more educated ones need to read and properly digest the contents of Antony Flew’s last book. The late world renowned British Philosopher and ‘most notorious atheist’ Antony Flew in his last book gave details of the thinking that led him to abandon atheism. The book published in 2008 was titled There is a God. One of the three cardinal issues that made Flew abandon atheism was a critical event which he said could not at all be explained from a naturalistic or materialistic base but which made sense if you invoke God. Drawing on the work of fellow philosopher David Conway, Flew raises the first of three challenges to Darwinian naturalism. He says, “The first challenge is to produce a materialistic explanation for ‘the very first emergence of living matter from non-living matter. In being alive, living matter possesses a teleological [purpose-driven]… read more
The shocking death by suicide of comedic actor Robin William has catalyzed some thoughts I am still musing about, the unexpressed grief that some people go through. We all need to be more sensitive, discerning even, but even then we would miss some still. Can you wrap your brain around the level of grief Williams was experiencing that would prompt him to take his own life? Imagine the trauma of losing a pregnancy or several pregnancies through miscarriage when none of your friends even know that you are or were ever pregnant. Compound this, in a Church you are a single woman but become pregnant after ‘tiefing a likkle piece’ (=engaging in premarital sex) and suffer a similar fate. Who could you dare ask for prayer support let alone empathy? Silent grief. Then consider having been raped or seduced by someone whom you trust and respect and whose reputation would… read more
This evening I was driving home from work and listening to the Joy 1250 radio station. There was a Christian program hosting Joni Eareckson Tada, a Christian lady who in 1967–at the age of 17 years old–became quadriplegic due to a diving accident. She said something that encouraged me to share with you my experience of God’s faithfulness in answering prayers. She said that prior to the accident she prayed that God would deepen her relationship with Him, but that she did not expect it to happen this way—she wasn’t thinking ‘paralysis’! But God used her paralysis to answer her prayer and she is so much closer to Him today than she ever could. Ten years ago I prayed a simple sincere prayer. I asked God, “Lord, I want to experience the love You have for mankind. I don’t want to only experience Your love for me but I also… read more
Any statement about causation or origin which uses the word chance is worthless, philosophically. The academic credentials or prestige of the person making such a statement is unimportant, the statement is still worthless. Take for example the basic belief held by most Astronomers and atheists prior to Vesto Slipher’s expanding universe discovery in 1913, “the Universe simply exploded into being, by chance, at the big bang and thus there’s no need for any God.†Or ponder the words of the Nobel scientist Jacques Monod in his book Chance and Necessity, “…chance alone is at the source of every innovation, of all creation in the biosphere. Pure chance, absolutely free but blind, at the very root of the stupendous edifice of evolution…†(page 112) Let me alert you to the fact that though we tend to use the word ‘chance’ loosely, chance is not a substance or entity that can… read more
A popular view among many people today is that all truth is relative; no truth is objective. By objective is meant true by means independent of the person asserting any truth-claim. For example, if someone says, “Fish is my favorite meat†that statement would be true relative to the experience of the speaker. In contrast, if someone should say, “All living things have encoded biological information in their DNA†that statement would not be relative to the speaker’s perception for it would be true regardless of who made the statement. Objective truth then, is truth beyond mere opinion. It is truth verifiable and undeniable as fact by rational beings other than the one making the claim. Strangely then, despite so much talk about living in an Age of Science & Technology that is remarkable, the belief is so common that ‘all truth is relative’. Indeed, this notion prevails not only… read more
What is it about a new year that prompts us to make resolutions? What grounds  justifies this annual pastime beyond empty traditionalism and wishful thinking? Just think about it, what really makes the last day of 2013 drastically different from the 1st day of 2014 to warrant resolutions? Try making sense of the difference between any two successive days beyond our conventional name change and day-related routines without mumbling “well, aahm, you see, I, I, my, my…†The future is uncertain and puzzling and each of us is largely unpredictable in terms of behavior. Desire is not the same as ability to perform so what’s the real value of new year’s resolution as opposed to any other day’s resolutions? One thing I would hope we all resolve to do for life is to think about issues more critically, that is to apply the basic principles of logic in any argument… read more
Is there any such thing as objective morality or is everyone free to just set and follow personal moral standards? If there is no objective morality why should habitual liars or anyone for that matter, be expected to speak the truth, always or even almost always? If the rightness or wrongness of acts, motives/attitudes depend on how individuals feel then morality is hopelessly subjective and everyone has a right to do as one pleases. Objective morality rescues us from this dilemma. But what is meant by objective morality? The ‘objective’ in objective morality simply means independent of any particular person’s feelings and value judgments on the moral issue in question. As Philosopher Paul Copan says “…morality is objective in that it isn’t a function of individual or cultural preferences, opinions, or responses. Morality is objective in that it is recognized and discovered rather than invented by humans.†(“True for you… read more
A Biblical Definition of Wisdom by Hervin Green – Proverbs 9:10 declares that, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”, that is a biblical definition of wisdom. How has this definition of wisdom compared with the definition of wisdom among your circle of friends? As a believer, is Proverbs 9:10 your definition of wisdom? If so how has it helped you in your decision making?
