Ryan McCormick

University pastor at Penn, Dad, husband, traveler, wonderer.

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@ryanburge Does this include non-denom or independent churches that are predominantly black? Or is that sorted differently?

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

https://t.co/4Pbt3x6M6l

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

How do oral traditions relate to the canonical New Testament? New from me!

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@suzania Not Washington Irving?

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@PageauJonathan There are hardliners in any tradition, but most Evangelical Protestants I know would say EOs and RCs are Christians, albeit ones who err in certain matters.

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@PageauJonathan Protestants do not have a unified position on this question, which depends on how you read RC/orthodox theology. Any Orthodox or Catholic who trusts in Christ for their whole salvation is saved. And this not just a wishy washy mainline thing.

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@FeserEdward What does proportionality demand when an entire civilian population is mobilized as part of a total war effort?

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

https://t.co/9n1T7H1AZm

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

New! Protestantism =/= Evangelicalism

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@ryanburge It will be a major challenge for sure, but the end of Boomer domination in the church could have salutary effects in the long term!

https://t.co/0yuNnDk3xm

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

New from me: Can the Church Survive Without the Boomers?

https://t.co/ZwATIgJCE7

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

I started a S*bst*ck! Each week I’ll be publishing thoughtful reflections on theology and culture!

First up, an essay on the Hurd conversion and whether Protestants can like Aquinas without becoming Catholic.

https://t.co/OUHgkYMvKX

[Matthew H. Young 🇺🇸 @matthenryyoung]

The thing about many (most?) AI productivity hacks is that they're only a hack if you're the only person using them.

I was recently tasked with evaluating proposals submitted by faculty members. Several of the proposals contained substantial amounts of AI slop. I was offended to have to read slop but here's the thing: I'm sure that those same people who used an LLM to write their proposals would be deeply offended if I shoved their proposal into an LLM and asked it to decide whether to approve it and to write feedback!

Those who use AI for tasks like this are counting on being the only ones to 'defect.' They want to get away with submitting slop and yet receive a real human being's attention and judgment on whether to approve their proposal. It's a classic prisoner's dilemma: they have an incentive to defect (send slop) but if the reader does the same thing, we get a world of slop-bots talking to one another.

It strikes me that the same dynamic takes place in other areas: "I use AI to handle all of my emails" -- well, again, that really only works when everyone else is writing their own emails. Otherwise, we get a world of slop-bots endlessly emailing each other.

"I use AI to screen resumes and perform initial interviews" -- this only works until everyone starts using AI to make resumes and give initial interviews. What good is it to have my AI agent "interview" your AI agent? It's just a world of slop-bots endlessly interviewing each other.

"I use AI to polish up my writing assignments" or "I use AI to make my grading more efficient" -- again, this is only a "hack" if you're the only one defecting. Otherwise, we have a campus full of slop-bots endlessly talking to one another and we've lost what was precious.

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@ryanburge What distinguishes non-denom from a community church?

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@ATRightMovies Black Hawk Down

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@Scholars_Stage I think there is a big difference between articulating your church’s Nicene faith in a very confused and theologically ill-informed manner and positively and affirmatively not believing in the Nicene Creed.

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@jennfrey Most Evangelicals would be, but Evangelicalism has become such a hodgepodge of beliefs and practices, and there is an undercurrent of Evangelical culture that is eclectically incorporating pre-Protestant practices (eg contemplative prayer, rule of life)

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@amphichrome_ People born post-2000 cannot comprehend the optimism of the 90s. (The film Air Force One is a gonzo example of American self-confidence from that era). 9/11 was the decisive shift to a more cynical, brooding, and self-doubting era.

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@Joel7Richardson @DZRishmawy @IVMiles Is your argument that any theology that sees the church as fulfilling OT Israel, such that the church and not ethnic Jews, are now the people of God, is structurally antisemitic? (I have seen this argument made)

[Ryan McCormick @Ryan_M_McC]

@IVMiles There’s also the fun case of Etienne-Charles Lomenie (eventually Cardinal) de Brienne who supported the civil constitution of the clergy, and of whom Louis XVI is to alleged to have asked, “Shouldn’t an archbishop of Paris at least believe in God?”