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Robert Whaples joins us for a conversation on the Pope's earnest call to build a caring society.
Robert Whaples joins us for a conversation on the Pope's earnest call to build a truly compassionate society. Pope Francis's fervent support for uplifting the poor and protecting the environment has inspired far‐reaching discussions worldwide. But what is the most effective way to fight poverty? And what value does a religious perspective offer in addressing moral, political, and economic problems?
Further Readings/References:
Trevor Burrus: Welcome to Free Thoughts. I'm Trevor Burrus.
Aaron Powell: And I'm Aaron Powell.
Trevor Burrus: Joining us today is Robert M. Whaples, a Research Fellow at the Independent Institute, Co‐Editor and Managing Editor for the Independent Review, and Professor of Economics at Wake Forest University. He is the editor of Pope Francis and the Caring Society from the Independent Institute. Welcome to Free Thoughts, Robert.
Robert Whaples: Thanks for having me on.
Trevor Burrus: In 2015, Pope Francis issued his [00:00:30] second Encyclical, which I'm probably going to butcher this, Laudato Si.
Robert Whaple: Laudato Si.
Trevor Burrus: Laudato Si. What did he say in that Encyclical?
Robert WhaplesSo the Encyclical is widely known as the Pope's environmental Encyclical. But if you dig into it, it's at least as much about the poor, and the rich, and economics, as it is about the environment. But if there's a big picture, it's that we're [00:01:00] abusing the environment, and it has to do with the fact that we're also abusing each other. The rich are abusing the poor, and the rich are missing out on their true calling, and in the process the environment is being, turning into a giant pile of filth, so that's kind of the brass knuckles picture.
Aaron Powell: Before we dig in to your critique of the Pope's views on these matters, I want to ask a [00:01:30] dumb non‐Catholic [crosstalk 00:01:33] What is an Encyclical?
Robert Whaples: Yeah, so an Encyclical is this document that is meant to be read especially by other people in the church, but also by the laity and people outside the church. It's a position paper, if you will. This is what follows in a long train of ones on social teaching. They date back to the late [00:02:00] 1800's, Rerum Novarum. 1890's is considered the first one of those and this follows in that tradition where we're trying to explain to society what problems are, and think about how we can turn our lives around, and help solve them.
Trevor Burrus: I know that in Catholicism there's a lot of distinction between official church doctrine and these … Are these official church doctrines? Is that the Pope speaking as the conduit of God or is that [00:02:30] the right term?
Robert Whaples: Yeah, he's definitely speaking from his position of authority as the Pope. You have probably heard of this Catholic teaching of papal infallibility that is a doctrine that says the Pope can speak with infallibility on matters of faith and morals. That's actually only been officially said once by a pope since that doctrine came around that this is an infallible teaching.
So this Encyclical is not meant to be an infallible teaching. [00:03:00] In fact, it's much more meant to be a dialogue. He uses the term dialogue in there something like 20 times and his, basically he wants the dialogue with everyone in the world, all the faithful on these issues.
Aaron Powell: Does that mean that it's, I guess as a Catholic is he trying to open up a dialogue with other Catholics who might disagree with him? Is it an invitation to say, "Here's what I think?" But within the broader Catholic community there might be disagreement.
Robert Whaples: [00:03:30] Actually I think what he's trying to do is not so much about disagreements but actually finding common ground among Catholics, but also people of all faiths, and non‐faith.
Trevor Burrus: There's a train of these as you mention going back to 1891 and is this one unique in its positions on markets and environmentalism? What for example, John Paul II or Benedict does it diverge from those?
Robert Whaples: And so it's unique I [00:04:00] think in that it's focusing to such a degree on environmental questions, but it is in a very long and broad tradition of a Catholic social teaching on issues like this, and a set of teachings that goes back through the Middle Ages, and all the way back to Christ, a couple thousand years ago.
And so if you look at that long tradition of social teachings, it's I guess the best word is its broad, [00:04:30] right? And it isn't a set of strictures that the economy must be set up exactly this way. No, its an overriding set of principles about how human action should be and then we can try to … Well, we are gifted with the ability and the duty of trying to live out those teachings in setting up our lives and setting up our own societies. And so that tradition [00:05:00] has, is broad enough so that at one point it was okay with monarchies, and it's also okay with democracy. In recent years this Cardinal said democracy is the way you should go. It's also historically been moving over towards the direction of close to socialism but not socialism, and other times closer to freer market capitalism.
And you mentioned Pope John Paul II, and I think if you read his Encyclicals [00:05:30] you'll get over toward the side of the river that's toward free market capitalism being something that really, really works well. But now I think Francis is moving us a little bit over on the other side, not towards socialism per se, but much more toward government having a role in regulating that capitalism, and structuring that capitalism, and questioning and critiquing, and not just government, but everyone.
Aaron Powell: Over the longer stretch of history, how has the church [00:06:00] generally viewed issues of free markets and private property? I mean as it was a player in Europe as capitalism and merchants spread out throughout the continent.
Robert Whaples: I'm not a scholar of that, but my reading of it is that the church has been always very adamant about the importance of private property. After all, it's in the Bible as being important as far back as " [00:06:30] Thou shalt not steal."
Thomas Aquinas if you read him writing in the 1300's, he's talking about, its something like an economist could really dig into to. Why private property works better in talking about incentives, in talking about if everybody owns it in common, nobody's really going to take care of it very well. If you own it yourself, you do.
In that Encyclical I mentioned, Rerum Novarum, from 1890 the Pope goes as far as to say that private property is inviable. [00:07:00] He doesn't mean no strings attached, that private property doesn't have to answer to anybody. But he's basically saying that you just can't steal people's property from them, and he was pretty strong in denouncing socialism.
Trevor Burrus: And part of like I say the dialogue nature of Pope Francis's Encyclical, then you put together this edited volume of people entering into that dialogue on different issues. But some of it [00:07:30] is, most of it is highly critical of … One of the contributors Andrew M [Ungert 00:07:35] I think is probably how you say it. I thought the line he had differentiated it from other Encyclicals in this way, he wrote, "I know of no other social Encyclical going back to Rerum Novarum by Leo XIII in 1891 in which, the truthfulness and motives of any party in question as relentlessly as the honesty of businesses and market advocates is impugned here."
[00:08:00] Does it have that? I haven't read the Encyclical, but does it have that sort of, not just saying markets are bad but it going after the people who advocate, and work in markets, and build them?
Robert Whaples: I think that's a pretty fair summary that it shows a hostility that hasn't been shown in earlier ones, but it's not overboard. So for example, here is a line from Laudato Si from paragraph 128, it says, "Business [00:08:30] is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving our world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for areas in which it operates especially if it sees the creation of jobs as in a central part of its service to the common good. The broader objective of helping the poor should always be to allow them a dignified life of true work."
Aaron Powell: How much does Pope Francis's background, his upbringing in Argentina play [00:09:00] into his views on markets?
Robert Whaples: Yeah, I think that they're really crucial in understanding. Just as John Paul's background was crucial in understanding where he was coming from. John Paul of course, raised behind the iron curtain saw communism and how it suppressed human dignity and how it just didn't work in satisfying people's material needs, and said about some of the strongest things that have been said about the importance of business, and freer economies, and [00:09:30] entrepreneurs, and that kind of stuff.
But of course Francis was raised in Argentina and if you want to look at the 20th century's most dismal economic performance. Argentina began the 20th century as one of the most prosperous economies in the world. In terms of it's GDP per person, it would have been up there in the top handful. And then it's relative ranking fell, and fell, and fell. Of course absolute standards of living rose because [00:10:00] there was worldwide economic growth during this period. But Argentina's relative status just kind of slipped further, and further, and further down.
And most economists who study Argentina, I'm not an expert on it, say they made a series of policy choices that lead them into that path, and it was the moving away from markets, the moving towards the parentis corporatist model where the government takes more and more control in the market. And the markets become more and more crony capitalism instead [00:10:30] of what you and I would consider to be actual capitalism.
And so Francis was raised in that environment seeing that the market to him, a free market to him means I think what he saw in Argentina, which is not a very useful kind of market economy in the minds of most economists. He also of course is from a Jesuit tradition, and I think that [00:11:00] probably colors a lot of his views on these things. And there's a quote that I give in my introduction that he says something to the effect that he developed an allergy for all things economic that he got from his father who was an overworked accountant. So a lot in his upbringing in his Argentina experience I think can explain some of his hostility and also some of his, I'll say misunderstandings of how a market economy can work effectively.
Trevor Burrus: Before he was Pope, which [00:11:30] this I didn't, I found this to be very interesting that he wrote a book or that was called Diálogos Entre Juan Pablo II y Fidel Castro. Dialogues between John Paul II and Fidel Castro. When John Paul II went to Cuba and in that he wrote, "No one can accept the precepts of neoliberalism and consider themselves Christian," which is in a pretty [00:12:00] big strong condemnation of‐
Robert Whaples: That is .… I think that when somebody, when he says that, or when somebody on the left says that, they just have a different picture of what neoliberalism means then somebody who's more a fan of free markets. They consider it to be just this soulless thing where the businesses run amuck and corrupt everything.
