August 2022

Theology Book Review

 Does Man Inherit a Sinful Nature?

I'm not convinced.

Jesse Morrell is a proud Pelagian and this book is his comprehensive argument in support of the idea that humans are not born with a sinful nature, but rather we create in ourselves a sinful second nature by our choice to sin.

To claim Pelagianism isn't as bad as it sounds, because apparently Pelagius didn't teach most of the things Augustine accused him of, at least according to the writings of Pelagius that survived. Still, I wasn't too keen on Jesse Morrell's decision to quote Pelagius a lot, and positively. But I got over that and just examined the arguments put forth in the book.

I confess I did not complete the book. I gave it a good try, but it's disorganized and the author repeats himself. A lot. If there is a solid case to be made for man not inheriting a sinful nature, I'd be interested to read it. This book isn't it.

I read enough of the book to get the general idea, but I just don't buy it. His intepretations of the scriptures seem to be coming less from a neutral reading of the text and more from a need to find a way to discard the idea of original sin. From what I can tell, Jesse Morrell believes that if we are born with a sinful nature, then it would be unjust for God to hold us accountable for our actions. This has implications for how we preach the gospel to unbelievers--if we tell them that they have an inborn sinful nature, that allows them to excuse their actions and deny their need for a savior--after all, how can God hold people accountable for acting in accordance with their nature?

I just don't see the problem. We can be born with a sinful nature, that is, an inclination toward sin, and still have free will to make our own choice to sin or not, and still be held to account before God. None of this is unjust. I'm a free will guy, but I don't see a problem with an inborn sinful nature.

Further, some of Morrell's argument don't hold up to basic scrutiny. He points to the existence of a conscience as evidence that men have an inherently good nature, not a sinful nature. That isn't evidence. There's no reason why humans can't have both a conscience and a sinful nature, despite Jesse Morrell's protestations.

Also: I am a persnickety reader so I do look up the Bible verses he references to support his various claims, and they often don't.

I'm not sure whether Jesse Morrell's views amount to heresy. Probably. They are at least heterodox. In any case, even though he's wrong about this, he is a brother in Christ.

Science Fiction Book Review

 Dinosaur Fantastic

My thoughts
This is a lot of short stories about dinosaurs. The collection was timely, coming out in 1993 when the movie Jurassic Park was released. Personally I read the book just after watching the entire Jurassic series of six films, so I had dinosaurs on the mind.

Unfortunately I can't say I was impressed. I was disappointed. It's not that the stories are poor, but they just didn't grab my attention. Maybe it's because my own attention gravitates toward novellas and short novels. Maybe it's because I like old-fashioned science fiction short stories, like those from Asimov or Clarke or Heinlein, and these 90's-era stories are different in style.

So the verdict: it wasn't for me. I should stick to novels, early science fiction, and Analog. But for people whose tastes are more modern (and who like dinosaurs) this book might be for you.

There were a few stories I did enjoy more than the others: One Giant Step was clever. After the Comet was poignant. Whilst Slept the Sauropod was comforting.

Introduction
by Mike Resnick

Just Like Old Times
by Robert J. Sawyer
Convicted serial killer sentenced to chronotransference: he will live the remainder of his life as a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the Cretaceous period.

Disquisitions on the Dinosaur
by Robert Sheckley
Dinosaurs in Ancient Rome, and other random funny things involving dinosaurs. I guess if you like Sheckley this is fine. I don’t care for it.

Dino Trend
by Pat Cadigan
People use nanotechnology to change themselves into dinosaurs for amusement.

The Greatest Dying
by Frank M. Robinson
Scientist extracts soft dinosaur tissue from amber, releases the plague that killed the dinosaurs

Revenants
by Judith Tarr
Little girl wants to pet the pterodactyl. This story is more about child custody disagreements between divorced parents than about dinosaurs, and I didn’t care for it.

One Giant Step
by John E. Stith
Time traveling reptiles go back 65 millions years, release a plague to kill all the dinosaurs and prevent them from inheriting the earth—on account of they have plundered the earth’s resources, hunted species extinct, warred among themselves, and live with the threat of nuclear Armageddon. Let a more deserving species inherit the earth. Next scene: time traveling cockroaches…

Last Rights
by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon
Animal rights activists try to free bioengineered dinosaurs.

After the Comet
by Bill Fawcett
Hunter the triceratops leads the herd to better feeding grounds and fights a tyrannosaurus.

Rex Tremandae Majestatis
by Kathe Koja and Barry N. Malzberg
I don’t know what this is, but I think it’s a woman named Leona going through a complete schizophrenic break from reality with hallucinations involving her son’s toy dinosaurs.

