By Douglas Groothuis, PhD I have been reading and listening to Sue Prideaux’s superbly written and fascinating biography of Friedrich Nietzsche, I am Dynamite (Tim Duggan Books, 2018). It has the drama of a novel and the analysis of a philosopher, although she fails to criticize Nietzsche’s worldview or attack on Christianity. Instead of offering a thorough review of this book, I return to the question of Nietzsche’s insanity from 1899 to his death in 1900. Her account of his

By Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D., Cornerstone University and Cornerstone Theological Seminary How should a Christian understand gambling? Gambling is an activity in which someone puts up money, goods, or services on the chance of being rewarded by unknown outcomes by the gambler. I do not mean the investment of money, goods, services. By “chance,” I mean unknown outcomes not determined by the gambler, not chance in the metaphysical sense of being beyond the control or knowledge

By Douglas Groothuis, PhD Author and environmental activist, Paul Klingsnorth, predicts in his best-selling book, Against the Machine, “that the next great division of the world will be between people who wish to live as creatures and those who wish to live as machines.”[i] Which side are you on? Long before this, Francis Schaeffer (1912-84), warned that a secular-materialistic worldview reduces God’s image-bearers to a machine status, shorn of human personality, authenticity

By Douglas Groothuis, PhD Preface: We the Writers As writers, we are compelled to protect the authenticity and integrity of published writing in the age of generative artificial intelligence. We, as human beings, have labored to write books, articles, editorials, reviews, and poems. These works flow from our knowledge, experience, and passions. We are servants of the Word, who lives (John 1:1-5). We have spent much of our lives learning how to research, write, rew

By Douglas Groothuis, PhD This essay takes up the ethics and significance of generative AI or large language models related to the humanities and generally excludes other kinds and uses of AI. I am not concerned with AI’s ability to sort vast amounts of technical data related to business or medicine or the military, important though these and other areas are. Nor will I consider catastrophic scenarios of AI takeover of life as we know it. Nevertheless, I hope the analysis and

By Douglas Groothuis, PhD When I refer to Schaeffer’s “Christian humanism,” I do not mean anything like secular humanism or the attempt to find truth and meaning by placing man at the center of the universe. Schaeffer rightly found this to be the source of all philosophical and cultural errors in the very good from which this quote is taken. But humanism can be Christian in the sense that Christians know that human beings have unique objective value because they are made in G

By Douglas Groothuis, PhD By what standard should we evaluate moral issues? Is there a consistent way to make moral judgments that align with historic Judeo-Christian values and which are conducive to a flourishing America? What do the polls tell us about our basic moral beliefs? How might we respond in light of America’s 250th anniversary which is fast approaching? The highly-regarded Pew Research Center recently released a poll finding that sixty-three percent “of Americans

by Douglas Groothuis, PhD Ecclesiastes is perhaps the most misunderstood book in the Bible. In these articles, I explain why its wisdom has ministered to me so deeply over my Christian life. 1. A Primer on Ecclesiastes https://www.douglasgroothuis.com/post/a-primer-on-ecclesiastes-beyond-information-to-a-philosophy-of-wisdom 2. Fear Not Ecclesiastes https://www.patheos.com/blogs/evangelicalpulpit/2018/01/fear-not-ecclesiastes . 3. Cast Your Bread on the Wa