Trevor Burrus: So in that sense then how [00:12:30] should Catholics, not being Catholic myself nor Aaron, how should Catholics view markets or I mean it seems that it's important if they pull you away from God, or if they direct you toward human suffering than Catholics should not be for markets it would seem.
Robert Whaples: And so my answer to that would be that Catholics should view markets the same way they view everything else on earth, and [00:13:00] that is something temporary that is going to be there to either help or hinder us in the longer term goal of course, which is eternal, which is getting to know and love God, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself. So what's the best way to do that? Does Catholicism have a good track record in getting us to know and love God better? And getting us to love our neighbor better?
[00:13:30] So the first one is hard to answer, but I'm going to return to that, but the second one I think most people who are fans of free markets would say in fact, "Well, look at the track record of capitalism. It's pretty good at people trading with each other, giving mutual gains to those trades and so as I'm pursuing my quote unquote self‐interest in the same time, I'm actually helping my neighbor. And so we can grow prosperous together unlike happened before [00:14:00] societies adopted the kind of capitalism that we have today."
Trevor Burrus: Does it matter that we‐
Robert Whaples: Make sense?
Trevor Burrus: Yes, but the motivations does that matter? I mean that's a big part of looking at actions and deciding whether or not they're good. I think in the Catholic tradition, so if someone is pursuing profits‐
Aaron Powell: It's not from the benevolence of the‐
Trevor Burrus: Yes, and then Adam Smith, "It's not from the benevolence of the butcher or the baker," [00:14:30] is that problematic?
Robert Whaples: Yeah‐
Trevor Burrus: If it directs you towards bad things.
Robert Whaple: They see it as problematic, but again there's a very broad Catholic tradition that doesn't see it as problematic at all. And so I had not read the Dialogues between John Paul and Fidel Castro and seen what was said in that. But if you look at broader Catholic teachings throughout the years, you'll have people like the Michael Novaks of the world and he wrote the forward to the book [00:15:00] that talk about, "To have a flourishing society, you need to have a flourishing culture. You need to have a democratic political system, and you need to have a market economy to allow people to actually do those kinds of things that are going to help one another."
There's a chapter in the book that talks about charity and points out that people have more and more resources to give to their needy brethren here in a market economy, because a market economy just generates so much more wealth that then you can share. And [00:15:30] many, many people have shared that wealth, including people who were considered malefactors during their life. The John Rockefellers of the world, and he ended up giving away most of his wealth for incredibly worthy causes of eradicating diseases and all these kinds of things. He wouldn't have been able to do that without a flourishing market economy.
Aaron Powell: I'm curious about the role of, I guess non‐Catholics in this. Because it's one thing to issue statements about [00:16:00] how Catholics ought to live their lives if their goal is to tee up eternity and get closer to God and so on.
But when you're talking about something like whether we should have markets or not, whether capitalism is good or not, you're talking about, I mean that stuff has an impact on an extraordinary number of people and the quality of their lives. And most of those people, given that the world is not [00:16:30] mostly Catholic are not going to share the goal. So they're not going to say, "Well yeah, markets might lead me away from God but that's not," They're going to say, "That's not a problem for me because that's not my goal in the first place."
And so should that factor into how someone like Pope Francis approaches these questions that most of the world does not share his goals in the purpose and direction of life?
Robert Whaples: Mm‐hmm (affirmative). And so in writing an Encyclical like Ladotis si, [00:17:00] I think he does consciously try to speak to both audiences. Also, tries to convert those who aren't Catholic and those who are non‐believers to the position of pulling them in. And I think there was a lot of that consciously going on here especially in what he was saying about the environment. Because now there's these environmentalists who probably aren't Catholic, and maybe not even Christians who are going to be reading this, seeing that the Pope has the same, that the church has many of the same goals as them, and [00:17:30] maybe kind of pull them in under the tent as they become more and more interested in it.
But going back to your question, one of the things that you said about you might not share the same goals, and I think that almost everyone around the world whatever faith they are shares a goal of eradicating absolute poverty, right?
Aaron Powell: Sure.
Robert Whaples: Or a goal of allowing people to be prosperous enough to lead flourishing lives and so he definitely shares that goal. I think any reader [00:18:00] of that will share that goal. And so then the debate becomes what's the best way to eradicate poverty? I think the economists that we had in our symposium mentioned that the Pope has a number of blind spots in this area and continues to at least rhetorically say that absolute poverty is on the rise, when in fact the numbers strongly suggest that it's on the decline. And that we as economists have had lots and lots of [00:18:30] research papers and books written that show that there's a link between freer market economies and that elimination of poverty, that a free market is one of the things that is going to be most strongly correlated with generating all that kind of wealth.
But actually let me go back to the other part of your question, which was what if you don't share the Pope's view at all about that first goal, which is to [00:19:00] know and love God. I guess the key point there is that the Pope is arguing and so let's see how you respond to this argument.
The Pope is arguing that in many ways, capitalism for the rich has been a victim of its own success. In that it has generated so much prosperity that the rich, and that would include most people in this country by world standards has been so successful that the rich [00:19:30] just kind of get fucked up into what he calls this whirlwind of consumption. And all they're doing is leading these lives of frantic consumption. Gotta buy this and get it, and get rid of it and buy the latest newest thing, and that is distracting. Those lesser lights are distracting people from the true light, the light of the Trinity.
Aaron Powell: If I was personally responding to that I guess I would take two approaches. [00:20:00] The first would be to say, "Well, if they don't share his view that the true light is the Trinity then that objection is not going to carry much weight."
But the second one on the former point of its, they're bound up in consumerism and that is somehow a less fulfilling, less virtuous life. I mean a general skeptical of those kinds of arguments. We like to say consumerism, [00:20:30] but I think a lot of people are critical of consumerism don't really have a clear handle on what they mean. They generally, I think what people tend to mean, critics of consumerism tend to mean is that there are people out there buying things that I personally am not interested in.
So it's when, with the person who buys hundreds and hundreds of records‐
Trevor Burrus: You're looking at me here.
Aaron Powell: I'm looking at Trevor, or we'll keep looking at Trevor who buys lots of guitars and guitar peddles, they find that fulfilling [00:21:00] in the same way as the person who buys lots of books. But to some, but to the outsider that looks, that could be, that's just consumerism. You can't stop buying the records. It's consumed his life and it's all‐
Trevor Burrus: Oh that's interesting because consumerism consumes people, right?
Aaron Powell: Yes.
Robert Whaples: The pope talks about this almost as an addiction that we have that we just can't turn away from it.
Trevor Burrus: And the interesting thing is that there's an overlap here between Pope Francis and say that guy [00:21:30] we knew, everyone knew in high school who was the kind of socialist who said, "Man you know, it's just like the corporations want you to buy all these things and they're really just running you down. Don't listen to the corporations and be a consumerist sheep," and then go get ad buster magazine and subscribe and protest the WTO or things like that. It's odd that there's that parallel, which is and that parallel is sort of undergirded by both for the socialist and the Catholics [00:22:00] to some degree is that an idea that the world is run by false values. And that things that are moving toward false values are not actually enriching.
Robert Whaples: And so one point the Pope makes is that every purchasing decision is moral, it's a moral decision, not simply an economic one. And I think that's actually useful for us all to think about whether or not you are religious or not. So one of the goals of the Pope writing [00:22:30] this is to prick people's conscious and get them to think more deeply about every action they take in their lives.
Trevor Burrus: In one of the contributions by Gabriel X Martinez he … It's in the volume that's the most, the least critical in its own way because he says that …The way I read it, because he says that, the actual quote is, "The Pope does not mean to criticize rising prosperity and [00:23:00] economic liberty in general, but what Francis criticizes and said the use of the theory to justify indifference. The view that eventually the poor will be all right if we just leave them alone, the market will take care of them."
And then he quotes a Bill Clinton quote, which just sort of struck me as anidine about how markets help poor people kind of thing. And do you that's … Do you agree with that characterization? You don't have to agree with everything in a book that you edited but … Having edited a few books myself.
Robert Whaples: It was actually [00:23:30] interesting about that particular chapter is that Gabriel himself is from South America, like the pope he's Ecuadorian originally.
The quote you got is one from Bill Clinton. Yeah, "We have to reaffirm unambiguously that open markets are the best engine we know of how to lift living standards and build shared prosperity," Bill Clinton's saying that.
Trevor Burrus: I mean and that's totally true and for it to be this … That's an example of the [00:24:00] kind of attitude, the politics of indifference in justice he writes is that the Pope is criticizing, not necessary prosperity. I mean but‐
Aaron Powell: Something to wonder, if Pope Francis ought to try reading some Deirdre McCloskey.
Trevor Burrus: Yes I agree. But it strikes me, I think he's criticizing more than that as you point out. Pope Francis having read the book, but not the Encyclical in the sense that we were discussing [00:24:30] its deeper. It's about, it's almost an alienation from our true selves arguments and that includes the environmentalist aspect of it.
