Jesse Sumpter, Author at Kuyperian Commentary

On June 25, 2019 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Theology, Wisdom Like

Toward a Philosophy of Tech Implants, Part 2

Scenarios to Consider

Continuing the discussion from last time, let’s look at a couple of possible scenarios. There are a lot of unknowns about technology so these are really hypothetical scenarios rather than real predictions. These are useful to consider because they help make the five principles concrete. Here are the five principles: 1. Natural form of the body matters, 2. The soul matters to the body, 3. What is the purpose of technology, 4. Treat the body as made in the image of God, 5. Technology is a tool.

The first scenario to consider: a third arm implant. While this might seem strange, this seems like a pretty reasonable development. If there is a way to implant a third arm on a body, then that could offer a number of interesting possibilities for people. An extra hand to hold a phone, operate a machine, complete a complicated task. How do the principles in the last article apply to this?

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On June 20, 2019 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Theology, Wisdom Like

Toward a Philosophy of Tech Implants, Part 1

Introduction

Computer technology is changing rapidly. There are many wonderful gifts with this technological advancement and there are also many issues that accompany it. One of the challenges facing the Church is thinking through the morality of these developments and working out principles that help guide the use of these new tools. There are technological developments where the morality of the issue is not complicated and is obviously wrong (e.g. robosex, etc) and then there are other developments that are more complicated. Acknowledging the complication in this matter is not an excuse to ignore these things, but rather this means we need to think carefully about them. This means that we need to get the conversation going now in order to arrive at a thoughtful position. In keeping with that spirit, this discussion is offered as a prompt (divided into two articles).

In this discussion, I will focus on tech implants. What I mean by that term is a piece of technology that you would physically and permanently attach to your body. These implants could include things like an earphone implant in your ear, a digital bar-code implant in your hand, or even an extra computer arm. While some of these might seem bizarre and far-fetched, the point is to consider the principles involved rather than trying to predict the next technological development.

This is an important discussion because we live in a time which emphasizes the fluidity between the human body and our identity. This discussion on tech implants is downstream from the fundamental questions of what is the human body and how should we understand the relationship between body and soul. In these discussions, we must emphasize that God designed us as bearing His image which in turns gives dignity to the human person.

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On June 5, 2019 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Wisdom 3

Necessity is Not the Mother of Invention

Everyone knows the saying “necessity is the mother of invention” but this idea is just plain wrong. Necessity does not drive the invention of things. Just because there is a need for something does not mean it will be invented.

The idea that necessity causes an invention finds its support in the mechanistic fatalism of evolutionary philosophy. Evolution is the idea that things come into existence because there is a need for them. The fish has the need of getting out of the water in order to eat so it grows a leg. The bird has the need of a wing in order to fly and get food so it grows a wing. And the idea goes on. This philosophy suggests that time and lots more time create the things because they are needed.

This thinking means that there is no will or mind behind anything. There is no conscious mind shaping and creating the thing, whatever it is. In this worldview, things change merely when they have to. Change does not come from a plan and purpose but when the machine of nature has ground itself into a hopeless dilemma where the only possible response is a change. Then a new creation suddenly springs forth into existence. This idea undermines the foundation of what it means to be human. Humans are conscious, creative, thinking beings who have wills and who make decisions. In the evolutionary model, people are mindless automatons bumping into each other. Thus, evolution destroys human creativity.

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On January 16, 2019 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Theology, Wisdom 3

Against Community

These days, everyone is talking about the importance of community, authentic relationships, and being part of a group. This is true whether you are a Christian or a neo-pagan. All sorts of groups are trying to build community: neo-monasticism, new urbanism, political parties, homosexuals, foodies, and socialists.

This desire to build and be part of a community is inherent in what it means to be human. From the beginning, people were designed to be part of something larger than themselves. We are made to be with other people. This reality is inescapable.

Even though the desire for community is natural to humanity, this does not mean we are doing it correctly. In fact, our society mostly has it backwards and upside-down.

Post-Modern Communities

The errors we find in today’s community projects stem from the Post-Modern ideology rampant in our society. When Modernism failed to build universal truth on human reason, Post-Modernism came in and began to question all universal narratives. This skepticism of universal claims, often fueled by the desire to be free from all authorities, encourages people to “find their own truth” and to live by that.