The Skull’s Tale
by Katherine Kerr
Lilas Rock-shaper, an Eater, spares a Hookclaw and chases another Eater away from her territory.

Cutting Down Fred
by Dean Wesley Smith
A man meets an oak tree named Fred who shows him ancestral oak memories of dinosaur times. In my copy of the book this story is signed by the author. Neat.

Shadow of a Change
by Michelle M. Sagara
April Stephens turns into a dinosaur.

Wise One’s Tale
by Joseph’s Sherman
Quick Trickster manipulates the Fire Being into giving him and his kind wings by using his tricks to pass the god’s tests

Curren’s Song
by Laura Resnick
Curren hears the call of the monsters living deep under the waters of Loch Ness, but the priest Columba would have him turn from the creatures and worship instead a god killed by the Romans.

Whilst Slept the Sauropod
by Nicholas A. DiChario
The people of Sleepy Mountain live simple, traditional lives—until an earthquake cracks Sleepy Mountain apart and reveals an enormous dinosaur.

Rex
by David Gerrold
Jonathan Filltree resents the miniature Tyrannosaurus Rex his spoiled daughter Jill and her manipulative mother Joyce forced him to buy, and tries to get rid of it until Rexie saves the family from a burglar

The Pangaean Principle
by Jack Nimersheim
Pietor Sinkovich works feverishly to isolate dinosaur DNA so he can resurrect a seismosaur—and more—and nearly loses his daughter Katrina in the process.

On Tiptoe
by Beth Meacham
Alice takes photographs of fuzzy shadows and thinks it’s proof there are chameleon dinosaurs in New York City.

Betrayal
by Susan Casper
Boy finds a sea cave with a mosasaur, keeps it a secret for years, then betrays the mosasaur by selling photos of her when he needs money. Later, another betrayal.

'Saur Spot
by Kevin O’Donnell, Jr.
Gideon Cope and his wife Mary Ann buy a small dinosaur to eat the cockroaches in their house.

Pteri
by Lea Hernandez
A witch tells how she Called her familiar, a tiny pterodactyl

Chameleon
by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Willi, a little witch girl, starts at a new school but it’s just like every other school. She doesn’t fit in and the kids make fun of her because she’s a witch and isn’t like them. In my copy the story is signed by the author!

Fellow Passengers
by Barbara Delaplace
A tabloid reporter recounts how she broke the story of a deinonychus found attacking cattle, how the dinosaur was captured and placed in a zoo, and how it will live out its life and die alone just like the world’s last passenger pigeon.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Dinosaur
by Gregory Feeley
A series of vignettes, short-short stories, and mini essays about dinosaurs in fiction

Evolving Conspiracy
by Roger MacBride Allen
Bueber pays a visit to his friend and colleague Deblick to present his latest conspiracy theory, that God and the Cubans faked the existence of dinosaurs.

Nonfiction Book Review

 Dirty Genes

A naturopathic "doctor" peddles his snake oil. I can't believe I wasted time reading this.

A cursory internet search for reviews before I bought the book didn't turn up anything too alarming. As I actually read the book, it became increasingly apparent that it is the same old junk: toxins are bad and are everywhere, the government is lying to you, the medical and pharmaceutical establishment has their heads up their asses, and you really, really need to eat organic food and also buy all these supplements. Also, I kid you not, he tells you specifically not to get tested for any of the gene mutations he talks about in his book. Instead, he has you take a short quiz (that is almost guaranteed to give you a positive result for at least one of the genes he identifies) and then, regardless of your results, he recommends you follow his entire program. After all, all genes are connected, so you can't just treat one in isolation.

That's when I went looking into the author a bit more and found out he's not a medical doctor, there is no evidence for most of the things he's saying, and it turns out he's got a company that sells the supplements he recommends in his book. He appears to make most of his money teaching other people how to treat patients with his program.

Not everything he says is bad. His basic program (or at least the initial part before he directs you to supplements) is just eating healthful foods, getting enough sleep, and reducing stress. But man, I don't need a book full of lies about gene science to tell me I need to eat right, sleep more, and reduce stress.

Here are some other articles about Ben Lynch.

• The Genetic Astrology of Naturopath Ben Lynch [mcgill.ca] by Jonathan Jarry M.Sc.
• The MTHFR gene and vaccines — just the scientific facts [skepticalraptor.com] by the Skeptical Raptor
• Dubious MTHFR genetic mutation testing [sciencebasedmedicine.org] by Jann Bellamy
• How Your Genetic Sequence Can Be Exploited By The Supplement Industry [forbes.com/sites/brittmariehermes] by Britt Marie Hermes
• The Truth About MTHFR Tests And B Vitamin Supplements [drnealsmoller.com] by Dr. Neal Smoller