Robert Whaples: And so going onto that, back to that point about the indifference that can sometimes creep in. The Pope goes back to one of the parables in the Bible. The one about Lazarus who's this poor man and sits outside the door of this rich man, and the rich man [00:25:00] never gives him a scrap of bread or anything and poor Lazarus is like lame and can't fend for himself.
And then Lazarus goes to Heaven and he sees this poor man in hell and he's like, "Is there …"
The poor man in hell sees Lazarus and he goes, "Can't he come and help me now?"
And the parable's like, "No, you had your chance, you know?"
But what Pope Francis says [00:25:30] is that we're like that nowadays. Many, many people are, they drive around in their cars with their tinted glass. They don't even notice the people outside who are poor. They live inside gated communities. They do that kind of stuff. He's warning us that we're turning into those "Lazaruses," and that we can't be indifferent to the poor because like the poor, we're all children of the same God.
Aaron Powell: It strikes me then that I … I am more sympathic to that argument than [00:26:00] I think a lot of people might be, and I do think that there can be a tendency to think that the proper way to live within a free market is the, we'll call it the caricature of rugged individualism, which is the "What's mine is mine, and the best thing for me to do is just do whatever is immediately in my interest and to not feel a connection to other people, or a responsibility [00:26:30] to them, or the burden of helping them."
And I tend to reject that. But it's interesting because that's not to me, that's not like the response to that is not to attack capitalism and markets because it's capitalism and markets that will provide us with the resources should we choose to live a different way and should we choose to try to help the poor directly. It provides us with the resources [00:27:00] to do that in a meaningful and effective way, that it's … So it's almost like there's a deep confusion of the economic system for the cultural system setting aside the issue of how widespread that, call it sick cultural system might actually be. I think we tend to imagine it's much more widespread than it really is.
Robert Whaple: And so many of the authors in the book as you know rightly make a point very similar to that and say that, "Hey Pope Francis, you're missing the fact [00:27:30] that this economic system we've set up has benefited the poor immensely. It's allowed us not only to benefit them through just their economic interchanges with everyone else in earning higher wages, but also it's really there for the needy. And this person who just could not fend for themselves, we're wealthy enough now to take care of people like that and we have an immense amount of charity that we do, our successful people in the economy."
But the Pope though would go then one step further and he would say, "That's not enough. Money [00:28:00] isn't the only part of the issue." He uses this word frequently of encounter, that we need to encounter each other. We need to encounter people who are on the margins of society and just be physically close to them, talk to them, live with them. Let them know we care about them. Let them get to know us. Let us get to know them so that we have this kind of sympathy for one another. And so much in our modern society and our capitalist system [00:28:30] kind of breaks down that.
Trevor Burrus: Yeah, it interesting because there's a parallel there between, to Herbert Spencer, which I imagine that Pope Francis would not think himself of Herbert Spencer.
But in that goes the question of when Herbert Spencer is criticizing forced charity that the biggest thing you're missing in forced charity is the actual care and interaction with … There's a part [00:29:00] I think in social statics where he talks about how much forced charity will sap the soul and someone like an Ebeneezer Scrooge walking past will say, "I gave at the office. Are there no work houses," kind of thing, instead of actually looking people in the eye and giving charity. So how should in that light, Catholic's view redistribution, forced redistribution as a method of quote unquote charity.
Robert Whaples: Yeah, and that's a really good question and again I think there's a [00:29:30] wide range of opinions. There are people who lean towards the more libertarian end of Catholicism and they go that, "If the government's pointing the gun at my head and saying fork this money over or else, in the welfare state, that's not real charity. The only real charity is if I'm doing it myself."
But then of course, there's many over on the other side that go, "No, that is a legitimate form of charity." So I think a lot of debate about that and of course, the Pope would be over on that [00:30:00] other side where he seems to be quite a proponent of the welfare state and I think an expanded welfare state, and even maybe in globalization of such things.
Trevor Burrus: In terms of the environment there's a chapter in the book about why Pope Francis mischaracterize the effects of markets on the environment. Where does he go wrong with that?
Robert Whaples: [00:30:30] Yeah, and I think our main point of not just that chapter but other authors in the book is that again a blind spot of the Pope is that he just doesn't understand how property rights can be so crucial in solving economic problems. In fact there's many economists I know who say that any environmental problem you have is due to a failure of property rights, right?
So he just, he seems to have a view of property as [00:31:00] when somebody gets property they say, "It's mine. I'm not going to share it with anybody else."
But instead most economists have a view of, "It's my property. I'm going to try to put it to its highest value of use and therefore it's going to benefit much of the rest of society."
One of the authors gives kind of the classic case of the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which you can see from the sky as you're flying in that on one side of the border things are pretty brown looking, and the other [00:31:30] side they're much greener looking. And it's over in Haiti where there's been lots of corrupt governments for many generations and very, very, insecure property rights that people knew that if I've got something valuable in my land, some trees, it might be that some friend of the government comes and just cuts them down. And so I'm going to cut them down before they get a chance to.
On the other side, where we got secure property rights. I know that nobody can get away with that. So I'm going to [00:32:00] husband my resources. I'm going to nurture them. And the value will continue to be there rather than turn it into one of these tragedies of the commons.
And a really important message about what property rights mean and how they get people to look toward the future and the conservation of their resources just seems to be missing in so much of the insights of someone like Elinor Ostrom. Just seem to be missing in Ladotis si and the Pope's vision of these [00:32:30] things.
Aaron Powell: You mentioned earlier that he, there's the argument that every purchase is to some extent a moral choice and that morality plays a large role in the decisions in how we should approach things, and how we should think about things, and what we should [EMAT 00:32:44].
And so given the, not just the errors in the reasoning here, or the lack of knowledge about … [00:33:00] There's actual evidence in studies and lots of scholarship on these questions and that should have informed what he wrote. But also that the very people, the very areas of the world that are most Catholic that have, where the people are going to be most inclined to listen to what he has to say about markets and capitalism and the environment and so on, are those areas that are most desperate for and in most need of free markets [00:33:30] and capitalism to. They're the areas that have been most damaged by the lack of it so throughout South America for example. And so what obligation is there for, moral obligation to get this stuff right on his part?
Robert Whaples: Well, very well put, you know? Just as you said, every consumption decision is a moral decision, but also our decisions about what to learn, what to pay attention to are moral decisions. And I think [00:34:00] it's, you're entirely right he could have listened to some other voices when he was putting together this Encyclical. And as you look at some of the … Popes have all these advisory boards on science, on all this, that kinds of … And they have the economists on their advisory boards. And so they're historically people like Gary Becker have been on these advisory boards, but I think that this particular Pope just … [00:34:30] I don't exactly whose on his board at this point and so whoever he's listening to just isn't getting the message that most economists understand so well across …
Trevor Burrus: In your introduction you sketch out how Pope Francis due to his views about the harms of consumption has to be kind of pushing back or warring against some fundamental assumptions [00:35:00] of economics especially the one that consumption … When consumption is undertaken freely the bulk of people are better off and that even occurs up the curve. More good is always better in the non‐satiation. But you seem non‐committal on whether or not that might be true is the way I read it. You don't actually come out, I mean you said this, you describe Pope Francis's views, [00:35:30] but could it be possible that our views of non‐satiation are incorrect in some way?
Robert Whaples: Yeah, and so I will put my opinion on the line here and that is that I do agree with the Pope on this, that the well being, can and often does go down when consumption gets too high. And so [00:36:00] I think if you look at lots of different data like on happiness, there's debates about these things but it definitely slows down its increase and maybe plateaus once you get to a certain point. But a deeper one than that just on the mere material level is that as a devout Catholic, I see a lot of evidence that as we get richer and richer, we care less and less about these eternal things. And society has gotten [00:36:30] richer and richer, and the role of religion, the importance of religion in people's lives seems to wane as societies get richer.
And so I think maybe we pass the bend on that curve. We've gotten too rich for our own good. And producing more is a wonderful thing, but then we consume more and it seems to be like that consumption pulls us in the wrong direction. And so my little graph was kind of … We could be better off individually if we [00:37:00] gave away more of our wealth. Not an argument towards us not being, producing as much, but it's an argument towards us using our wealth wisely. We could eat too much, yes. We could fill in almost any blank type of consumption too much. We could just consume in general too much. And I think there's many time where many of us do that and so we could be better off if we divested ourselves in some of these things.
Aaron Powell: That makes me wonder than how we deal with [00:37:30] particular sorts of trade offs in this area. So how should from within a Catholic perspective, should think about a situation say where we generally agree that it's better for a society to be wealthier than poorer. That we have, you have access to more options, and your life is longer and healthier, and less violent, and so on and so forth, and that all of those things can enable those people who want to pursue the [00:38:00] eternal say, want to live the prescribed lifestyle of Catholic or of any other religious faith, to do that in an easier more meaningful more successful way. But at the cost of some people maybe it's these, as you've described the wealthy people who over consumer or whoever else, or the people it's going to slightly turn more people away from this path that there's [00:38:30] that's going to happen and that there is no way to create that degree of wealth without instituting the mechanisms that will also cause those results‐
Trevor Burrus: To turn away from God.
