Geoff's Miscellany

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Make No Provision for the Flesh

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Let us walk becomingly, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in strife and jealously, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the passions of the flesh. (Romans 13:13-14)[1]

A friend recently asked, “Why do we continue to struggle with sin despite how clearly the Bible teaches that sin in general and specific sins can indeed be overcome in the Christian life?”

Here’s the answer I gave her in the moment:

  1. It’s a strategy issue. In the case of somebody learning to play flute or learn Galician, we assume they will need several hours a week focused on that. In the case of overcoming a sin like irrational anger, which we perhaps have practiced for 50-70 hours a week for 30 years, we often expect to overcome by beating it four or five times in a row. We don’t plan fully to resist, replace, and continue replacing the evil deed. In other words, we don’t design our lives around becoming Christ-like. We design our lives around watching TV when we’re tired, getting through the day, and just getting enough money to pay rent and relax. The result will be that our spiritual formation is rather influenced by those very things.
  2. We underestimate how hard change is in general (see above) so we think that ‘trying harder’ will work. But when trying harder doesn’t work (like with learning Spanish) we get frustrated. This is the fundamental problem of frustration is school.
  3. I think that modern Protestant Christianity struggles mightily with a fixed mindset and a victim mindset when it comes to sin. There is a strong tendency to not take ownership of our sinfulness. I’ll hear people say, ‘I know I’m sinful.’ But I’ll here the same person say in a sort of self-excusing joke, ‘I wish Adam didn’t eat that fruit.’ But the Bible’s teaching is that ‘all sin.’ We tend to treat our sinfulness as two things: a fixed state and the result of somebody messing with us. But really, it’s on us. We’re 100% responsible for our sins. We certainly have bad habits we’ve picked up from mom and dad, the culture around us, and so-on but we’ve also grown up with logic and reason, divine revelation, a will, and we’ve still chosen all of these things that make us materially discontent as well as spiritually destitute. Until we can take full ownership of our personal rebellion against God, I do not think we can fully choose to live otherwise. The other side of these mindset flaws is that we rightly believe that ‘there’s nothing we can do in the flesh to overcome sin.’ But the problem is that for those who believe the gospel, nothing we do is in the flesh unless it is sin. In other words, in the New Testament, any attempt to obey Christ by a baptized Christian is cooperation with God’s grace and therefore ‘in the Spirit.’ So, there is nothing you can do in the flesh that will help us, but there is a lot we can do with God’s endorsement, cooperation, and even foreordination (Ephesians 2:10) that would help you overcome our sins.

Very few of us wake up in the morning and say, “What can I do to put on Christ today?” “What can I do to take away provision for the flesh and its passions?” But I think this sort of resolute, daily planning is part of what it will take to overcome sins that have lasted a long time.

The other important thing to observe in the Bible passage above is that Paul says, ‘put on the Lord Jesus Christ.’ The clothing metaphor is suggestive of daily work. This makes sense. To use a fitness metaphor, if you work for 6 months to lose weight, repair your blood sugar, and decrease you resting heartrate to keep from dying you know how to become super fit. But you might possibly solve your problem and then restart all the habits that got you so unhealthy to begin with. When it comes to spiritual growth, we tend to do the same thing. A small bit of success leads to lax living for a season and then we reap the results. That’s why Paul says this,

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Phil 3:12-16 ESV)”

So a constant recognition that we have not attained perfection must fit simultaneously with our pursuit of perfection. It is very important not to go in reverse on purpose. You can see this same principle in the story of the Ebenezer stone in 1 Samuel 7. If you’re in a war it is quite important to hold the line.[2]

References

[1] Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland, et al., Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th Edition. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012), Ro 13:13–14.

[2] Of course, it doesn’t mean to hold the line of a point of view about which you’re mistaken. The New Testament is clear about the need for reasonableness with respect to disagreements: Philippians 4:2-9.

Book Review: Virtuous Minds by Philip Dow

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Virtuous Minds: Intellectual Character Development by Philip E. Dow

I don’t know much about the author of this book except that he is a Cambridge Ph.D. and a school superintendent. But if the content of this book is any indication, I can make three probably inferences: he is a man of deep reflection, a man who loves to teach, and a man who loves his students. In these senses, he is a true philosopher.

The Bad

There isn’t really anything bad about this book. I will say that in the forward, Jason Baehr wrote that ‘this is the first book of its kind.’ I’ll just observe that this isn’t quite true. It was published in 2013, but I can think, off of the top of my head several books very similar to it of varying qualities: Habits of Mind, Love Your God With All Your Mind, Excellence, and Epistemology. I intentionally left out older or more academic treatments (which would extend the list into nearly two dozen books!)

