There are some serious gaffes, errors, and historical inaccuracies in this presentation. These include: The Bible never teaches and no school of theology that I know of says that "The world, the animals, and the plants were made for Man" Rather, even before the fall of man, he is called to be a steward of God's creation. A creation that was created by and FOR the Son of God. For His own enjoyment and for His glory, though he does share those things with us. So, bottom-line, Muir's views on nature were, for the most part, standard Christian beliefs. Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." Similar to many other misinformed internet sources, you erroneously say that John Muir was raised by a strict Calvinist. Even before moving to America, Muir's father was a member of a dissenting church. Here in America, he was active in The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone-Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism), a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790-1840) of the early 19th century. The parties to this movement did not agree with Calvinists even on the creeds, as they did not make use of creeds, finding sufficient truth in the Holy Bible alone. Was Muir's father strict, even perhaps abusive? Yes, but reading "Muir of the Mountains", a Muir biography by Supreme Court Associate Justice, Willam O. Douglas will help put this in context. Thrashing was the order of the day. At school, at the age of eight, the teacher would thrash a student for forgetting even a small amount of extensive memorization homework. Similarly Muir's father would thrash his sons for staying out too late, for going too far from the farm on weekends, for breaking other rules, and for any errors in memorizing and reciting the Bible. The boys even engaged in thrashing one another. From Douglas' book: They had a game played with whips. Two boys, each with a whip, would stand facing each other and thrash one another on the legs until one quit from the pain..." While I appreciated much of what you had to say about Muir, nature, and God, a fair amount of what you said raised serious concerns. Your stated openness to mystical esoteric teachings. Your positive affirmation of the apostate heretic Allan Watts, etc. This is not fear of the unknown. It is avoidance of the known and false. We have only a finite amount of time in this life to explore ideas. To invest time in reading books by guys like Watts is poor stewardship. One thing Watts said I can recommend: Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.
There are some serious gaffes, errors, and historical inaccuracies in this presentation. These include:
The Bible never teaches and no school of theology that I know of says that "The world, the animals, and the plants were made for Man" Rather, even before the fall of man, he is called to be a steward of God's creation. A creation that was created by and FOR the Son of God. For His own enjoyment and for His glory, though he does share those things with us. So, bottom-line, Muir's views on nature were, for the most part, standard Christian beliefs.
Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."
Similar to many other misinformed internet sources, you erroneously say that John Muir was raised by a strict Calvinist. Even before moving to America, Muir's father was a member of a dissenting church. Here in America, he was active in The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone-Campbell Movement, and pejoratively as Campbellism), a Christian movement that began on the United States frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790-1840) of the early 19th century. The parties to this movement did not agree with Calvinists even on the creeds, as they did not make use of creeds, finding sufficient truth in the Holy Bible alone.
Was Muir's father strict, even perhaps abusive? Yes, but reading "Muir of the Mountains", a Muir biography by Supreme Court Associate Justice, Willam O. Douglas will help put this in context. Thrashing was the order of the day. At school, at the age of eight, the teacher would thrash a student for forgetting even a small amount of extensive memorization homework. Similarly Muir's father would thrash his sons for staying out too late, for going too far from the farm on weekends, for breaking other rules, and for any errors in memorizing and reciting the Bible. The boys even engaged in thrashing one another. From Douglas' book:
They had a game played with whips. Two boys, each with a whip, would stand facing each other and thrash one another on the legs until one quit from the pain..."
While I appreciated much of what you had to say about Muir, nature, and God, a fair amount of what you said raised serious concerns. Your stated openness to mystical esoteric teachings. Your positive affirmation of the apostate heretic Allan Watts, etc. This is not fear of the unknown. It is avoidance of the known and false. We have only a finite amount of time in this life to explore ideas. To invest time in reading books by guys like Watts is poor stewardship. One thing Watts said I can recommend:
Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.