Is there evidence for design in biology? Or for that matter, what would constitute evidence of fine-tuning in biology? This is the next question arising as we continue on with Chapter 13 of Alister McGrath’s book A Fine-Tuned Universe: The Quest for God in Science and Theology: If there is any question guaranteed to excite some controversy in the science/faith debate this is it. After all – fine-tuning leads to intelligent design and intelligent design to creationism. Well, in the... Read more
It all begins with God — what we think about God shapes what we think about ourselves and those around us and our world. It begins with God. What is our “narrative” of God? Is our narrative one of God’s love or one of God’s wrath? James Bryan Smith, in The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love With the God Jesus Knows (The Apprentice Series) is focused on these kinds of questions, and chp 5 is called “God is... Read more
So, in desultory style, I bought another of Epstein’s familiar essays (which he defines as a “line out for a walk”), and then before the summer was out I had read seven books of familiar essays and four books of literary criticism, and I was ready for any and all that he was writing or editing. So, I bought his The Norton Book of Personal Essays. Done with his (true) books, I mustered the courage to write him a note... Read more
It all begins with God — what we think about God shapes what we think about ourselves and those around us and our world. It begins with God. What is our “narrative” of God? James Bryan Smith, in The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love With the God Jesus Knows (The Apprentice Series) is focused on that question. God is generous. Our God is a God of generosity. Smith’s approach is to counter unhealthy and false narratives with the... Read more
Do you have trouble getting rid of books? Are they accumulating like our national debt? (Sorry for the political suggestiveness.) Now the real questions: How many do you really need? How many of those will you need in 5 or 10 years? What criteria do you use for keeping or ridding your library of books? I’d love to hear your ideas about how you choose what books to shelve and what books to purge. Here’s Jon Boyd’s suggestion: Pruning the... Read more
Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Read more
Kris found this B&B outside Siena.And our room is in one of the towers.Buongiorno! With friends staying at our home, we departed the USA Wednesday so my links aren’t as bountiful as they might be, but there’s some good stuff here… Treasure this one…. Interview with AN Wilson, who recently returned to the faith. (HT: JC via Twitter) A titan among NT scholars passes away: Martin Hengel. It’s fun but it’s very, very serious stuff for many of us. (HT:... Read more
These sorts of questions and authors have kept me from reading much fiction. It is not that I don’t appreciate the authors – I often read biographies of fiction writers – or that I don’t think they have had their day. You’ve got me cornered if you say Homer, Virgil, and Dante are fiction writers. I change the definition of “fiction” when it hits modern times. Old fiction is non-fiction for me; call it philosophy or theology, but not fiction.... Read more
John LaGrou is avant garde when it comes to the power and value of technology. In this post, he questions the long term value and survival of the Sunday sermon. What do you think? Antoine at MMM asks, “How Do Faith-Based Organizations Respond to Increasingly Mobile-Connected Members and Communities?” This isn’t just a good question. I think it echoes a central dynamic shaping not just religion, but all social organization going forward. How do faith-based organizations respond to virtuality? The hardest... Read more
It seems that most folks I run into have a CS Lewis moment or event or book they like. I first read CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia when I was in college. Kris had read them and couldn’t stop talking about them so we began our adventure with his novels then and there. I had read his Mere Christianity and Miracles and especially his Screwtape Letters prior to the novels, but I fell in love with Lewis’ characters. What... Read more
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