The other issue I took with the book was that it didn’t, in general, use the Christian tradition’s language that already existed concerning intellectual virtue: wisdom, studiousness, intelligence, sanity, etc. Because of this, ‘curiosity’ was considered a virtue, when Aquinas considered it a vice closer to what we might call distraction (55-60). The material in the book is quite good and it’s okay to use and update terminology. But it was interesting that not even a nod was made to Aquinas’ terminology, particularly where the field already used one word to mean quite nearly the opposite of what it came to mean in the present book.

The Good

Wow, this was a great book for any educator, undergraduate student, parent, or pastor. Every chapter is well organized with its terms defined, examples of the titular virtue and its lack, as well as actionable steps to acquire the virtue. The virtues discussed are: courage, carefulness, tenacity, fair-mindedness, curiosity, honesty, and humility. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

  1. “It has been said that a person’s character is forged, not in one dramatic moment but in the ledger of his or her daily work.” (30)
  2. “…the fruits of habitually careful thinking are deceptively mundane. Spaceships get to their destinations and back safely, offices effectively accomplish their goals because employees trust each other’s work, our relationships blossom, and our gardens bloom.” (38)
  3. “There is something deeply satisfying about completing a task, especially when that task included significant obstacles or hardships.” (44)
  4. And here’s one of the many great actionable steps, “So when you are tired and tempted to switch on the TV or surf the net, decide to open a book for a few minutes. When you are tempted to ignore a newspaper article because it will require too much mental energy, or because it appears to contradict your opinion, take the ten minutes required to read it thoughtfully.” (124)

Conclusion

While the book wasn’t a great deal of new information for me. It was delightful to read and discuss with my colleagues as a starting point for training our students’ in the habits of mind that will lead them to success and hopefully happiness.

Wisdom Wedneday: Wisdom for Leadership from the Wisdom of Solomon

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A lot of people want to be in leadership roles just like a lot of people want to be a body builder.

But the problem is that very few people want to put in the work necessary to be a good leader, nor the work necessary to be a big bodybuilder.

To be a good leader one needs to:

  1. Have a picture for how things can be better.

  2. Be good at following (treat others as you wish to be treated)

  3. Have wisdom for accomplishing the necessary tasks.

The author of the Wisdom of Solomon caught on to the fact that many people want to be leaders but do not want to put any of the work in that would make them fit for the task. And indeed, leaders, because they’re supposed to know these things are more accoutnable for these failures. And not only so, but Christian leaders are supposed to have plans that lead to the good as prescribed by God and discovered by reason.

Wis 6:1-6 (Brenton) Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. (2) Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations. (3) For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels. (4) Because, being ministers of his kingdom, ye have not judged aright, nor kept the law, nor walked after the counsel of God; (5) Horribly and speedily shall he come upon you: for a sharp judgment shall be to them that be in high places. (6) For mercy will soon pardon the meanest: but mighty men shall be mightily tormented.

Later in the chapter, the author observes that those who want to be wise must set themselves to the task to honoring (treating as valuable) wisdom so that they might actually prolong their leadership.

Wis 6:21 (Brenton) If your delight be then in thrones and sceptres, O ye kings of the people, honour wisdom, that ye may reign for evermore.

But how are leaders to find wisdom? What does it mean for a leader to honor wisdom?

Wis 6:12-14 (Brenton) Wisdom is glorious, and never fadeth away: yea, she is easily seen of them that love her, and found of such as seek her. (13) She preventeth them that desire her, in making herself first known unto them. (14) Whoso seeketh her early shall have no great travail: for he shall find her sitting at his doors.

The idea here is this, for those who love wisdom, it’s easy to find. But it’s hard to find wisdom at first. But, if you do the difficult task of waking up early to study, meditate, pray, and plan then wisdom comes easily and as a matter of course.

I would say that any leader (teacher, parent, pastor, manager) should wake up early enough to grow in wisdom each day before setting about to work.

Tips for Rhetoric from Hypnosis

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When I was in high school, I found a little red book on hypnosis in my school library. I flipped through the pages, saw a section on inducing sleep states, and read it. When I was a kid I always struggled to sleep. The method in the book, though it was meant for trained psychiatrists to utilize on patients worked swimmingly. I used to have very few good nights of sleep. After reading those few short paragraphs, I found myself having very few nights of bad sleep. The change was remarkable.

