MetaCatholic

Time for a quick round as May hits the mid-point (where is this year going?). Here are just a small sample of the things catching my eye in one way or another.

Duane Smith comments on a letter by Einstein, in which the twentieth century’s most iconic brainbox says “The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses” Duane’s post is worth a read, not least in the context of those who try to make more than they should of Einstein’s famous dismissal of quantum theory: “God does not play dice with the universe”. Of course, some will no doubt misuse both of these quotations in exactly the way Duane argues we should not. One modern trend he and I would alike deplore is the substitution of celebrity endorsement for rational argument.

I’ve been fascinated, although I’m no Hebraist, by the discussion on creation as Hobbins and Heard weigh into a bloke I’d never heard of, John Walton. Walton’s arguments look awfully like special pleading to me, and I find it hard to believe he is in no way motivated by the desire to get a fundamentalist view of the Bible off the hook of modern science.

Mark Goodacre kicked off a bit of a stir on orality, and has revisited the topic here and here (although this permalink may not be working properly).  April deConick has joined in twice, and Loren Rosson has also commented. See also Judy Redman’s comments. I offer a couple of tangential notes. First, while I’m broadly in sympathy with Mark’s point, I think the difference between the way we experience orality and the way they did back then is akin to the differences between postmodern and premodern approaches to, say, narrative truth. We have lost our innocence. Secondly, I wonder how much the existence for Jews and Christians of holy writings impacts orality. Would it have been possible to develop a doctrine of holy scripture in a literary culture? I suspect not. But what does the principled reverence given to forms of writing say about the conception of orality? Thirdly, I note the irony that orality is growing in post-modernity, while one of the deconstructive foundations put in place by Derrida is the turn away from privileging speech. We are, I think, deeply ambivalent about our assessment of orality.

I know it will confirm all David Ker’s prejudices, but Justin Lewis-Anthony has uncovered a marvellous quotation from David Hockney. Also on the humour front, Michael Kruse has a whole range of answers to the question why the chicken crossed the road.

On the uncomfortable humour front, Jon Birch makes a telling point.