Ideology

Ideas
Mark Eckel

My High School Nickname

    When I was in high school my nickname was Padre. I was always preaching. During football season, my teammates would mock me, until they needed someone to block the middle linebacker. I wood-burned the name Padre into my lacrosse stick. But it wasn’t until I was introduced to Francis Schaeffer that my preaching was

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Ideas
Mark Eckel

The Entity

Can A.I. become ‘god’? Give me a minute to explain. Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, meets an evil Entity in Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. The hero calls it, “An anti-god that thinks it’s God.” “The Entity” – notice the capitalization – of the sinister agent known as “AI” (artificial intelligence) is given a

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Ideas
Mark Eckel

How Much I Don’t Know

Why do I own so many books? Give me a minute to explain. 5,000 books. That is the approximate number of volumes I own. Stating this fact is not a matter of arrogance but one of humility. Every time I open a book I discover again how much I do not know. Often as I

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Ideas
Mark Eckel

Tell It Slant

I am an honest, transparent unicorn. Give me a minute to explain. Being honest sometimes gets me in trouble. I see the raised eyebrows or the eyes that go wide when I make certain statements or question what is culturally accepted. I don’t always think the way others do. I tend to come at things

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Ideas
Mark Eckel

Living our Mission

Everyone should have a mission statement. Give me a minute to explain. Recently, I was able to help someone online with their personal mission statement. As I said in my Personal Faith Statement, I have been given the responsibility to “guard the good deposit given to me with the help of the Holy Spirit” according to 2

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Ideas
Mark Eckel

Be Wary

Whenever I hear these words, I am wary. Give me a minute to explain. Henri Nouwen, in his book Out of Solitude says, “When we honestly ask ourselves which people in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who have chosen rather to share our pain and touch

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Categories

Recent Posts

St. Vincent

My job on earth. Give me a minute to explain. Bill Murray stars in the movie Vincent. Murray plays a world-weary character who befriends a young boy. At the end of the film the young man praises Murray’s character for his friendly care. St. Vincent teaches us that listening and loving are the best responses

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My High School Nickname

    When I was in high school my nickname was Padre. I was always preaching. During football season, my teammates would mock me, until they needed someone to block the middle linebacker. I wood-burned the name Padre into my lacrosse stick. But it wasn’t until I was introduced to Francis Schaeffer that my preaching was

Read More »

Academic Life

Academics need partners. Give me a minute to explain. The academic life is not for everyone, but I love it. It is good to be with other like-minded professors at conferences or on campus. There are two groups of likeminded Christian profs I would like to mention. The Consortium of Christian Study Centers is dedicated

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Atheists Believe in Miracles

Atheists believe in miracles? Give me a minute to explain. A number of Christian apologists are pointing out that atheists believe in at least six miracles: (Number one) something must come from nothing, (Number two) reason originates from non-reason, (Number three) life appears from non-life, (Number four) the personal arises from non-personal, (Number five) order

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Fallen

To understand the natural world There is need of a supernatural lens. Give me a minute to explain. In the movie Fallen Denzel Washington plays a detective, trying to catch a criminal. But this is no ordinary criminal. The evil entity in this movie is a supernatural force which is attempting to invade Denzel Washington’s

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The Entity

Can A.I. become ‘god’? Give me a minute to explain. Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise, meets an evil Entity in Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. The hero calls it, “An anti-god that thinks it’s God.” “The Entity” – notice the capitalization – of the sinister agent known as “AI” (artificial intelligence) is given a

Read More »