Quotable

Read a great deal less on the internet and a great deal more of books.

Don Carson on how you can become a better theologian and better pastor if you are a young pastor or a middle-aged pastor who can’t return for more schooling.

Piper’s comments on reading that follow Carson’s quote are also fascinating, such as when he says that we have been taught not to read by teachers who assign twelve books for one class.

Writer urges Internet junkies to 'switch off' and think

For those of you guilty of what this article talks about, here's something to add to your guilt while exacerbating your problem.

Writer urges Internet junkies to 'switch off' and think

Is the Internet Trustworthy?

The internet is filled with information. But can you trust it?

Nancy Jean Vyhmeister, in Quality Research Papers for Students of Religion and Theology (Zondervan, 2008) gives the following helpful list for evaluation of internet resources.

1. What is the purpose of this website? Entertainment? Information? Research?
2. Who sponsors the site? A credible organization, such as a university? A seller/marketer? A professional society? An advocacy group? An individual?
3. When was the material written?
4. Who is the author? A professional? A student? Just somebody interested in the topic?
5. What are the author’s qualifications, either academic or professional? Author or amateur?
6. Is this material available elsewhere, either on the web or in a printed source?
7. What is the tone of the article? “I know it all”? “You are stupid if you do not agree with me?” “This is an observation I have made.” Does this sound like someone searching for the truth or simply pushing an idea?
8. What company does this piece keep? (hyperlinks, sources cited [journals, recognized scholars, no one])
9. How do you think your professors will rate this information?
10. Never stop asking questions.

While the internet is a wild place, filled with all types of information, careful evaluation is necessary. Remember, the fact that someone can say something does not mean it is true. Free blog sites are available to anyone who wants one. And bad information sometimes comes with it.

The internet can be incredibly useful. It also can be incredibly wrong.

Careful evaluation will help us to know which it is for any given site.

Anonymity/Pseudonymity on the Internet

Dr. Claude Mariottini has an interesting story about pseudonymity on the internet that he is somewhat personally involved in.

Interestingly, it has to do with the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the son of a professor at the University of Chicago who used other people’s names to post at blogs in defense of his father’s position.

This from Mariottini’s blog:

According to a news release put out by the New York County District Attorney’s office, Raphael Haim Golb was arrested today on charges of identity theft, criminal impersonation, and aggravated harassment. Gold is the son of Norman Golb, a professor at the University of Chicago and a specialist in the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

According to the news release, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced that Golb was arrested for creating multiple aliases in order to engage in a campaign of impersonation and harassment against scholars who opposed his father’s views on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

As a general rule, I am opposed to anonymity or pseudonymity on the internet (or anywhere else for that matter). That’s not to say that I have never done it. However, over the years I have changed my view on this. I have concluded that if I don’t want to attach my name to it, perhaps I should not be saying it.

There may be, from time to time, an exception that I would make, but it is rare. More often than not, I just close the browser and realize I won’t change the world by making a comment on a blog. I certainly would never do it using the name of a real person, as this man did.

Some forums and blogs allow people to register under fake names, or anonymous identities. I am not a proponent of that, and where I have had opportunity to make my view known, I have done so, though I am often in the minority.

I won’t die on this hill. But anonymity on the internet is a dangerous thing, in my view.

And apparently in the eyes of the Manhattan district attorney as well.

Al Mohler on Facebook

Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary, comments today on the phenomenon of Facebook and other social networking internet sites. He says,

Social networking sites offer unprecedented opportunities for communication and contact -- and that is both the promise and the peril of the technology.

He gives some excellent advice and guidelines for the use of these sites, including guarding ourselves and our family from the peril of technology and constant connectedness.