Anyway, I was at a used book store Monday night and happened upon the exact same book. Out of nostalgia I bought it. I actually read it this time. It’s a neat primer on the state of hypnosis in therapy and for public performance at the time of its writing.

One of the chapter titles is “Rules of Thought.” It’s a compelling chapter and remarkably similar to William James’ remarks on hypnosis in his magnum opus Principles of Psychology. Anyway, I think of hypnosis as just individualized rhetoric for therapy purposes so I thought I would show the “rules of thought” from the chapter and give brief thoughts on how they can be used to the art and science of persuasion:1

  1. Every thought or idea causes a physical reaction. On the face of it this is true as our brains do things when we think. Not only so, but our thoughts often come from sensations, all of which are physical in nature. Even further, though, if you think thoughts about previous experiences, emotions associated with them will often occur. With those emotions, the associated physical symptoms will happen. I can think of specific times I have felt great anger and my heartrate increases. This is important for rhetoric for several reasons, but mostly just that our anthropology typically functions as a data based system: I give people facts, they process them, then their minds make their bodies act accordingly. Aristotle knew this didn’t work. In reality, advertising is so effective precisely because advertisers know that, whether our minds are immaterial or not, our bodies are physical and the needs and experiences of the body typically determine human action.
  2. The expected sensation tends to be realized. When I was a Greek student, we were told that “the fog” would occur. This is some time period wherein everything is confusing and everybody is confused. I was only in the fog until I memorized my verb endings. But many people who did this felt confused about easy to understand concepts. Why? I think they were told to expect it. I’ve taught Greek to high school students using the same college text books. I never mention “the fog” and nobody ever complains of confusion beyond their own failure to study or coming across a particularly difficult sentence. Indeed, a friend who works as a draftsman learned Greek with no fog whatsoever.
  3. Imagination is more potent than knowledge when dealing with the mind of another; or: Imagination of the audience is more potent than his knowledge…Imagination is more powerful than reason. Jesus used loads of images to insult the Pharisee’s way of life. If he had just said, “they do bad things.” Nobody would have remembered and the Pharisees themselves would have just ignored him. The visceral reactions to Jesus’ teachings seemed to stem from not only their obvious truth but the imagery used to grip people.
  4. Only one idea can be entertained in the mind at the same time. Corollary: Conflicting ideas cannot be held at one and the same time. Moving from idea to idea in a speech before people grasp what was said can be very damaging to your persuasiveness. Also, people may become nervous and uncomfortable hearing things that don’t match up with their accepted worldview. We don’t “entertain” our worldview, so much as base our lives upon it. But when people try to entertain a new idea for the purpose of possibly believing it, great anxiety can occur if it conflicts with the beliefs upon which they base their lives or imagine they base their lives. Because of this, great gentleness is necessary in a speech or conversation when helping somebody see a truth which they have yet to grasp personally. This might be why scientific consensus seems to change as a previous generation of scientists dies.
  5. An idea, once accepted, tends to remain until replaced by another idea or is forgotten. And: Once an idea has been accepted, there is opposition to replacing it with a new idea. This is relatively similar to what came before.
  6. An imagined condition tends to become real if persisted in long enough. Or: A mental attitude tends to reflect itself in the body structure and the physical condition. The Greek fog above? This is it. But it goes further. I’m not sure if you can convince people to become well of physical problems. Although, John Sorno’s book on back pain uses psychotherpeutic methods to alleviate back pain and the book has a tremendously positive reception on Amazon. I’ve had power-lifters with physical back damage recommend it to me because they said after doing what it said, they stopped having back pain. The book of Psalms does mention a similar reality as well, “Psa 16:8-9 ESV I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. (9) Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” The Psalmist’s personal experience is feeling physically well in response to practicing God’s presence. Obviously, “mind over matter” is not always true. Perhaps it isn’t ever true. But there is an element of persuasion that involves observing people’s outer posture and attitudes in order to see if a different form of verbiage is necessary to convince them of an idea due to their positive/negative frames of mind.
  7. A suggestion once followed tends to create less and less opposition to successive suggestions. (halo effect). In persuasion you build ethos/credibility with people after you persuade them of something. This is just true. I’ve heard it called, though I don’t remember where, the halo effect. This is dangerous for pastors or radio hosts because your research can get sloppy in direct response to the level of trust people put in you. I suppose it can also happen with parents. Authorty carries great responsibility, especially if that authority includes, of necessity, persuasion.

References

1  James T McBrayer, The Key to Hypnotism Simplified. (New York: Bell Pub. Co., 1956), 113-136

Reference Group Theory and Stupid Economic Inferences

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In a NYT article examining the increasing death rates among white males, it was concluded that:

Reference group theory explains why people who have more may feel that they have less. What matters is to whom you are comparing yourself. It’s not that white workers are doing worse than African-Americans or Hispanics.