Aaron Powell: … to turn away should I guess so does one trump the other? Like how do we think about‐
Robert Whaple: It's kind of this, right? Having a budget constraint that's further out is awesome. It allows you to get more of everything and to pick [00:39:00] the things that you think are really important. But having that budget constraint that's further out when everybody does it, and everybody consumes more maybe warps our preferences in some way and so that we end up making consumption decisions that aren't in our own best interests. And so if that's true in other words, if people can be fallible, and maybe are sinful by nature because [00:39:30] of the fall. If those things are true than we do have a lot of really hard decisions to make about the best way to order our lives and to order our societies.
I'm over in the direction of having somebody forcibly tell me what I should be doing in a situation like that is not a good idea because they're sinful and fallen just like I am. I'm gonna have to make those hard choices by myself. Does that make sense?
Trevor Burrus: Yeah, but this [00:40:00] might have been related to Aaron's question too, but if from the church's standpoint it would seem to me at least some Catholics would think that moving towards God is more important than alleviating poverty, if that's an actual trade off. Because if people turn away from God because of institutions that are alleviating poverty let's just say that, that's Norway‐
Aaron Powell: Stipulate that one‐
Trevor Burrus: Stipulate that relationship there where [00:40:30] they're satiated, they have false idols, every sort of thing and so the religious levels of a place like Norway, which is just shockingly low, and in the Catholic tradition those people can't be saved.
So is it a trade off that a Catholic would say, "Okay well if this alleviates poverty but turns people away from God and therefore puts them in the bad place then we shouldn't, we should choose God over poverty [00:41:00] alleviation."
Robert Whaple: And so I think I guess there's two levels of the answer to that. One is, on an individual basis, and then the other is on the societal basis. And so I think just about any Catholic would say, "Yeah, if getting rich is pulling us away from God, just stop worrying about alleviating poverty, if it's actually so much given our current levels of wealth because it [00:41:30] is leading people away from God."
But then what do you do at the societal level? Are you going to impose those things on other people? So the first one seems pretty clear the answer, the other one then there's a huge amount of debate.
Trevor Burrus: So what do you hope people will take away from the book or especially if they're Catholics?
Robert Whaples: The book is a reply to the Pope's call for dialogue and the very act of us writing it is part of that dialogue. The very act of people then reading it, they [00:42:00] have this other part of this dialogue. You have an internal dialogue in your head as it goes on. We have had a dialogue with each other now. And so what we're really hoping to get out of it is people to think about the importance of these issues but also to maybe have somebody in positions within the church to listen to this, to understand [00:42:30] that economists have learned a lot of things about how to arrange incentives so that we actually solve many of the problems that the Pope has pointed out here to maybe take some of these things out of the Pope's blind spots or the church's more broadly blind spot. So that they can move away from maybe some traditional misconceptions about the market toward a better understanding of how the [00:43:00] market can help solve so many of these problems.
Aaron Powell: Free thoughts is produced by Tess Terrible. If you enjoyed today's show please rate and review us on iTunes. And if you'd like to learn more about libertarianism find us on the web at www.libertarianism.org.


text:
What Is Your Songbird?
Which of nature's little singers is singing your song?
What climate do you prefer?
Which colors do you look best in?
Do you enjoy decorating and/or living in a aesthetically groomed place?
If you were a famous musician, you'd be famous in the genre of:
Which flower speaks to you personally?
If you could fly, you would most likely use it to:
Others might consider you to be:
Can you be a bit territorial or over-protective?
What is your favorite fruit?
Do you enjoy the water (swimming, beaches, surfing, etc)?
A wondrous little songbird often cited in famous literature for its unique, gorgeous singing - the Nightingale has become synonymous with grace and regality, making its song the perfect tune for you! Your own natural grace is perfectly encapsulated within the enchanting song of this lovely songbird. Poised and elegant yourself, the calling of the Nightingale resonates with your childhood memories, and whenever heard is a sign of good things to come.
Video courtesy of WildAboutImages and Paul Bunyard via Youtube!
Winter Wren
Winter Wren
An appreciator of the brisk serenity of winter yourself, the beautiful song of the Winter Wren is sung for you! This petite North American songbird is speckled with wintry white spots and sings a complex yet soothing song of many notes. Like you, they have an affinity for snuggling up during the colder months and the calm that winter brings. Good things are to come for you whenever the call of this lovely little songbird is heard!
Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinal
One of the most recognizable and beautiful of all songbirds, the Cardinal's energetic song is for you! A common sight during the cooler months of year, this lovely little bird's striking red color has influenced many throughout the course of history, as has their unique, invigorating song. Like you, these songbirds are full of vigor and passion for life - defending their territory through song and flight. Whenever the song of the Northern Cardinal is heard - consider it a sign of wonderful things to come for you!
An adorable and wondrously-colored little songbird, the sweet callings of the Bluebird are for you! As cute as songbirds come, the Bluebird shares much in common with your gentle, kind personality. The soothing, almost shy tone of the Bluebird encapsulates your reserved yet appreciative nature. Your wondrous outlook on life is contagious, even if you do choose to keep mostly to yourself. Whenever the gentle callings of this lovely little blue singer are heard - consider it a sign of great luck for you and your own.
A warmly-colored and spritely little songbird, the captivating call of the Goldfinch is for you! A social butterfly yourself, you are always in search of something new and exciting to spark your colorful, creative mind into motion. Not one to give into boredom,, the lively song of this pretty bird encapsulates your outgoing persona. The very same inner and outer beauty is seen in the gorgeous Goldfinch - and whenever its call is heard consider it good luck for your adventures!
A beautifully patterned little songbird, the straightforward yet lovely call of the Black-and-White Warbler is for you! A driven and honest individual, you are quite straightforward yourself - much like the consistent song of this energetic singer. Not one to shrug responsibility or procrastinate, you never quit until a job is done. The very same determination is seen in this striped songbird - and whenever his call is heard consider it good luck for you and your own!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Georgian Style Side Table
This product is unavailable
Georgian Style Side Table. Antique style occasional table, circular round oak top on turned stained beech column and three splayed legs.
Dimensions: 53cm diameter x 71cm high.
Condition: Solid condition, small amount of woodworm in the base - this has been treated as a precaution.
Delivery: Free delivery covers England & Wales. This item will be sent with a man and van courier or on a pallet. The delivery is a kerbside or door to door service. 2 man service is available, please enquire for prices. We aim to dispatch and delivery your item as quickly as possible but the turnaround will depend on area and service required. If you would like the item quickly or would prefer to delay delivery please let us know asap.
30 day returns
See T+Cs for details
Payment: We use a secure (PCI DSS compliant) payment platform for all transactions and accept all major credit cards, card payments are processed by Shopify Payments powered by Stripe secure online payment system. We also accept PayPal payments.
For further information or to order by phone, please call 01209 316220


text:
I've seen a lot of high-performing, sub-$1,000 printers on the market, but what sets apart $2,000 machines — like the Felix 3.1 — is robust construction.
Linear rails add stability. I wouldn't think twice about running this machine at higher speeds. The high-temp, direct drive extruders are also suitable for materials beyond PLA and ABS.
Felix 3.1 produced good results with no jams or skips, and the option for dual extrusion opens up the opportunity for separate support material. Plus, it was quiet for an open-air design. While the price might put off some hobbyists, it's clear Felix is targeting professionals and schools with the construction, upgradeability, lifetime support, and easy portability.
|Felix 3.1
|Felix Printers
|Felix Printers
|Price as Tested:
|Build Volume:
|255×205×225mm (single extrusion) 240×205×225mm (dual extrusion)
|Bed Style:
|Heated with Kapton tape
|Filament Size:
|Open Filament:
|Temp Control:
|Yes, extruder (275°C max); bed (95°C max)
|Print Untethered:
|Yes, USB, SD card
|Onboard Controls:
|Yes, single control knob (rotary/push)
|Host/Slicer Software:
|Simplify 3D (recommended; vendor provided custom profile), Felixbuilder (yearly subscription), Repetier-Host
|Mac, Windows, Linux
|Vendor provided
|Open Software:
|Open Hardware:


text:
NEW YORK, March 25 (Xinhua) -- New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the state of New York, passed by a nearly unanimous vote Wednesday a so-called "doomsday plan" to raise fares, cut service and cut nearly 1,000 transit employees' jobs.
The board of the MTA voted Wednesday morning to enact a series of fare hikes and service cutbacks needed to keep the transit system from going broke.
The plan will reportedly affect millions of New Yorkers in the coming months, as base subway and bus fares will jump to 2.50 U.S. dollars. Seven-day passes will jump from 25 to 31 dollars, 14-day passes will increase from 47 dollars to 59 dollars and the cost of30-day MetroCards will rise from 81 dollars to 103 dollars.
According to New York TV channel NY1, the vote was broken largely into three parts: fare hikes, toll increases and service cutbacks. After hearing from the public and the board members, the board approved each by a vote of 12 to 1.
Tolls on MTA bridges and tunnels will rise, as will fares for commuter rail lines.
Some subway lines will be eliminated and others will be shortened.