But once the Post-Modern project has demolished universal truth (or at least tried to), it leaves people with lots of unique, individual experiences and there is no way to connect them all. Francis Schaeffer says it this way,

“…if he is going to be really rationally and intellectually consistent he can only dwell in a silent cocoon; he may know he is there but he cannot make the first move out of it.”[1]

The Post-Modern project has left people in a lonely and desolate place but people are not made for that kind of desolation so they rush to build communities to push back against the darkness. And the Post-Modern myth urges people to build communities because groups offer the individual a chance to be part of something larger than himself. If universal truth is too hard for any one person to find and know, then that person must settle for what he can find: a group of other people who think and act like himself. In this way, people think they can find some meaning by being part of a community.

The LGBT community is particularly strong in this kind of community work. Rosaria Butterfield testifies to this work in her book The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. In some ways, the LGBT community builds community better than many Christian churches. But even these kinds of communities do not really last.

These communities do not endure because they are trying to build community on shared experiences and interests. Can there be something like “shared experiences” in a Post-Modern cosmos? Not really. The Intersectional Movement is reinforcing the loneliness: I have such unique experiences that no other human can know and understand what I have been through. When community is merely based on experiences and desires, then these communities crumble when these things change. If I no longer care for the current food trend, then I am no longer part of the foodie community. The common desire and experience that brought us together is no longer there.

In this way, we can see that the Post-Modern project of community building will fail. There is no way to maintain a vibrant community when there is no universal standard that both individuals and groups can appeal to. Inevitably, the individual’s freedom and desires will be swallowed up by the desires of the larger community. Without a universal standard, the community will either bully the individual into submission or kick him out of the community. In this way, the desire for community eats itself and the individual is consumed by the Post-Modern community.

Real Community

The only place real community can be found is in Jesus and in His Church. This is true for a couple of reasons. First, the Church is a real community because it is the work of the Spirit not the work of man. The Church did not come into existence because twelve guys back in Palestine decided they wanted to form an “authentic community”. The second point is related to this: the Church is not built around shared common interests or experiences like a club or interest group.

The Church, from beginning to end, exists because it is a work of the Spirit. In fact, the Church is the opposite of an interest group. If the people in the Church had it their way, they would probably pick a lot of other people to hang out with. But because it is the work of the Spirit, these people are brought together into the same community. In this way, the Church is the only place true and genuine diversity and harmony can be found. There is no other reason all these weirdos could be gathered together into one community. This kind of community just isn’t humanly possible.

How Christians Mess Up Community

Christians are tempted to mess up Christian community in two ways. One is for us to think like the Post-Moderns and claim that Christians are the ones who build authentic community. The church is made up of Christians so it can look like it is made by Christians. The second error, which comes from the Post-Moderns also, is to think that Christians find their true purpose in community. We think, if only I can be with these people, or if I can worship with those people over there then I will be part of a real community and I will have a purpose. Both of these errors make an idol of community and these desires will destroy true community. Dietrich Bonhoeffer says it well, “He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter.”[2]

True Christian community can only be found when one is seeking the creator of the community: Jesus. Bonhoeffer writes, “Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim.”[3] The first place we must look for true community is the fellowship of Jesus. Only in Jesus can real Christian community be found. The only way to hold on to community is to look away from community and toward Jesus. In this way, Christian community is not like Post-Modern community at all because as Bonhoeffer says, “We are bound together by faith, not by experience.”[4] Jesus is the head of His Church and He is the one building the community with His Spirit. All other communities are shams and fakes. The key then is to look to Jesus first and then true Christian community will flow from that.

[1] Francis Schaeffer, True Spirituality, p. 124.

[2] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 27.

[3] Bohoeffer, Life Together, p. 30.

[4] Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 39.

On May 21, 2018 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Men, Theology, Wisdom 2

Suffering Doesn’t Make You Stronger

There is an idea out there that goes something like this: “Hard times produce great men, great men produce good times, good times produce weak men, and weak men produce bad times. Repeat.” While this cycle seems to have some truth in it, this idea is based on a subtle lie.

The lie originates in the pervasive idea that suffering and hardship produces strength. The clichéd phrase that is thrown around is “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and this line has appeared in various movies (e.g. The Dark Knight and Avengers) and songs (e.g. Kelly Clarkson and Kanye West). A cliché is a culture’s catechism and our culture knows this catechism by heart. This idea is also behind much of the #Metoo movement.

The idea that suffering makes you stronger comes from Nietzsche. And just saying that should already cause us to be concerned with the idea. The specific phrase appears in his work Twilight of the Idols, but he talks about the idea in other places, like in his work Beyond Good and Evil. In that work, he says: “Independence is for the very few; it is a privilege of the strong.”[1] This statement is a foundational idea for Nietzsche: true freedom is only for the strong. The natural question that follows then is how does one become strong? Nietzsche cautions his readers that they might not be ready for this: “Something might be true while being harmful and dangerous in the highest degree.”[2] Can you really handle this, he is asking. If you think you can handle this then you need to realize that the true test of one’s spirit is how much of the truth you can endure. The thinking here is that truth is verified by experiencing some great trial or struggle. Nietzsche warns his readers: “You should not dodge one’s tests, though they may be the most dangerous game one could play…”[3] Through your greatest struggles and tests, you become strong.

