Welcome to MCO!
...welcome back students!
MCO is a newly forming group in Philadelphia. It is committed to helping those determined to live a serious Calvinist lifestyle to do so more effectively. Thanks for checking out our site!
MCO is a newly forming group in Philadelphia. It is committed to helping those determined to live a serious Calvinist lifestyle to do so more effectively. Thanks for checking out our site!
Work together on theological and other studies. Benefit from others’ research, contribute your own, and discuss the topics.
Learn about methods others have found for living a more effective life and contribute your own.
A variety of other activities. Including getting to know each other better and suggest other activities that people might find helpful.
There are many ways to get involved with MCO! If you can't make the meetings, feel free to contact Eric Ask at ask-117@outlook.com for information on how to get involved remotely! We also hope that you can benefit from the below content. Please feel free to contact us with comments as to what resources you would find helpful!
Also, feel free to check out our LinkedIn page.
MCO on LinkedInVery few resources deserve a higher recommendation for Calvinists committed to a sophisticated understanding of their faith than Louis Bekhof’s “Systematic Theology”. It is not an easy read, but just one page of this book quite literal has the value of ten potentially more easily understood pieces of literature. Any person who commits to reading this book will gain a level of understanding usual only seen in seminary graduates. Check it out!
For any Calvinist to be successful, they must a) put forth effort and b) direct that effort towards their goals. After developing the self-discipline to put forth the maximum effort, a person must then focus on how to strategically direct that effort. The below video is of two of the most effective strategists of all time, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Watch them as they explain how they think about their environment and try to determine which steps should be taken to advance their goals. Any Calvinist can learn from their ways of thinking.
Check out the below video as Bruce Gore explores in depth the “Code of Hammurabi” – a rare example of written law some hundreds of years older than the Mosaic laws. This examination of the code’s history, as well as comparing and contrasting it with the Mosaic law will be helpful to anyone trying to understand the laws of Israel in their historic context.
Watch the below video for an interesting lecture on the relationship between the ancient Near Eastern account "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and the well-known story of the flood contained in the Bible. The similarities brought out in this lecture are very interesting and will help to inform any discussion on these topics.
Perhaps the most important question on which Atheists and Christians differ is on how the world came into being. The validity and meaning of the book of Genesis is critical in this discussion. Watch the below video as Yale professor Christine Hayes sheds light on this subject as she explores the striking similarities and differences between Genesis and other ancient Near Eastern creation accounts.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming"
The late Christopher Hitchens offered several sophisticated critiques of Christian belief. These can improve anyone's thinking on these topics - provided there is genuine intellectual honesty. Below is an interesting panel discussion he took part in in 2009.
For any person to get where they want to go, they must a) put forth effort and b) direct that effort towards their goals. After developing the self-discipline to put forth the maximum effort, a person must then focus on how to strategically direct that effort. "Principles" offers excellent advice on this very topic. Written by Ray Dailo, founder of the largest hedge fund in the world, it will provide useful guidance to any Calvinist trying to determine the most strategic use of their time.
Check out this notebook used during a joint study of Enuma Elish and Genesis!