Bus lines in all five boroughs will be cut and there will be cuts to the transit workforce, including the elimination of some station agents.
The subway and bus fare hikes would take effect on May 31.
The plan will reportedly help close the MTA's budget deficit, which is projected to be at least 1.2 billion dollars. The agency is required by law to pass a balanced budget.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that New Yorkers should be "outraged," says NY1.
"When you see what's going to happen to your commuting costs, you should call your state legislators and say, 'I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore,'" the mayor was quoted by NY1 as saying.
Transit riders also expressed displeasure Wednesday morning on the potential fare increases, according to NY1.


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I read four books and one short story this month, and I'm pretty happy with that! My reading for this month had a slow start but I soon caught up and got a decent amount read. No, I did not read all of the books on my TBR but I will read them this month, for sure. These are the amazing books I read this month:
1) Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
I absolutely adored this series but I was a little disappointed with Library of Souls and felt that it dragged a bit. I just thought it wasn't as interesting as the previous books and it didn't really get good until the end. The ending really made up for it though, it was absolutely insane! It was a nice ending to the series. If you like, you can read my full review here.
2) Weregirl by C.D. Bell
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this on NetGalley from Chooseco! It was a really awesome book and I fell in love with all the characters. The plot was super interesting and different to other books I've read about wolves. The cover is gorgeous too, those eyes! I'm in love. I'm so excited for this book to come out 1st November and I will be posting a review for it in October! If this is something you think you might be interested in, click here for the link to NetGalley!
3) Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts One & Two by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne
I don't think that I loved this as much as everyone else did but I still found it incredibly enjoyable! It was a bit predictable at times but it was also full of some nice twists which made up for the predictable plot. I didn't love Albus as much as I had hoped but he turned a corner towards the end. I loved Scorpius he was such a funny and entertaining character. Check out my full review here.
4) Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
This cover is so gorgeous! I think the covers for these books are my favourite covers ever. I'm so in love I just can't stop looking at them and touching them. I'm so happy to be finally reading this series and I absolutely loved Shatter Me. I will be posting a review for it soon, I promise! The most interesting character for me was definitely Warner and I'm excited to find out more about him! I loved Juliette and think she is an incredible character.
5) Destroy Me (Unite Me) by Tahereh Mafi
It was fascinating reading from Warner's perspective and being able to see into his mind! I was expecting him to be an incredibly nasty, delusional character but there was a lot of truth in what he was saying. I sympathised with him a lot and I think he is easily my favourite over Adam. He's such a misunderstood character and I can't wait to read more about him in Unravel Me and Ignite Me. I'm excited to read more scenes with Juliette and Warner because they are the most interesting characters and I loved their scenes together in Shatter Me.
Like I said, I'm pretty happy with the books I read this month! I'll be catching up on my TBR in September and will hopefully get some other books read too! What books did you read this month? Let me know in the comments!


text:
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text:
Wendy wanted to create a custom trout house sign for her niece and new husband as a Christmas gift. She liked the colors in the trout key holder on our website. Could we paint The Ryan's sign in a similar color? The answer (of course) – Yes! She loved the finished sign!
Colors: Fish – airbrushed in several colors; Sign – copper with bronze patina.
Dimensions: 16″ wide x 20.5″ high
Hangers: Holes drilled for easy installation.


text:
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text: We often hear talk about bullying in our schools. Thinking about this, I paused to wonder if dog owners might sometimes bully their dogs. Yelling at them, physically manipulating them into position, using force-based training equipment (shock collars, pinch collars, choke chains), and popping their leashes are just a few examples that come to mind. Let's imagine you are calling your dog in from outside so you can leave for work. Two of your three dogs come immediately and the third remains … [Read more...]


text:
When you submit a bug report, you MUST include reproduction steps. We can not help you with bugs we can not reproduce, and will not accept reports which omit reproduction steps or have incomplete or insufficient instructions.
This document explains what we're looking for in good reproduction steps. Briefly:
- Reproduction steps must allow us to reproduce the problem locally
- Reproduction should be as simple as possible.
Good reproduction steps can take time to write out clearly, simplify, and verify. As a reporter, we expect you to shoulder as much of this burden as you can, to allow us to reproduce and resolve bugs more efficiently.
Reproduction steps must be complete and self-contained, and must allow anyone to reproduce the issue. If the bug you're seeing depends on data or configuration which would not be present, you need to include that information in your steps.
Mentioning links to various affected objects (sites, users, systems, places on websites) is of enormous help. Good link and textual explanation is worth more than hundreds of screenshots or screencasts. Not to mention that you can't search against screenshot or a video - and thus you'd be crippling those results.
Example Reproduction Steps
Here's an example of what good reproduction steps might look like:
Reproduction steps:
- Click "Create Event" in Calendar.
- Fill in the required fields with any text (name, description, etc).
- Set an invalid time for one of the dates, like the meaningless string "Tea Time". This is not valid, so we're expecting an error when we submit the form.
- Click "Create" to save the event.
Expected result:
- Form reloads with an error message about the specific mistake.
- All field values are retained.
Actual result:
- Form reloads with an error message about the specific mistake.
- Most values are discarded, so I have to re-type the name, description, etc.
These steps are complete and self-contained: anyone can reproduce the issue by following these steps. These steps are clear and easy to follow. These steps are also simple and minimal: they don't include any extra unnecessary steps.
Finally, these steps explain what the reporter expected to happen, what they observed, and how those behaviors differ. This isn't as important when the observation is an obvious error like an exception, but can be important if a behavior is merely odd or ambiguous.
Getting Started
To generate reproduction steps, first find a sequence of actions which reproduce the issue you're seeing reliably.
Next, write down everything you did as clearly as possible. Make sure each step is self-contained: anyone should be able to follow your steps, without access to private or proprietary data.
Now, to verify that your steps provide a complete, self-contained way to reproduce the issue, follow them yourself.
If you can follow your steps and reproduce the issue, we'll probably be able to follow them and reproduce the issue ourselves.
If you can't follow your steps because they depend on information which is not available (for example, a certain config setting), rewrite them to include instrutions to create that information (for example, adjusting the config to the problematic value).
If you follow your instructions but the issue does not reproduce, the issue might already be fixed.
If you're quite certain that nothing changed and the issue still doesn't reproduce, your reproduction steps are missing important information. You need to figure out what key element differs between attempts.
Once you have working reproduction steps, your steps may have details which aren't actually necessary to reproduce the issue. You may be able to simplify them by removing some steps or describing steps more narrowly.
Things to avoid
These are common mistakes when providing reproduction instructions:
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Private Information: Some users provide reports which hinge on the particulars of private things we can not access. This is not useful, because we can not examine it and see why it is causing an issue.
Screenshots and Screencasts: Screenshots can be helpful to explain a set of steps or show what you're seeing, but they usually aren't sufficient on their own because they don't contain all the information we need to reproduce them. We usually have to guess the site domain, site system, user account, etc.
Also, screenshots and videos cannot be searched. Someone reporting a new issue will not be able to find existing ticket that are potentially related to existing issue(s).


text:
This morning a trip by train was planned to a place called Montegrotto. I wasnt sure whether the name indicated a large mountain or a cave and fountain below the mountain.
The train was to be boarded close beside the tourist office in Abano.
Surprise number 1, the train!
As you can see the train is called Il Puffetto.
Monte Grotto is neither mountain or fountain but is a shopping area. More shoes and handbags.
However the train trip was fun and the weather is perfect!


text:
Tom Clyde: Summit County traffic rules
More Dogs on Main
Park Record columnist
My grand-nephew married an immigrant girl. She's lived all over the world in places I couldn't find on a map. She's a great person, and fits right in. Part of her cultural adjustment has been learning to drive. In all the other places she lived, driving had not been a necessity. Learning to drive is probably a little daunting under any circumstances, but throw in signs and rules in a language that isn't your primary language (though she speaks about six), and then try to measure the distance you can park from a fire hydrant and convert it to meters — well, it's been a challenge.
She had it pretty well figured out until a recent trip to Summit County. It was supposed to be easy. Shopping at the Outlet Mall, lunch on Main Street, a afternoon in Park City and then out to the ranch in Woodland. Overall, it was a success, but she noticed that the traffic rules she had been operating under didn't seem to apply here. The rules of the road seem pretty consistent to her between Provo and Ogden, and even on a trip to southern Utah. And then she crossed into Summit County, and everything was different.
For starters, she noticed that in Summit County, red lights are mere suggestions. Stopping is optional in the Kimball Junction area. How many cars can go through the red light? Well, all of them. They just keep going until somebody, usually a tourist who doesn't know any better, stops. If it were up to the locals, nobody would ever stop for the red light. "Oh, you mean like Italy?"
The speed limits are also relative. Some drivers strictly adhere to the posted limits, and drive in the left lane, trying to impose strict adherence on others as a point of moral clarity. Somehow exasperating other drivers is part of "traffic calming." Subarus and Priuses, mostly. But German cars are exempt from the speed limits. She understood the part about German cars being exempt. That seems to be universal.