This is a central idea for Nietzsche. And he is plain wrong.

Now it can seem like he is right. Last time I went through something hard I learned a lot. A key example could be an exam. I sweated my eyeballs out and I learned a lot. See Nietzsche is right, right? Nope, he’s still wrong.

The reality is that suffering and tests are not in themselves good or bad. It really depends on the person. As a teacher, I see this in my students all the time. One student takes an exam and he works really hard and he learns a lot. Good job. Another student takes the same exam and doesn’t work hard. He struggles terribly through the exam and he didn’t learn a thing. Is he stronger? Not really. (more…)

On May 11, 2018 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Men, Theology, Worship Like

A Call for Masculine Grace

I was visiting an out of town church recently and the minister was preaching on Paul’s description of how we are called to freedom by God’s grace. While the sermon proclaimed the centrality of grace in the Christian life and how it makes us free, it was missing a key component. I would describe this component as masculine grace.

I will come back to what I mean by this term but first it is important to say that we are saved by grace; it is the gift of God. We don’t bring anything to the table. The only thing required for salvation is that you are a sinner. In this sense, the bar for entering salvation is as low as it can get.

But the temptation is to think that we will stay at this low entry point: every Christian will always be the same weakling sinner he was when he started and he will never move beyond this starting point. Now it is true that we never leave the foot of the cross until we are done with this life but it is important to understand that salvation has an impact on us here and now. Another way to say this is that if a person does not really change after the point of salvation then it would be legitimate to ask if the person has really experienced salvation. Which is to say, the gospel changes people. It really does. So how does grace change people?

The only way we can answer that question is by looking to the standard of God’s character and law. This is what I mean by masculine grace. Being the good Father that He is, God doesn’t leave us where He found us, dead in our sins, but He raises us up and matures us. A key way that He works this out in our lives is by showing us more and more what He is like. As challenging as it sounds, He is the standard of righteousness and holiness that we are shooting for in our own lives. This is God’s plan. He won’t settle for anything less and neither should we.

The danger then in speaking of grace is that we can make it sound like the bar is so low that we will always stay the messy creatures that we are. But we need to be careful with this kind of teaching on grace because it can actually become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We start out as wretched sinners and that is where we will always be. But that’s just not true. God’s work is efficacious and He really has brought us out of the darkness of sin. We really are the righteousness of God. (more…)

On April 21, 2018 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Family and Children, Politics, Pro-Life 2

Now Every Marriage is a Gay Marriage

Thursday night, I went to a presentation by a representative from senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom. He presented on the implications of several recent court rulings in the United States in the last few years. While most people know about the disturbing ruling of Obergefell, there are several other rulings which have fleshed out how that ruling impacts all areas of family life: parents, children, reproduction, and family history. It is important for Christians to reflect on these things so that we can better understand the time and culture in which we are living.

The representative opened his presentation by addressing the common objection that people make when they hear about these things. People often say: “These issues do not have a direct impact on me so I don’t need to worry about these things yet. When they impact me directly then I will act.” But there are two ways to respond to this. First, when it affects you directly, you don’t need to be warned. You know there is a problem. And second, when that happens, it is too late to change things. You will be eaten up in the system.

The representative then worked through several court cases and rulings.

In 2013, the US Supreme Court, in the Windsor case, found that the “Defense of Marriage Act” was invalid. Justice Kennedy wrote that this act did political harm to those in the minority group of gays. This decision enforced the opinion that it does injury to gay people to make a law defining marriage as only between one man and one woman. This set the stage for Obergefell in 2015.

The speaker then proposed that most people do not understand what Obergefell actually did in its ruling. People usually think that there was a small group of people being excluded from this one category called marriage and that SCOTUS simply welcomed those people into the group. In reality, the Obergefell ruling fundamentally redefined the institution of marriage for everyone. In this ruling, SCOTUS stole the name from the old institution and then applied the old name to this new concept. Contrary to the court’s opinion, it is not adding to the ancient institution of marriage at all. It has created a whole new, modern institution based on the whims and opinions of the court.

The presenter explained that “we have reached rock bottom.” There is nowhere else to fall from here. What we are seeing now is the legal system working out the implications of this ruling. Obergefell was the explosion and these other rulings are the shrapnel flying out.

