BRAINWAVES reports
The following BRAINWAVES reports are currently available for download.
The following BRAINWAVES reports are currently available for download.
A propositional foundation is offered for macroeconomics in terms of 'real' and 'virtual' money, and 'well' and 'badly' behaved economies, all of which are defined. The unique characteristics of commodity money, and specifically gold, render it incomparably proof against both inflation and meltdown. The worldwide failure of the Phillips curve in the early 1970s is explained as a direct result of the cancelled dollar gold standard in August 1971. This signalled an era of 'bad' behaviour, which was compounded in the UK when the cash ratio method of credit control was terminated one month later, causing unprecedented inflation. Two 'Resolutions' are offered for recovering 'good' behaviour.
The two 'Resolutions', if adopted, would have prevented the global economic crisis which became apparent in 2008-9.
Proposes a revolution in and outside the classroom in order to raise the mathematical consciousness of the nation and hence a recovery of the ability to Think. Central to this is the belief that mathematics comes to life when taught within the historical framework of the great mathematicians who discovered it.
This principal is exemplified by a textbook, e, i & π: a Mathematical Drama in Two Acts, currently being authored by BRAINWAVES, which seeks to teach elementary mathematics at approximately 'A' level down to Euler (c.1748). Includes an extensive bibliography.
A lighthearted address to schoolchildren on the metaphysical (Platonic) basis of mathematics and the conclusions which can be drawn from this.
On the origins and dates of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and the Book of Acts. Summarises as a coherent narrative many of the author's heterodox arguments in The Three Gospels described in Section III below.
John 4:44 suggests either that Jesus' home was not in Galilee, or that his recent mission to Jerusalem and Judea had been a failure. Neither is consistent with the rest of the Fourth Gospel. From Eusebius, we deduce that the author, identified as the Apostle John ("John the Elder" being Eusebius' invention), is correcting the false impression given by Mark that Jesus began his ministry by his dramatic bursting into Galilee at 1:14. Jesus knew that to attempt this would have resulted in failure. St John shows that, instead, Jesus began his career with a triumphant mission to Jerusalem and Judea, only tackling Galilee after first succeeding in the south.
(Paper originally given to the Johannine Seminar of the British New Testament Conference at Exeter University, 7 September 2007.)
Makes proposals intended to offer healing on the twin issues of homosexuality and women bishops which were the subject of heated debate within the Anglican Communion around the time of the Lambeth Conference, 2008.
Sees the pace of life as today's major problem. Points out that the contemplative/mystical tradition was flourishing at the time of the Reformation but was rejected by Luther. Hence Protestantism was born without a contemplative dimension. Proposes the rediscovery of this as a means of slowing down the pace of life and potentially also of healing the breach between the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches.
The substance of this report is now incorporated in Martin’s book Peacemaking in God’s Church, described in Section III
Like BW/006, summarises some of the arguments of The Three Gospels described in Section III below, this time under the headings 'The Alternative to Q', 'The Challenge to Form Criticism' and 'Relationship of John to the Synoptics'. Includes commented bibliography of essential works.
Sequel to BW/010, this explains Luther's aversion to contemplative prayer in terms of his chronic depression which led him to shun solitude. Reformation Protestants such as Dr Francis Schaeffer have followed him in elevating scripture over contemplative prayer as a channel of the knowledge of God, often at the expense of mystery and paradox.
One such paradox is to be found in the fact that the New Testament presents not one but two gospel messages (bundles of good news): the gospel of the kingdom taught by Jesus right up to the Last Supper, and that of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus' blood [by faith alone], taught by Jesus at and after the Last Supper, and in detail in the writings of Paul. Some Christians have majored on one of these, some on the other. If the planet is to be rescued from disaster, the Church needs to reunite the two, rediscovering the mystery of God in the process.
The substance of this report is now incorporated in Martin’s book Peacemaking in God’s Church, described in Section III
Sees in the Genesis account the thought forms of the modern systems analyst. Genesis 1 then becomes a masterpiece of scientific observation, partitioning and classification within the limits of its age.
Proposes a transformation from money-centred to people-centred thinking.
Proposes a rediscovery of wisdom and servanthood by reintroducing the monarchy into our political thinking.
Sequel to BW/010 and BW/012. Suggests that in its attitude to sex, Roman Catholicism has a blind spot comparable to the Protestant weakness in the region of mystical prayer. The notion that sex is somehow unholy, which is not found in the teaching of Jesus or Paul, entered the Church through the gnostic and ascetic movements of the second century and afterwards, and became enshrined in Catholic teaching through Ambrose, Jerome and Augustine.
It still causes serious problems today. That there are comparable blind spots on both sides of the Protestant/Catholic divide may explain why the problems of the Reformation have proved so intractable; recognition of which could open the way towards a healing of the wounds sustained by the Christian Church during that era.
The substance of this report is now incorporated in Martin’s book Peacemaking in God’s Church, described in Section III
Critique of evangelical theology of the gospel. Argues that on four key issues - salvation by faith; the doctrine of no second chance after death; universalism; and hell - evangelical teaching follows strong traditions which are markedly at variance with what the New Testament actually says. In consequence evangelicals greatly underemphasise the Last Judgement and the significance of Jesus' conquest of death and Hades for all humanity.
The substance of this report is now incorporated in Martin’s book Peacemaking in God’s Church, described in Section III
An exercise in metaphysics which attempts to make belief in God intellectually respectable in the wake of A. J. Ayer, Richard Dawkins and others.
Assesses criticisms of the acclaimed Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change produced by Sir Nicholas Stern and his team in 2006, and goes on to propose a wholesale transformation of our contemporary approach to technology, founding it on a firmer (Platonic) metaphysical foundation.
Response to a paper on this subject by Brandon Giella. Argues against popular but historically unsupported views that Mark was penned near to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70. Instead it prefers Edmundson’s proposed date of 45 in the reign of Claudius while Peter was alive, as believed by the Fathers.
Why the Q Hypothesis Could Never Have Been Right
Vanity of vanities saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:2 KJV)
I think it may be stated without exaggeration that Q is the most successful fallacy in the history of scholarship. It owes its success to the fact that it has acquired a name - the letter, 'Q' - which can be, and has been, reinterpreted every time the current theory encounters a problem. So 'Q' has a wide variety of meanings, any one of which can be called upon when required.1
The mathematician’s patterns, like the painter’s or the poet’s, must be beautiful; the ideas, like the colours or the words, must fit together in a harmonious way. Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics.2