Evidence Below The Surface

People often say they're familiar with an issue, even to the point of being weary of hearing about it, when they're actually significantly ignorant about the subject. What they've heard a lot of is introductory information about the topic or some of the more advanced information about it without having heard about other information of a more advanced nature. Their knowledge is partial and often misleading.

For example, they've heard a lot about gospel authorship in the sense that they've heard many introductory or intermediate discussions of Papias, Irenaeus, and other sources. But there are other lines of evidence they have little or no familiarity with.

That's one of the dangers involved in addressing topics in a shallow way. You give people the impression that there's less involved, often far less, than is actually there. Christians should keep maturing in their understanding of issues and keep trying to get other people to mature. Take different approaches toward a subject on different occasions. Mention that there's more evidence involved than what you're bringing up, and direct people to resources that provide that other evidence.

Majoring On The Minors And Minoring On The Majors

Given how you behave in school, in the workplace, among relatives, on the internet, and in other contexts, how much reason do people have to think you're significantly different than the secular, trivial culture around you? You claim to object to how corrupt the culture is. Should you fit in as well as you do with the mainstream of the culture in school, among your relatives, on Twitter, on Facebook, and in other contexts?

I would not with swift wingèd zeal
On the world's errands go,
And labor up the heav'nly hill
With weary feet and slow.
(Thomas Gill, "Lord, In The Fullness Of My Might")

Epiphanius' Ignorance Of An Assumption Of Mary

Cameron Bertuzzi recently hosted a three-hour video about the Assumption of Mary, with Ethan Muse, Suan Sonna, and William Albrecht as guests. And Suan posted a thirteen-minute clip from the program on his own YouTube channel, a clip criticizing Gavin Ortlund's work on the Assumption. My focus here will be on some material in the church father Epiphanius, which received a lot of attention in the original video and is the main topic of the clip Suan highlighted. I'll briefly comment on some other topics as well, but I'll mostly be discussing Epiphanius.