Author: Ralph Rickenbach

Walking and telling stories. That is what these two terms allude to. When I hear this without knowing exactly what it means, I see a rabbi slowly walking through the landscape and telling stories. This rabbi could well be Jesus, surrounded by his disciples. At the same time, the word walking reminds me not only… Continue reading Halacha and Haggadah

I have put before you life and death. Choose life. Deu 30:15 Omnipotence Thomas Aquinas described God as all-powerful. He derives this from the infinity of God. How he does that would be beyond the scope here. Many will point out that we find the expression God Almighty throughout the Old Testament. This is how… Continue reading God Almighty?

Chaos: the behavior of systems that follow deterministic laws but appear random and unpredictable. A dynamical system that has a sensitive dependence on its initial conditions. Mathematicians have a way to define things different from what all people understand when they hear a word. A space for example for normal people is a room, expanse,… Continue reading Chaos

There are two basic motivations for dialog: the love of wisdom (Philia sophia) and the love of victory (Philia nikia). These motivations have been strategized over centuries and used in many forms to either win arguments or gain wisdom. I am sure you can deduct which will result in which. I have found that these… Continue reading Philia Sophia or Philia Nikia

I have come to believe that it is time for the church to let go of right or wrong, true or false, good and evil. What do I mean by that? When Adam and Eve ate from the tree in paradise, they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. While we… Continue reading Apostolic Thought

In answer, Jesus said, Is there not a saying in your law, I said, You are gods? John 10:34 I have said before that the creation story is an archetypical story, not a reality account. I know that I probably lose some readers with that statement as it rattles the chains of fundamentalist bible interpretation.… Continue reading What happened in the Beginning