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On March 5, 2018 By Jesse Sumpter In Books, Culture, Politics Like

Book Review: Health Care Sharing Ministries by Stephen R. Turley

I am not part of any health care sharing ministries but in January I had the opportunity to go to a presentation by Samaritan Ministries. The presenter caught my attention when he opened with the question: “What is the Worldview of your Health Insurance Company?” I realized that I had not considered that question for myself. What does my health insurance company think about various moral issues? It is not like the medical field is an amoral field. In fact, in the scientific and technological landscape in which we live, we need to be asking about morals more often than we do. I tell my students all the time that in our age of technology we don’t need to ask “can we do this”, but rather “should we do this”. And that question is becoming more fundamental in a world where Elon Musk has launched his Tesla Roadster into space.

In this way, Turley’s book is important in pushing the conversation about health care further.

In this book, Turley gives a helpful overview of what health sharing ministries are and why they are significant. Here is a brief explanation for those who are new to the idea. A health sharing ministry is one that works as a networking system for Christians to connect with other Christians so that when a medical need arises the need can be met by Christians sending money directly to the person in need. The organization, like Samaritan Ministries, co-ordinates the exchange and directs the payer where to send his check each month. There are a few organizations on the market and each does things a little differently so it would be helpful to look into them all: Samaritan Ministries, Medi-Share, Christian Health Care Ministries, and Liberty HealthShare. Turley has a list of resources in the back of his book on these ministries and on other medical resources.

In this book, Turley argues that we are in the age of a health care revolution and that the old insurance model is outdated and on its way out. He unpacks some of the biblical impetus behind these new sharing models. He also tells of his own experience and stories from being part of Samaritan Ministries. In this way, he shows how the system works from the inside. He also spends a chapter on the importance of the self-paying patient.

Here are some of the key elements of the book that I appreciated.

First, Christians have always been on the forefront of medical care reform and innovation. From hospitals and health care in the ancient world to adoption practices to medical research today, Christians are the movers and shakers in this field. And this is true in the area of health insurance.

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On January 13, 2018 By Jesse Sumpter In Culture, Film 2

Fargo Movie Review: Lady Justice is Pregnant

A while ago I wrote a post about strong female characters in movies comparing Wonder Woman and Elastigirl. A reader of the Kuyperian blog, Anthony, responded and asked if I had seen Fargo. He suggested Margie as an interesting female character. So I watched the movie over Christmas break. Here are some of my thoughts on the movie in general and on the question of Margie as a strong female character.

Whenever I watch a Coen brothers’ film, I always feel like I am walking into the book of Judges. The world is a little tilted and the hero is always a surprise because he or she is never who you thought it was going to be. Fargo is like this in many ways. The story starts with a strange and dark premise that is also a bit humorous: a man wants two thugs to kidnap his wife and hold her for ransom so he can extort money out of his wealthy father-in-law who will pay the ransom.

This setup presents the sharp reality that even a family man can embrace terrible darkness. But the humor of this beginning also suggests the deeper justice at work in the story. While evil is a dreadful force to be reckoned with in the world, it is never out of control. There is always a deeper truth at work which is controlling everything so that even the darkness serves the purpose of the comical ending.

On the technical side of things, the Coen brothers are masters of creating a specific region. As I watched the movie, I thought of a comment from Flannery O’Conner: “Art requires a delicate adjustment of the outer and inner worlds in such a way that, without changing their nature, they can be seen through each other. To know oneself is to know one’s region” (The Fiction Writer and His Country). The Coens ensure that the location of the story, dark, cold North Dakota, becomes a character in the story. The cold biting edge of the world is inside most characters in the story. It is only Margie and her husband Norm who do not give into this cold world. They share a joy and love that pushes back against the cold.

Into this dense setting, the Coens place characters who are equally thick. No one is extra. Even small side characters, like the old friend from high school, are full real characters. This also grounds the story in a deep reality.

Before moving onto the meaning of the story, I do have to acknowledge one huge flaw in the storytelling abilities of the Coens: the two sex scenes. It is really too bad that such a rich story with such rich characters falls into this kind of cartoony story telling. A sure sign that a story teller has fallen asleep at the wheel is a sex scene. It takes no brains or talent to pull one off. The reality is that the movie would have been a far better story if the Coens had left these things as suggested actions off stage. If they had done that, it would indicate that they trust their audience to put the pieces together and it would also add greater depth to the story. I am not against a character going to a prostitute; I am against a director trying to use sex to sell his story. If he wants to do that, he should go join the porn industry.

Now to the meaning of the story.

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