The amount of space that is appropriate for a lane change is also variable in Summit County. In most places, you expect about a car length of open space before the car in front of you changes lanes. But here, if your car is a Euro-color, you only need the width of a coat of paint between you and the car you cut off of when changing lanes.
Four-way stops are a challenge. For example, if four cars arrive at a 4-way stop simultaneously, who has the right of way? In most of the world, you sort of work it out with eye contact. The general rule in Summit County is that the most expensive car assumes the right of way. But if you are inside the City Limits, the electric car goes first (well, second after the guy on the mountain bike just bombs through the intersection without slowing down).
Four way stops are entirely different in Kamas. In Kamas, the truck with the highest suspension lift has the right of way. In Coalville, there is a complicated system based on ancestry, and only the locals know if a Blonquist-by-marriage yields to an Ovard-by-birth. If you don't know that, you have no business driving there. No wonder we are building more roundabouts instead of normal intersections.
This summer has seen more than our share of traffic cones around construction. In a sort of puzzling decision, UDOT decided it was a good ideal to work on routes 224, 248, 32, 35 and 40 all at the same time. In the 30 miles from my house to Park City, there were times this summer when I was always within 100 yards from a traffic cone, and never out of sight of a flagger. There would be miles of barricades set up around one guy who was taking a smoke break from installing a sign on the shoulder. The numerous iterations of lane striping would lead you off a cliff if taken literally. So under Summit County driving rules, people just ran slalom gates through the traffic cones, and went where they felt like it.
The driving regulations here are confusing enough, but for real sport, try to park. If it takes you less than an hour to figure if you can park in an open spot, what it will cost you, how long you can stay there, and how to work the pay station, you must be doing something wrong. People of my generation should always travel with a 10-year old who can figure out how to work the parking meter. I spent about 20 minutes trying to pay for parking the other day and ended up with a Diet Coke and a Milky Way instead of a parking pass.
Tom Clyde practiced law in Park City for many years. He lives on a working ranch in Woodland and has been writing this column since 1986.
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Tom Clyde: Hideout reboot
Columnist Tom Clyde writes that the "area around Jordanelle Reservoir is a jurisdictional chowder gone bad."


text:
Archibald praises Pride in STEM initiative
Speaking on the first international day of LGBTQ+ people in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (LGBTSTEMDay) Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald said:
"Sinn Féin is a party committed to the equality agenda. We believe that all citizens regardless of race, religion or sexuality should be treated as equals.
"Homophobia remains the biggest barrier to full participation for the Gay/Lesbian community. While barriers are breaking down, there is more to be done.
"The #LGBTSTEMDay of recognition could go a long way in helping raise awareness and increase support to increase diversity and inclusion in STEM and ensuring equality in the delivery of its service to all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."


text:
Veryx vTAP
Last Updated: June 07, 2020
Veryx vTAP is a software based solution that captures data passing between tenant virtual machines (VMs) and sends traffic to infrastructure monitoring tools of choice. Veryx vTAP provides 100% visibility of inter-VM traffic both within and across hypervisors. Veryx vTAP is not a VM or VNF but a lightweight pluggable software component that resides as a layer over the hypervisor. It installs in the hypervisor as an application along with virtual switch, the software component that manages communication between the virtual network interface controllers (vNICs) of the VMs. This result in negligible amount of system resources and thus allowing service providers to retain system resources for the VMs / VNFs hosted on the systems.
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text:
"And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."
Jer. 3:15
"And He gave some… pastors…"
Eph. 4:11
Order of Contents
Advice for Pastors
Office of Pastor
On the Qualifications of 1 Tim. 3
Female Pastors?
On an Extraordinary Calling
Not All Truths must be Preached in All Circumstances
How Far Pastors are to be Believed
Advice for Pastors
Beeke, Joel – Ten Commandments for Pastors 2015, 10 paragraphs
Alexander, Archibald
Introduction to Pastoral Reminiscences, 1849 5 pp.
On the heart of a pastor.
"Weep with them that Weep", a Discourse Occasioned by the Burning of the Theater in the City of Richmond, Virginia on Dec. 26th, 1811 1812 21 pp.
Church of Scotland – A Humble Acknowledgment of the Sins of the Ministry of Scotland 1651
Pastors and Elders, let us grieve and break our hearts over our sins in Christ's ministry. May this cause us to look to Christ for all of our righteousness, and may it spur us on to walk more humbly and closely with Him as we work in His Vineyard. Use this in secret prayer throughout the year.
Church members, bring reformation to our land and humbly encourage your elders with this article.
Dabney, Robert
What is a Call to the Ministry? no date or source info
Are you called to the Ministry? Read this to find out.
The Public Preaching of Women 1879 from the The Southern Presbyterian Review for October
The argument against women preaching
Girardeau, John
An Address on Behalf of the Society for the Relief of Superannuated Ministers and the Indigent Families of Deceased Ministers of the Synod of South Carolina 1858 24 pp.
The Suffering Seaboard of South Carolina 1876 29 pp.
A chronicle of the sufferings of Charleston, SC, "our Southern Zion", after its occupation by the Northern army during the War between the States. Peer here into the sufferings of a part of Christ's church, and the labors of her faithful pastors.
Hodge, Charles
"He Preached Christ", Acts 9:20, Sermon Preached… at the Memorial Services… [for] James Waddel Alexander, D.D., 1859 17 pp.
The Teaching Office of the Church 1882 16 pp.
Macleod, William
The Essence of the Ministry 2006 17 paragraphs The opening address given at the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) Seminary in Sept., 2006.
Macleod helpfully and practically gives eight things that it is not and two things that it is.
The Ideal Minister 2005 11 paragraphs, a public address
What should Christians look for when they call a man to be their minister? What should they pray for God to do in their own minister? What should ministers and divinity students strive to be? Here are 10 characteristics.
Miller, Samuel – The Importance of the Gospel Ministry 1827 68 pp.
Bernard, Richard
The Faithful Shepherd… with the Shepherd's Practice 1621 355 pp.
The Shepherd's Practice: or, the Manner of his Feeding the Flock 1621 56 pp.
Bernard (bap.1568-1642) was an English, puritan clergyman.
Baxter, Richard – The Reformed Pastor 565 pp.
The Office of Pastor
Binnie, William – The Holy Ministry, p. 120 ff. 3 pp. from his The Church
On the Qualifications of 1 Tim. 3 & the Good Order of the Church
There are some who consider the qualifications set forth in 1 Tim. 3 to be of the essence of the offices there described, such that if a person lacks or is deficient in any one of them, then they have no authority as an elder. Rather, in consistency with much of reformed history, these qualifications are for the good order of the Church (which should be the regular rule). A deficiency or absence of any one of them may not necessarily disqualify one from the office or remove their authority in the office, especially in extraordinary circumstances.
The difference in interpretation is due to a (1) an unqualified, Biblicist and exclusively divine-command interpretation of the text, versus (2) recognizing natural law and other ethical categories.
(1) is wrong as Paul in 1 Tim. 2:1-12 says that women ought not to hold authority over men in the Church, and yet God extraordinarily called female prophets in Scripture to teach and exercise authority over men. (2) understands the apostle in 1 Tim. 3 to be setting forth wholesome positive ordinances based on natural law. Other natural law factors may be (and often should be) taken into account, as virtually every congregation in fact (rightly) considers other natural factors beyond those in 1 Tim. 3 (especially as they are relevant in their circumstances) when considering who to elect for elders. Such natural qualifications must also be weighed against the whole of other relevant natural factors and principles. As Rutherford and Gillespie argue, extraordinary circumstances often necessitate extraordinary means; and what is right in extraordinary circumstances by no means warrants the same means to be used in ordinary circumstances.
In contrast to the plain words of 1 Tim. 3, that elders be married to one wife, the Church of Scotland during the First and Second Reformations often allowed, on occasion, gifted men who were single to be ordained as ministers (consider Mt. 19:12 and the apostle Paul's calling to the ministry, who was likely single at the time).
Can simply physical circumstances, of themselves, determine one's fitness to hold the authority of an elder? Must an elder, whose wife dies, resign the eldership? According to Titus 1:6, must an elder step down if a child, grown and out of the house, in a distant place, becomes an unbeliever or is riotous in their living? Some would argue that this is a communication of God's will through providence that the elder should step down, and that he is no longer a fitting example to the flock. But, while providence may indicate God's will in our changes of circumstances, must providence always be interpreted this manner?
There is quite a difference in how this informs our interpretation of Scripture: Are the happenstances of providence always determinative of one's calling, such that the spiritual is inevitably tied and constrained to the physical (and other people's actions which we cannot control), or is the spiritual, and the call of God, often more fundamental than the changing physical circumstances which God has placed in our lot? While the apostle was setting down fundamental guidelines for Church governors in 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1 to be a rule of good order for us throughout the ages, yet even when the apostles spoke, natural and spiritual qualifications apply.
Homily 10 on 1 Timothy, on 3:1-4
"A Bishop then, he says, must be blameless, the husband of one wife. This he does not lay down as a rule, as if he must not be without one, but as prohibiting his having more than one."
