Spring Issue Table of Contents

Fare Forward’s Good Life issue (Spring 2013) will return from the press in just a few days. Here’s a preview of the table of contents:

FRONT SECTION

2 Opening Remarks

By Peter Blair

The modern search for happiness and meaning can be enlightened by traditional definitions of the good life.

6 Letters to the Editor

ARTICLE REVIEWS

By the Editors

10 Wonking Up the Wrong Tree

Treating economics as a value-neutral science will only lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy that forms us in the image of policies.

13 Fiction’s Authentic Faith

Contemporary literature may approach religion differently, but faith hasn’t completely disappeared from the literary world.

16 From the Margins

Christianity seems to be losing some of its prominence and influence in American culture—but that actually be a good thing for the Church.

20 The Plough and Sails

Welcome the spring season with a sip of The Silver Monk.

ESSAYS

21 Interview: New City Galerie

By The Editors

Fare Forward caught up with Joseph Pensak of Redeemer Presbyterian of Burlington to talk about New City Galerie, its purpose, and the theology behind it.

25 Knowledge and Vocation

By Justin Hawkins

As the liberal arts are increasingly threatened by economic arguments, Christianity defends the worth of scholarship as vocation. 

29 The Farmer and the Don

By Jake Meador

C.S. Lewis and Wendell Berry, though personally very different, are united in their understanding of mankind as creatures subjected to healthy limitations by a loving God.

35 The Deceptive Narrative of American Sports

By Quinn McDowell

American athletics have become dangerously self-centered, depriving athletes of the virtues that can be nurtured by the pursuit of sports.

38 Love and Money in Ukraine

By Alexandra Heywood

A year at a Ukranian orphanage taught valuable lessons about the consequences both of giving in to corruption and of giving without thought. 

42 The Whole Truth

By Matthew Duganzdic and Jose Mena

Strict naturalism cannot explain the entirety of the human experience, but Christianity offers a search for Truth that can include both the physical and the sacred.

46 The Work of Our Hands

By David J. Clark

The pleasure that we can derive from good work can be traced back to man’s ultimate purpose as a laborer in the household of God.

50 What’s Sacred to an Advertiser?

By Grady Powell

By using language that is stripped of meaning, advertising demonstrates the way that thoughtless language can deprive us of our ability to imagine the world in new ways.

54 Wooden Minds

By Inez Tan

Flannery O’Connor’s portrayal of her “intellectual” characters illustrates the dangers of valuing the life of the mind over life in community.

58 Poetry

By Brett Foster

“Poem for Ash Wednesday”

“An Encouraging Reminder About Sadness”

REVIEWS

60 How Much is Enough?

Review by David Pederson

An economist and a philosopher work together to argue against the economic pursuit of growth for its own sake and offer some promising ideas for stemming the tide.

62 Imagining the Kingdom

Review by Charlie Clark

The new entry in James K.A. Smith’s Cultural Liturgies series advances his argument that people are guided by precognitive “loves,” rather than by beliefs, by examining how worships works.

64 The Just Church

Review by Lee Farnsworth

Pastor and activist Jim Martin examines social justice from a practical, rather than theoretical, standpoint, challenging Christians to look beyond the intellectual aspects of faith.                                                                                                                                       

66 Archetypes

Review by Michael W. Hannon

Despite its silliness, this book and others like it illustrate the powerful message that every human being has limits, and there is value in understanding ourselves as we were created. 

68 How Literature Saved My Life

Review by Sarah Ngu

Part autobiography, part philosophy, David Shields’s new work concludes that literature can provide only a fleeting connection to others—but his despair may be misguided.

70 God Is Alive and Well

Review by William Boyce

Gallup’s Frank Newport analyzes a wealth of data to conclude that, for now, religion is on the rise in the American populace.

72 The Soul of the Greeks

Review by Rev. Justin Brophy

From Homer to Plato, Michael Davis examines the evolution of Greek beliefs about the nature of the soul, offering the interested reader a chance to explore these questions for himself. 

74 Tenth of December

Review by Stephen Kim

George Saunders creates characters worthy of respect and compassion while simultaneously exposing and mocking their flaws. 

77 Antifragile

Review by Blake Neff

Nassim Taleb’s theory of antifragility fails to explain everything he claims it does, but raises interesting questions about the consequences of failure in modern society.