Jon Ericson

326 reputation

211

bio	website	fivesecondreview.wordpress.co…
	location	Pasadena, CA
	age	39
visits	member for	1 year, 2 months
	seen	May 13 at 20:48
stats	profile views	2

My day-to-day work is with a combination of C, ksh and PL/SQL. I enjoy asking and answering questions that come up at work. I also dabble in Perl, lua and LaTeX. My boss has asked me to learn Python as well.

My favorite living philosopher is Alvin Plantinga and my favorite dead philosopher is Blaise Pascal. I think Paul of Tarsus is too little credited as a force in Western philosophy. If you think I'm a Christian, you're right.

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. -- 1 Corinthians 1:20-25 (ESV)

At home, I have a potted herb garden, potted dwarfed citrus, and a hanging hummingbird garden. My wife and I are also trying to grow a son, but he's harder to feed and train properly.

	326 reputation	bio	website	fivesecondreview.wordpress.co…	visits	member for	1 year, 2 months
211 badges		location	Pasadena, CA		seen	May 13 at 20:48

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May 8	comment	Why does Islam seem so much more like Judaism than it does like Christianity? To me, this isn't a very clear question about history. Perhaps the question could be phrased, "Why did Islam reject the notion of the Trinity?" or, perhaps, a more general question about the development of Islam in the culture that included Jews, Christians, and a variety of other influences. The idea of one religion mechanically following previous ones seems ahistorical and that's the impression I get from the way the question is phrased.
Mar 11	comment	Can the new testament be a valid historical record on the real life of Jesus? For more information on how the gospels are dated, please see: How Are The Gospels Dated? I think Luke wrote his gospel (and Acts) after the destruction of the temple and purposely left it out of his account. (I need to update my answer on Biblical Hermeneutics to explain myself, however.)
Mar 11	comment	Can the new testament be a valid historical record on the real life of Jesus? @T.E.D. and fredsbend: as it turns out, how much of the Iliad is historical is still an open question among historians. The answer certainly lies somewhere between "all" and "none". Even so, I prefer Luke (the author of Acts in the New Testament) over Homer as a historian! (And I prefer Tacitus over Suetonius as well.)
Mar 11	revised	Can the new testament be a valid historical record on the real life of Jesus? Several spelling changes and clarifying who is a proponent of the Apocalyptic prophet view.
Mar 11	comment	Can the new testament be a valid historical record on the real life of Jesus? This is a much more balanced answer. I've suggested a few edits and I have some minor quibbles, but ultimately it reflects current scholarship. I would like to direct both you and @Ali to a question on Biblical Hermeneutics: Bart D. Ehrman - respected critic? The textual criticism issues of the Gospels are very real. However, this is balanced by the rather remarkable variety of manuscripts we have. The more copies you have, the more chance a scribe will make a mistake!
Mar 11	suggested	suggested edit on Can the new testament be a valid historical record on the real life of Jesus?
Mar 11	comment	Can the new testament be a valid historical record on the real life of Jesus? Were I to answer this question (it's currently closed) I would likely proceed along the lines of Easter as a historical event. The Gospels are secondary sources, but much of the New Testament consists of primary sources (mostly Paul's letters) which are far better from a historical method perspective.
Feb 28	awarded	Yearling
Feb 4	comment	Are there romance stories outside western civilization or before western influence? @Shog9: And, apparently, porn too. Perhaps Ruth and Boaz or the story of Isaac and Rebecca or Jacob and Rachel would fit the bill better. But perhaps, the answer is tautological: Western romantic literature is a Western invention.
Feb 4	awarded	Critic
Dec 26	answered	When was “diablo” first used to refer to the Devil?
Dec 10	awarded	Commentator
Dec 10	comment	Why did Civil War officers tell their men to “aim low”? For future reference, the third answer was written by Guy F-W and the point 1 is: " If you don't allow for it, the recoil of a musket will tend to kick the muzzle upwards - an experienced soldier can ride the recoil and control it reasonably well, but inexperienced troops are likely to let it rise. ..."
Dec 10	awarded	Nice Question
Oct 22	comment	Were Civil-War-era Americans better writers than modern Americans? @T.E.D.: Any suggestions on how to fix the question so that it can be opened? I was picturing an answer along the lines of your comment.
Oct 4	comment	Why did Civil War officers tell their men to “aim low”? Even so, +1 and thanks for the answer. It's always good to have multiple options. ;)
Oct 4	comment	Why did Civil War officers tell their men to “aim low”? This is an interesting answer and certainly plausible. But your two factors seem to be extrapolations from other eras. Firearm technology certainly was improving in the early and mid-1800s. Both the Springfield Model 1861 and Pattern 1853 Enfield were rifled, for instance. On your second point, that might be true, but Civil War soldiers had another tactic that worked even better--not pulling the trigger. Accounts of guns found on the field after Gettysburg reveal that many were loaded with up to ten rounds, which means they were not fired between loading.
Sep 25	comment	What involvement did Jonathan Edwards have with the Conspiracy of 1741? This came up in an answer that further confuses matters by suggesting that "There was real evil afoot in America at the time, and Edwards was taking a necessary step towards ridding the country of it." It seems like this is even more speculative than the article I quoted. Should I add that to the question or is the question too tenuous as it is?
Sep 25	asked	What involvement did Jonathan Edwards have with the Conspiracy of 1741?
May 21	awarded	Autobiographer