A Global Theory of Intellectual Change
This morning I was reading Evangelical Outpost and Joe Carters piece on Chappe’s Progeny: In Praise of Linkers. It made me think of how Christians can operate within the blogsphere. Each one of us has a gift to offer based upon who we are, our histories and our interests. He challenged us to think outside of the box and post where no blogger has gone before (my reading and not necessarily his point). It is a challenge for original content and not just following the herd. And he encouraged those who link to do a service by pointing us to new sources of information.
Along with a long list of other books, I am reading The Sociology of Philosophies, or A Global Theory of Intellectual Change, by Randall Collins. The premise of the book is that philosophical ideas do not come from a single individual, but rather from communities of thinkers who are linked by culture, geography, time and relationship. Out of these communities friendships and hatreds pour forth ideas in support of, or against, others of the community. A cultural/intellectual turf war if you will.
Rarely, if ever, do ideas come out of a vacuum or from a single contributor. For instance, when we speak of the Foreknowledge of God, we have our eye on those Open Theists and their process philosophy arguments. We know who they are and where they come from. Two hundred years from now someone will pick up John Frames book and wonder why he wrote against something called Open Theism (of course by this time they will have disappeared into the heretical dustbin of history). But they mean something to us now.
The blogsphere is a strange place in that intellectual change is no longer confined to a geographical community (I do believe there is still a place for a geographical community of intellectuals who sit down to a single malt and a pipe). We are able to debate with those, within and outside our intellectual spheres, who are separated from us by great distances. Though I don’t believe this is optimal in the long run (go out a find a real person to talk to once in awhile…you might like it), due to the physical and intellectual nature of who we are, but it does put us in touch with those who we would never be able to meet outside of our small towns (I live in Lakeside Montana, a population of less than 500, on a small missions training campus).
Christian bloggers are a community and we have a responsibility to present biblical truth to the watching world. It is a missionary calling and will prove to be ground breaking in the long run. Intellectual change will come globally as we think and link. Steve
Oh, by the way, if you are sitting down at your computer at the end of long day with a single malt and a pipe, then you need to get a life. Go talk to a real life and blood person. Talking is what you do with you mouth, not your fingers.