Thrice necessary!

So help me out here by posting a comment at the bottom of this post or by creating a new one. Am I headed in the right direction?

1. Metaphysical necessity is the infallible certainty between the things signified by the subject and predicate of a proposition, which affirms something to be true [p. 19].
e.g. "God exists" or "All bachelors are unmarried men"

2. Moral Necessity is the certain connection between the preference of the soul [inclination] and its acting on that preference [the will itself].
e.g. A man who is a glutton will act in accordance with his soul's inclination. He may eat 2 half gallons of Breyers peach ice cream for lunch.

3. Natural Necessity is the certainty as men are under through the force of natural causes as distinguished from moral inclinations [dispositions of the heart].
e.g. Men feel pain when their bodies are wounded.

This seems to be a helpful article on necessity [philosphical/theological].

http://www.history-of-philosophy.com/necessity.htm

The Reading Schedule [fom the Thomas Nelson London Edition, 1845]

June 10-16
10 - Reflection
11 - Preface
12 - pp. 1-8
13 - Reflection
14 - pp. 9-16
15 - pp. 17-24
16 - pp. 25-32

June 17-23
17 - Reflection
18 - pp. 33-40
19 - pp. 41-48
20 - Reflection
21 - pp. 49-56
22 - pp. 57-64
23 - pp. 65-72

June 24-30
24 - Reflection
25 - pp. 73-80
26 - pp. 81-88
27 - Reflection
28 - pp. 89-96
29 - pp. 97-104
30 - pp. 105-112

July 1-7
1 - Reflection
2 - pp. 113-120
3 - pp. 121-128
4 - Reflection
5 - pp. 129-136
6 - pp. 137-144
7 - pp. 145-152

July 8-14
8 - Reflection
9 - pp. 153-160
10 - pp. 161-168
11 - Reflection
12 - pp. 169-176
13 - pp. 177-184
14 - pp. 185-192

July 15-21
15 - Reflection
16 - pp. 193-200
17 - pp. 201-208
18 - Reflection
19 - pp. 209-216
20 - pp. 217-224
21 - pp. 225-232

July 22-28
22 - Reflection
23 - pp. 233-240
24 - pp. 241-248
25 - Reflection
26 - pp. 249-256
27 - pp. 257-264
28 - pp. 265-272

July 29-August4
29 - Reflection
30 - pp. 273-280
31 - pp. 281-288
1 - Reflection
2 - pp. 289-296
3 - pp. 297-304
4 - pp. 305-312

August 5-11
5 - Reflection
6 - pp. 313-317
7 - pp. 318-321
8 - Reflection
9 - pp. 322-325
10 - pp. 326-329
11 - pp. 330-333

To grill or not to grill - that is the choice

The thought [mind's understanding] of grilling a delectable sirloin steak [that which invites my will to act] on our Sunbeam Grillmaster pleases me. I can grill. I can't fly, but I can walk over to the grill and cook a steak. The Sunbeam Grillmaster isn't far away. It's right outside on the deck. It is good to grill. It's likely that grilling a sirloin steak amongst the reawakened Endless Mountains in May will be a happy rather than unhappy occasion. Grilling is pleasant and not irksome for me -- unless I burn the sirloin steak. It won't take long to grill the steak. That's why we bought a gas grill. It would be a greater pleasure to actually grill the sirloin steak than to only think about grilling the steak.

But what's this! A young mother robin has made a nest on top of our gas tank underneath the grill. She's sitting on her nest. There are four vividly blue eggs in the tiny nest. I am faced with a choice. I must choose! What is most agreeable to me? What is the strongest motive in determining what I will do? What choice will I make?

I will not cook the steak! I am an educated man. It is pleasant to look out and see the young mother caring for her soon to be baby chicks. The smell of steak is fading compared with the strength of thought that we have our own robin's nest so close to us. Allison and Dylan would never hear of disturbing the nest. They delight in quietly creeping up to the sliding glass doors to view the nesting mother. I'll put grilling on hold. The bird pleases me most [the greatest apparent good]. I will not grill!

Warning: This is a true story. I took the photograph this morning with my Verizon Motorola cell phone.

we're up and running

This is our virtual summer home for what I hope will be a profitable season of reading what George Marsden describes as "a philosophical tour de force by someone who was first of all a theologian" [Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life, 446].

You'll be receiving an E-mail invitation from me to become a member of the blogger.com community so that you can contribute to the blog. If you have questions or wish for me to come over to your office for some virtual help, please let me know. I'll post a reading list soon.

The address for our virtual community is www.thefreedomofthewill.blogspot.com