About me
My name’s Damian Caruana. I have interests in linguistics, history, religion, psychology and literature, but above all I am interested in Christ. The former are important because they colour how I perceive the latter.
I’m a young man, and I don’t consider myself well-informed nor particularly intelligent; hence I hold it a vital aspect of my faith to question everything about it. If I don’t, then how will I ever be corrected if I am in error?
However, I should apologise in advance to anyone I offend by questioning a belief they hold dear – know that it’s not personal, nor even directed at that belief, but rather I question all beliefs, those of my own, and those of others, with what I hope is a complete lack of hesitation. I hope that others will do the same here, as it is by both my own writing and by the comments and communication with others that my immature faith may grow into a more mature one.
The title, ‘Castle of Nutshells‘, comes from the nickname I gave my theology a few years ago. I thought I had ’summarised’ the gospel, and thought that if I expanded upon each aspect of it, my theology would be complete. Of course, the foolishness of trying to build a castle from nutshells is inherent in the image, and I don’t believe the castle will ever be built.
That’s because nutshells close off, reduce and simplify, and the Kingdom of God is expansive, explosive, and is sure to crack any nutshell I find. And I should be glad of it: When I stop developing my faith, my theology, I fear I’ve ceased to believe in my saviour; to paraphrase Tony Jones, “I am only faithfully pursuing Jesus as long as I am actually pursuing him.”
After all, a theology is in both in the thoughts and deeds of the believer; it impacts on everything we do, and our lives not perfected, at least in this lifetime. I hope and pray that my whole lifetime is spent pursuing him, and that God leads people here that might join me in that pursuit.
Dear Damian, peace be with you.
My name is Sebastian Reed. I’m 35 years of age. I live in Sydney, Australia. I’m married with 1 child.
Following the command of our Lord, the creator of all things, I bear witness that there is no god but God, and that Muhammad of the Arabs is his messenger. The holy spirit brought him revelation, which is called the Qur’an, and it is incumbent upon you to read it and bear witness to it, as it was incumbent upon the Jews to bear witness to the prophethood of Jesus the Messiah.
Please reply with any questions or objections that you have. For the sake of my Lord, I will be sincere in any reply I give you; I would like to develop a respectful relationship with you.
Peace be upon you.
Sebastian,
I agree with you on some points – that there is not god but God, but I don’t agree that Muhammad is his messenger. I unfortunately have never read the Qur’an, so I’m not sure I have the necessary knowledge to engage in conversation of any depth, but if you wish to discuss this further with me, I’d be happy to.
God bless.
Hi Damian,
You are obviously far more of a champion than I. A couple of hours ago, *I* was also trolling the ranks of the many hundreds of comments at TwentyTwo words, and pounced on the one solitary Brisbaneite among the ranks. I made a visit to your blog but was too scared to leave a comment. I would plead Fear of Seeming Stalkerish, but now I realise I was just chicken.
Thanks for biting the bullet and leaving a comment; I look forward to reading more of your words here at your blog, especially since you are a fellow Piper-family-fan.
Hey Danielle! I’m not sure if I should reply here or there…so I’ll reply to both. It’s my pleasure: I was definitely afraid you’d think I was either crazy or creepy, but I’m glad that didn’t happen. If you enjoy – or disagree – or anything – feel free to leave comments. It’s always nice to hear from other Christians, especially ones of faith, and especially locals!
Hi Damian,
Where do you live? I would love to get your perspective on our Bible study series that (hopefully) lays out the elementary truths of God’s word. It’s called First Principles (see link in left column of website for PDF download).
Please go through it and tell me what you think.
Do you live in or around L.A., California?
Lu Jack
Lu Jack,
I apologise that it has taken me so long to reply to you! I’ve been quite busy, and lost track of your comment! If you want to discuss with me, feel free to do so in the comments; if you have your own blog, let me know.
Damian
This isn’t designed as a comment to go on your website. I couldn’t find another easy way to contact you.
I’m offering you a pre-release copy of the new Bible as Poetry New Testament if you would like to blog about it.
Send a request to the email address below and I’ll send it to you by return email.