In the fourth quarter of 2015, the median weekly earnings of white men aged 25 to 54 were $950, well above the same figure for black men ($703) and Hispanic men ($701). But for some whites — perhaps the ones who account for the increasing death rate — that may be beside the point. Their main reference group is their parents’ generation, and by that standard they have little to look forward to and a lot to lament.

While there may be something to reference group theory (we feel depressed if we don’t measure up to our ideal…in this case our parents’ level of prosperity), the interesting thing is how easily the author treats people as aggregates. This is the same problem that occurs when using GDP as a measure of economic prosperity. Increased GDP may come along with massive decreases in individual wealth among 60-90% of a population. Similarly,  looking how the median earnings of white men doesn’t tell you what the modal earnings are, nor the earnings amongst the specific people who are dead or addicted to drugs.

I would observe that the “a lot to lament” comment, while likely true in the aggregate doesn’t necessarily work as a causal explanation for the increased deaths. For instance, BMI has increased in white populations, as has divorce, as have feelings of disconnectedness with their communities and political representative. Not only so, but the individuals who died may have had income significantly lower than the median income for white males in their age range. The fact of the matter is that unless you’re looking at the specific people who died or who are engaging in behaviours that contribute to likely deaths, there is simply nothing but a fuzzy correlation between median income and deaths.

I mean, the article compares the income rates of all while men (see above) to the death rates of white men with less education but with no reference to income:

The economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton reported in December that rates have been climbing since 1999 for non-Hispanic whites age 45 to 54, with the largest increase occurring among the least educated.

People think so much in terms of aggregates, that they don’t even look at the specific causes. “White people make plenty of money according to mean income…so these people must be dying early because they long for the income levels of their parents.” The article should have said, “reference group theory should be looked into as a cause for suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, and other factors leading to increased early mortality based on this apparent correlation.”

Anyway, I think that the New York times is mostly read by people who want their friends to think they’re smart.

Science Fact of the Day: Good Charlotte was on to something

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I haven’t done a science fact of the day lately. Work is time consuming. Don’t forget, science facts of the day are my thoughts on and descriptions of what scientists say. In other words, it’s a fact that some scientists have said it. What I write is not necessarily a fact of nature nor something I even take to be the case.

In an article at Big Think, an author describes this analysis of online dating data.

Here are some pieces of the original article:

We examine the impact of a user’s weight on his or her outcomes by means of the body mass index (BMI), which is a height adjusted measure of weight.18 Figure 5.5 shows that for both men and women there is an “ideal” BMI at which success peaks, but the level of the ideal BMI differs strongly across genders. The optimal BMI for men is about 27. According to the American Heart Association, a man with such a BMI is slightly overweight. For women, on the other hand, the optimal BMI is about 17, which is considered underweight and corresponds to the figure of a supermodel. A woman with such a BMI receives about 77% more first contact e-mails than a woman with a BMI of 25.

This is expected. Men with a slightly higher BMI probably have more muscle mass. And women whose BMI was so low in 2005 and prior (when the study was done) probably ran a lot.

Income strongly affects the success of men, as measured by the number of first contact e-mails received.

This makes sense. Dating with your self-interest in mind for women includes the well being of any children or potential children.  It would be stupid to not care about income and it’s not shallow for women to do so. A lot of people bristle at the fact that the silly song said “girls like cars and money” but the song writer was just observing facts. In a similarly “shallow” way, men prefered that women look attractive. But again, if the invisible hand of biology is operating, then men will probably be more interested in women they perceive (for good or bad reasons) to be fertile and potentially good mothers.

Anyway, the article interested me because I am asked by a lot of young men for dating advice. I usually tell them: seek first God’s kingdom (virtue is more important than marriage) but then make more money and get more muscles. The empirical data generally back up these observations. Another case in point would be the extremely annoying body builder at my old gym. Women would be repulsed by him at first (he’s too huge). But he’d mention, “My lambo” and suddenly the girl would end her work out and follow him around for his. My wife and I observed this well over a dozen times over the three years we went to the gym.* Now, I mentioned the “invisible hand of biology,” and this is real. But the fact is that relationships are more than biology, they just aren’t less than biology. Romance can transcend biology but you cannot subtract biology from it.

Here’s the song I mentioned:

 

*Incidentally, he tried flirting with her while she was doing deadlift. She simply said something terse like, “I’m working out.”