The Truth About God
(That’s my edgy title for the internet.)
I saw this on Twitter and thought it was nice:
I broke down at wept during this moment (among others) of Eugene Peterson’s funeral yesterday. I have parents who have whispered this message in my heart, and I hope to be one who whispers it to the hearts of others. pic.twitter.com/BZ6Y1irWk0
— [Rev’d Dr.] Glenn Packiam (@gpackiam) November 4, 2018
Bob, Tom, and Tatiana on Naomi Brockwell’s Crypto Quiz Show
We had no idea what this was going to be. I think it turned out pretty funny.
Potpourrier
(Get it, like “more Potpourri”?)
In my previous post I forgot to mention these items:
==> I had a blog post at Independent remarking on the 10th anniversary of the Bitcoin whitepaper.
==> This fictional piece from Scott Alexander is excellent.
Potpourri
Sorry for the radio silence. We had the 3rd annual Contra Cruise, and I also had a bunch of “day job” projects. Things should be getting back to normal around here…
==> Speaking of the cruise, this is the episode Tom and I recorded in front of the live audience. Good stuff–and don’t miss the Easter egg at the end.
==> Not sure how I stumbled on this, but an old Mises blog post reminds us that Bill Kristol has been wrong about everything.
==> This is hilarious: It’s my own take on William Nordaus, except in a Bizarro universe where I favor aggressive government intervention to arrest climate change.
==> I was part of a panel that nominated the Best Economics Books for beginners.
Wisdom About Debt From the Mosaic Code
In our Bible study we covered Deuteronomy 15. Some interesting excerpts:
1“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the LORD’s release has been proclaimed. 3Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. 4But there will be no poor among you; for the LORD will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess, 5if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. 6For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.
7“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. 9Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. 10You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. 11For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’
Notice, contrary to the assertions of many of today’s free traders (not that there’s anything wrong with that), that God (speaking through Moses) did not view capital inflows from abroad as a necessary blessing.
Also interesting is that if your brother was down and out, the community (of course) was supposed to take care of him, but via a loan, rather than simple charity.
And yet, no child of Israel could thereby end up in permanent debt-bondage, because of the first rule discussed.
Nordhaus vs. the IPCC
Folks, this is really ludicrous. Look at the stuff I dug up from Nordhaus’ most recent model run.
(Also, Tom and I walk through it on the latest Contra Krugman.)
David R. Henderson catches the Niskanen Center crew likewise spouting nonsense on this. Note, I am choosing my words carefully. I don’t just mean, “Hey, I disagree.” I mean, they are saying the UN’s latest report shows the folly of ignoring the work of William Nordhaus…when they themselves are thereby ignoring the work of William Nordhaus.
The Possible Utility of Mosaic Dietary Code
In my Bible study session tonight we covered Deuteronomy 14 which contained, among other things, the following rules for diet:
3“You shall not eat any abomination. 4These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex,a the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 7Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. 8And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.
9“Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. 10And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11“You may eat all clean birds. 12But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle,b the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13the kite, the falcon of any kind; 14every raven of any kind; 15the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl 17and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. 19And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20All clean winged things you may eat.
21“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally.
In his commentary, Guzik writes: “Among these animals, they fall into one of three categories: predators (unclean because they ate both the flesh and the blood of animals), scavengers (unclean because they were carriers of disease, and they regularly contacted dead bodies), or potentially poisonous or dangerous foods such as shellfish and the like. Eliminating these from the diet of Israel no doubt had a healthy effect, and one of the reasons for the dietary laws of Israel was to keep Israel healthy!”
Does anyone know if there’s a work based on secular sources that compares the diet of the surrounding pagan nations to those of ancient Israel, and then assesses their relative merits–taking into account the local conditions, including primitive (by our standards) sanitation, food storage, and medical care? It would be interesting to see if the ancient Israelites “luckily” stumbled onto a pragmatic dietary code even though they couldn’t have known why it was advantageous at the time.
More generally, this is another example of how God’s statements were correct: If the Israelites had followed the Mosaic law “religiously,” then they would have enjoyed inconceivable prosperity and longevity. For example, as modern social scientists who understand the importance of property rights, imagine if every Israelite obeyed the prohibitions on theft and murder. Those seem too obvious to us to even bother thinking about, but it really would be amazing if a culture–even one surrounded by mortal enemies–consisted of people who really followed even just the 10 Commandments.
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