Peter Martyr Vermigli
Common Places (1583), 4th Part, ch. 1, 'Of Calling, and Especially unto the Ministry'
"19. But the election of Paul [who was likely unmarried at the time] and such other[s] ought not to move us but that in choosing the ministers of the Church we must follow the doctrine of the same apostle taught us in the epistle unto Timothy, where he will that those which be novices in religion should not be chosen, but they which have a good testimony. But it must be considered that the rules described unto Timothy were given unto men, from whom, seeing other men's minds be hidden and that they be utterly ignorant what is in them, it behoves that they use the cautions described by the apostle, lest they err in their elections.
But God rightly chooses his without those rules (Ps. 7:11; Jer. 11:20; Apoc. 2:23), "For He trieth the reigns and the hearts, and changeth the wills of men at his own pleasure." Albeit some have said, that Paul in Judaism was of very honest conversation, as he himself testifies unto the Philippians (Phil. 2:6). And in the latter epistle to Timothy he writes that he had served God from his forefathers with a pure conscience. But I hold not with these men. For I will not diminish his fault in persecuting of the Church, seeing Paul did so greatly after a sort reproach himself with the same.
Wherefore when I allow of the solution now brought, this comes to mind that the canons which the apostle delivered unto Timothy are not always kept even as touching men. For Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, when he was yet a novice, and youngling in the faith, was placed in the See of the Church. For he was sent from the emperor to execute the office of Praetor.
(Margin Note: The commandments of God so far as sometime one gives place to another)
Here the adversaries vaunt against us, that it is lawful sometimes to deal against the holy Scriptures, and that the words of God are not most steadfast. But we must note that the precepts of God sometime have not their own strength, neither in very deed be precepts. For when two precepts meet together so as they cross one another, whereof the one is more excellent than the other, and God would have that chiefly to be done than the other which is of less excellency, and as touching the will of God, inferior, gives place unto the first and has not the [obliging] authority of a commandment [in that situation]: because God would not have it to be done in that place and at that time. Even as Christ taught as touching the drawing of an ox and an ass out of a pit on the Sabboth day (Lk. 14:5). By which means He excused his disciples who had plucked off the ears of the corn on the Sabboth day (Matt 12:1) and had rubbed out the grain. And He often times testified that He would have mercy and not sacrifice. (Ibid., v. 7).
The Church of Milan therefore was greatly molested by the Arians: it had need of a bishop and specially of a teacher that should be of great authority. These things were perceived to be in Ambrose. Neither was there any other fit man presented. Whereby that Church was quit from the other precept which was of less excellency, wherein it was commanded to beware of novices, or those which were not fully instructed. And of this matter it seems to be enough to have spoken somewhat by the way."
Westminster Annotations 1st ed. 1645
On 1 Tim. 3:2
"He that is to be chosen a bishop must not necessarily be a married man, but necessarily be no polygamist…"
David Dickson
An Exposition of All St. Paul's Epistles, on 1 Tim. 3:2
"Of one' 2. Property: It behoves him to be the husband of one wife: which property is not laid down by way of precept, as if it was necessary for a pastor to be married, but by way of limitation, because if he purpose to marry, he ought to content himself with one wife so long as she lives and to keep himself from polygamy, which was frequent in those times."
Robert McWard
The Banders Disbanded (1681), p. 47 McWard was a protege of Rutherford and leader of the Scottish covenanters.
"XXV. As every escape, error, or act of unfaithfulness (even known and continued in) whether in a minister's entry to the ministry, or in his doctrine or deportment, does not non-minister him, nor give sufficient ground to withdraw from, or reject him as a minister of Christ: So neither does every enormity, mis-demeanure or act of tyranny, injustice, perfidy or profanity etc. in the civil magistrate, whither as to his way of entry to that office, or in the execution of it, or in his private and personal behavior, denominate him a tyrant or an usurper, or give sufficient ground to divest him of his magistratical power, and reject him as the lawful magistrate.
XXVI. Though such a minister may lawfully be withdrawn from and disowned as a minister of Christ's mission and institution, who either enters to the ministry by the window (i.e. in a way unwaranted or condemned in the Word of God) preaches erroneous and damnable doctrine, is grossly scandalous and vicious in his conversation, or is utterly insufficient for such a sacred function:"
Female Pastors?
While there were blessed women prophets in both the Old Testament (Ex. 15:20; Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chron. 34:22; Isa. 8:3; Joel 2:28) and New Testament (Lk. 2:36; Acts 2:16-18; 21:9) there is no Scriptural example of a female in any other Church office.
Pastors, though, are of a different office than a prophet. Prophets were extraordinarily called of God (who is able to read the hearts, and retains his sovereignty), they prophesied by inspiration and the office was not prescribed to be regularly and successively conferred by human instrumentality on others for its perpetual continuance. A pastor, on the contrary, is ordinarily called and ordained through the Church, and regular guidelines are given in Scripture for their qualifications and regular continuance through the Church age. While prophets could perform and lead acts of public worship, yet the regular administration of the public worship of the Church was given to priests in the Old Testament, and pastors in the New Testament.
The requirement that pastors be male stems not only from 1 Tim. 3:2, but also from the equity of the Old Testament precedent that the regular prescribed requirement for priests was that they were male; hence the regularly ordained ministry was all male. This is inline with the regular rule of natural law, which teaches, as Paul says regarding the Church, that women ought not to teach or usurp authority over men (1 Tim. 2:11-15; see also Isa. 3:12).
Women prophets were an exception to this, as extraordinarily and immediately called by God. They exercised their office righteously, without sin, and were a blessing in their circumstances, though such women officers were never the norm or to form a regular rule.
There is a distinction between that which is sinful and that which is valid. A person may sinfully enter and remain in an office, and yet still have the valid authority of the office. Not every sin entering into, or in, the office takes away the validity of the office.
While it is always wrong for a woman to be an ordained pastor due to the Scriptural teaching (which is a rule to us), yet if the woman is in a valid Church, she may yet be a valid pastor with valid pastoral authority (her baptisms being valid, etc.). This is because the sex of the minister is not of the essence of the ministerial office. This is seen in that there were blessed women prophets in Scripture, who were valid ministers of the Word.
The case of women pastors is similar to the case of women being civil magistrates. While natural law and Scripture teaches that women ruling in a nation is a curse (Isa. 3:12), yet Scripture also clearly upholds the validity of women civil magistrates in many places, even as magistrates are the servants and ministers of God who bear his authority.
Thus, the only case where women may rightly enter the ministry of the Word is when they are immediately called by God and supernaturally gifted to the extraordinary office of prophetess, which is now ceased.
The following quotes below by Rutherford and Vermigli uphold the viewpoint taught here.
Samuel Rutherford
Due Right of Presbyteries 1644 The context is Rutherford arguing against congregationalists that election by the people is not always necessary, as in extraordinary circumstances.
1st Part, p. 202
"And why not (say I) election [is extraordinary] also in another case, if as Peter Martyr says well (on Judges 4:5) a woman may be a preacher of the Gospel;"
[For Rutherford a 'preacher' was not the same as a pastor. The word 'preacher' may include anyone who incidentally preaches, such as a woman (by the extraordinary motion of God, and moral necessity) proclaiming the message of Christ in a place where there is no settled Church (Jn. 4:28-29). This is far distinguished from a regular ordained pastor of a congregation. That Rutherford is against women pastors, see Due Right of Presbyteries, 1st Part, p. 475; 2nd Part, p. 303).]
1st Part, p. 454-5
"But a woman in no case is capable of administrating baptism or the Lord's Supper, except she were extraordinarily and immediately inspired to be a prophetess…"
Peter Martyr Vermigli
Common Places (1583), 4th Part, ch. 1
'Of Diverse Ministries of the Church'
"(In Judges 4:4)
10. But when as God chose Deborah unto the ministry of judging, being weak in sex, He straightway made her very famous and honorable through the gift of prophesying. By which grace, and perhaps many other miracles more, she was constituted by God and confirmed by miracles as a woman chosen to so great an office.
Neither was only this woman endued with the spirit of prophesy, for in the holy Scripture we read of other women also which were in such sort instructed by the Holy Ghost. Mary the sister of Moses, Hannah the mother of Samuel, Hulda in the time of Josiah the king were prophetesses (Ex. 15:20; 1 Sam. 2:1; 2 Kings 22:14). And in the New Testament (to speak nothing of Mary the virgin, of Elizabeth the mother of John and of Anna the daughter of Phanuel, Lk. 1:42 & 46; 2:36) the daughters of Phillip the deacon (as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles) were prophetesses.
(Margin Note: That women prophets did openly teach the people)
Neither think I [that] it ought to be denied that some of those women, endued with the gift of prophesy did openly teach the people in declaring of those things unto them which had been showed them of God: seeing the gifts of God are not therefore given that they should lie hidden, but to the intent they should further the common edifying of the Church.
