Comments on: contribution through difference http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/ live, from austin: theology, webdesign and other stuff Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:55:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: favorite books of 2009 http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/comment-page-1/#comment-108609 favorite books of 2009 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:52:36 +0000 http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/#comment-108609 [...] entries: intimately theirs, the real thing seems strange and impossible, some advice from Gandhi, contribution through difference This book is 80 years old. It was, from what I understand, controversial then, and still might be [...] [...] entries: intimately theirs, the real thing seems strange and impossible, some advice from Gandhi, contribution through difference This book is 80 years old. It was, from what I understand, controversial then, and still might be [...]

]]> By: wilson nb http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/comment-page-1/#comment-107273 wilson nb Thu, 15 Jan 2009 02:31:21 +0000 http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/#comment-107273 I think this is right on... there's a great passage from Jonathan Edwards' miscellanies that expresses this sentiment in really compelling language (in the eighteenth century!). It is, without a doubt, limited by Edwards' anglo-centrism, but it's still a remarkable vision: 26. MILLENNIUM. 3 How happy will that state be, when neither divine nor human learning shall be confined and imprisoned within only two or three nations of Europe, but shall be diffused all over the world, and this lower world shall be all over covered with light, the various parts of it mutually enlightening each other; when the most barbarous nations shall become as bright and polite as England; when ignorant heathen lands shall be stocked with most profound divines and most learned philosophers; when we shall from time to time have the most excellent books and wonderful performances brought from one end of the earth and another to surprise us—sometimes new and wondrous discoveries from Terra Australis Incognita, admirable books of devotion, the most divine and angelic strains from among the Hottentots, and the press shall groan in wild Tartary—when we shall have the great advantage of the sentiments of men of the most distant nations, different circumstances, customs and tempers; [when] learning shall not be restrained [by] the particular humor of a nation or their singular way of treating of things; when the distant extremes of the world shall shake hands together and all nations shall be acquainted and they shall all join the forces of their minds in exploring the glories of the Creator, their hearts in loving and adoring him, their hands in serving him, and their voices in making the world to ring with his praise. What infinite advantages will they have for discovering the truth of every kind, to what they have now! There will continually be something new and surprising discovered in one part of the world and another [because of] the vast number of explorers, their different circumstances, their different paths to come at the truth. How many instructive and enlightening remains of antiquity will be discovered, here and there now buried amongst ignorant nations! I think this is right on… there’s a great passage from Jonathan Edwards’ miscellanies that expresses this sentiment in really compelling language (in the eighteenth century!). It is, without a doubt, limited by Edwards’ anglo-centrism, but it’s still a remarkable vision:

26. MILLENNIUM.

3 How happy will that state be, when neither divine nor human learning shall be confined and imprisoned within only two or three nations of Europe, but shall be diffused all over the world, and this lower world shall be all over covered with light, the various parts of it mutually enlightening each other; when the most barbarous nations shall become as bright and polite as England; when ignorant heathen lands shall be stocked with most profound divines and most learned philosophers; when we shall from time to time have the most excellent books and wonderful performances brought from one end of the earth and another to surprise us—sometimes new and wondrous discoveries from Terra Australis Incognita, admirable books of devotion, the most divine and angelic strains from among the Hottentots, and the press shall groan in wild Tartary—when we shall have the great advantage of the sentiments of men of the most distant nations, different circumstances, customs and tempers; [when] learning shall not be restrained [by] the particular humor of a nation or their singular way of treating of things; when the distant extremes of the world shall shake hands together and all nations shall be acquainted and they shall all join the forces of their minds in exploring the glories of the Creator, their hearts in loving and adoring him, their hands in serving him, and their voices in making the world to ring with his praise.

What infinite advantages will they have for discovering the truth of every kind, to what they have now! There will continually be something new and surprising discovered in one part of the world and another [because of] the vast number of explorers, their different circumstances, their different paths to come at the truth. How many instructive and enlightening remains of antiquity will be discovered, here and there now buried amongst ignorant nations!

]]> By: john http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/comment-page-1/#comment-107269 john Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:38:57 +0000 http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/#comment-107269 Thanks for the comment...I agree! Tell me about Donovan...I'm not familiar. Thanks for the comment…I agree!

Tell me about Donovan…I’m not familiar.

]]> By: elnellis http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/comment-page-1/#comment-107268 elnellis Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:33:56 +0000 http://www.somestrangeideas.com/2009/01/14/contribution-through-difference/#comment-107268 a good word. thanks for the jones quotes. i continue to be stunned by the radical thinking that was going on in missions during the early part of the last century (Donovan, Newbigin, Bosh, Jones...). it's a shame its been ignored for so long. a good word. thanks for the jones quotes. i continue to be stunned by the radical thinking that was going on in missions during the early part of the last century (Donovan, Newbigin, Bosh, Jones…). it’s a shame its been ignored for so long.

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