The Laity Square Blog

It’s a Wrap!
Another year comes to an end, and despite a ton of goodness, it’s eerily similar to the year before. Still, there’s a lot to be grateful for, and many things to consider and keep an eye on, beyond the pandemic. Read more

That Explains It Well
Being 100% certain about something is a rare luxury. More often, we can only know something beyond reasonable doubt, and that is enough. In those situations, the concept of explanatory power is handy, whether the topic is science, history, or the epistemic grounding of Christianity. Read more

Thoughts From Watching ‘The Most Reluctant Convert’
Last week, the recent CS Lewis’s biopic, aptly titled The Most Reluctant Convert, was still in theatres, and I felt that watching it was a great way to celebrate this site’s anniversary, my own birthday, and CS Lewis’s too. Here are some details and thoughts about the movie (no spoilers!). Read more

One Year In
On November 25th 2020, I hesitantly posted the following to my social media feeds: “Pandemic Diaries, Day #258: I have started a podcast. (See-no-evil emoji.)” Laity Square is now one year old, and today I reflect on the beginning, the journey, and what’s next. Perhaps more interestingly, I also talk about the celebration – my thoughts after watching CS Lewis’s biopic, The Most Reluctant Convert. Read more

In Good Conscience
Have you ever had to intensely talk yourself out of eating a whole tub of ice cream? I have! And one of the things I tell myself is that my conscience wouldn’t let me do it. We think of conscience as an inner conduit to moral authority, or an inner court that judges our thoughts and actions. The idea of cosncience is very relevant in a society in constant redefinition, with diminishing consensus. Here I look at its philosophy and theology. Read more

Just War Theory
With Thanksgiving and Halloween behind us, the country’s attention turns to Remembrance Day. As we observe it, we ponder the philosophy of war: is it ever justified? Read more

Uni, Multi, Sim, Meta
The word “universe” originates in Latin. It means “turning” or “combining into one”, seeking to describe everything that exists. But some people have other beliefs on how to best describe our tangible reality, or even intangible aspects of it. In this post, I explore the ideas of multiverse, simulated realities, and the metaverse. Read more

Fighting for Real
Our shared definition of reality anchors our debates. But over the last few years, it feels like we’ve shifted to debating reality itself, which is a much more complicated conversation. Thinking about this, I realized that there’s a conversational spectrum around reality, and here I explain this idea, and how I use it to avoid conflicts and pick which hills to die on – or not. Read more

The Myth of Progress
Despite its shortcomings, technology has allowed us to face this pandemic like no other. It progresses incrementally, but relentlessly. How does this compare to societal progress? Can we make a similar claim? I explore John Gray’s “myth of progress”, its contrast with progressive liberalism, and how I think the Bible provides a more accurate assessment. Read more

Building Your Own Bible Index
Over the last few months, I’ve been using the Zettelkasten method to take better notes. To my delight, one of the most valuable uses has been creating a manually-curated Bible index. Read more