It may be rebutted but it cannot be refuted that no one can live and no academic discipline can operate without faith, properly defined! Faith, like its twin sister hope, is fragile but is a fundamentum in life, by that I mean it is absolutely foundational to life. So you ask me what then is faith in my book? As I have argued in lecture theatres and urged in sermons, faith is belief, based on but slightly in excess of evidence. Hope, if you must know, is confident assurance about the ‘not yet’. Those who are familiar with Hebrews 11.1 may be wondering about the nature of my definition. For those who lack familiarity with the Bible I’ll quote that text then explain the difference between it and my approach to faith. Heb. 11:1, from the New Revised Standard Version reads, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for,… read more
Ancient books are not always, if ever, easy to read properly, unless one can find helpful background information. The Herods in the New Testament are not clearly differentiated, so we read about King Herod in Mt. 2:1(re the nativity of Jesus) then there is a King Herod in Mk. 6:18 (the one whom John rebuked for marrying his brother’s wife) and there is yet another King Herod in Acts 12:1-2(who had James the brother of John killed). Same guy? No. The King Herod of the nativity accounts was King Herod the Great, that master-builder who was appointed puppet King of the Jews in 40 BC and who ruled as King of Judea from 37 BC until his death in 4 BC. When Herod the Great died in 4 BC the territories under his jurisdiction were divided among his sons. So [Herod] Archelaus (called ‘Herod the Ethnarch’ on his coins) ruled… read more
My faith is too big for fear. I’ve seen you move the mountains, I have only to glance behind to see all you’ve done for me. I’ve tasted and seen that you are good and your love for me endures, never lessens and is gloriously strong. The gripping darkness around has all become a flood of sweet light. Yet I have lost my tongue and my ears are deaf from the noise of you. I cannot taste the succulence of your gentle breath, your melodic and lovely whispers calling me to stand and fight are falling on a deaf ear which longs to hear and come alive. My soul sings a happy song at the mouth of the caves of complacency where inside my name has been scribbled time and time again. My cup is overflowing but I’m drowning in its excess. Oh to return to the mountain side where I fell, where all was darkness and… read more
There are reasons why I chose to analyse her experience with the man she loved, rather than analyse my own experience with her: 1) I was very familiar with her. When she did something I already knew what motivated her. When she said something, I knew what she really meant and wanted to communicate. I knew her better than she knew herself. I knew how she was before her rejection experience with that man, and how she became afterwards. 2) I am not better than her. Whatever she went through I knew that I was going to go through the same thing. I am just a human as she is, so I knew “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.†(1 Corinthians 10:13) 3) Often times our own experience are too painful at the time for us to analyse them logically, and often times the strong emotions… read more
Growing up I did not have much of a social life (for a variety of reasons) so I did not form many experiences in regard to dealing with people, deep friendships, and relationships. I had a lot of friends but I did not get close to anybody so I did not experience the ins and outs of relationships and friendships. As I got into my teens I started forming my own ideas about life–what is right and wrong, and how things should be done—because I needed some type of guidance in life. My mother used to always tell me that I have to learn from life, but I found myself constantly frustrated by what little I learned from experiences and my ideas about life. Not because I learned little but because I, as a person, changed constantly and so my ideas changed too and they changed quite quickly! This made… read more
Why do we watch YouTube videos? Why do we spend so much time on Facebook and Flickr? Why do we read so many Wikipedia articles? Why do we play our favorite sports and watch our favorite TV shows? Why do we talk to our friends on the phone? Why do we chat? Why do we work? Why do we go shopping? The answer to these questions is either because ‘we want to’ and/or ‘we love to.’ Why do we work? Maybe it’s not because we enjoy our work but because we want to work: we want to make money, and we want to have a career, and we want to have a promotion, and we don’t want to sit home all day long. Why do we play sports? Because we enjoy playing them, we enjoy competing, and we enjoy to spending time with our friends. And we want to be in shape! If… read more
Recently I went to a wedding and after the wedding my aunt asked me what I was looking for in a wife and I told her, “About four thingsâ€, without being specific. She laughed and said, “Only 4 things! I was looking for 40 things!†I am not concerned with my future wife’s education, body type, hair or eye colour, skin colour, ethnic background, or family history. I am not saying physical attraction is not important, it is important because God created us all with different looks and different preferences. And those different preferences help us make decisions; imagine how difficult life would be if you liked all things the same way! But what I am really interested in are: -Her mind: how she thinks; her wisdom; submitting her thoughts to the Lord by making His thoughts her thoughts; rejecting evil thoughts. -Her heart (and I don’t mean that blood… read more
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