And yet hereby it follows not that what God does by some peculiar privilege, we should forthwith draw it into an example unto us: because according to the rule of the apostle we are bound unto an ordinary law,
(Margin Note: 1 Tim. 2:12; 1 Cor. 14:34; Why women were commanded to be silent in the Church)
whereby both in the epistle to Timothy and in the first epistle to the Corinthians, he commands that a woman should keep silence in the Church. And of the silence commanded, he assigns causes, namely, for that they ought to be subject to their husbands. But the office of a teacher does declare a certain authority over those which are taught, which must not be attributed unto a woman over men. For she was made for man, whom to obey she ought always to have a respect; which thing is also appointed her by the judgment of God, whereby He said unto the woman after sin was committed, (Gen. 3:16) "Thy disposition shall be towards thy husband." Further, the apostle derived a reason from the first fault, (1 Tim. 2:14) wherein he says that Eve was seduced and not Adam.
So as if women should ordinarily be admitted to the holy ministry in the Church, men might easily suspect that the devil by his accustomed instrument would deceive the people, and for that cause they would the less esteem the ecclesiastical function if it should be committed unto women; wherefore by the ordinary right and by the apostolical rule, it ought to be appointed unto men. Howbeit if God do otherwise sometime, yet can He not be justly accused, for so much as all laws are in his power. If then sometime He send a prophetess, and adorn her with heavenly gifts, the same woman speaking in the Church must undoubtedly be hearkened unto, but yet so as her state be not forgotten.
(Margin Note: Two places of Paul are reconciled)
Therefore, the two testimonies of Paul, which seem to be repugnant one to another, may easily be reconciled. In the first epistle to Timothy he writes that "a woman ought to be silent in the Church," which, toward the end of the first epistle to the Corinthians, he most manifestly confirms. Howbeit in the same epistle he commands that a man prophesying or praying should have his head uncovered, but the woman while she prophesies should have it covered (1 Cor. 11:5): whereby doubtless he teaches that it is lawful for a woman both to speak and also to prophesy in the Church. For it would not seem that so doing she should have been commanded to cover her head if she were utterly to keep silence in the holy assembly.
(Margin Note: Why the women that prophesy are commanded to be covered on their head)
After this sort the matter must be expounded, namely, that the precept of silence is a general precept, but the other, which is for covering of the head when they pray or prophesy, pertained only to those which were prophetesses. They verily are not forbidden to prophesy for the common edifying of the Church: but lest they, forgetting the property of their own state (by reason of the extraordinary office committed unto them), should wax proud, they are commanded to have their head covered: whereby they might understand that they have yet the power of man above them."
'Of Calling and Especially unto the Ministry'
"18…. As touching the holy women and other prophets which exercised the ministry without attending till they were called, those we say had extraordinary vocations [callings], the Church either being as yet not planted, or else so fallen to decay as it might not otherwise be repaired."
On an Extraordinary Calling to the Ministry
Martin Chemnitz
Examination of the Council of Trent (1565-73), 9th Topic, Concerning Holy Orders, from the 23rd Session, Section 4, ch. 4, in Chemnitz's Works, vol. 2: Examination of the Council of Trent (1978; St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2007), in ed. Littlejohn & Roberts, Reformation Theology: a Reader of Primary Sources with Introductions (Davenant Institute, 2017), p. 501
"22. But they say: 'Those who have not been called, ordained, and sent by the usual ecclesiastical authority are thieves and robbers.' That will make thieves and robbers of the apostles, evangelists, pastors, teachers, presbyters and deacons of the apostolic church, who were not ordained by the chief priests, who at that time had the regular ecclesiastical power.
That is the same question which the chief priests once attacked the ministry of the Baptist (John 1:19-25) and of Christ Himself, (Matt. 21:23): 'Who gave You this authority?'"
Thomas M'Crie
'On the Right of Females to Vote in the Election of Ministers and Elders', p. 5 from Miscellaneous Writings, Chiefly Historical (1841), pp. 669-76
"…I believe it is generally allowed that the choice and call of the people, in certain extraordinary cases, forms a valid and sufficient warrant for exercising the pastoral office."
Not All Truths must be Preached in All Circumstances
James Durham
Treatise on Scandal, pp. 358-359
"Neither can it be ground enough to plead for such decisions in preaching, that the thing they preach-for is truth, and the thing they condemn is error. Because:
1. It is not the lawfulness of the thing simply that is in question, but the necessity and expediency thereof in such a case: Now, many things are lawful that are not expedient, 1 Cor. 10:23.
2. In these differences that were in the primitive times concerning meats, days, genealogies, etc. there was a truth or an error upon one of the sides, as there is a right and a wrong in every contradiction of such a kind, yet the apostle thinks fitter, for the Church's peace, that such be altogether refrained, rather than any way (at least in public) insisted upon or decided.
3. Because no minister can bring forth every truth at all times, he must then make choice; And I suppose some ministers may die, and all do so, who have not preached every truth, even which they knew, unto the people. Beside, there are (no question) many truths hid to the most learned.
Neither can this be thought inconsistent with a minister's fidelity, who is to reveal the whole counsel of God; because, that counsel is to be understood of things necessary to men's salvation, and is not to be extended to all things whatsoever; for, we find the great apostle expounding this in that same sermon, Acts 20, verse 20, 'I have keeped back nothing that was profitable unto you;' which evidenceth that 'the whole counsel of God,' or the things which he showed unto them, is the whole, and all that was profitable for them, and that for no by-respect or fear whatsoever he shunned to reveal that unto them.
[4.] Also, it is clear, that there are many truths which are not decided by any judicial act; and amongst other things, sparingness to decide truths that are not fundamental judicially has been ever thought no little mean[s] of the Church's peace, as the contrary has been of division."
How Far Pastors are to be Believed
Richard Baxter
A Christian Directory: a Sum of Practical Theology and Cases of Conscience Buy (1673), pt. 3, Christian Ecclesiastics, Question 132, 'Is it unlawful to obey in all those cases where it is unlawful to impose and command? Or in what cases? And how far pastors must be believed and obeyed?', p. 889
"…Whether pastors are to be believed or obeyed any farther than they show a Word of God revealing or commanding the particular thing? Divine faith and obedience is one thing, and human is another:
1. If as a preacher he say, 'This is God's Word, believe it and obey it as such,' you must believe with a human faith that it is likelier that he knows what he says than you do (unless 1. you see evidence, 2. or the consent of more credible persons to be against him, and then you are not to believe him at all).
Even as a child believes his teacher in order to learn the things himself, so you are so far to take his word while you are learning to know whether it be so or not. But not to rest in it as certain, nor to take your belief of him and obedience to him, to be a believing and obeying God formally, though a duty."
"The pastor teaches sound doctrine (1 Tim. 3:1), often thrice in the week, which is in season and out of season (1 Tim. 4:2)… The pastors, besides public preaching and praying in our church, are also to catechize the flock (Gal. 6:5; Heb. 5:12-13; 6:1-3; 1 Cor. 3:1-3), visit the flock (Cant. 7:11- 12; Eze. 34:4; Rom. 1:13; Acts 14:22-23,27; 20:17-18), are especially to exhort and pray over the sick (Jam. 5:14) and to strengthen the exercised in conscience (Job 33:23-24), and that in every house (as Acts 10:34; 5:42)."
Samuel Rutherford
A Defense of the Government of the Church of Scotland, 1642
Related Pages


text:
Sid from Toy Story was a completely normal person.
I know the film is 24 years old, but I'm still annoyed:
Sid, Andy's next door neighbor, was portrayed as the antagonist in Toy Story simply because he liked to take toys apart and reassemble them in new and creative ways.
Yes, perhaps if you are a toy, this is not a good thing, but should we expect Sid to be aware that his toys might be secretly sentient, filled with hopes and fear?
Of course not. Yet at the end of the film, Woody goes rogue and reveals himself to be alive. Not only does he speak to Sid, but he gets dark and creepy while doing so, scaring the bejesus out of this poor kid.
It's awful.
As a child, I would throw my toys out of the window of my second floor bedroom onto the gravel driveway to determine which would break. Was I evil or even wrong to wonder if my Sho-Gun Warrior could survive a 15 foot plunge to the Earth?
My sibling and I would take great pleasure in jamming Weebles into the crack between the door and the wall then slamming the door so that the Weebles would explode into dozens of pieces.
Did this make us rotten children or simply curious kids who liked to experiment on the toys we had stopped playing with long ago?
Sid was a normal child with a creative, experimental mind. Yes, he tormented his sister, but what brother doesn't? Yes, he was apparently kicked out of summer camp, but many creative people throughout history were misunderstood. Pixar tries like hell to make Sid look bad with a skull on his tee-shirt, but this is an ordinary kid who likes to makes things, take things apart, and even occasionally blow things up.
Unless of course you're being compared to stick-in-the-mud rule-follower Andy.
Woody's "Play nice" warning to Sid at the end of the film was cruel and unnecessary. When we see Sid again in Toy Story 3, he is listening to heavy metal music, working as a garbage man.
Nothing wrong with being a garbage man (my father worked as a garbage man for a time), but it's not exactly a cinematic ending for this poor boy, who is probably tormented for the rest of his life with the knowledge that at least one toy in this world (and probably others) are alive, sentient, and mean.
Sid isn't the bad guy here. Pixar is the real bad guy for portraying a spirited, creative boy as a villain.